#phonated articulations

[yeli-renrong]

The inventary vocalic at seven vowels is rich in comparison at the other languages otomangues who have an majority five vowels, with a contrast at three nivels of fermiture and three nivels of anteriority, the position central beingn't occupied that per an vowel central-overt.

It exists also dix-nine contrasts consonantics, from where three appearisen't with which the emprunts spanishes. The amuzgo has as contrasts at five lels of articulations, and five manners of articulations, without distinction of voicement. The segments entering parentheses are rares or existn't that in emprunts. These who are entering crochets are as allophones. As segments complexes are admitted from within our inventary for the considerations phonotactics and phonetics.

With an squelette syllabic also strict and an number of restrictions under the possible clusters in attack, the amuzgo trouves its structural allures. With its languages sisters, it's for the others strategies which that language augments its inventaries. As systems of phonation of voice souffle et laryngalized, of nasality, of ballisticity under the syllable (analyzed behold here in the mode of the soufflement in fin of mot, but which exprime themselves in party for the modulation tonal at the nivel of the syllable), and not minus the eleven valors tonals (6 tons lies at the syllable non-ballistic, and 5 lies at the syllable ballistic), forment an eventuality of diverse possibilities structurals, give an grain final of oppositions and of contrasts. To in thus, the inventory vocalic could be gonfled of September at 48 valors if we count the number of vowels, multiplied for the four valors of voice (souffle, cracked, ballistic and modal) that gives 48 valors vocalics.

[xuexishijian]

Articulatory Phonetics - 调音语音学

字音 zǐyīn - (n.) consonant (also 福音 fǔyīn)

调音部位diàoyīnbùwèi - (n.) place of articulation (also 发音部位)

双唇音 shuāngchúnyīn - (n.) bilabial sound

唇齿音/齿唇音 chúnchǐyīn/chǐchúnyīn - (n.) labiodental sound

齿音 chǐyīn - (n.) dental sound

齿龈音 chǐyínyīn - (n.) alveolar sound

龈腭音 yín'èyīn - (n.) alveolo-palatal sound

卷舌音 juǎnshéyīn - (n.) retroflex sound

腭音 èyīn - (n.) palatal sound

软腭音 ruǎn'èyīn - (n.) velar sound

小舌音 xiǎoshéyīn - (n.) uvular sound

咽音 yānyīn - (n.) pharyngeal sound

声门音/喉音 shēngményīn/hóuyīn - (n.) glottal sound

调音方法 diàoyīnfāngfǎ - (n.) manner of articulation

阻碍音 zǔ'àiyīn - (n.) obstruent

塞音 sèyīn - (n.) stop, plosive

擦音 cāyīn - (n.) fricative

咝音 sīyīn - (n.) sibilant

塞擦音 sècāyīn - (n.) affricate

响音 xiǎngyīn - (n.) sonorant

鼻音 bíyīn - (n.) nasal

流音 liúyīn - (n.) liquid

边音 biānyīn - (n.) lateral

近音 jìnyīn - (n.) approximant

半元音bànyuányīn - (n.) semivowel, glide

颤音 chànyīn - (n.) trill

弹音 tányīn - (n.) tap

闪音 shǎnyīn - (n.) flap

发声态 fāshēngtài - (n.) phonation

清音 qīngyīn - (n.) voiceless sound

浊音 zhuóyīn (n.) voiced sound

送气音 sòngqìyīn - (n.) aspirated sound

不送气音 búsòngqìyīn - (n.) unaspirated sound (also 非送气音)

发声起始时间 fāshēngqǐshǐshíjiān - (n.) voice-onset time (VOT)

元音 yuányīn - (n.) vowel

元音高度 yuányīn gāodù - (n.) vowel height

元音舌位 yuányīn shéwèi - (n.) vowel backness

前元音 qiányuányīn - (n.) front vowel

央元音 yāngyuányīn - (n.) central vowel

后元音 hòuyuányīn - (n.) back vowel

闭元音 bìyuányīn - (n.) close vowel

次闭元音 cìbìyuányīn - (n.) near-close vowel

半闭元音 bànbìyuányīn - (n.) close-mid vowel

中元音 zhōngyuányīn - (n.) mid vowel

半开元音 bànkāiyuányīn - (n.) open-mid vowel

次开元音 cìkāiyuányīn - (n.) near-open vowel

开元音 kāiyuányīn - (n.) open vowel

圆唇元音 yuánchúnyuányīn- (n.) rounded vowel

不圆唇元音 bùyuánchúnyuányīn - (n.) unrounded vowel

鼻化元音 bíhuāyuányīn - (n.) nasal vowel

声调/声 shēngdiào/shēng - (n.) tone

阴平声 yīnpíngshēng - (n.) high level tone

阳平声 yángpíngshēng - (n.) rising tone

上声 shǎngshēng (also shàngshēng) - (n.) falling-rising tone

去声 qùshēng - (n.) falling tone

轻声 qīngshēng - (n.) neutral tone

声道 shēngdào - (n.) vocal tract

发音器官 fāyīnqìguān - (n.) articulators, speech organs

肺脏 fèizàng - (n.) lungs

喉 hóu - (n.) larynx

声带 shēngdài - (n.) vocal folds

振动 zhèndòng - (v.) vibrate

口腔 kǒuqiāng - (n.) oral cavity

颚 è - (n.) jaw

鼻腔 bíqiāng - (n.) nasal cavity

舌根 shégēn - (n.) tongue root

舌面 shémiàn - (n.) tongue body (dorsum) (also 舌背）

舌尖 shéjiān - (n.) tongue tip

We can also divide the tongue like this: 舌前部，舌���部，舌后部

气流机制 qìliújīzhì - (n.) airstream mechanism

外呼音 wàihūyīn - (n.) egressive sound

内吸音 nèixīyīn - (n.) ingressive sound

肺部外呼音 fèibùwàihūyīn - (n.) pulmonic egressive sound

声门外呼音 shēngménwàihūyīn - (n.) glottalic egressive sound

挤喉音 jǐhóuyīn - (n.) ejective consonant

声门内吸音 shēngménnèixīyīn - (n.) glottalic ingressive sound

内爆音 nèibàoyīn - (n.) implosive consonant

舌内吸音 shénèixīyīn - (n.) lingual (velaric) ingressive sound

搭嘴音 dāzuǐyīn - (n.) click consonant

声源-滤波器理论 shēngyuán-lǜbōqì lǐlùn - (n.) source-filter theory

[1rakus]

speaking

intonation tone

cadence inflexionUK

inflectionUS modulation

accentuation lilt

pitch timbre

accent cadency

emphasis stress

brogue articulation

enunciation pronunciation

sound tonality

rise and fall tone of voice

delivery speech

elocution manner of speaking

diction utterance

twang drawl

orthoepy burr

fluency locution

strength volume

force expression

mode of expression voice

manner approach

execution performance

change of tone change of timbre

change of pitch vocal sound

vocalizationUS voicing

saying uttering

sounding syllabification

phonetics phonemics

phonology phonation

vocalisationUK speaking

communication verbalization

talk talking

language statement

parlance venting

recital recitation

phraseology conversation

declaration proclamation

airing discourse

vocalizingUS speechmaking

presentation oratory

speechifying broadcast

exposition exclamation

elucidation publication

pronouncement narration

mention speechification

announcement ventilation

rhetoric intercourse

vocalisingUK words

publicizingUS asseveration

speech-making verbalism

assertion revelation

oral communication phrasing

vocal expression verbal expression

publicisingUK setting forth

measure vociferation

formulation commentary

tabling wording

interchange writing

vocabulary vocalism

converse interaction

façon de parler means of expression

mouthing wordcraft

composition verbal communication

spoken language spoken communication

declamation doublespeak

discussion lingo

vernacular tongue

dialect dialogUS

dialogueUK prattle

spiel prose

palaver jargon

idiom expressing

double talk mother tongue

native tongue oration

eloquence speechcraft

dramatic reading

public speaking art of speaking

voice production voice culture

my friend i really appreciate you but do you think i didnt go to the thesaurus first

[mybookof-you]

"Features of the voiced uvular trill:

Its manner of articulation is trill, which means it is produced by directing air over an articulator so that it vibrates. Unlike in tongue-tip trills, it is the uvula, not the tongue, that vibrates.[1]

Its place of articulation is uvular, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the uvula.

Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.

It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.

It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.

Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds."

[beelievepediatrictherapy]

Increase Oral Health with Myofunctional Speech Therapy: Trusted Therapy at Beelieve Pediatric Therapy

Myofunctional Speech Therapy plays a crucial role in enhancing oral health, offering specialized care at Beelieve Pediatric Therapy. This therapy focuses on correcting oral muscle function and improving overall speech patterns, benefiting children with various oral health challenges.

Understanding Myofunctional Speech Therapy

Myofunctional Therapy targets the muscles of the face, mouth, and throat to address issues such as improper tongue placement, swallowing difficulties, and incorrect breathing patterns. These issues can lead to dental problems, speech impediments, and even affect facial development if left untreated.

At Beelieve Pediatric Therapy, our certified therapists employ evidence-based techniques to evaluate and treat these conditions effectively. By guiding patients through exercises and corrective techniques, therapists help retrain muscles for proper function, leading to improved oral health and speech clarity.

Benefits of Myofunctional Therapy

Myofunctional Therapy offers a range of benefits that contribute to overall oral health:

Correcting Tongue Placement: Proper tongue posture is essential for dental alignment and swallowing. Myofunctional Therapy teaches patients how to position the tongue correctly, preventing issues like tongue thrust that can affect dental health.

Improving Breathing Patterns: Many children with oral myofunctional disorders exhibit mouth breathing, which can lead to dry mouth, tooth decay, and facial abnormalities. Therapy focuses on encouraging nasal breathing, promoting better oral and overall health.

Enhancing Speech Clarity: Speech disorders often stem from underlying oral muscle issues. Myofunctional Therapy targets these muscles to improve articulation and phonation, helping children speak more clearly and confidently.

Preventing Dental Problems: By addressing the root causes of oral myofunctional disorders, therapy reduces the risk of dental issues such as malocclusion (misalignment of teeth), gum disease, and excessive tooth wear.

Supporting Facial Development: Proper muscle function is crucial for normal facial growth and development. Myofunctional Therapy aids in ensuring that facial muscles develop harmoniously, contributing to a balanced facial appearance.

Why Choose Beelieve Pediatric Therapy?

