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Introduction%20to%20Intonation

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A: I'd like to fly to Davenport, Iowa on TWA. B: TWA doesn't fly there ... B1: They fly into Des Moines. B2: They fly into Des Moines. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Introduction%20to%20Intonation


1
Introduction to Intonation
  • Jennifer J. Venditti
  • www.cs.rutgers.edu/venditti
  • Cognitive Science 201
  • 29 March 2001

2
Intonation makes the difference
  • A What types of foods are a good source of
    vitamins?
  • B1 Legumes are a good source of vitamins.
  • B2 Legumes are a good source of vitamins.
  • A Id like to fly to Davenport, Iowa on TWA.
  • B TWA doesnt fly there ...
  • B1 They fly to Des Moines.
  • B2 They fly to Des Moines.
  • A1 I met Mary and Elenas mother at the mall
    yesterday.
  • A2 I met Mary and Elenas mother at the mall
    yesterday.

3
Speech production
oral nasal cavities larynx lungs
air
4
Speech production
oral nasal cavities larynx lungs
The vocal folds may be held wide open, or may
vibrate.
5
Speech production
oral nasal cavities larynx lungs
Positioning of the tongue, lips, etc.
acoustically shapes the air.
6
Vocal fold vibration
Physical Fundamental frequency (F0) ? rate of
vibration of the vocal folds Perceptual Pitch
fundamental freq.
perceived pitch
UCLA Phonetics Lab demo
7
Graphic representation of F0
F0 (in Hertz)
legumes are a good source of VITAMINS
time
8
The ripples
t
s
s
legumes are a good source of VITAMINS
F0 is not defined for consonants without
vocal fold vibration.
9
The ripples
v
g
g
z
legumes are a good source of VITAMINS
... and F0 can be perturbed by consonants with an
extreme constriction in the vocal tract.
10
Abstraction of the F0 contour
legumes are a good source of VITAMINS
Our perception of the intonation contour
abstracts away from these perturbations.
11
The waves and the swells
wave accent
swell phrase
legumes are a good source of VITAMINS
12
TOPIC 1 Accent Placement and Intonational Tunes
13
Stress vs. accent
  • Stress is a structural property of a word it
    marks a potential (arbitrary) location for an
    accent to occur, if there is one.
  • Accent is a property of a word in context it is
    a way to mark intonational prominence in order to
    highlight important words in the discourse.

(x) (x) (accented syll)
x x stressed syll
x x x full vowels
x x x x x x x syllables
vi ta mins Ca li for nia
14
Which word receives an accent?
  • It depends on the context. For example, the new
    information in the answer to a question is often
    accented, while the old information usually is
    not.
  • Q1 What types of foods are a good source of
    vitamins?
  • A1 LEGUMES are a good source of vitamins.
  • Q2 Are legumes a source of vitamins?
  • A2 Legumes are a GOOD source of vitamins.
  • Q3 Ive heard that legumes are healthy, but what
    are they a good source of ?
  • A3 Legumes are a good source of VITAMINS.

15
Intonation makes the difference
  • A What types of foods are a good source of
    vitamins?
  • B1 Legumes are a good source of vitamins.
  • B2 Legumes are a good source of vitamins.
  • A Id like to fly to Davenport, Iowa on TWA.
  • B TWA doesnt fly there ...
  • B1 They fly into Des Moines.
  • B2 They fly into Des Moines.
  • A1 I met Mary and Elenas mother at the mall
    yesterday.
  • A2 I met Mary and Elenas mother at the mall
    yesterday.

