The Sound(s) of Speech: Analyzing Prosody and Phonetics in Talk - Einzelansicht

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One of the fundamental and most obvious differences between writing and speech is their mode of production. While written language consists of graphic signs and symbols, speech is composed of sounds. However, when we talk, we are not only articulating individual speech sounds that we then string together to form the words that compose our utterances and turns-at-talking. We also draw on vocal resources above the level of individual sounds (e.g., intonation, loudness, tempo, different voice qualities) to convey certain meanings and/or to carry out specific actions with our talk. This course is designed to enable students to phonetically analyze the sound(s) of speech, both at the level of individual sounds (or segments) and at the level of larger units like words, utterances and turns (prosody/suprasegmentals). It aims to introduce students to central terms and concepts in those fields as well as to train them in conducting analyses of how speakers manipulate prosodic-phonetic parameters in their talk and what they may seek to accomplish with this. The analyses will use instances of real, situated and mostly spontaneous language use (not data elicited in laboratories). Special emphasis will be given to auditory analysis (using your ears), but we may occasionally use speech analysis software to underpin our auditory impression with acoustic measurements.