Durational Patterns and Functions of Disfluent Word-repetitions: The Effect of Age and Speech Task

Bóna, Judit and Vakula, Tímea (2018) Durational Patterns and Functions of Disfluent Word-repetitions: The Effect of Age and Speech Task. In: CHALLENGES IN ANALYSIS AND PROCESSING OF SPONTANEOUS SPEECH. MTA Nyelvtudományi Intézet, Budapest, pp. 169-184. ISBN 978-963-9074-75-0 (nyomtatott), 978-963-9074-76-7 (online)

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse durational patterns and functions of disfluent whole-word repetitions in diverse age groups and speech tasks. Speech samples of school children (9-year-olds), adolescents (13-14-year- olds), young adults (20-25-year-olds) and old speakers (75+) were selected for the analysis. Recordings were made with each subject in two situations representing different speech tasks: 1) spontaneous narrative (participants spoke about their own lives and families), and 2) narrative recall (the task was to recall two texts they had listened to as accurately as possible). Results show that there are differences in the durational patterns and functions between the age groups in both speech tasks. Editing phases were significantly longer in 9-year-olds than in adults. In the ratio of the duration of R2 and R1, there were significant differences between 9-year-olds and the other three age groups, and between adolescents and the old speakers. As regards functions, in spontaneous narratives, the ratio of canonical repetitions was higher in 13- and 20-30-year-olds, and the ratio of stalling repetitions was higher in 9- and 75+-year-olds. In narrative recall, the ratio of stalling repetitions rose in 20-30- and 75+-year-olds. However, there were no significant differences between the speech tasks in any age group.

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