LTCM 280. Studying Human Language
Short Essay (Experiment) 1
Due on October 14, 2021
Name :____Reem Aldahmani____________________________
ID#:_________________100052085_____________
Part I: Voice Onset Times (40 points)
Instructions:
1. Record yourself reading the following list of words (in order) the way you would use them in
everyday life communication (the Emirati Arabic dialect for the Arabic words). Use only one
continuous sound file and save it as .wav. Start by recording your name and then read the
words as naturally as possible.
2. Using Praat, measure the VOT of the first stop in each of these English and Arabic words. Enter
your measurement in milliseconds in the following table. The words have to be annotated as a
textgrid file and saved accordingly. Use only two tiers (name the first tier vot and name the second
tier word).
3. Describe what the results suggest. Are there any patterns observed?
4. Submit the assignment sheet to Turnitin and submit the sound file (.wav) and textgrid file by
email.
Voiceless Stops
Word (IPA)
Voiced Stops
VOT (ms)
tear
Word (IPA)
57ms dear
VOT (ms)
290ms
too
87ms
do
-307ms
tab
40ms
dad
-270ms
keen
64ms
geese
-278ms
cool
90ms
goose
-179ms
can
48ms
gap
-356ms
/tˤir/
‫طﯿﺮ‬
11ms
/bat/
‫ﺑﺎت‬
-186ms
/tˤar/
‫طﺎر‬
8ms
/bur/
‫ﺑﻮر‬
-230ms
/tˤub/ ‫طﻮب‬
10ms
/biʕ/
‫ﺑﯿﻊ‬
-266,s
Tear and Dear
T and D are both alveolar, but T has a lower vowel than D. Both have ea depicted in the middle.
Tear has a long VOT lag, whereas dear has a short VOT lag.
Too and Do
T and D are both alveolar, but T has a low vowel. They have a [ae] vowel in the back, which is a
high back vowel. Tab has a long lag VOT, whereas Dad has a short lag VOT, indicating that the
vowel is high. Ta is the shorter of the two.
Tab and DAD
K and G are both velour, but K has a lower back. They have the vowel ee[I], which is a long back
vowel. While Geese have a long lag VOT, Geese have a short lag VOT, indicating that the vowel
is high.
Cool and goose
C and K are both velar and have a long-lag VOT, whereas G is velar and has a short-lag VOT.
Can and Gab
C and K are both velar and have a long-lag VOT, whereas G is short-lag and has a short-lag
VOT.
‫ﺑﺎت طﯿﺮ‬
The T in Bat is velar and has a long lag, whereas the B in Bat is plosives and has a short lag VOT.
‫طﺎر ﺑﻮر‬
The T in Bat is velar and has a long lag, whereas the B in Bat is plosive and has a short lag VOT.
‫ﺑﯿﻊ طﻮب‬
The T in Bat is velar and has a long lag, whereas the B in Bat is plosive and has a short lagVOT.
- As the "praat" program can easily observe and determine, voiced constants are usually longer
and have a negative value, whereas voiceless constants are short and positive. The voiced
constants are negative because the voicing process occurs before the release stop, burst, and
before the vowel is formed.
Part II: Spectrogram reading (10 points)
Which of the following spectrograms represent the words: pen, bag, spa, and days? Match each word
with its spectrogram representation.
a)
b)
a. ______spa________
b. ______days________
c. _______pen_______
d. ______bag________
c)
d