21.3207, Review: Phonetics; Psycholinguistics: Hardcastle et al. (2010)

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Subject: 21.3207, Review: Phonetics; Psycholinguistics: Hardcastle et al. (2010)

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1)
Date: 08-Aug-2010
From: Whitney Chappell < whitney.chappell at gmail.com >
Subject: The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Sun, 08 Aug 2010 08:19:01
From: Whitney Chappell [whitney.chappell at gmail.com]
Subject: The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences

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Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/21/21-1783.html 

EDITORS: William J. Hardcastle, John Laver, Fiona E. Gibbon
TITLE: The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences
SUBTITLE: Second Edition
SERIES: Handbooks in Linguistics
PUBLISHER: Wiley-Blackwell
YEAR: 2010

Whitney Chappell, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, The Ohio State University

SUMMARY

The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences is divided into five parts: Experimental
Phonetics, Biological Perspectives, Modeling Speech Production and Perception,
Linguistic Phonetics and Speech Technology.

Part I of The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences investigates experimental phonetics
with contributions from Maureen Stone, Christine H. Shadle, Jonathan Harrington
and Hajime Hirose on laboratory techniques, aerodynamics, acoustic phonetics,
and physiology.

In the first chapter, ''Laboratory Techniques for Investigating Speech
Articulation,'' Maureen Stone catalogues the options available to the researcher
in imaging techniques, point-tracking measurements of the vocal tract, and
measurement of tongue-palate interaction. Stone explains both the strengths and
weaknesses of imaging techniques such as the X-ray, tomography, MRI and
Ultrasound and then analyzes point-tracking systems like the Electromagnetic
Midsagittal Articulometer (EMMA), Electromagnetic Articulometer (EMA), and the
Articulograph, as well as the X-ray Microbeam and Optotrak. Finally, methods of
measuring tongue-palate contact are introduced. Stone concludes that while no
instrument is capable of providing complete vocal tract information, a
combination of these instruments allows for a greater understanding of speech
physiology, disorders, articulation, coarticulation and rhythm, allowing
researchers to test and challenge previous speech-based theories and models.

The second chapter, ''The Aerodynamics of Speech'' by Christine H. Shadle,
introduces the basics of fluid statics, fluid dynamics and the properties of
sound waves traversing fluids before applying these considerations to
aerodynamically distinct tract behaviors such as respiration, frication,
transient excitation (stops), mechanical oscillation (trills and voicing), and
aerodynamic oscillation (whistling). Shadle introduces methods of measuring
different types of pressure, considers the pros and cons of the methods
specifically employed for speech, and elucidates several speech production
models that incorporate aerodynamics. Shadle concludes that while it is
difficult to model certain effects, the effort is imperative, as aerodynamics
serves as the foundation for all speech production.

In the third chapter, ''Acoustic Phonetics,'' Jonathan Harrington outlines the
acoustic signals produced by speakers' movements of their vocal organs. In his
examination of vowels, vowel-like sounds, obstruents, and nasals and nasalized
sounds, Harrington uses studies in acoustic phonetics in three main categories:
the acoustic theory of speech production, linguistic phonetics and variability.
Incorporating, spectra and numerous figures to illustrate his explanations,
Harrington tackles topics such as formants, identification cues, place of
articulation, and spectral shape.

Chapter four, ''Investigating the Physiology of Laryngeal Structures'' by Hajime
Hirose, introduces the functions of the larynx and the effective means of
studying their role in speech, including the standard laryngeal mirror, the
fiberscope, digital imaging systems, electromyography (EMG), photoglottography,
electroglottography, and MRI. Hirose also discusses the physiology of the larynx
and laryngeal modifications in different phonetic conditions.

The Handbook's second part focuses on biological perspectives, with
contributions from Janet Mackenzie Beck, Hermann Ackermann and Wolfram Ziegler,
and Anne Smith.

