Doctoral Dissertation Research: Features and Syllables in Phonotactic Models

博士论文研究：音位模型中的特征和音节

基本信息

批准号：
1226793
负责人：
Jeffrey Heinz
金额：
$ 1.03万
依托单位：
University of Delaware
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2012
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2012-09-01 至 2014-08-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1226793&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Doctoral Dissertation Research Features Syllables

项目摘要

The purpose of this research is to investigate how syllable structure and phonotactic sequencing constraints affect speech perception in Nepali. Word initial and word final consonant clusters are not allowed in Nepali. As a result, when borrowing words from other languages, Nepali speakers often break up clusters by inserting vowels. For example, they pronounce the English word 'slip' as 'silip'. Earlier research has found that Nepali speakers find it difficult to distinguish between consonant clusters at word boundaries and the same clusters broken up by vowels. In other words, 'slip' and 'silip' tend to be indistinguishable to Nepali speakers. This suggests that these language-specific phonotactic constraints cause Nepali listeners to perceive nonexistent vowels at word boundaries.This research investigates whether similar phenomenon can be observed word internally. A perceptual experiment will be conducted to test the hypothesis that monolingual Nepali speakers also find it difficult to distinguish between consonant clusters word internally and the same clusters broken up by vowels. If the results of the experiment support this hypothesis, then such perceptual confusion would indicate that consonant clusters at word-internal syllable boundaries, like the ones at word boundaries, affect the speech perception of Nepali speakers.Since Nepali is an understudied language, this research promises to shed new light on the role of syllable structure and phonotactic sequencing constraints on speech perception. Additionally, this research can inform phonotactic learning models by identifying a distinct role for syllable structure. Broader impacts of the proposed research include introducing underprivileged Nepali high school students to linguistic and psychological sciences.

这项研究的目的是研究音节结构和语音测序约束如何影响尼泊尔语中的语音感知。尼泊尔不允许单词初始和最终的辅音簇。结果，当从其他语言借用单词时，尼泊尔演讲者通常会通过插入元音来分解簇。例如，他们将英语单词“ slip”发音为“ silip”。较早的研究发现，尼泊尔说话者发现很难区分单词边界的辅音簇和元音破裂的相同簇。换句话说，尼泊尔扬声器往往无法区分“滑动”和“锡利普”。这表明这些特定于语言的语音性约束会导致尼泊尔听众在单词边界处感知不存在的元音。这项研究研究了是否可以在内部观察到类似的现象。将进行一个感知实验，以测试单语言扬声器的假设，即在内部和元音分解的相同簇中很难区分辅音簇单词。如果实验的结果支持这一假设，那么这种感知的混乱将表明，在单词内部的音节界限处的辅音簇（例如在单词边界上的链球上）会影响尼泊尔语扬声器的语音感知。尼泊尔尼泊尔人是一种研究的语言，这项研究对言语结构的作用有了新的影响。此外，这项研究可以通过确定音节结构的独特作用来告知语音学习模型。拟议的研究的更广泛的影响包括将贫困的尼泊尔高中生引入语言和心理科学。