ISCA Archive SpeechProsody 2012
ISCA Archive SpeechProsody 2012

On non-native speaker prosody: identifying "just-noticeable-differences" of speaker-ethnicity

Richard Todd

This study tackles the issue of speaker-nativeness and the minimal cues required for determining particular ethnic groups beyond chance level. The work highlights that the heavily marked nature of some L« speakers" voices make them fairly easy to single out as being foreign, generally. The investigation shows this is not the case for all non-native speakers, as some characteristics may sound quite like those of the native variety. By taking a finely nuanced approach to speaker-nativeness. -ethnicity, the empirical study uncovers which prosodic aspects remain native-like or become most differentiated during emphatic utterances.