In chapter five, ''Organic Variation of the Vocal Apparatus,'' Janet Mackenzie
Beck separates phonetic variation, in which speakers use their vocal apparatuses
differently, from organic variation, or the inherent differences in speakers'
vocal apparatuses. The author addresses anatomical differences of the vocal
organs, dividing these differences into three larger categories: life-cycle
changes, genetic and environmental differences and the result of trauma or
disease. Exploring the respiratory system, phonatory system, resonating
cavities, stages of development, genetic and environmental impact and disease,
Beck examines the factors at work in small, organic variation among speakers.

The sixth chapter, ''Brain Mechanisms Underlying Speech Motor Control'' by Hermann
Ackermann and Wolfram Ziegler, introduces the cerebral organization at work in
speech production taken from three approaches: electrical surface stimulation of
the cortex, lesion studies on neurogenic communication disorders, and functional
imaging techniques. Throughout the chapter, the authors analyze the physiology,
networks and cytoarchitecture of the brain as well as the musculature involved
in speech production in both primates and humans and its cognitive correlates.
Ackermann and Ziegler also discuss effects of diseases and lesions on speech
production and the functional imaging techniques that capture this relationship.

In ''Development of Neural Control of Orofacial Movements for Speech'' (Chapter
7), Anne Smith offers a comprehensive overview of studies focusing on humans'
development of neuromotor processes that control articulatory movements.  First,
the central and peripheral mechanisms involved in speech motor processes are
reviewed, followed by infants' and children's vocalizations and the development
of speech motor processes, which are not fully mature until late adolescence.
Finally, Smith turns to theories and models of speech motor development, which
must take into account the factors affecting motor control development such as
gender, feedback and children's sensitive periods of learning.

Part III, entitled ''Modeling Speech Production and Perception,'' includes
chapters from Barbara L. Davis, Edda Farnetani and Daniel Recasens, Anders
Löfqvist, Christer Gobl and Ailbhe Ní Chasaide, Kenneth N. Stevens and Helen M.
Hanson, Brian C. J. Moore, and James M. McQueen and Anne Cutler.

In ''Speech Acquisition'' (Chapter 8), Barbara L. Davis investigates competing
theoretical perspectives on the interaction of children's biology and cognition
in their development of phonological competence. Comparing formalist
phonological perspectives with  functionalist phonetic science perspectives,
auditory input and cognitive science models and perspectives, Davis explains
that through multidisciplinary approaches, the remarkably diverse proposals that
currently lack coherence may become more consistent.

Chapter 9, ''Coarticulation and Connected Speech Processes'' by Edda Farnetani and
Daniel Recasens, discusses the theoretical explanations of overlapping movements
of articulators in the production of a single phonetic sound, including locus
equation, feature spreading, time-locked, adaptive variability, coarticulatory
resistance, and the window model. The authors note that the complexity of speech
production makes understanding the principles at work extremely difficult, and
no current theory fully explains the processes at work.

Anders Löfqvist introduces the major empirical and theoretical studies at play
in speech production in Chapter 10, ''Theories and Models of Speech Production.''
After introducing the speech signal itself, Löfqvist delves into the speaker's
control of movement, planning and execution, the nervous system's role,
coordinate spaces and structures, and the blending of gestures, all of which are
essential to the speaker's ability to convey a message. The author incorporates
experimental paradigms to account for the motor control and excess degrees of
freedom problem, pointing out that future studies will continue to advance with
more empirical tests and mathematical modeling.

Chapter 11, ''Voice Source Variation and Its Communicative Functions'' by Christer
Gobl and Ailbhe Ní Chasaide, deals with the acoustics of phonation and its
exploitation in speech. Explaining the source signal and several analysis
techniques such as inverse filtering and source model matching approaches, the
authors present voice source models along with a delineation of voice source
parameters and spectral measurements. Gobl and Chasaide then describe voice
qualities such as modal, breathy, whispery, creaky, tense and lax voice in terms
of acoustic qualities, investigate the causes of voice source variation, and
introduce voice source variation's role in both emotion and sociolinguistic
identity.

