Foreign accent syndrome and force of articulation

作者：van der Scheer Fennetta^*; Jonkers Roel; Gilbers Dicky

来源：Aphasiology, 2014, 28(4): 471-489.

DOI：10.1080/02687038.2013.866210

• Foreign accent syndrome
• Force of articulation

Background: Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is a rare, acquired neurogenic disorder characterised by altered speech that sounds foreign, for example, English with a French accent. Several prosodic and acoustic changes have been mentioned in the literature, but none has indicated an underlying mechanism clarifying the accent in speech.Aims: The present case study aims to capture the acoustic changes in the speech of a Dutch FAS speaker under one heading: increased force of articulation.Methods & Procedures: Some of the often described characteristics of FAS concerning speech rate, stress patterns, vowel reduction, voice onset time (VOT) and assimilation were analysed in the speech of a Dutch male (AA) who speaks with a foreign accent after a stroke. Fifty-two students of Linguistics and Speech Therapy were asked to evaluate the accent of AA and came up with a variety of perceived accents, like Arabic, Turkish, German, Spanish and French.Outcomes & Results: We argue that all investigated characteristics reveal an increase in force of articulation. The reported variation in perceived accents can be explained by a different focus on the variety of phonetic aspects of FAS related to the differences between the phonological systems of the perceived languages and Dutch.Conclusions: Increased force of articulation may lead to the perception of different foreign accents in speakers with FAS. The specific accent depends on the focus of the listener on one of the phonetic aspects of force of articulation.

• 出版日期2014-4-3