Setting up a text grid in Praat source: English in the Pacific Northwest Research Study Protocol (Wassink)

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1 Setting up a text grid in Praat source: English in the Pacific Northwest Research Study Protocol (Wassink) Set up your Praat tiers. The paragraphs below will guide you in setting up five text tiers in Praat: Tier Tier name Type Description number Tier 1 OrthTrans Interval Speaker 1 orthography (from transcript) Tier 2 IPA Interval NARROW IPA transcription of *words* containing vowels we wish to analyze Tier 3 Topic Interval Conversation topic Tier 4 WdClass Interval Historic word class Tier 5 Tags Point markers for word onsets ( { ) and offsets ( } ), tags for vowel onsets ( [ ) and offsets ( ] ) Note regarding tier 2: To the left of each word in the IPA tier, notate the word list number of that word (index it so it may be matched with its word list counterpart). You get this info from your word list. e.g., (* 4 side *) where your tag symbol is * 1. Open a soundfile in Praat (to do this, you literally create a soundfile object). This should be the soundfile with which you wish to associate a text tier. From the menus at the top of the Praat window, select either: Read from file... yourfilename.ext -or- Open Long Soundfile... > yourfilename.ext Note: Conversation-length files shold typically be opened as Long Sound Files 2. From the buttons to the right of the object list, select Annotate... > to text grid... a. In the tier names dialogue, enter the names of the tiers of type interval listed in the table above ( OrthTrans, IPA, Topic, WdClass ). This will generate four tiers in which you can click to create markers delineating the left and right edges of a selection. You may then click in the area bounded by your markers to select a portion of the waveform. Enter one space between each tier name. For example, entering four words in this dialogue box separated with three spaces will generate four text tiers. b. In the point tiers dialogue, enter the name of the one tier of type point listed in the table above ( tags ). This will generate one tier. Clicking on this tier will select a single measurement point (a cursor location). Note: You cannot select segments in point tiers.

Interval NARROW IPA transcription of *words* containing vowels we wish to analyze Tier 3 Topic Interval Conversation topic Tier 4 WdClass Interval Historic word class Tier 5 Tags Point markers for

2 Your dialogue box should look like this: Praat will create a text grid file with the same name as your soundfile. c. To open your new text grid with an associated soundfile, select both in the objects list. (MAC): Hold down Command ( ) + click to select both your soundfile and textgrid objects. (PC): check Hold down Control (CTRL) + click to select both your soundfile and textgrid objects. 3. Your soundfile and text grid will open together:

(MAC): Hold down Command ( ) + click to select both your soundfile and textgrid objects.

3 a. Note that the yellow tier is the active tier. You can activate a text tier by clicking in its window. A hand graphic points to the active tier in the left margin, and its name appears in red. (A number below the tier name tells you how many items are in the tier, and which one is presently selected (e.g., in the window below, there are 5 sections in the IPA tier, and the [eɪ] segment is the third of these, as indicated in the value 3/5 ). To create a segment in an active text tier, (1) click on a desired location in your waveform or spectrogram (e.g., the leftmost edge, or onset, of the vowel you wish to select). This will generate a green line associated with that location in all tiers. Click on the small blue circle in the appropriate text tier to

(A number below the tier name tells you how many items are in the tier, and which one is presently selected (e.g.

4 set that cursor location. (If you wish to mark that location in all tiers, click in all the circles from top to bottom.) If you need to adjust the marker you just created, you can do so by clicking on and dragging that line. (2) In the waveform or spectrogram, click on the right edge of the area you wish to select (e.g., the offset). This will generate another green line with a circle at the top of each tier. Click in the circle(s) on the desire tier(s) to set the right edge. You should now have two lines. (3) Click in the tier between these two lines to select that segment of the waveform. You can type in the box at the top of the screen to enter text to associate with the segment you just created. (See the Praat manual for entering IPA symbols in these tiers.) In the example screenshot below, * 163 * peg appears in the text entry field.

g., the offset). This will generate another green line with a circle at the top of each tier. Click in the circle(s) on the desire tier(s) to set the right edge. You should now have two lines.

5 4. Using the word list item number tags (e.g., * 163 * in the screenshot above) can help you search quickly through the conversation transcript and easily set vowel onset and offset tags in the tag tier. In the Edit menu, select Find. Then type *, or just type the <word> you re looking for. Note: To search, you must have the correct tier (e.g., OrthTrans) selected. Click on the name of the tier in the left margin (see right-pointing hand) to select it. Search won t work if the wrong tier is selected. Clicking in an

(e.g., * 163 * in the screenshot above) can help you search quickly through the conversation transcript and easily set vowel

6 interval will highlight its exact range in the corresponding waveform (useful for extracting sounds).

Praat Tutorial. Pauline Welby and Kiwako Ito The Ohio State University. welby,ito@ling.ohio-state.edu. January 13, 2002

Praat Tutorial. Pauline Welby and Kiwako Ito The Ohio State University. welby,ito@ling.ohio-state.edu. January 13, 2002 Praat Tutorial Pauline Welby and Kiwako Ito The Ohio State University welby,ito@ling.ohio-state.edu January 13, 2002 1 What is Praat and how do I get it? Praat is a program for doing phonetic analyses