At Beelieve Pediatric Therapy, we specialize in providing personalized care for children with diverse needs. Our therapists are trained in the latest myofunctional techniques, tailored to address each child's specific challenges effectively. We prioritize creating a supportive and engaging environment where children feel comfortable and motivated to participate in therapy.

Conclusion

Myofunctional Speech Therapy at Beelieve Pediatric Therapy offers a transformative approach to enhancing oral health and speech development in children. By targeting underlying muscle issues and promoting proper function, this therapy not only improves speech clarity but also prevents dental problems and supports overall facial development. For families seeking specialized care that makes a lasting difference, Beelieve Pediatric Therapy stands as a trusted partner in promoting children's oral health and well-being through Myofunctional Therapy.

Whether addressing speech impediments, dental concerns, or overall facial muscle development, Myofunctional Therapy at Beelieve Pediatric Therapy is dedicated to helping children achieve their full potential in oral health and communication skills.

[albonoooo]

if i ever hear someone say jah-lex, i'm throwing hands and here's why.*

the english g-sound is more of a category than a phonetic fact and thus called a phoneme (this is also the case for many other sounds). physical realisations of this (or any) speech sound are called phones. phones that function as alternant realisations of the same phoneme are known as allophones of the phoneme.

so, in the english language, the phoneme /g/ has two phones which function as allophones of this phoneme. they are the following:

1. the hard <g>

is a voiced velar plosive pronounced [ɡ]

voiced: the vocal folds are held together while producing this sound which causes a vibration referred to as 'voicing' (phonation)

velar: the sound is produced with the tongue body raised and retracted against the velum (place of articulation)

plosive: there's a complete closure at the point of articulation, so that no air can get past. then, the closure is suddenly released, resulting in a burst noise (manner of articulation)

[ɡ] is typically followed by back vowels <u, o, a> or consonants (for vowel charts, see the pictures below)

[g] is also the more common pronunciation of /g/ at the end of a word

2. the soft <g>

is a voiced post-alveolar affricate pronounced [ʤ]

voiced: see above

post-alveolar: the sound is produced with the tongue blade behind the alveolar ridge (place of articulation)

affricate: there's a stop-like closure at the point of articulation, followed by a slow release (manner of articulation)

[ʤ] is typically followed by front vowels <i, e, y>

please note that sometimes, hard pronunciation preceding front vowels may occur (think of the gif vs jif debate). this especially applies to words of germanic origin, loan words from other languages and irregular greco-latinate words.

(we can be happy it's only these two, in old english there were four.)

vowel charts of cardinal vowels; primary chart on the left and secondary chart on the right:

this alternation in pronunciation has its roots in a palatalization of <g> which took place in late latin (hence, some time between the 3rd and 6th century ad). palatalization is a sound change that leads to a palatalized articulation of a consonant, i. e. a manner of sound production in which a part of the tongue is moved close to the hard palate. in this particular case, the palatalization resulted in a different pronunciation of the letter <g> when followed by front vowels. due to orthographic convention, even languages that don't descend from latin inherited this feature. i'm pretty sure french pronunciation rules also had something to do with all this, but this is already too long.

especially the last part of this is if course incredibly brief and leaves out a lot of detail, but i think it serves the purpose of giving a broad overview which is all i wanted. in conclusion, galex is pronounced with a hard <g>. don't piss me off.

*i passed my 'introduction to english language and linguistics' module despite barely paying attention in the lectures and am thus qualified to talk about this.

[scientifichubris]

Leave me alone I was literally made in a lab

[mixelation]

Fictional Biology Thing: Hidan talking when his head is cut off (what diaphragm? What larynx?)

Most of Hidan's biology I can excuse because 1) it's funny, and 2) "divine intervention" is a pretty good excuse for just ignoring how biology works LMAO. Hidan screams while beheaded because God wants him to.

However! Let's try to investigate. (Warning for some anatomy cartoons under the cut.)

So, canon recap for the two people on my blog who are not Akatsuki trash: Hidan is a character who is functionally immortal due to the divine intervention of his god, Jashin. There is a scene where his head is cut off and his head continues to yell and articulate speech while fully detached from his body.

Full disclaimer that I'm not a human biologist or in medicine so I haven't studied this in depth and things might be inaccurate, BUT basic anatomy review: air is pulled into/pushed out of your lungs by contraction/relaxation of your diaphragm. That air also passes through your larynx, which contains structures that vibrate to produce noise (phonation). The passage of air can be further modified after it moves through your larynx into your mouth-ish area, which I believe is called articulation. (I told you I'm an an anatomist.)

Having your head chopped off obviously means that you no longer have your diaphragm to push air through your throat, which is step 1 of speech. So Jashin is..... pushing air through Hidan's throat for him? To spread the good word?? Or! Maybe Hidan is just really good at a very specific wind jutsu because he refuses to shut up, ever. Where's that fic?

It's unclear to me if, when we see Hidan's screaming head, his larynx has been damaged. Here's where your larynx is:

And Hidan had his head cut off here (note that wee never see the gritty details of the wound, so we don't know how damaged the interior of his neck is-- however Asuma beheaded him with his Special Sharp Knife while Hidan was immobilized, so I assume the cut was pretty clean):

So Hidan might have had an intact larynx! However, he also shows perfect muscle control of his face, which uh.... again, not an anatomist, but a lot of facial muscles also extend into your neck:

Injuries to your neck can cause parts of your face to go slack and disrupt speech, due to damage to muscle/nerves..... so I don't think Hidan would be able to speak clearly even if he did have an intact larynx and a way to push air through it.