Kenneth N. Stevens and Helen M. Hanson tackle ''Articulatory-Acoustic Relations
as the Basis of Distinctive Contrasts'' in Chapter 12, presenting the most
up-to-date views in speech production's quantal/enhancement theory. The authors
argue that two main principles, the coupled resonator principle and the
principles in charge of the relationship between aerodynamic force and the
surfaces of the vocal tract, bring about articulator-free and articulator bound
distinctive feature groups and natural constraints, and new evidence is
presented to support the quantal relationship that emerges between articulatory
configuration and acoustic output based on physical principles. Finally, the
authors provide comparisons between quantal/enhancement theory and other
production-perception theories. 

In Chapter 13, ''Aspects of Auditory Processing Related to Speech Perception,''
Brian C. J. Moore covers certain processes involved in auditory processing, such
as pitch perception, frequency selectivity, the perception of timbre and
temporal analysis. Using psychoacoustic experiments, Moore analyzes the auditory
system's frequency and time resolution and concludes that the auditory system's
resolution is consistently high enough to identify sounds in spite of distorted
conditions, exemplifying the robustness of speech perception.

James M. McQueen and Anne Cutler, the authors of ''Cognitive Processes in Speech
Perception,'' analyze the mapping of acoustic-phonetic material onto cognitive
representations, presenting models of lexical information storage and
activation, the processing of segmental information, and cognitive processing of
suprasegmental information. McQueen and Cutler also provide studies on
restoration, categorization and compensation in speech perception and offer
support for the continuing fundamental questions of the field as well, such as
the argument for and against abstraction. 

Part IV introduces linguistic phonetics, with chapters from Janet Fletcher, Mary
E. Beckman and Jennifer J. Venditti, John J. Ohala, John H. Esling and Paul
Foulkes, James M. Scobbie and Dominic Watt.

In Chapter 15, ''The Prosody of Speech: Timing and Rhythm'' by Janet Fletcher, the
temporal aspects of the suprasegmental are discussed. Fletcher includes studies
contributing to models of acoustic segmentation and analyses of prosody's
structure, stress and accent, durational boundary marking, rhythms across
languages, tempos and pauses, and she analyzes the impact of a language's
segments, morae and syllables on its tempo and rhythm. Demonstrating that the
timing of languages is not characterized by duration alone but also qualitative
articulatory and acoustic differences, Fletcher shows the intricacies of prosody
over time.

Mary E. Beckman and Jennifer J. Venditti offer an introduction to ''Tone and
Intonation'' in Chapter 16, focusing specifically on Germanic, Chinese and
Japanese languages. Beckman and Venditti discuss phonetic, phonological,
symbolic and parametric representations, segmentation and anchoring, tonal-space
and tonal-scaling parameters, and taxonomies and groupings, using spectrograms
and fundamental frequency contours to illustrate the pitch contour phenomena. In
spite of advancements in the study of prosody, the authors conclude that the
creation of typologies with data on only a handful of languages would be premature.

In John J. Ohala's ''The Relation between Phonetics and Phonology,'' the author
provides a historical account of the linguistic branches, strains between the
two and their eventual division. Ohala also describes the importance of the
integration of phonetics and phonology today and how they can be used to explain
universal tendencies in sound patterns. The author concludes that even though
the classification is inevitably subjective, phonology is the study of the
persistent questions humans have about language, and it is the data, methods and
theories in phonetics that are employed in this broader pursuit.

Chapter 18, ''Phonetic Notation'' by John H. Esling, deals with the International
Phonetic Association's International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), used to catalogue
distinctive sound contrasts cross-linguistically. Esling discusses broad and
narrow transcriptions, iconicity, and IPA symbols and numbers before considering
challenges to the IPA system, such as revisions to the place of articulation and
vowel characterization, as well as notations for secondary articulations,
junction and stress, articulation strength, details of the tongue, voice
qualities and disordered speech. An elaborated consonant chart shows a greater
number of articulatory possibilities, and Esling offers a new way of viewing the
vowel chart.

