Abstract This study examines phonological and phonetic adaptations in Robot-directed speech (Robot-DS) in Tarifit, an Amazigh language of Morocco. Thirty native speakers (younger and older adults) produced CCəC verbs in two contexts: baseline reading and interaction with a robot. Analyses focused on three features: (1) vowelless word realizations (schwa deletion), (2) schwa epenthesis in onset clusters, and (3) schwa duration. Results reveal categorical and gradient hyperarticulation in Robot-DS: vowelless forms are never produced; epenthetic schwas occurred more frequently, reducing consonant clusters; and prosodic template schwas were significantly lengthened. Age modulated durational, but not categorical, patterns: older adults produced greater lengthening in initial and confirm productions, suggesting pre-emptive hyperarticulation, while younger adults reserved maximal durational enhancement for error-repair contexts. These findings indicate that Tarifit speakers model robots as low-competence interlocutors. The results inform typological accounts of schwa variation and provide practical implications for Amazigh ASR and voice interface design.
Afkir et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: