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Linear Correlates in the Speech Signal: The Orderly Output Constraint

Sussman , Harvey M., Fruchter , David, Hilbert , Jon and Sirosh , Joseph Linear Correlates in the Speech Signal: The Orderly Output Constraint.

Short Abstract:

Neuroethological studies of mammalian and avian auditory systems have revealed species-specific specializations that may have implications for human speech perception. Animal neural models may provide a partial solution to the "noninvariance dilemma" in the relation between the acoustic waveform and the phonetic segment in human processing of consonant-vowel sequences. Critical sound parameters used to establish species-specific categories in the mustached bat and barn owl exhibit high correlation and linearity for physical reasons. A cue long known to be relevant to the perception of place of articulation is the second formant transition (F2). "Locus equations" describe this correlation between the F2 of a vowel and F2 measured at the onset of the consonant-vowel transition across diverse speakers and languages, and even when articulation is perturbed. This correlation (the "Orderly Output Constraint") may contribute to an evolved processing strategy in mammalian auditory systems.

Long Abstract:

Neuroethological studies of mammalian and avian auditory systems have revealed species-specific specializations that may have implications for human speech perception. Animal neural models may provide a partial solution to the "noninvariance dilemma" in the relation between the acoustic waveform and the phonetic segment in human processing of consonant-vowel sequences. Critical sound parameters used to establish species-specific categories in the mustached bat and barn owl exhibit high correlation and linearity for physical reasons. A cue long known to be relevant to the perception of place of articulation is the second formant transition (F2). "Locus equations" describe this correlation between the F2 of a vowel and F2 measured at the onset of the consonant-vowel transition across diverse speakers and languages, and even when articulation is perturbed. This correlation (the "Orderly Output Constraint") may contribute to an evolved processing strategy in mammalian auditory systems.

Keywords:	neuroethology; invariance; evolution; speech perception; place of articulation; phonology neural maps; speech production; coarticulation; homoplasy
Subjects:	Biology: Ethology Psychology: Cognitive Psychology Linguistics: Learnability Linguistics: Semantics Linguistics: Syntax Neuroscience: Neuroanatomy Neuroscience: Neural Modelling
ID code:	bbs00000474
Deposited by:	Harvey M Sussman on 01 May 2001