This paper is concerned with automatic speech recognition (ASR) for accented speech. Given a small amount of speech from a new speaker, is it better to apply speaker adaptation to the baseline, or to use accent identification (AID) to identify the speaker’s accent and select an accent-dependent acoustic model? Three accent-based model selection methods are investigated: using the ‘true’ accent ...

This study examined how four- to five-year-olds and seven- to eight-year-olds used intonation (accent placement and accent type) to encode topic and focus in Dutch. Naturally spoken declarative sentences with either sentence-initial topic and sentence-final focus or sentence-initial focus and sentence-final topic were elicited via a picture-matching game. Results showed that the four- to five-y...

Accentuation serves to express both the discrete information concerning the accent type of a prosodic word and the continuous information concerning its prominence. This paper examines the latter aspect of accentuation using recorded radio news read by announcers. The amplitude of the accent command was extracted from anF0 contour and used as an index for the level of accentuation. Statistical ...

This study investigates the acoustic characteristics of non-native speech which give rise to the perception of a foreign accent. Japanese speech samples were collected from L1 English and Mandarin speakers studying Japanese. The acoustic patterns of the L2 and native speech were related to the accentedness ratings of the speech provided by native Japanese listeners. Results indicate the importa...

Segmental factors can cause large temporal changes in local pitch contours associated with accented syllables (“accent curves”), but these changes are often not phonologically or perceptually significant. Yet, other factors can cause temporal changes that are smaller but nevertheless significant. We propose a model according to which accent curves are (phonologically, perceptually) equivalent w...

In two perception experiments on read German, we investigate how far different accent positions and accent types are related to degrees of perceived givenness both in sentences in isolation and in context. Results reveal a stepwise decrease in the degree of perceived givenness from deaccentuation and prenuclear accents through low and early peak nuclear accents to high and rising nuclear accent...

A 40-year-old, non-aphasic, right-handed, and polyglot (L1: French, L2: Dutch, and L3: English) woman with a 12-year history of addiction to opiates and psychoactive substances, and clear psychiatric problems, presented with a foreign accent of sudden onset in L1. Speech evolved toward a mostly fluent output, despite a stutter-like behavior and a marked grammatical output disorder. The psychoge...

The current study explores the potential influence of an L2 on the acquisition of L3, in the context of English speaking learners of Japanese (the L2) and Korean (the L3). As a mean to assess the degree of influence of the L1 accent and L2 accent in L3 production, an experiment involving the perceptual judgment of a foreign accent was developed. Two groups of native English speakers [(i) five w...