Prosodic Analysis of Non-Native South Indian English Speech

Investigations on linguistic prosody related to non-native English speech by South Indians were carried out using a database specifically meant for this study. Prosodic differences between native and non-native speech samples of regional language groups: Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu were evaluated and compared. This information is useful in applications such as Native language identification. It is observed that the mean value of pitch, and the general variation of pitch contour is higher in the case of non-native English speech by all the three groups of speakers, indicating accommodation of speaking manner. This study finds that dynamic variation of pitch is the least for English speech by native Kannada language speakers. The increase in standard deviation of pitch contour for non-native English speech by Kannada speakers is much less at about 3.7% on an average. In the case of Tamil and Telugu native speakers, it is 9.5%, and 27% respectively.