When we speak, the sound is transmitted through the air as a complex sound wave. How are various speech sounds – vowels and consonants – manifested acoustically? What does it mean, in physical terms, to have an accent? These and other related questions will be explored through computer-based acoustic analysis and perceptual experimentation. Upon completion of this course, students will (i) have overview knowledge of basic acoustic properties characterizing phonetic variation pertaining to speech, and accents in particular, (ii) be able to conduct simple speech production and perception experiments, and write up results in the form of scientific research reports, (iii) begin to read and understand scientific literature pertaining to acoustic phonetic variation and its relevance for communication.
When we speak, the sound is transmitted through the air as a complex sound wave. How are various speech sounds – vowels and consonants – manifested acoustically? What does it mean, in physical terms, to have an accent? These and other related questions will be explored through computer-based acoustic analysis and perceptual experimentation. Upon completion of this course, students will (i) have overview knowledge of basic acoustic properties characterizing phonetic variation pertaining to speech, and accents in particular, (ii) be able to conduct simple speech production and perception experiments, and write up results in the form of scientific research reports, (iii) begin to read and understand scientific literature pertaining to acoustic phonetic variation and its relevance for communication.
