Speech Rhythm in a Cross-Language Perspective
- Project director:
- Anders Eriksson,
Department of Linguistics, Gothenburg University.
- Project title:
- Speech Rhythm in a Cross-Language Perspective: A Theoretical and Empirical Study of Speech Rhythm in Seven Languages.
- Project Period:
- 1/7/1994 - 31/6/1997
(Funding extended until 31/12/1999)
- Funding agency:
- HSFR (Swedish Council for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences), Grant number F 732/94
- Project abstract:
- Speech rhythm in speech production is studied in Swedish, German, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic.
Syllable and interstress interval durations will be measured in read speech in each of the languages. Based on these
measurements a model, proposed by Anders Eriksson, suggesting that the addition of segments in a syllable or syllables
in an interstress interval is basically a concatenative process, will be tested. The model predicts that syllable durations
increase in a linear fashion as a function of the number of phonemic segments in the syllable and interstress intervals increase,
also in a linear fashion, as a function of the number of unstressed syllables in the interval. Differences in speech rhythm
between different languages would then be a secondary phemenon conditioned by the phonotactics and syllable structures of the
languages.
- Current state of the project:
- The database used in the project consists of recordings of read speech. Seven male speakers of each of the
languages have been recorded reading the well known text `The North Wind and the Sun'. These recordings have now been
digitized and are subject to transcription on a time scale, using the esps/waves analysis package. The transcriptions
include segmental transcription as well as two types of syllabic transcription and marking of stressed syllables.
These data will later be used for detailed statistical analyses. For a more detailed description of the recordings and
the recorded material,
please click here!
- Project staff:
- Cecilia Yttergren, Research assistant
- Pär Wretling, Research assistant
- Other people who have helped/are helping in the project:
- A project of this kind would not be possible without the help of numerous people who have contributed in various ways.
For more information please click here!
- References:
- Eriksson, Anders. 1991. Aspects of Swedish Speech Rhythm. Gothenburg Monographs in Linguistics, 9.
Gothenburg University: Department of Linguistics.(abstract)
Last modified: Sat Dec 19 16:05:19 MET 1998