schauffler15@interspeech_2015@ISCA

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#1 Rhythm influences the tonal realisation of focus [PDF] [Copy] [Kimi1]

Authors: Nadja Schauffler ; Katrin Schweitzer

Several studies suggest that rhythm affects different aspects in speech production and perception. For example, in German, discourse structure is normally marked by pitch accent placement and pitch accent type, however, there is variation that cannot be explained by purely semantic or syntactic factors. Prosody-inherent factors, like rhythm, can contribute to this variation. This becomes evident in prosodically more complex environments: while the prosody of utterances containing one focused constituent is well investigated and rather clear-cut, the prosodic organisation of multiple contrastive foci is less clear. In double-focus constructions, for example, two focused constituents demand prominence, possibly resulting in the realisation of two pitch accents. If these pitch accents are required on adjacent syllables they conflict with rhythmic preferences. We present a sentence reading experiment investigating the tonal realisation of two focused constituents and how their contours affect each other in different rhythmic environments. Specifically, we tested whether a potential pitch accent clash in a sentence with two corrective foci influences the pitch excursion and the absolute peak height of the accented syllables. The results demonstrate that rhythmic constraints affect the organisation of the tonal marking of corrective focus.