''Sociophonetics'' (Chapter 19) by Paul Foulkes, James M. Scobbie and Dominic Watt
introduces the integration of the theoretical constructions of phonetics with
sociolinguistics. The authors discuss the external factors that contribute to
phonetic and phonological variation, arguing that region, class and gender
influence but do not determine the variants a speaker uses. Combined with the
available variation and ideologies the speaker is able to ''project his or her
identity and achieve particular communicative goals'' (717), and perceptual
studies confirm that listeners retrieve indexical information projected by the
speaker. The authors provide methods of data collection and analysis and explain
the usefulness of sociophonetics in providing a baseline for normal speech
patterns and aiding pedagogy, business, advertising, and forensic phonetics.

Part V, called ''Speech Technology,'' includes the work of Daniel P. W. Ellis,
Rolf Carlson and Björn Granström, and Steve Renals and Simon King.

The first chapter of Part V, ''An Introduction to Signal Processing for Speech''
by Daniel P. W. Ellis, presents the basic concepts behind signal processing and
information content manipulation. Ellis discusses the principles of resonances,
sinusoids, Fourier analysis, filtering, and spectral analysis, adopting a
ground-up, markedly unmathematical perspective, comprehensible for those with
little experience in signal processing.

In Chapter 21, ''Speech Synthesis,'' Rolf Carlson and Björn Granström review
popular approaches within the field, focusing on the methods most helpful to
phonetic research. The authors discuss text-to-speech systems, the advances and
future goals of speech synthesis, software and models, the generation of sound,
articulatory modeling, and concatenating synthesized speech. The authors point
out that speech synthesis is becoming increasingly applicable to many facets of
daily life, noting its role in phone services and its ability to help those with
disabilities.

The final chapter of the compilation, Steve Renals and Simon King's ''Automatic
Speech Recognition'', discusses the challenging process of transcribing acoustic
speech into words. Describing the cutting-edge techniques, models and algorithms
incorporated in modern speech recognition systems, the authors offer statistical
and data-driven information in their explanation of recognition and language and
acoustic modeling.

EVALUATION

The second edition of The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences provides an excellent
panorama of the latest developments in phonetic sciences from some of the most
renowned researchers in the field. This collection, including contributions from
articulatory, biological, perceptual, phonetic and technological perspectives,
is sure to serve as one of the most comprehensive resources for students,
researchers and practitioners across various disciplines.

One of the volume's clearest appeals, its use of cutting-edge theories and
models as well as state-of-the-art technology, does not inhibit the
contributors' zeal to advance their disciplines. The authors are quick to draw
attention to the current problems facing their field and the lines of ongoing
research essential to its advancement, demonstrating a pervasive, keen awareness
of the need to continue cultivating and refining phonetic sciences.

Another advantage to the contributors' unique perspectives is the emphasis
placed on interdisciplinary approaches. Not only do the contributors encourage
the collaboration of linguistics with other disciplines such as philosophy,
biology, mathematics, computer science and sociology, among others, they
actively demonstrate these intimate collaborations in their work. The notable
advances in the second edition's revised chapters, not to mention the addition
of ten new chapters since the first edition (1997) in different disciplines,
demonstrate this openness to interdisciplinary partnerships.

In a less comprehensive resource, the disparate perspectives and goals of the
chapters (e.g. the intuitive approach taken by Ellis in ''An Introduction to
Signal Processing for Speech'' vs. the statistical approach taken by Renals and
King in ''Automatic Speech Recognition'') would surely be a disadvantage to the
overall cohesiveness of the volume, but I found that these varied approaches
broadened the diversity of the compilation. It seemed to expand the availability
of resources for students with different interests and experience, enriching the
compilation, rather than detracting from its coherence. Additionally, the
authors list dozens of other sources--either explicitly or in their list of
references--for those seeking greater detail, allowing individuals in pursuit of
different approaches or perspectives to locate them easily.

In sum, The Handbook of Phonetic Sciences offers a wealth of knowledge from
experts across numerous disciplines, serving as a useful, comprehensive
reference for students, researchers and practitioners alike.

REFERENCES

Hardcastle, William J., John Laver & Fiona E. Gibbon, eds. (1997) The Handbook
of Phonetic Sciences: First Edition. Oxford: Blackwell.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER 

Whitney Chappell is a PhD student in Hispanic Linguistics at the Ohio State
University specializing in the intonation-pragmatics interface and varied
topics in Spanish sociolinguistics.





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