Abstract This paper presents an analysis of the performance and usability of automatic speech processing tools on six different varieties of English spoken in the British Isles. The tools used in the present study were developed for use with Mainstream American English, but we demonstrate that their forced alignment functionality nonetheless performs extremely well on a range of British varieties, encompassing both careful and casual speech. Where phone boundary placement is concerned, substantial errors in alignment occur infrequently, and although small displacements between aligner-placed and human-placed phone boundaries are found regularly, these will rarely have a significant effect on measurements of interest for the researcher. We demonstrate that gross phone boundary placement errors, when they do arise, are particularly likely to be introduced in fast speech or with varieties that are radically different from Mainstream American English (e.g. Scots). We also observe occasional problems with phonetic transcription. Overall, we advise that, although forced alignment software is highly reliable and improving continuously, human confirmation is needed to correct errors which can displace entire stretches of speech. Nevertheless, sociolinguists can be assured that the output of these tools is generally highly accurate for a wide range of varieties.

中文翻译：

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评估现有强制对齐软件对各种英式英语的准确性

摘要本文分析了自动语音处理工具在不列颠群岛上使用的六种不同英语品种的性能和可用性。本研究中使用的工具是为与主流美国英语一起使用而开发的，但是我们证明了它们的强制对齐功能仍然可以在一系列英国品种中表现出色，包括细心和随意的讲话。在涉及电话边界放置的地方，很少会出现对齐错误，并且尽管经常会发现在对齐器放置的位置和人类放置的电话边界之间的微小位移，但这些变化很少会对研究人员感兴趣的测量产生重大影响。我们证明了发生电话总边界放置错误时，通常会以快速语音或与主流美国英语（例如苏格兰语）完全不同的变体形式引入。我们还观察到语音转录偶尔出现的问题。总体而言，我们建议，尽管强制对齐软件具有很高的可靠性并且可以不断改进，但仍需要人工确认以纠正可能取代整个语音范围的错误。尽管如此，社会语言学家们可以放心，这些工具的输出通常对于各种品种都非常准确。需要人工确认以纠正可能取代整个语音段的错误。尽管如此，社会语言学家们可以放心，这些工具的输出通常对于各种品种都非常准确。需要人工确认以纠正可能取代整个语音段的错误。尽管如此，社会语言学家们可以放心，这些工具的输出通常对于各种品种都非常准确。