Earbuds: A Method for Analyzing Nasality in the Field

Date
2017-03
Authors
Stewart, Jesse
Kohlberger, Martin
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University of Hawaii Press
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Starting Page
49
Ending Page
80
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Abstract
Existing methods for collecting and analyzing nasality data are problematic for linguistic fieldworkers: aerodynamic equipment can be expensive and difficult to transport, and acoustic analyses require large amounts of optimally-recorded data. In this paper, a highly mobile and low-cost method is proposed. By connecting low impedance earbuds into a microphone jack of a recording device and placing one earbud immediately below one nostril while keeping the other earbud by the mouth, it is possible to capture the relative intensity of sound exiting the nasal and oral cavities. The two channels can then be normalized to assess the relative prominence of nasality and orality in a given speech sound. This method can not only be used to establish whether nasality is present in a speech signal, but it can also provide information about the timing and duration of nasal gestures. As such, it is an ideal tool for collecting high-quality nasality data in the field.
Description
Keywords
Nasality (Phonetics), nasalance, field phonetics, Research--Methodology
Citation
Stewart, Jesse & Martin Kohlberger. 2017. Earbuds: A Method for Analyzing Nasality in the Field. Language Documentation & Conservation 11. 49-80.
Extent
32 pages
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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
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