The acoustic diversity in the phoneme inventories of the world’s languages
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/ths-2014-007Keywords
speech processing, languages comparison, phoneme analysisAbstract
A comparative analysis of multi-language speech samples is conducted using acoustic characteristics of phoneme realisations in spoken languages. Different approaches to investigation of phonemic diversity in the context of language evolution are compared and discussed. We introduced our approach (materials and methods) and presented preliminary results of research. We built an online database dedicated to voice acquisition and a storage of good quality speech samples collected across the globe. Software designed for automatic extraction and analysis of phonemes was developed and adapted for languages classification. Research involves both experimental and theoretical works that aim at gaining knowledge about phonetic diversity of languages across the world. Additionally, the expected results may be applied to verify the hypothesis of modern languages expansion from Africa, brought to attention by Atkinson.
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