A number of studies have examined the acoustic differences between infant-directed speech (IDS) and adult-directed speech, suggesting that the exaggerated acoustic properties of IDS might facilitate infants' language development. However, there has been little empirical investigation of the acoustic properties that infants use for word learning. The goal of this study was thus to examine how 19...

We review a number of examples in which there appear to be “quantal” attributes in functions that relate positions or states of articulators and the acoustic and perceptual consequences of these actions. As a consequence of this review, we have attempted to specify more clearly what defines a quantal relation: the speech production system can assume a set of discrete states such that there are ...

ABSTRACT The prediction of underwater acoustic propagation is important strategically and tactically in undersea warfare as it is a critical parameter in determining detection range. In the relatively shallow waters of the continental shelves the acoustic properties of the seabed become the dominant factor but there are only a few locations where the relevant properties have been adequately det...

We propose a general methodology and a set of practical recipes for the construction of ultra-broadband acoustic cloaks—structures that can render themselves and a concealed object undetectable by means of acoustic scattering. The acoustic cloaks presented here are designed and function analogously to electromagnetic cloaks. However, acoustic cloaks in a fluid medium do not suffer the bandwidth...

The state of the ground can change dramatically in response to changing meteorological influences and physical disturbances of the ground (e.g. tilling) that are important to many civilian and military activities. Permeability is the fundamental parameter of a porous media that controls whether a surface is an acoustically hard one, through which fluids may not easily penetrate, or conversely a...

A vertical array of five hydrophones was used to measure the acoustic field in the vertical plane of singing humpback whales. Once a singer was located, two swimmers with snorkel gear were deployed to determine the orientation of the whale and position the boat so that the array could be deployed in front of the whale at a minimum standoff distance of at least 10 m. The spacing of the hydrophon...

While cross-linguistic distributional patterns and perceptual studies of secondary palatalization suggest the existence of an asymmetry whereby the contrast between plain and palatalized consonants at the labial place of articulation is more marked than at the coronal place, a reversal of this pattern was noted in previous studies of Romanian, as far as perception is concerned. This paper prese...

Dastgeer Shaikh, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP), University of California, Riverside, CA 92521. USA. ([email protected]) Padma K. Shukla, Institut für Theoretische Physik IV and Centre for Plasma Science and Astrophysics, Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany. ([email protected]) Lennart Stenflo, Department of Physics, Umea Univers...

The in uence of sleeping conditions on human health and well-being is now fully understood, but still underestimated. Sleep disorders e.g. snoring, wheezing or sleep apnea are widespread among people of all ages, although prevalent amidst the male population, obese people with a high value of BMI, people who su ered a stroke, have hypertension or other heart diseases. Medical support is needed ...