This study consolidates findings on phonetic convergence in a large-scale examination of the impacts of talker sex, word frequency, and model talkers on multiple measures of convergence. A survey of nearly three dozen published reports revealed that most shadowing studies used very few model talkers and did not assess whether phonetic convergence varied across same-and mixed-sex pairings. Furthermore, some studies have reported effects of talker sex or word frequency on phonetic convergence, but others have failed to replicate these effects or have reported opposing patterns. In the present study, a set of 92 talkers (47 female) shadowed either same-sex or opposite-sex models (12 talkers, six female). Phonetic convergence was assessed in a holistic AXB perceptual-similarity task and in acoustic measures of duration, F0, F1, F2, and the F1 × F2 vowel space. Across these measures, convergence was subtle, variable, and inconsistent. There were no reliable main effects of talker sex or word frequency on any measures. However, female shadowers were more susceptible to lexical properties than were males, and model talkers elicited varying degrees of phonetic convergence. Mixed-effects regression models confirmed the complex relationships between acoustic and holistic perceptual measures of phonetic convergence. In order to draw broad conclusions about phonetic convergence, studies should employ multiple models and shadowers (both male and female), balanced multisyllabic items, and holistic measures. As a potential mechanism for sound change, phonetic convergence reflects complexities in speech perception and production that warrant elaboration of the underspecified components of current accounts.

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This paper introduces a conversational speech corpus collected during the completion of a map-matching task that is available for research purposes via the Montclair State University Digital Commons Data Repository. The Montclair Map Task is a new, role-neutral conversational task that involves paired iconic maps with labeled landmarks and a path drawn from a start point, around various landmarks, to a finish mark. One advantage of this task-oriented corpus is the ability to derive independent objective measures of task performance for both members of a conversational pair that can be related to aspects of communicative style. A total of 96 native English speakers completed the task in 16 same-sex female, 16 same-sex male, and 16 mixed-sex pairings. Conversations averaged 32 minutes in duration, yielding approximately 217,000 words. The transcription protocol delineates events such as speaking turns, inter-turn intervals, landmark phrases, fillers, pauses, overlaps, and backchannels, making this corpus a useful tool for investigating dynamics of conversational interaction. Analyses of communication efficacy and efficiency reveal that male pairs of talkers were less efficient than female and mixed-sex pairs with respect to partner map-matching task performance.

Investigations of phonetic convergence report conflicting results with respect to talker sex. Some studies report that females converge to a greater degree than males, while others find no difference or the opposite pattern. These discrepancies frustrate attempts to characterize the impact of talker sex on phonetic variation and convergence in a straightforward manor. The current investigation reveals that talker sex interacts with other variables, both lexical and phonological. A set of 92 talkers (47 females) shadowed monosyllabic words that manipulated word frequency within eight vowels. Phonetic convergence was assessed in an AXB perceptual similarity task and in F1 x F2 vowel space. Convergence in F1 x F2 vowel space did not differ between males and females on average, but female talkers converged to front vowels (/i/, /ɛi/, /ɛ/, /æ/) more than to back vowels (/ɑ/, /ou/, /ʊ/, /u/), and male talkers showed the opposite pattern. Furthermore, higher vowels (/i/, /ɛi/, /ʊ/, and /u/) showed the largest differences in convergence between men and women. These patterns were largely driven by convergence on F2 alone. These findings relate to broader sociolinguistic concerns about the impact of gender on phonetic variation and sound change.

Phonetic convergence has been studied in both speech shadowing tasks and in conversational interaction. In both settings, phonetic convergence has been found to be highly variable, with higher convergence measures usually found in studies that used speech shadowing. In order to examine whether phonetic convergence in both settings arises from similar mechanisms, the current study compared phonetic convergence in both speech shadowing and in paired conversational interaction in the same set of talkers. A set of 96 talkers (48 female) provided shadowed recordings and participated in a paired conversational map task. Moreover, the pairs were constructed to permit comparisons of same- and mixed-sex pairings. Phonetic convergence was assessed in both tasks using AXB perceptual listening tests with naïve listeners. Overall, phonetic convergence was highly variable across pairings in both shadowing and conversational tasks, with interesting effects of talker and pair sex.