Purpose: This study examined how speakers adapt to fundamental frequency (f[subscript o]) errors that affect the use of prosody to convey linguistic meaning, whether f[subscript o] adaptation in that context relates to adaptation in linguistically neutral sustained vowels, and whether cue trading is reflected in responses in the prosodic cues of…

The speech register that adults especially caregivers use when interacting with infants and toddlers, that is, infant-directed speech (IDS) or baby talk, has been reported to facilitate language development throughout the early years. However, the neural mechanisms as well as why IDS results in such a developmental faciliatory effect remain to be…

This study examined the interrelationships among and combined effects of word reading skills and syntactic knowledge on reading prosody in fifth-grade monolingual Spanish-speaking students. We used Spanish standardized tests to assess the participants (n = 169, 79 girls) on word and pseudoword reading skills, syntactic knowledge, and reading…

Sonority and its language-universal sonority-sequencing principle (SSP) define an important dimension of phonological grammar which aids in the segmentation of words into syllables (Clements in Pap Lab Phonol 1:283-333, 1990). Studies have yielded contradictory findings on sonority and SSP phonotactics in lexical perception of speech by children…

This study investigates the role of prosody in narration as a function of Labovian narrative structure and stancetaking in identity performance. This study is both an extension and enhancement of preliminary work that looked at a handful of prosodic features in Mexican Spanish narratives, and a novel investigation into discursive acts expressed…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability to discriminate yes/no questions from statements in three groups of children--bilateral cochlear implant (CI) users, nontraditional CI users with aidable hearing preoperatively in the ear to be implanted, and controls with normal hearing. Half of the nontraditional CI users had…

This study examines correlations between the prosody of infant-directed speech (IDS) and children's vocabulary size. We collected longitudinal speech data and vocabulary information from Dutch mother-child dyads with children aged 18 (N = 49) and 24 (N = 27) months old. We took speech context into consideration and distinguished between prosody…

Teaching for musical meaning can be a multifaceted topic, since a universally accepted definition of musical meaning is elusive; yet musical meaning remains at the heart of music literacy. Music literacy is equally complex, as changes in technology constantly reorganize how musical sounds are produced, recorded, and transmitted. Today, musical…

Current speech-to-speech translation systems face challenges in effectively translating the nuances of prosody, which plays a pivotal role in conveying speaker intent and stance in dialog. This limitation restricts cross-lingual communication, especially in situations demanding deeper interpersonal understanding. To address this, this research…

Purpose: Autistic individuals often face challenges perceiving and expressing emotions, potentially stemming from differences in speech prosody. Here we explore how autism diagnoses between groups, and measures of social competence within groups may be related to, first, children's speech characteristics (both prosodic features and amount of…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, lecturers wore masks which covered facial cues. In two studies, we examined students' ability to comprehend both factually and inferentially presented information when the speaker's facial cues were or were not available and when delivered with or without expressive prosody. While comprehension was not affected by the…

Purpose: Talkers adapt their speech according to the demands of their listeners and the communicative context, enhancing the properties of the signal (pitch, intensity) and/or properties of the code (enhancement of phonemic contrasts). This study asked how mothers adapt their child-directed speech (CDS) in ways that might serve the immediate goals…

Purpose: Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a motor speech disorder affecting articulatory planning and speech programming. When AOS is the sole manifestation of neurodegeneration, it is termed primary progressive apraxia of speech (PPAOS). Recent work has shown that there are distinct PPAOS subtypes: phonetic, prosodic, and those that do not clearly…

High variability pronunciation training (HVPT) has been found to be successful for training various segmentals, such as the challenging /l/-/[voiced alveolar approximant]/ contrast, and suprasegmental features such as tone and pitch accent. These studies have found that HVPT is an effective method not only in helping learners improve their…

The interactionist approach to second language acquisition has yielded a plethora of studies confirming the positive impact of interaction and corrective feedback on second language (L2) development. Nevertheless, only a few studies have attempted to investigate the development of L2 prosody using the interactionist approach. The current study…