In a data set of 291 spontaneous utterances from German 5-year-olds, 7-year-olds and adults, nuclear pitch contours were labeled manually using the GToBI annotation system. Ten different contour types were identified.The fundamental frequency (F0) of these contours was modeled using third-order orthogonal polynomials, following an approach similar…

Compares sound patterns in the speech of two Brazilian-Portuguese speaking children with early production patterns in English-learning children as well as English and Brazilian-Portuguese characteristics. Results emphasize the primacy of production system effects in early acquisition, although even the earliest word forms show evidence of…

English-speaking children reduce words by omitting syllables in certain predictable patterns. To better understand the nature of phonological reductions in children, this study explored whether adults produce predictable output patterns when reducing words. (Author/VWL)

Demonstrates that the contextual probability of lexical items in a continuous sample of spontaneous speech, as measured by the predictability of words in context, is related to word frequency. (Author/RL)

Compares the ability of English speakers and Portuguese speakers to learn two complex rhythm patterns observed in languages with primary word stress. Subjects were familiarized with one of two rhythms during a discrimination task, followed by a recognition task that tested whether knowledge of the rhythm generalized to novel stimuli.(Author/VWL)