But all things are possible through the power of Jashin and human sacrifice. :)

Some other curiosities:

Hidan's blood flow would be cut off, so he'd stop actively bleeding from his head because there's no heart pushing blood through. I think it would be more like a slow seep. :)

On that note, he also wouldn't be able to show a lot of signs of anger that come from increased blood flow-- no reddening of the cheeks or pulsing veins.

.....actually I think without blood flow the whole process of moving muscles would break down as oxygen is depleted. Hmm. HMM.

As far as I can tell, Kakuzu just sews the skin/some of the muscle together and.... Hidan is fine? Everything magically aligns and goes back to working normally instantly?? What.

From this I can only conclude Hidan has an absurd healing factor from Jashin, and I want to know: if Kakuzu didn't stick his head back on, what would happen? Would Hidan's head eventually defy all of physics and biology and migrate over to his body and reattach? Would he slowly grow a new body, Deadpool style? Would he grow a new head? COULD WE GET TWO HIDANS OUT OF THIS

....unfortunately Shikamaru blows him to bits and Hidan never regenerates into an army of Hidans, so I think he can't actually regenerate to that degree. :(

Since in canon people are able to casually pop out eyes and put them back in and they work somehow, it's also possible there's some sort of Bullshit Medical Jutsu that's just like..... align-the-nerves-no-jutsu. Or maybe having a trained chakra network means your body naturally tries to wiggle back into place?

Also if Kakuzu waits too long to put Hidan back together.... does he get sepsis from having "dead" blood/body parts? Is he okay?

[welanabananaworld]

Us and the voice of dystopia

Jordan Peele’s latest film, Us, is as uncanny and disturbing as his first movie Get Out which proved itself to be a cinematic feat at the time of its release in 2017. Rightly considered as one of the fathers of the horror film renaissance (see also Ari Aster), Jordan Peele has been succeeding not only in addressing societal issues and in adopting a critical stance toward his home country but also in injecting an artistic vision in what is unfairly and generally regarded as second-class films. 

In Us, Jordan Peele’s strong sense of composition and framing reveals the main theme of the film : the duality of human nature through the evil self. Nothing revolutionary so far. Many films of the genre have explored the mythology surrounding the figure of the doppelgänger from multiple angles. For example, Alfred Hitchcock’s and Darren Aronofsky’s use of the double has a psychological bent; to dig through Scotty’s perverse psyche in the haunting Vertigo (1958) and to explore a mental illness in Black Swan (2011), whereas in The Great Dictator (1940), Charlie Chaplin chose to play both Hynkel and the Jewish barber for satirical purpose. In Us, nothing of the sort. Remember what we said about Jordan Peele’s films? About how the horror genre disguises social subtexts? But before aiming at the true meaning of this human mirror, one should focus more on the narrative use of the voice which proves to be of utter importance to understand what is at stake, because if you really listen to the voice, you understand the whole film.

Us tells the story of Adelaïde Wilson’s family who goes on holiday at the seaside in Santa Cruz. A series of strange coincidences reminds her of the trauma she experienced there when she was a little girl while vacationing with her parents. She made a disturbing encounter in the hall of mirrors of a funhouse. She came face to face with a little girl who looked just like her. After this event, she could no longer speak for a while because of, it seems, a post-traumatic stress disorder. At present day, overwhelmed with fear, she confides in her husband about her past. The same evening, they discover four people standing outside their house, their doppelgängers. Ruthlessly hunted, the Wilson family will have to look inward in order to counter their own selves. 

What strikes first when they all meet is that Red, Adelaïde’s double, is the only one  who is able to speak, or rather utter words. She is struggling with very word she says, as if her speech production was failing her somehow. When she starts speaking, her voice happens to be hoarse, cavernous, husky, strained, even  choked. Her disorder of phonation makes her voice otherworldly such as of a creature’s coming straight out of hell. It feels like she is not used to talk, actually that this is the first time she tries to pronounce and articulate words to create sentences. In this perspective, it is worth stressing Lupita Nyong’o’s astonishing work to produce Red’s chilling croaky and guttural voice. She used spasmodic dysphonia to make a creepy voice, that is a neurological disorder that causes involuntary breaks or interruptions in the voice due to an irregular flow of air. This language impairment, however, does not prevent Red from telling her story; the story of a dystopian world.

Red and Adelaïde are two sides of the same mirror. One learns that everything Adelaïde does is mirrored and has an impact on Red’s life, only the other way around. Everything that is happening in Red’s life is a pale copy of Adelaïde’s achievements and takes on a nightmarish dimension. Red’s husband, Abraham, is rough and dumb; her daughter, Umbrae, is born laughing and her son, Pluto, is a dangerous arsonist. The ideal family meets the poor and sad version of themselves who now claims justice through revenge, hence the imagery of the good and evil self. 

