Browsing by Person "Cowen, Steve"

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A common co-ordinate system for mid-sagittal articulatory measurement
(2011-06) Scobbie, James M.; Lawson, Eleanor; Cowen, Steve; Cleland, Joanne; Wrench, Alan A.
A standard practice in EMA articulatory measurement is to set the origin of the measurement space near the boundary of the upper incisors and gum, on a standard reference coil. A conventional horizontal dimension is defined as being parallel to the speaker's unique bite (occlusal) plane. We propose that this convention be extended to other instrumentation, with a focus on how it can be achieved for ultrasound tongue imaging (UTI) in particular, using a disposable and hygienic vacuum-formed bite plate of known size. A bite plane trace, like a palate trace, provides a consistent reference to allow images to be rotated and translated in case the probe is in a new location relative to a speaker's cranial space. The bite plane also allows speakers with differently shaped palates to be overlaid, and for ultrasound data to share a coordinate space with EMA. We illustrate the proposal using a sample of six speakers. The average bite plane slope could be used to retrospectively rotate ultrasound data that lacks bite-plane measurement
Assessing voice health using smartphones: Bias and random error of acoustic voice parameters captured by different smartphone types
(Wiley, 2019-02-19) Jannetts, Stephen; Schaeffler, Felix; Beck, Janet M.; Cowen, Steve
BACKGROUND: Occupational voice problems constitute a serious public health issue with substantial financial and human consequences for society. Modern mobile technologies like smartphones have the potential to enhance approaches to prevention and management of voice problems. This paper addresses an important aspect of smartphone-assisted voice care: the reliability of smartphone-based acoustic analysis for voice health state monitoring. AIM: To assess the reliability of acoustic parameter extraction for a range of commonly used smartphones by comparison with studio recording equipment. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Twenty-two vocally healthy speakers (12 female; 10 male) were recorded producing sustained vowels and connected speech under studio conditions using a high-quality studio microphone and an array of smartphones. For both types of utterances, Bland-Altman-Analysis was used to assess overall reliability for Mean F0; CPPS; Jitter (RAP) and Shimmer %. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Analysis of the systematic and random error indicated significant bias for CPPS across both sustained vowels and passage reading. Analysis of the random error of the devices indicated that that mean F0 and CPPS showed acceptable random error size, while jitter and shimmer random error was judged as problematic. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Confidence in the feasibility of smartphone-based voice assessment is increased by the experimental finding of high levels of reliability for some clinically relevant acoustic parameters, while the use of other parameters is discouraged. We also challenge the practice of using statistical tests (e.g. t-tests) for measurement reliability assessment.
Bulgarian vowel reduction in unstressed position: An ultrasound and acoustic investigation
(International Phonetic Association, 2019-08-10) Dokovova, Marie; Sabev, Mitko; Scobbie, James M.; Lickley, Robin; Cowen, Steve; Calhoun, Sasha; Escudero, Paola; Tabain, Marija; Warren, Paul
Vowel reduction in Contemporary Standard Bulgarian (CSB) has been variously claimed to involve raising, no change or lowering of the high vowels /iəu/. There is a general agreement that the low vowels /ɛaɔ/ are raised when unstressed. This paper directly measures tongue height using Ultrasound Tongue Imaging (UTI) and relates this measure to the acoustic correlate F1 at vowel midpoint. The six vowels of CSB were paired with respect to frontness (/ɛ, i/, /a, ə/, /ɔ, u/), and the overlap in height of the unstressed lower vowel in each pair was assessed relative to (a) its stressed counterpart and (b) the stressed and (c) unstressed realisations of the lower vowel. There was no evidence of the higher unstressed vowel in each pair being different from its stressed counterpart. The articulatory and acoustic results are not completely aligned, but both diverge from the traditional model of vowel reduction in CSB.
