An Assignment Submitted by
Question #1
The three segments of spectrograms reflect three different sounds, the first one is consonant, the second is a vowel, and the last one is consonant as well. The first consonant is voiceless and the last one is voiced. The main evidence supporting this statement is that in the first case, F1 is below 2000 Hz, which characterizes the voiceless consonants that are formed without the utilization of the voice. Their pronunciation does not characterize with the vibration in the throat. The third consonant is voiced, which can be shown by its characteristics of the F1, which is in lower position comparing to the first case. The third consonant is [ð], as it is voiced and the pronunciation of this sound reflects the characteristics shown in the spectrogram.
Question #2
The sounds shown on the second and forth segments of spectrogram are both consonants. It is also possible to claim that they are voiceless due to the position of F1, which is high in both cases, specifically 3000-4000 Hz for the first consonant and 5000-6000 Hz for the second one. The first one is bilabial, the second one is labio-dental due to the characteristics of the spectrogram. It is claimed that “since the pronunciation of voiceless consonants does not involve vibrating of the vocal cords, we do not find this strong band at the bottom of their spectrogram” (Wasala & Gamage, 2008, p. 5). Also, the formants of the voiceless consonants can be actually confused with the voiced consonants. At the same time, the voiceless consonants are articulated using stronger acoustic power.
Question #3
The spectrograms represent the combination of the back vowels, where the third one is a high vowel, and the first two are mid-low vowels due to the frequency observed in formant 1 (F1). They all are back vowels due to the characteristics of their F1 and F2. The speaker puts his/her tongue far from the roof of the mouth and its position is in the back of the mouth not developing a constriction, which is characterizes the back vowels. The spectrograms reflects the frequency of the sounds showing the similarity in F1 and F2 making the schemes similar in all three cases. These sounds also represent diphthongs, [ai], [aw], and [ɔi] accordingly. These sounds represent a mixture of two adjacent vowel sounds.
Question #4
The second segment of spectrogram represents a vowel [i] which can be supported by the frequency of the vocal tract. The segment shows that there are three major formants (F), where F1 is below 500 Hz, F2 is between 2000 and 2500 Hz, and F3 is below 3500 Hz. Such indicators of the intensity over frequency over time are characteristic for the vowel [i] that has mid-high vowel height F1; it is a front vowel, thus the second formant (F2) is high, which is directly related to the advancement of this vowel. All these characteristics are related to the vowel [i], which determines its spectrogram.
Question #5 b)
It is emphasized by scholars that the choice of intonation in language can easily identify the non-native speaker, even if the level of proficiency is close to ideal. For instance, Cruz-Ferreira (1989) defines intonation, among other suprasegmental characteristics, as as “the last stronghold of a foreign accent in speaking any L2” claiming that this statement is fair “even of speakers who otherwise have perfect or near perfect command of the phonetics of the L2” (p. 24). I had a chance to observe the same phenomenon when I encountered with Indian English speaker. First of all, I have noticed that the speech of my interlocutor was a more faster-paced than mine. The intonation and stress varied as well, yet it was difficult to find a particular pattern. For example, American English is considered as stress-timed language where it is crucial to put the stress and manage intonation correctly for articulating the meaning of sentences accordingly. The speaker showed a tendency to put stress on pronouns, which sounds like a person wanted to emphasize the accessory of objects and things.
For example, she showed me her bag and said “this is ↑my new bag” emphasizing “my” instead of “bag” which would be done by the native speaker. It was possible to consider that she is emphasizing the ownership of her bag, yet her intention was only to show a new bag, not putting claiming that it was her accessory. At the same time, if she was speaking with someone not familiar with her cultural origin, as she is quite proficient in English, her statement would be misunderstood or considered to be inappropriate. Also, her statement phrases tend to rise in the intonation at the end of the sentences, which in some cases was misleading, as I was expecting that she will elaborate the topic.
For example, during the conversation about the home pets, she ended her story by the sentence, “I hope to buy another dog at the end of the ↑month”. At first, I considered that she is going to go on with her story, however, it was clear that she has finished the conversation. It was claimed by one of the researchers that as Indian culture is highly hierarchical, the speakers tend to use rising intonation with strangers and friends, yet using the falling one with the subordinates and those who have a lower socio-economic status (Sailaja, 2009). As she is a friend, I think that it might explain her choice of intonation and stress.
References
Cruz-Ferreira, M. (1989). A Test for Non-Native Comprehension of Intonation in English. International Review of Applied Linguistics 17(1): 23–39.
Sailaja, P. (2009). Indian English. Edinburg: Edinburg University Press.
Wasala, A. & Gamage, K. (2008). Research Report on Phonetics and Phonology. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 5(8): 1-18.
