Shibboleth: exploring cultural boundaries in speech

Abstract

Shibboleth is a multimedia artwork that explores the cultural barriers created and enforced by accent and pronunciation differences. It is founded on the idea of biblical origin of a shibboleth --- a word or phrase that distinguishes one cultural group from another. The artwork consists of a computer interface through which users are able to to see and hear rhythmic audio-visual compositions of shibboleths created from previously recorded data and relevant sounds and imagery. Users can also use the interface to listen to examples of previously recorded shibboleths, as well as to add their own to a growing, geographically-indexed database.