Timing and Communicative Functions of Pitch Contours

Abstract

A new research paradigm is applied to F0 synchronization with articulation, inpeak and valley contours, under four principles: (a) Timing of F0 contours enters thedefinitions of the pitch categories. (b) These phonetic exponents are linked to com-municativefunctions. (c) The listener plays a pivotal role. (d) Contextualization oftest stimuli is essential for pitch data collection. Data are presented and interpretedfrom an experimental investigation of the substance-function relationship in theperception of peak and valley shift series by German listeners, using the semanticdifferential technique. The findings of the substance-function relationship areexplained with reference to the frequency codeand to auditory enhancement,i.e.syntagmatic contrast of high-low or low-high pitch trajectories in synchronizationwith articulatory landmarks of accented syllables.

Anticipatory effects of intonation: Eye movements during instructed visual search

“…Consistent with this notion, recent work on intonation strives toward standard descriptions of tunes and their meanings in various languages (e.g., English: Pierrehumbert & Hirschberg (1990);German: Fery (1993), Kohler (2005), Grice, Baumann & Benzmüller (2005); Italian: D'Imperio (2000); Grice, D'Imperio, Savino & Avesani (2005); Japanese: Pierrehumbert & Beckman (1988);Venditti (1997;; Spanish: Face (2001); Prieto, van Santen, & Hirschberg (1995). However, this work also reveals a wide range of intonation variation across speakers within the same community, and even within the same experimental setting (cf.…”

“…For example, most people are sensitive to dialectal differences in intonation (e.g., consider how you would identify the speaker from either Sydney, Boston, or Mumbai by listening to the melody of "Did he actually show up?"). This sensitivity to dialectal distinctions suggests that the members of a language-speaking community have come to a subconscious consensus on the conventionalized use of intonation patterns.Consistent with this notion, recent work on intonation strives toward standard descriptions of tunes and their meanings in various languages (e.g., English: Pierrehumbert & Hirschberg (1990);German: Fery (1993), Kohler (2005), Grice, Baumann & Benzmüller (2005); Italian: D'Imperio (2000); Grice, D'Imperio, Savino & Avesani (2005); Japanese: Pierrehumbert & Beckman (1988);Venditti (1997;; Spanish: Face (2001); Prieto, van Santen, & Hirschberg (1995). However, this work also reveals a wide range of intonation variation across speakers within the same community, and even within the same experimental setting (cf.…”

Infants’ Perception of the Intonation of Broad and Narrow Focus

“…Several studies have addressed the perception of some of these prosodic contrasts, and have shown that they are perceived by adult native speakers (e.g., D'Imperio & House, 1997;Ladd & Morton, 1997;Gandour, Wong, Hsieh, Weinzapfel, Van Lancker & Hutchins, 2000;Kohler, 2005;Wu, Tu & Wang, 2011;Vanrell et al, 2013). However, to our knowledge, there are no infant studies on the perception of focus distinctions cued by prosody, and in particular addressing prosodic contrasts that rely on pitch timing as the main pitch feature.…”

Pointed and plateau-shaped pitch accents in North Frisian

“…However, H→*+L would become relevant should follow-up studies reveal a third pitch accent that shows a late-aligned fall similar to the plateau-shaped accent, but without the preceding high F 0 plateau. Most Western Germanic languages have such a pitch accent (see Kohler 2005 andNiebuhr 2007 for German; Pierrehumbert and Steele 1989 for English;or Gussenhoven 2004 for Dutch), and the first accent pattern in Figure 2(b) suggests that Fering has this pitch-accent category as well.…”