Relating pronunciation distance metrics to intelligibility across English accents

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4579188
AutoresTessa Bent (0000-0001-7604-1835, Indiana University Bloomington, autor de correspondencia), Malachi Henry (0000-0002-9223-0879, Indiana University Bloomington), Rachael F Holt (0000-0002-6928-9821, The Ohio State University), Holly Lind-Combs (0000-0002-0395-0111, The Ohio State University)
Año2024
Volumen107
Páginas101357
Fecha de publicación2024-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Phonetics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0095-4470 • E-ISSN: 1095-8576
EditorialElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.wocn.2024.101357
OpenAlexW4402563271
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas64

Unfamiliar accents can cause word recognition challenges, particularly in noisy environments, but few studies have incorporated quantitative pronunciation distance metrics to explain intelligibility differences across accents. To address this gap, intelligibility was measured for 18 talkers -- two from each of three first-language, one bilingual, and five second-language accents -- in quiet and two noise conditions. The relations between two edit distance metrics, which quantify phonetic differences from a reference accent, and intelligibility scores were assessed. Intelligibility was quantified through both fuzzy string matching and percent words correct. Both edit distance metrics were significantly related to intelligibility scores; a heuristic edit distance metric was the best predictor of intelligibility for both scoring methods. Further, there were stronger effects of edit distance as the listening condition increased in difficulty. Talker accent also contributed substantially to intelligibility models, but relations between accent and edit distance did not consistently pattern for the two talkers representing each accent. Frequency of production differences in vowels and consonants was negatively correlated with intelligibility, particularly for consonants. Together, these results suggest that significant amounts of variability in intelligibility across accents can be predicted by phonetic differences from the listener’s home accent. However, talker- and accent-specific pronunciation features, including suprasegmental characteristics, must be quantified to fully explain intelligibility across talkers and listening conditions

Intelligibility (philosophy) · Linguistics · Natural language processing · Pronunciation · Speech recognition · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Speech Recognition and Synthesis