Segment imitation in unfamiliar language varieties Free

Phonetic imitation has been explored in various research: in studies on impersonation (Zetterholm 2001); spontaneous phonetic imitation (Babel 2012); and as part of studies investigating overall imitation (Papcun 1988; Babel 2011). There are fewer studies focusing on specific phonemes, and the context required for successful imitation. Babel (2012, 186) (Am.English) and Zetterholm (1997, 281) (Swedish) found spontaneous imitation was more common in the open vowels than in close. A case study by Zetterholm (1997, 275) of one impersonator shows formant measurements as closer to the target voice than that of the impersonator. This paper presents a comparative acoustic analysis of imitation of unfamiliar phonemes by untrained imitators, based on a small study containing recordings from SWEDIA and SUF. Vowel tokens are edited to 3 lengths with varying degrees of context. Listeners are asked to imitate the sound, and attempt to use it in a word. Acoustic analysis of F0, 1, 2 and 3 will be compared to the original recordings as well as the speakers' own speech. The conclusion and discussion includes indications of how easy it is to produce phonemes when they are not native to a speaker's own variant, as well as its relation to the forensic context.