A comparison of the contour alignment of nuclear and initial prenuclear accents was carried out for the Irish dialects of Gaoth Dobhair in Ulster (GD-U) and Cois Fharraige in Connaught (CF-C). This was done across conditions where the number of unstressed syllables following the nuclear and preceding the initial prenuclear accents was varied from…

Background: Disordered expressive prosody is a widely reported characteristic of individuals with autism. Despite this, it has received little attention in the literature and the few studies that have addressed it have not described its relationship to other aspects of communication. Aims: To determine the nature and relationship of expressive and…

Examines the prosodic characteristics of "motherese" in the speech of 24 German mothers. Each subject was recorded while addressing (1) her three- to five-day-old baby, (2) the absent infant, as if present, and (3) the adult interviewer. Several hypotheses regarding short and long term effects of "motherese" are discussed.…

Grosjean and Gee's prosodic structure theory is applied to second-language listening comprehension. It is argued that second-language students whose native language is syllable-timed do not have a mechanism to deal with unstressed syllables and must create one. The absences of this mechanism helps explain difficulties in listening comprehension.…

Examines metrical segmentation strategy in Dutch. The first experiment shows that stress strongly affects Dutch listeners' ability and speed in spotting Dutch monosyllabic words in disyllabic nonwords. The second experiment finds the same stress effect when only the target words are presented without a subsequent syllable triggering segmentation.…

This paper discusses the phonology-syntax interface in Akan, a language spoken in Ghana and the Cote d'Ivoire, describing a medium of exchange between phonology and syntax. Studies in lexical phonology have distinguished two levels in phonology--lexical and post-lexical--based on how and where phonological rules apply, although some phonological…

Indicates that native and nonnative speakers alike can make use of intonation if they explicitly listen for it, although prosodic features are generally ignored when other cues (semantic and pragmatic) are available. (Author/RL)

Background: Symptoms of prosodic problems have been found in Swedish children with language impairment at word and phrase level and possibly also at discourse level. Aims: The aim was twofold. First, to characterize a group of children with prosodic problems compared with children with normal language development. Second, to investigate the…

A study of tone and accent in Qafar, a Cushitic language characterized by tonal rather than stress accent, modifies an earlier claim made about the relationship between accent and gender. The newer study makes a proposal that simplifies the account of gender in that this category is seen as determined rather than determining. This further suggests…

An analysis of high vowel variation in Quebec French shows that the phenomenon can generally be accounted for in terms of stress and syllabic closure. However, it is also proposed that by positing underlying lax high vowels in the language, a more insightful analysis is achieved, suggesting that a process of high vowel tensing is occurring…

This study was conducted to evaluate prospective teachers of English as a Foreign Language in their command of suprasegmental features of the American English sound system. Also investigated were gender differences of teacher candidates at two Egyptian universities in performance on two linguistic measures. Results are discussed. (Author/MT)

This study examined the speech behavior of Japanese women when interacting with young children. Sixty-one single Japanese-speaking women, ages 18-26, were recorded as they read aloud picture books to a 1-year-old child and as they conversed with another Japanese-speaking adult woman. When their utterances were acoustically compared between the two…

The recitation of a nineteenth century Swahili poem is analyzed for the devices in spoken Swahili used by the performer to keep the audience's attention. The poem has a very formal structure in both rhyme, rhythm, and words linking one stanza to the next, giving it great rigidity. The primary focus of the analysis is on three variables:…

Surveyed 67 English-as-a-Second-Language programs in canada to determine to what extent pronunciation is taught and which resources are most often used. Also sought demographic information about respondents and their ESL programs, classes and students, methods of teaching, and participants' attitudes. resources preferred by respondents are…

A study describing Finnish phonetics and analyzing prosodic properties is reported. Subjects were two female 17-year-olds, speakers of standard Finnish and well acquainted with each other. Data were drawn from two sources: a conversation between the two, in which one described a picture so the other could draw it, and one a set of stories narrated…