Doctoral defense: Liis Ermus 'The phonetic variation of plosives in Estonian'

On 26 August 2024, at 14:15 Liis Ermus will defend her doctoral thesis "The phonetic variation of plosives in Estonian" ("Sulghäälikute häälduse varieerumine eesti keeles") for obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Estonian language).

Supervisors:
Associate Professor Pire Teras (University of Tartu)
PhD Meelis Mihkla (Institute of Estonian Language)

Opponent:
PhD Eleanor Chodroff (University of Zürich)

Summary:
When we speak, the sounds of speech become more similar to each other compared to when they are pronounced separately. This phenomenon of sound segments becoming similar - coarticulation - occurs in all languages of the world, a little different in each. Plosives differ from other sounds in that, while there is a constant airflow in the speech tract when pronouncing other sounds, there are distinct phases when pronouncing plosives: the airflow is interrupted, a closure is created, the sound disappears, and then the closure opens with a slight burst. Due to coarticulation, the pronunciation of these phases may be reduced and the burst phase may be lost. In my dissertation, I studied the behaviour of Estonian plosives /k p t/ in connected speech.

The work showed that the short plosives in Estonian language are pronounced much weaker in connected speech compared to the isolated pronunciation. This is probably due to short durations during which the speaker is unable to complete all the articulatory movements or makes several at a time. Weakening occurred in both spontaneous and read registers. Long plosives were a little more stable and their bursts did not disappear, but completely voiceless tokens were outnumbered in both short and long plosives. Different quantity degrees were mainly distinguished by the duration of the sound. The duration of the burst phase, which differs between quantity degrees in some other languages, was the same for all quantity degrees in Estonian. Differences were evident in the intensity and spectrum of the burst phase. There were hints to slightly stronger pronunciation in the burst spectrum in the second and third quantity degrees, as did the intensity of the burst compared to that of the adjacent vowels.

The results of the work confirmed the validity of universal tendencies in Estonian, but also provided new information about, for example, the acoustics of the previously unexplored burst phase and provided ideas for further studies.

The defense can be followed via Zoom:
https://ut-ee.zoom.us/j/98086329388?pwd=YHcxubbvcFrF6OQC4rchFTv5fTPIsd.1
Meeting ID: 980 8632 9388
Passcode: 687898