Throughout the film, the mise-en-scène keeps referring to the double as a warning or rather a prophecy as to the coming of those doppelgängers clad in red jumpsuits, which strangely resemble the clothing of prisoners. The clues left by the director are the following ones : the twin sisters of the superficial WASP family friends, the shadow of each member of the Wilson family projected on the sand while they are walking on the beach, the recurring number « 11:11 »  featured here and there (an extract from the Bible, Jeremiah 11:11), Jason wearing a mask (maybe a reference to the iconic masked murderer of Friday the 13th whose name is Jason?), Jason’s drawing showing a kid who looks just like him, a toy plastic spider behind which a true spider appears crawling across the low table of the living room, and of course the daze of mirrors. 

All those elements evoke duplicity and foresee a parallel world unknown so far. Red’s voice, alone, embraces all that imagery and embodies the punitive prophecy hidden behind the verse from the Old Testament book, the Book of Jeremiah, whose verse alludes to God’s wrath : « Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them. » The invasion of the doppelgängers across the world is a divine plague orchestrated by Red from the underworld to take revenge. 

In fact, what the film tends to reveal all along is the existence of an underworld located inside « the thousands miles of tunnels beneath the continental United States », which are « abandoned subways systems », as stated at the very beginning of the film as an introduction. Those subways are inhabited by people who are the product of a failed governmental scientific experiment designed to replicate the bodies of those above to manipulate them. However, they discovered  that the « soul » could not be duplicated, hence the repudiation and neglect of that population now doomed to survive below the Earth’s surface, with raw rabbits as sole source of nourishment, and to « act out grim recreations of their respective partners’ above ground actions like sad little marionettes. »1 The scientific dimension of this governmental conspiracy is foretold in the opening credits by the camera progressively zooming out the caged rabbits. This shot conveys the idea of a sanitized laboratory. The existence of two opposite worlds is also mentioned by the shot which shows the funhouse twice, by night and day (darkness and daylight). 

The organised overthrow, which takes as an example the Hand Across America charity campaign of 1986 (giant human chain), can be interpreted in many ways : an uprising against social inequalities, such as racial, gender and salary based discrimination, which undermine the U.S (or Us); a country where climbing in the social ladder is more and more unattainable for under-represented ethnic minorities. It can also be seen as a denunciation of what America has become, unfair, poor and divided; a denunciation of the famous ideology of American exceptionalism through the ostentatious display of American symbols distorted by the horror genre. The « tethered » are done being downtrodden and ostracized. They want to embrace the American myth that had been promised to them by taking their rights back and by building a new world, hence Red’s assertive reply to Gabe’s question « Who are you, people? » : « We are Americans. » They claim themselves as being true Americans (to be connected to the Native American reference of the original funhouse’s sign), free from all materialistic concerns. 

Only, this does not constitute the twist ending of the film. Like all self-respecting horror films, Us is no exception in the matter and does offer a shocking one. And this is the voice which hints at it all along and that turns upside down the government’s theory about their human experiments. 

Red’s whistling while walking up the alley of the Wilson’s family with a pair of scissors in her hand in the dark is where the truth really lies. If one has well paid attention to the details, one would have noticed that Adelaïde whistled the same way when she was trapped in the hall of mirrors when she was a young girl, as if to ward off the coming threat. Do you see my point? Why is Adelaïde so reluctant and does have trouble engaging in a conversation with Kitty on the beach? Why would Red be the only tethered to be provided with the ability to speak? Why this eager for revenge? Because Red actually is the true Adelaïde. Back to the funhouse in 1986, young Adelaïde’s clone, Red, was lured to go to the surface as Adelaïde  progressively approached to her tragic destiny. 

What the film did not show is that Red strangled Adelaïde until she fainted, dragged her down the tunnel, attached her to her bed in the dormitory and switched place with her among Adelaïde’s family, hence her early language deficiency. While Red grew up like a normal little girl and learned how to speak, Adelaïde lost progressively her language abilities growing up among zombie-like human beings, which proves that the government’s theory is wrong. The soul cannot be duplicated but this does not mean that the tethered are « soulless creatures ». If given the chance, as Red has had, the tethered would have turned out perfectly okay. They would have followed the regular human evolution process called « hominisation » or « anthropogenesis », the process of becoming human. Indeed, the doppelgängers all look like primitive animals. Pluto, by his gesture, reminds of a monkey-like primate’s attitude and Abraham’s moans, groans and grunts are those of Cro-Magnon man. Their names evoke ancient times, something rough yet to evolve, and the mythology of the doppelgänger, Pluto being the god of the underworld, Umbrae the latin word for shadow. Abraham is the « Father of the nations » which can be connected to the human chain the tethered seek to initiate to rise up and find they own humanity. Red’s name could refer to the color of the tethered’ garments, and thus evoke the state of imprisonment which they have been reduced to until now. 

In this perspective, Red’s voice is not only the voice of dystopia but goes far beyond this sole and somewhat manichean opposition which is the driving force behind the narrative of the film. Red’s voice, by also being the voice of anthropological evolution, mainly serves to establish a connection between the latter subject and the current state of American society. With no equality of opportunity, people cannot equally seek higher social and intellectual status and end up being the slaves of the system. America has now no other choice but to drop her delusions and take her mask off. 

1 Bojalad, A., (2019, March 22). Us, Hands Across America, and the failed American experiment. Retrieved from https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/us-jordan-peele-hands-across-america/

[scientifichubris]

Lab grown, you can give them venom sacks more powerful than found in the wild

Lab grown cat girl vs wild cat girl, who would win?