16
Same tune, different alignment
LEGUMES are a good source of vitamins
The main rise-fall accent ( I assert this)
shifts locations.
17
Same tune, different alignment
Legumes are a GOOD source of vitamins
The main rise-fall accent ( I assert this)
shifts locations.
18
Same tune, different alignment
legumes are a good source of VITAMINS
The main rise-fall accent ( I assert this)
shifts locations.
19
Broad focus
Tell me something about the world.
legumes are a good source of vitamins
In the absence of narrow focus, English tends to
mark the first and last content words with
perceptually prominent accents.
20
Yes-No question tune
are LEGUMES a good source of vitamins
Rise from the main accent to the end of the
sentence.
21
Yes-No question tune
are legumes a GOOD source of vitamins
Rise from the main accent to the end of the
sentence.
22
Yes-No question tune
are legumes a good source of VITAMINS
Rise from the main accent to the end of the
sentence.
23
WH-questions
I know that many natural foods are healthy, but
...
WHAT are a good source of vitamins
WH-questions typically have falling contours,
like statements.
24
Broad focus
Tell me something about the world.
legumes are a good source of vitamins
25
Rising statements
Tell me something I didnt already know.
legumes are a good source of vitamins
... does this statement qualify?
High-rising statements can signal that the
speaker is seeking approval.
26
Yes-No question
are legumes a good source of VITAMINS
Rise from the main accent to the end of the
sentence.
27
Surprise-redundancy tune
How many times do I have to tell you ...
legumes are a good source of vitamins
Low beginning followed by a gradual rise to a
high at the end.
28
Contradiction tune
Ive heard that linguini is a good source of
vitamins.
linguini isnt a good source of vitamins
... how could you think that?
Sharp fall at the beginning, flat and low, then
rising at the end.
29
TOPIC 2 Alignment of Accent with Stressed
Syllable
30
Alignment with syllable matters
TWA doesnt fly there ...
they fly to Des Moines
Rise right at start of stressed syllable cues
statement of fact.
31
Alignment with syllable matters
TWA doesnt fly there ...
they fly to Des Moines
Rise which is delayed somewhat cues suggestion,
or uncertainty about whether the statement
qualifies as relevant.
32
Two distinct alignment categories
  • Pierrehumbert Steele (1989) synthesized many
    intonation contours with varying degrees of peak
    delay, and asked speakers to imitate what they
    heard.
  • Peak delay of speakers responses patterned in
    two categories early (assertion) and late
    (suggestion).

33
Intonation makes the difference
  • A What types of foods are a good source of
    vitamins?
  • B1 Legumes are a good source of vitamins.
  • B2 Legumes are a good source of vitamins.
  • A Id like to fly to Davenport, Iowa on TWA.
  • B TWA doesnt fly there ...
  • B1 They fly to Des Moines.
  • B2 They fly to Des Moines.
  • A1 I met Mary and Elenas mother at the mall
    yesterday.
  • A2 I met Mary and Elenas mother at the mall
    yesterday.

34
TOPIC 3 Intonational phrasing and disambiguation
35
A single intonation phrase
legumes are a good source of vitamins
Broad focus statement consisting of one
intonation phrase (that is, one intonation tune
spans the whole unit).
36
Multiple phrases
legumes are a good source of vitamins
Utterances can be chunked up into smaller
phrases in order to signal the importance of
information in each unit.
37
Phrasing can disambiguate
  • Global ambiguity
  • The old men and women stayed home.
  • Sally saw the man with the binoculars.
  • John doesnt drink because hes unhappy.

38
Phrasing can disambiguate
  • Global ambiguity
  • The old men and women stayed home.
  • The old men and women stayed home.
  • Sally saw the man with the binoculars.
  • Sally saw the man with the binoculars.
  • John doesnt drink because hes unhappy.
  • John doesnt drink because hes unhappy.

39
Phrasing can disambiguate
  • Temporary ambiguity
  • When Madonna sings the song ...

40
Phrasing can disambiguate
  • Temporary ambiguity
  • When Madonna sings the song is a hit.

41
Phrasing can disambiguate
  • Temporary ambiguity
  • When Madonna sings the song is a hit.
  • When Madonna sings the song its a hit.
  • from Speer Kjelgaard (1992)

42
Phrasing can disambiguate
Mary Elenas mother
mall
I met Mary and Elenas mother at the mall
yesterday
One intonation phrase with relatively flat
overall pitch range.
43
Phrasing can disambiguate
Elenas mother
mall
Mary
I met Mary and Elenas mother at the mall
yesterday
Separate phrases, with expanded pitch movements.
44
Intonation makes the difference
  • A What types of foods are a good source of
    vitamins?
  • B1 Legumes are a good source of vitamins.
  • B2 Legumes are a good source of vitamins.
  • A Id like to fly to Davenport, Iowa on TWA.
  • B TWA doesnt fly there ...
  • B1 They fly into Des Moines.
  • B2 They fly into Des Moines.
  • A1 I met Mary and Elenas mother at the mall
    yesterday.
  • A2 I met Mary and Elenas mother at the mall
    yesterday.

45
References
  • The content of this lecture is based mainly on
    these two sources
  • Bolinger, D. (1972) Intonation introduction and
    chapter 1. Penguin Books, Ltd. also appears as
    Bolinger, D. (1964) Around the edge of language.
    Harvard Educational Review 34(2) 282-293.
  • Pierrehumbert, J. (1980) The Phonetics and
    Phonology of English Intonation. Unpublished
    Ph.D. dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of
    Technology.
  • Other sources cited in the lecture include
  • Pierrehumbert, J. and S. Steele (1989) Categories
    of tonal alignment in English. Phonetica 46
    181-196.
  • Speer, S. and M. Kjelgaard (1992) Prosodic
    resolution of temporary syntactic ambiguity.
    Paper presented at the 25th Annual Congress of
    Psychology, Brussels.
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