Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2026
09:09
Foreign Accent and Forensic Speaker Identification in Voice Lineups: The Influence of Acoustic Features Based on Prosody
Published on: September 27, 2024
Morphological predictability and acoustic duration of interfixes in Dutch compounds
Victor Kuperman1, Mark Pluymaekers, Mirjam Ernestus
1Radboud University Nijmegen, Wundtlaan 1, 6525 XD Nijmegen, The Netherlands. victor.kuperman@mpi.nl
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|May 3, 2007
Summary
This study found that more predictable linguistic elements, like Dutch compound interfixes, are spoken longer. This challenges information theory and supports the Paradigmatic Signal Enhancement Hypothesis for speech production.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Phonetics
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Informational redundancy in language can affect speech realization.
- Previous theories suggest predictable elements are less salient.
- Morphological structure carries significant informational redundancy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of morphological paradigmatic structure on acoustic duration.
- To test the hypothesis that predictability reduces phonetic realization.
- To examine interfix duration in Dutch compounds.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of acoustic duration of interfixes (-s- and -en-) in Dutch compounds.
- Utilized two datasets with 1155 and 742 tokens respectively.
- Correlated interfix probability with its acoustic realization time.
Main Results:
- Increased interfix probability correlated with longer acoustic duration.
- Findings contradict predictions from information-theoretical approaches.
- The effect was observed in both -s- and -en- interfix datasets.
Conclusions:
- The Paradigmatic Signal Enhancement Hypothesis explains the findings.
- Probabilistic selection of linguistic elements influences their duration.
- Linguistic predictability can lead to enhanced phonetic realization, not reduced salience.
Related Concept Videos
01:29UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Woodward–Fieser Rules
UV–Visible absorption spectra of conjugated dienes arise from the lowest energy π → π* transitions. The light-absorbing part of the molecule is called the chromophore, and the substituents directly attached to the chromophore are called auxochromes. A strong correlation exists between the absorption maxima, λmax, and the structure of a conjugated π system. The Woodward–Fieser rules predict the value of λmax for a given structure by adding the contributions...
01:24Components of Language
Language, whether spoken, signed, or written, consists of specific components: lexicon and grammar. The lexicon is the vocabulary of a language, comprising its words. Grammar is the set of rules used to convey meaning through the lexicon. For example, English grammar adds “-ed” to most verbs to indicate past tense. Words are formed by combining phonemes, which are the basic sound units of a language. Different languages have different sets of phonemes (e.g., “ah” vs. “eh”). Phonemes combine to...
02:27Predicting Products: SN1 vs. SN2
Nucleophilic substitution reactions of alkyl halides can proceed via an SN1 or an SN2 mechanism. While in SN2 reactions, the nucleophile attacks the substrate simultaneously as the leaving group departs, in SN1 reactions, the substrate first dissociates to give the carbocation intermediate. Various factors such as the structure of the substrate, the strength of the nucleophile, and the nature of the solvent promote one mechanism over the other.
With increased substitution on the alkyl halide,...
With increased substitution on the alkyl halide,...
01:13¹H NMR: Complex Splitting
A proton M that is coupled to a proton X results in doublet signals for M. However, NMR-active nuclei can be simultaneously coupled to more than one nonequivalent nucleus. When M is coupled to a second proton A, such as in styrene oxide, each peak in the doublet is split into another doublet.
Splitting diagrams or splitting tree diagrams are routinely used to depict such complex couplings. While drawing splitting diagrams, the splitting with the larger coupling constant is usually applied first.
Splitting diagrams or splitting tree diagrams are routinely used to depict such complex couplings. While drawing splitting diagrams, the splitting with the larger coupling constant is usually applied first.
02:27Predicting Molecular Geometry
VSEPR Theory for Determination of Electron Pair Geometries
02:52Predicting Products: Substitution vs. Elimination
When a nucleophile and an alkyl halide react, nucleophilic substitution and β-elimination reactions compete to generate products.
The following factors can influence the mechanisms competing against each other:
The following factors can influence the mechanisms competing against each other: