An acoustic study of stress in L2 production of German and Spanish

Authors

  • Viola Miglio Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
  • Dorothy Chun Dept. of Germanic, Slavic and Semitic Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Keywords:

Settling tanks, Acoustic cues, German languages, Intensity changes, Laryngeal features, Pilot studies

Abstract

The auditory study of stress in L2 production of German and Spanish was carried out. The experimentally established acoustic cues of word stress include vowel duration, pitch, and intensity changes, along with laryngeal features. The study found that the magnitude of vowel duration differences between stressed and unstressed syllables were greater in the English NSs' speech than in the L2 Spanish learner's speech. The pilot study included three NSs of German, five American students in an advanced German language class, and five American students in a beginner class. The results of the study show that the analysis of the German vowels, the stressed tense (ST T) vowels were distinguished from the unstressed tense vowels (UN T), as were the stressed lax (ST L) and the unstressed lax (UN L) vowels.

Additional Files

Published

2008-12-01

How to Cite

1.
Miglio V, Chun D. An acoustic study of stress in L2 production of German and Spanish. Canadian Acoustics [Internet]. 2008 Dec. 1 [cited 2024 Apr. 18];36(4):44-5. Available from: https://jcaa.caa-aca.ca/index.php/jcaa/article/view/2104

Issue

Section

Technical Articles