Author name:
فراس فتحي علي الفاتح
Supervisor name:
حميد مجيد الحمادي
Abstract:
Recently, the number of researchers and the amount of work in acoustic phonetics have greatly increased. This is because of the great importance that acoustic phonetics has on real life applications. Acoustic phonetics deals with those topics in experimental phonetics that can logically be investigated by the analysis, synthesis, and manipulation of speech. Acoustic phonetics can also be used to bridge the gaps that seem to separate phonetics from linguistics. Despite much research and discussion, the relation betweenacoustic properties and linguistic units remains debatable. However, acoustic phonetics with the aid of sophisticated computer programmes and language laboratories, can provide scientific and reliable results. It is especially for this reason that further progress in acoustic phonetics and linguistic structures is hoped for.The present study aims at conducting an acoustic analysis of BBC English pure vowels in two speaking styles. It aims at examining the acoustic properties of English pure vowels produced by native and nonnative speakers in clear and conversational speech. The present study concentrates on the most important aspects of acoustic phonetic research, acoustic analysis, vowel intelligibility, sex - related differences, as well as comparing clear with conversational speech. It is hypothesized that the acoustic properties of English pure vowels in conversational speech are different from those in clear speech. Moreover, the strategies employed by non - native speakers, i.e., exhibiting the acoustic characteristics of the vowels involved in both speaking styles, are different from those of native speakers. Previous work has provided some important insights into the field of acoustic research, particularly on clear and conversational speech. The current study follows the precise procedures presented by many investigators, particularly those procedures and techniques followed by Ferguson and Port (2002) as far as the work on speech styles and vowel intelligibility is concerned. Two recording sessions are conducted for both groups of talkers•Individual files are made for each vowel produced by each talker in both speaking styles. For the present study, vowel duration and values of fundamental frequency (F , i.e., the native and the non - native speakers. The first recording session is devoted to conversational speech analysis. The researcher has invited each talker to listen to a dialogue and talk in a normal conversational mode. The researcher has made sure to ask some questions that naturally evoke some target words.In the second recording session, the researcher asked each talker to read the selected target words (the carriers of the vowels) in a clear speaking style. The individual recordings are saved in a computer to be analysed using Praat’ which is a software for doing phonetics by computer.• The term Talkers’ is used, as advised by Prof. Sarah Ferguson, to refer to the people who come in and speak materials into a microphone.) are measured. Moreover, following Ferguson and Port (2002), the first two formants of the vowels produced by the talkers are measured at 50% of the vowel duration. Also, values of pitch range (maximum F0 - minimum F0) are calculated. Finally, vowel space areas based on the first two formants derived from each vowel in both speaking styles, are analysed and used for comparison. The results of the experiment revealed that all talkers, for both long and short vowels, produced longer vowel durations, higher values of F0, greater values of pitch range, and larger vowel space areas in clear than in conversational speech. Nearly all female talkers in both groups produced higher values than male talkers as far as the four acoustic measures are concerned. Notably, the findings of this study have also shown that the strategies employed by non - native speakers in exhibiting the acoustic properties of English pure vowels, are different from those of native speakers. Moreover, according to the results, clear speech is more intelligible than conversational speech. In an attempt to make themselves, more intelligible or understandable, most talkers produced the vowels more slowly, more loudly, and in a very careful manner, regardless of their language background. In regard to recommendations and suggestions, the researcher has given some recommendations and has also suggested some important points for further research.