[whalemaw-blog]

The Phonology of Rjimâya: Consonants

Consonants

Rjimâya has 31 consonants. For each non-laryngeal plosive and affricative consonant, there is a three-way contrast between voiceless, voiced, and ejective phonation. Unless specified otherwise, the IPA symbol is also used for the romanization.

Nasals: /m n ŋ/

Plosives: /p b pʼ t d tʼ k kʼ q qʼ/

Fricatives: /ɸ s z ʃ ʒ x ɣ h/ ⟨f s z š ž x g h⟩

Affricatives: /ts dz tsʼ tʃ dʒ tʃʼ/ ⟨c j cʼ č ǰ čʼ⟩

Liquids: /l r/

Approximants: /j w/ ⟨y w⟩

The nasal consonant /m n ŋ/ do not typically assimilate before consonants to their point of articulation, at least not in the formal, prestigious sociolect.

The sonorant consonants /m n ŋ l r/ are devoiced to [m̥ n̥ ŋ̥ ɬ r̥] word-finally. /l r/ are also devoiced around the consonants /t x h/.

The laryngeal fricatives are in free variation between velar and uvular pronunciation; the latter is more common in rural areas.

The alveolar lateral approximant /l/ is velarized after back vowels and before a consonant; the velarization is neutralized before palatal consonants and /x h/.

The rhotic can be either trilled or tapped; the latter pronunciation is more common in rural areas. Note that when geminated, the rhotic is always trilled.

All consonants can be geminated, with the exception of /h j w/; see more in Phonotactics.

Obstruents are devoiced word-finally.

[guillemelgat]

Irrationally Long & Extremely Specific (Catalan Vocab Series) - Linguistics Part 1

[ ALL LINGUISTICS POSTS ] // [ ALL POSTS IN SERIES ]

Here’s the first list out of who knows how many, it’s phonetics-related words! Please send in corrections if you catch them and tell me if there are words you’d like to see; it’s impossible to cover everything even in a list this long!

LA FONÈTICA - PHONETICS

la fonètica articulatòria - articulatory phonetics

la fonètica acústica - acoustic phonetics

la fonètica perceptiva - auditory phonetics

el so de la parla - speech sound

el fon - phone

l’aparell fonador (m.) - vocal apparatus

la fonació - phonation

l’articulació (f.) - articulation

el pulmó - lung

el bronqui - bronchi

la tràquea - trachea

la laringe - larynx

les cordes vocal - vocal chords

el ressonador - resonator

la cavitat bucal - oral cavity

la cavitat nasal - nasal cavity

la faringe - pharynx

el paladar - palate

els llavis - lips

la llengua - tongue

les dents - teeth

la glotis - glottis

la consonant - consonant

el punt d’articulació - place of articulation

labial - labial

bilabial - bilabial

labiovelar - labiovelar

labiodental - labiodental

coronal - coronal

dental - dental

dentoalveolar - denti-alveolar

alveolar - alveolar

postalveolar - postalveolar

palatoalveolar - palato-alveolar

retroflexa - retroflex

dorsal - dorsal

palatal - palatal

labiopalatal - labial-palatal

velar - velar

uvular - uvular

laríngia - laryngeal

faríngia - pharyngeal

epiglotal - epiglottal

glotal - glottal

apical - apical

laminal - laminal

lateral - lateral

el mode d’articulació - manner of articulation

l’obstruent (f.) - obstruent

l’oclusiva (f.) - stop

l’africada (f.) - affricate

la fricativa - fricative

la sibilant - sibilant

la sonorant - sonorant

la nasal - nasal

la bategant - tap

l’aproximant (f.) - approximant

la líquida - liquid

la semivocal - semivowel

la lateral - lateral

la vibrant / la ròtica - flap, trill

el (mechanisme de) flux d’aire - airstream (mechanism)

pulmonar - pulmonic

ejectiu - ejective

implosiu - implosive

lingual - lingual

el clic - click

la vocal - vowel

l’avançament - backness

anterior - front

quasi-anterior - near-front

central - central

quasi-posterior - near-back

posterior - back

el grau d’obertura - height

tancada - close

quasitancada - near-close

semitancada - close-mid

mitjana - mid

semioberta - open-mid

quasioberta - near-open

oberta - open

l’arrodoniment (m.) - roundness

arrodonida - rounded

no arrodonida - unrounded

la sonoritat - voicing

sonor - voiced

sord - voiceless

l’obertura (de la glotis) (f.) - opening (of the glottis)

el tancament (de la glotis) - closing (of the glottis)

l’aspiració (f.) - aspiration

el temps d’atac de la sonoritat - voice onset timing

aspirat - aspirated

tènue - unaspirated, tenuis

[madmaudlingoes]

Who wants to hear about mermaid phonation, a topic I spent two days researching after spitballing with @agnesmontague on twitter about something only tangentially related?

DISCLAIMER: Mermaids are not real and science doesn’t apply to them. Everything below the cut is me being a nerd and has no bearing on the “correct” or “accurate” way to write mermaids. They’re fish with tits, do whatever you fucking want with them, k?

The problems of mermaid phonation are two: the anatomy of the vocal tract, and the acoustics of water.