Dynamic Dialects: an articulatory web resource for the study of accents [website]
(University of Glasgow, 2015-04-01) Lawson, Eleanor; Stuart-Smith, Jane; Scobbie, James M.; Nakai, Satsuki; Beavan, David; Edmonds, Fiona; Edmonds, Iain; Turk, Alice; Timmins, Claire; Beck, Janet M.; Esling, John; Leplatre, Gregory; Cowen, Steve; Barras, Will; Durham, Mercedes
Dynamic Dialects (www.dynamicdialects.ac.uk) is an accent database, containing an articulatory video-based corpus of speech samples from world-wide accents of English. Videos in this corpus contain synchronised audio, ultrasound-tongue-imaging video and video of the moving lips. We are continuing to augment this resource. Dynamic Dialects is the product of a collaboration between researchers at the University of Glasgow, Queen Margaret University Edinburgh, University College London and Napier University, Edinburgh. For modelled International Phonetic Association speech samples produced by trained phoneticians, please go to the sister site http://www.SeeingSpeech.ac.uk
Norwegian retroflex stops in a cross linguistic perspective
(2008-04) Simonsen, Hanne Gram; Moen, Inger; Cowen, Steve
In this paper, Norwegian retroflex stops are investigated through the combined use of electropalatography (EPG) and electromagnetic articulography (EMA), with extensive and detailed data from four informants. Cross linguistic investigations have shown considerable articulatory variation in retroflex consonants regarding both place of articulation and tongue configuration, making it difficult to establish common articulatory characteristics for these consonants. Through our detailed articulatory investigation, we were able to identify one characteristic only that was always present in retroflex stops in Norwegian, namely an apical articulation. Other characteristics often found in retroflexes, like a posterior place of articulation, a bending up (retroflexion) of the tongue tip, a flat tongue middle, and a forward movement of the tongue tip after the release of the stop ('flapping out'), were found only in some contexts or in some individuals. Overall, the extensive articulatory variation in retroflexes often found in languages with relatively small inventories of coronal consonants was confirmed in our data. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Reply to Sverre Stausland Johnsen, Janne Bondi Johannessen and Bert Vaux
(Elsevier Ltd, 2013-01) Simonsen, Hanne Gram; Moen, Inger; Cowen, Steve
This is a reply to the comments by Sverre Stausland Johnsen, Janne Bondi Johannessen, and Bert Vaux to our article from 2008 entitled Norwegian retroflex stops in a cross linguistic perspective (Simonsen, Moen, & Cowen, 2008). We focus on methods, and discuss advantages and problems in the use of EPG and EMA in investigations of articulation and articulatory variation. We argue that the variations found in our data are not the results of dialect variation, but rather a result of the morphological differences in palate shape between individual speakers. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Seeing Speech: an articulatory web resource for the study of phonetics [website]
(University of Glasgow, 2015-04-01) Lawson, Eleanor; Stuart-Smith, Jane; Scobbie, James M.; Nakai, Satsuki; Beavan, David; Edmonds, Fiona; Edmonds, Iain; Turk, Alice; Timmins, Claire; Beck, Janet M.; Esling, John; Leplatre, Gregory; Cowen, Steve; Barras, Will; Durham, Mercedes
Seeing Speech (www.seeingspeech.ac.uk) is a web-based audiovisual resource which provides teachers and students of Practical Phonetics with ultrasound tongue imaging (UTI) video of speech, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) video of speech and 2D midsagittal head animations based on MRI and UTI data. The model speakers are Dr Janet Beck of Queen Margaret University (Scotland) and Dr John Esling of University of Victoria (Canada). The first phase of this resource began in July 2011 and was completed in September 2013. Further funding was obtained in 2014 to improve and augment this resource (this version) and to develop its sister site Dynamic Dialects. The website contains two main resources: An introduction to UTI, MRI vocal tract imaging techniques and information about the production of the articulatory animations. Clickable International Phonetic Association charts links to UTI, MRI and animated speech articulator video. This online resource is a product of the collaboration between researchers at six Scottish Universities: The University of Glasgow, Queen Margaret University, Napier University, the University of Strathclyde, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Aberdeen; as well as scholars from University College London and Cardiff University. For examples of various dialects of English, please go to the sister site http://www.dynamicdialects.ac.uk