Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
Published byJoselyn Bonifas Modified over 9 years ago
2
More Adventures with Dialects: Convergence and Ambiguity Resolution by Partners in Conversation Brennan, Huffman, Hannigan, et al.
3
Assumptions about dialects Dialects encode geographic, demographic, educational socioeconomic info Dialects converge during interaction
4
Questions about dialects What IS a dialect? Do dialects really converge in conversation? How do listeners cope w/ variability in the speech signal, including that from dialects? Are all kinds of variability handled by the same processing mechanisms? Are representations of the sounds of a language stored as abstract prototypes or as different instances/variants? Is there parity between comprehension and production when it comes to dialectal variation?
5
Dialects aren’t all-or-nothing!
6
Adapting to a partner’s dialect Do speakers converge with a partner’s dialect? (Brennan & Huffman, in prep.) Long Island (LI) vs. General American (GA) dialect Design: Session 1 with LI addressee Session 2 with GA addressee
7
Sample dialect words to elicit: Consonants r-droptoaster, saucer, paperclip Vowels - Monophthongs “bad” plaid, cab, labcoat, bathtub “bat” hat, bat, cat, cap “ale” scale, tail, mailbox “ah”dot, pot, knot, cot Vowels - Diphthongs awchocolate, faucet, saw
8
Task: “Go fish” card game Subject: “I need a toaster.” Confed: “Here you go, a toaster.” or “Sorry, no toaster, go fish.” “OK, I need a lab coat.”
9
Dialect comparisons LI speech example: More examples of LI subjects in the context of confederates’ speech “cab”: LI subj., then GA confed. “saucer”: LI subj., then GA confed. “saucer”: LI conf., then LI subject (play) (repeat)
10
Results so far: Speakers do significantly less r-dropping to GA addressees than to LI addressees Very small change in monophthongs: F1 goes up slightly, F2 goes down slightly We need to look at differences for individual words (e.g., PLAID, CAB, LABCOAT, BATHTUB) Dipthongs: Stay tuned!
11
Implications Dialects are clusters of tendencies. Articulatory adaptations associated with dialect don’t occur as a unit. Some features of a dialect are more flexible than others. Adaptation may depend on awareness of a feature!
12
Adapting to a speaker’s dialect Do speakers converge with their partners’ dialects? (Brennan & Huffman, in prep.) Do listeners perceive homophones differently, depending on the dialect of the speaker? And does the listener’s own dialect matter? (with Stephanie Hannigan & Marie Huffman)
13
The parity issue, vis-à-vis dialects The comprehension (input) and production (output) issues are different. Dialectal variation is particularly hard to deal with on the input side.
14
When a dialect is unfamiliar, the source of the variation is ambiguous Tourist: Excuse me, is it pronounced ‘Hawaii’ or ‘Havaii’? Benny Hill: Havaii Tourist: Thank you! Benny Hill: You’re velcome! (Kraljic, Brennan, & Samuel, under review)
15
Welcome to Long Island! (In a deli, ordering a sliced turkey sandwich:) (example courtesy of Meghan Sumner)
16
Welcome to Long Island! (In a deli, ordering a sliced turkey sandwich:) Would you like white meat or dog meat? (example courtesy of Meghan Sumner)
17
Adapting to a speaker’s dialect Type AType BType C codcawedcord podpawedpoured tottaughttorte stockstalkstork sodsawedsoared tocktalktorque cockcaulkcork cotcaughtcourt
18
Adapting to a speaker’s dialect GA homophones Type AType BType C codcawedcord podpawedpoured tottaughttorte stockstalkstork sodsawedsoared tocktalktorque cockcaulkcork cotcaughtcourt
19
Adapting to a speaker’s dialect LI homophones Type AType BType C codcawedcord podpawedpoured tottaughttorte stockstalkstork sodsawedsoared tocktalktorque cockcaulkcork cotcaughtcourt
20
Adapting to a speaker’s dialect Subjects’ own dialects are tested Questionnaire Read a story aloud Exposed to either LI or GA dialect (story) Perform a word selection task Critical trials had either an LI or a GA homophone competitor
21
Does perceived ambiguity depend on who the speaker is? Type AType BType C codcawedcord podpawedpoured tottaughttorte stockstalkstork sodsawedsoared tocktalktorque cockcaulkcork cotcaughtcourt
22
Does perceived ambiguity depend on who the speaker is? “Click cawed” stair cod+ cawed ice
23
Does perceived ambiguity depend on who the speaker is? “Click cawed” stair cod+ cawed ice (GA dialect)
24
Does perceived ambiguity depend on who the speaker is? “Click cawed” stair cod+ cawed ice (LI dialect)
25
Does perceived ambiguity depend on who the speaker is? “Click caught” told court+ caught ski
26
Does perceived ambiguity depend on who the speaker is? “Click caught” told court+ caught ski (LI dialect)
27
Does perceived ambiguity depend on who the speaker is? “Click caught” told court+ caught ski (GA dialect)
28
An utterance’s ambiguity depends on the perceived dialect… If it’s all about priming, then who the speaker is shouldn’t matter! Type AType BType C codcawedcord podpawedpoured tottaughttorte stockstalkstork sodsawedsoared tocktalktorque cockcaulkcork cotcaughtcourt
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.