As to the first problem: if we assume that mermaids have human-like vocal anatomy, then they have lungs or some other means* of driving air through the vocal tract; a larynx, including the vocal folds; and the various tubes that serve as resonating chambers (throat, mouth, nasal cavity) for articulating sounds. This is the bare minimum necessary for letting mermaids talk to humans in some capacity.

*Toothed whales and dolphins don’t use their lungs for phonation, they have a separate set of air sacs in the nasal cavity. This distinction is ultimately trivial.

However, if mermaids live in water, they may also have gills -- highly vascular organs that absorb oxygen directly from the water. And the gill-lung relationship, poses some problems for whether mermaids would be able to phonate underwater.

1. Actual fish usually have a constant movement of water into the mouth and out the gills. That makes it challenging at best for a mermaid to switch between exhaling air from the lungs for speaking and inhaling water into the gills for breathing. She’d also run out of air for speaking eventually if she’s spending extended time periods deep underwater.

2. Or, y’know, just make the mermaids more like cetaceans than fish -- they don’t have gills but are VERY good at holding breath for long periods. Fine, cool, but it still makes extensive talking underwater impractical as they’d run out of air faster (this is why dolphins have the separate air sacs for making noise). 

 3. A single “gillung” that lets her inhale and exhale water and air through the same channel has some physiological weirdness, among which are the very different densities of water and air (see below). Also, the bellows-style in-and-out of air doesn’t work as well on water, which is damn near non-compressible, so a continuous outflow over gill slits would still be more practical; phonating on the inhale isn’t impossible (see: inward singing, most of Scandanavia) but it’s used pretty sparingly in human languages. 

The other problem, assuming you can cope with the weirdness of the anatomy, is that sound moves differently underwater vs. through air. Like, you’ve heard people talk after huffing sulfur hexafluoride? Well, water is even denser, and as a result, sound waves move even more slowly ... meaning a normal human vocal range drops past Darth Vader real fast, while anything that would sound normal underwater sounds like a weird high-pitched shriek in air. Like this scene in Star Trek IV, basically.

The pitch and range of your voice depend a lot on the physical characteristics of the vocal folds, mainly length and thickness. So if our mermaid is adapted to speaking in a normal register in air, her language has to accommodate ultra-bass pitches underwater ... or maybe she’s got another organ just for making underwater noises. (The dolphin thing, maybe?) 

However, ultra bass voices might be advantageous? For one thing, well, the flip side of phonation is hearing: human auditory anatomy depends on the ear drum jiggling a bunch of tiny bones when the air vibrates. Underwater, however, the density of human flesh is too close to water for an eardrum to work. When you hear something underwater, it’s usually because your skull is vibrating directly. This is, obviously, easier for lower sounds to do. 

The other thing is that low-pitched sounds propagate farther in water -- in fact, a low enough sound with the right vector can be heard for miles without any signal loss. Whale take advantage of this, so why not mermaids? 

One final problem that reaches the limits of my phonological training: remember I said you need the mouth and throat to act like a resonator? That’s because your vocal folds produce only a monotone buzz, what we call the “fundamental frequency” (thought I also like “meat kazoo”). Think of the difference between playing a properly trumpet versus just buzzing the mouthpiece. That resonance produces overtones you can see on a sound spectrogram, specific frequencies of high-energy sound that appear at predictable intervals higher the fundamental frequency. And almost all the information we use to decode speech is encoded in those higher-frequency resonances.

I just said though, that human flesh is basically indistinguishable from water for the purposes of sound waves. So I’m not sure how clearly our water-breathing mermaid would be able to enunciate, simply because the sound of the fundamental frequency would be transmitted more directly from larynx to skullbone, without the rest of the oral tract as a filter. No higher-frequency resonance, no way to distinguish articulations, no way to pick out most phonemes. Varying the fundamental frequency would be doable -- that’s literally why we call it whale song -- and some non-pulmonic sounds like clicks would probably still work fine? And we have models of human languages with as many as 14 vowel tones (maybe), and other languages with lots of clicks, lots of ejectives, or lots of implosives (though not all at once) ... so Mermish, at least in its underwater modality, would make a lot of human phonologists either very happy or very horrified, depending.

ALTERNATELY: Forget ALL THIS SHIT. Mermaids don’t even use oral language for most communication. They primarily sign, with a secondary sung register (like a cross between Silbo Gomero and the inverse of Signed Exact English) that complements the signs for use over long distances or in the dark. Your hands work the same underwater as above it, after all. But that puts a very different spin on the Little Mermaid losing her voice...

[scientifichubris]

It will cancel the amazing person disease yes! Trust me, I am Doctor Professor Mr Professional Zombee!

[Muffled with mask on] I diagnose you with amazing person disease. It's fatal.

Thank u doctor but will it still be fatal if the plague gets me first?

