Introduction (to JCL special issue: The Physiological Aspects of Phonetics
引言(生理語音學研究 (英文版中国语言学报专辑))
Jiangping Kong 孔江平
Abstract 摘要
The study of modern phonetics in China has come a long way over the last nine decades; this progress has included discovering the four tones of standard Chinese, introducing modern phonetic studies from the West, developing acoustical analysis, exploring physical aspects of phonetics, etc. Further advancing the field is The Physiological Aspects of Phonetics, new special issue of Journal Chinese Linguistics (ISSN 0091-3723) volume 43 number 1B (2015), edited by Prof. Jiangping Kong of Peking University, in which ten research papers in English on physiological aspects of phonetics in China are presented. in three parts: 1) The first four papers are on speech models, including three papers for geometrical models of Mandarin, and one paper for the physiological articulatory model; 2) The next three papers are on physiological phonetic studies that used electropalatography (EPG), instruments for air-pressure and flow, and aspiration; 3) The final three papers concern with phonation types of tones by using EGG signal and perception test.
1. Speech models
“An Articulatory Model of Standard Chinese Using MRI and X-ray” has explored the articulatory mechanism of speech production in Standard Chinese and developed a geometrical articulatory model, both in visual and acoustic modalities, based on the data of MRI images and an X-ray movie. “A Two-Dimension Lip Model for Mandarin Chinese”, established a two dimensional lip model with inner and outer lip contours which has well defined the linguistic term ‘lip rounding’ and was used to generate audio-visual stimuli for the speech perception experiment of the McGurk Effect. “A Dynamic Glottal Model through High-speed Imaging” has introduced a dynamic glottal model based on high-speed imaging and the model controlled by dynamic glottal widths, lengths, F0, Open Quotient and Speed Quotient which can produce speech sources with different phonation types. “A Control Strategy of a Physiological Articulatory Model for Speech Production” has constructed a full three-dimensional physiological-articulatory model, including the tongue, jaw, hyoid bone and vocal tract wall, based on the continuum finite element method.
2. Physiological phonetic studies
“Prosodic Boundaries Effect on Segment Articulation in Standard Chinese: An Articulatory and Acoustic Study” has investigated the EPG and acoustic data of the prosodic boundaries effect on the domain-initial segments in Standard Chinese, with the aim of examining the domain-initial strengthening in both spatial and temporal dimensions. “A Study on the Features of Chest and Abdominal Breathing when Reciting and Chanting Chinese Poetry” has studied the features of chest and abdominal breathing when reciting and chanting Chinese poems of different styles. “An Aerodynamic Study on Articulation of Mandarin Initials” has studied the aerodynamic features of Mandarin initial consonants with different articulatory places and manners and found that the parameters of expiratory airflow duration (EAD), peak air-pressure (PAP), peak expiratory airflow (PEA) and expiratory volume (EV) can all be regarded as the distinctive features in consonants.
3. Phonation types of tones by using EGG signal and perception test
“Variations of Laryngeal Features in Jianchuan Bai” has examined the tonal quality based on three parameters of F0, OQ and SQ from EGG signals and found that there are two non-modal phonation types, namely Harsh and Pressed. “The Role of Phonation Cues in Mandarin Tonal Perception” has investigated the role of phonation cues in perceiving Mandarin tones in isolated syllables and found that it is necessary to define language tones in a finer model by incorporating detailed phonation parameters. “The Creaky Voice and its Tonal Description Method” has studied the different phonation types in Chinese Dilu dialect through F0, OQ and SQ from EGG signals and proposed a tone transcription system for languages that have various phonation types.