Phonetic Analysis with Praat

Kristine Hildebrandt

Acoustic phonetics is an important complementary part of impressionistic production information in describing the sounds of a language. It is also important to the formulation of phonological analyses in providing quantitative and visual bases to the description of language sounds. Acoustic analysis is also increasingly important in language teaching, because instructors and students can make use of the features of acoustic software in production instruction and practice. Acoustic analysis software has become increasingly affordable and easy to use, and this course will be centered around becoming familiar with Praat (http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/). We will begin by covering topics that are important to acoustic phonetics (recording equipment, sampling rates). The bulk of this course will focus on how to use Praat to isolate and “read/query” the details of segmental and suprasegmental properties of sound, and to test and quantify impressionistic assumptions about speech sounds (e.g. consonant voicing, vowel qualities, variations in manner). This course will be largely “hands-on,” and participants will learn to load, view, analyze, and manipulate sound files right from the first session.