[scientifichubris]

operating tables are mad scientist beds the same way coffins are vampire beds

[juniperpublisherscasestudies]

Juniper Publishers-Open Access Journal of Case Studies

Holistic Approach for Intervention in Geriatric Male Patient with Parkinson’s Disease: A Case Study

Authored by Neha Tiwari

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) occurs most often in the people in their 50’s and 60’s. Hypokinetic dysarthria has been reported to occur in 73% of the patients suffering from PD [1]. The disease is closely related to cognitive difficulties such as impaired attention, disorganized thinking, inefficient processing of abstract new/old information. Speech Language Pathologist’s (SLP) role in the intervention of individuals with PD is not limited to working upon speech impairment but also improving various cognitive functions. This case study reflects the importance of inter-professional collaboration between neurologist, SLP along with other professionals and training of caretaker which plays a crucial role in intervention of individual with Parkinson’s disease. Also, SLP’s focus upon cognitive linguistic deficits, augmentative communication method and communication enhancement strategies could result in achieving communication goals.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; Hypokinetic dysarthria; Neurologist; Caretaker training; Physiotherapist

Introduction

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder which is characterized clinically by resting tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity and postural instability. This condition is caused by the loss of neurons in the substantia nigra of the brain. The main communicative disorder associated with Parkinson’s disease is hypokinetic dysarthria. The speech characteristics associated with hypokinetic dysarthria includes marked reduction in the amplitude of voluntary movements, slowness of movements, initiation difficulties, muscular rigidity, loss of automatic (associated) aspects of movements and tremor at rest [2]. Prevalence studies suggest that up to 30% of patients with PD develop dementia. Dementia in PD patients is often a multifactorial condition [3]. Even, in the absence of dementia, several cognitive difficulties are associated with Parkinson’s disease such as impaired attention, perception/memory, disorganized thinking, difficulty processing information, inefficient retrieval of old and stored information, inefficient problem solving. It is crucial to determine how cognitive abilities affect speech and language in geriatric population with PD. Hence, this case study aims to determine the impact of cognitive abilities over language in geriatric population with PD. The role of SLP to determine an effective treatment plan for improving cognitive skills and communication skills is highlighted.

Case Study

The case is 78 years old male referred for speech therapy from Department of Neurology, Bombay Hospital Institute of Medical Sciences on March 2021 with the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. He was prescribed Tab Admenta 5mg to be taken after lunch and was also advised physiotherapy by the neurologist. A detailed speech and language evaluation was conducted. His oro-motor examination revealed that the strength and range of motion of articulators was affected. Movements of lips and tongue was found to be impaired and rigidity during movements was observed. On the Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE V), his voice and resonance were found to be abnormal. He was unable to vary pitch and vocal intensity. Upon multiple attempts, he could phonate for the assessment of maximum phonation duration (MPD) and responded for assessment of diadochokinetic rate (DDKR). His MPD was found to be 7 seconds. The DDKR was found to be very slow. During the testing, speech intelligibility was found to be poor with less than 40% intelligibility. His speech was characterized by loss of modulation with an accelerated and or variable speaking rate causing slurring. He also displayed articulatory imprecision resulting in sound distortions. His comprehension (both auditory and reading) ability was found to be impaired. During evaluation of his memory skills, he did display impairment on tasks involving immediate memory. Recall of categories was also found to be affected but he could recall past memories fairly well. His reading and writing skills are also affected. He was found to be hesitant and unwilling to participate in communication esp. when a question would be asked. It was observed that instead of answering questions, he would begin to narrate incidents related to the questions. If unable to answer, he would get frustrated and agitated because of which the session would get frequently disrupted. After detailed speech and language evaluation, he was diagnosed with hypokinetic dysarthria with deficits in cognitive skills. The therapy sessions were through online mode due to the fear of spread of Covid 19. Since, the virtual mode was used, it was very important to counsel his wife and the care taker to remain actively involved during therapy. The therapy plan was directed upon postural stability, relaxation of upper body through various breathing exercises, oro- motor exercises for better oro-motor functioning. The exercises were demonstrated to the caretaker to be done every day. Cognitive Linguistic Improvement Program (CLIP)was followed which consisted of various memory, temporal orientation and categorization tasks. Activities like naming, lexical retrieval, find the missing objects, pick the odd one out, find the differences, maze games, following pattern were also used as cognitive stimulating activities. Caretaker training was also given once for appropriate home-based management. Upon discussion with the caretaker, therapy sessions were planned to be held twice a week. The duration of therapy session was 40- 50 minutes. 13 online sessions were taken. The caretaker was also counselled regarding use of pictures and test cards as an augmentative communication method.

Results

There has been regular communication between neurologist, Physiotherapist and SLP regarding goals, activities and improvement. The client has been showing improvements in various aspects of cognition that were affecting language. The use of CLIP by SLP in managing cognitive linguistic deficits along with the pharmacological treatment is helping the client’s cognitive capabilities thereby increasing the use of language and interest to communicate. The patient’s frustration has reduced drastically. Care taker training is regularly done as a result of which the caretaker is now able to provide proper home-based management for the client and has a better understanding of the client’s special needs related to Parkinsonism. Constant guidance and counseling are provided by the speech therapist to the client, family members and caretaker. The speech intelligibility has improved to 60% due to various strategies like stressing, slow rate of speech and breaking words into syllables while speaking.

Conclusion

It is important to have a holistic approach in which cognitive, motor (fine and gross) as well as communication difficulties should be managed by a team including neurologist, physiotherapist, SLP and caretaker in management of PD. SLPs role is highlighted in this case study. SLPs are involved in planning & working upon communication goals, guidance of care taker and care taker training. A structured caretaker is recommended in the present case study.

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