scholarly journals Melodic constructions in Spanish: Metrical structure determines the association properties of intonational tones

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Torreira ◽  
Martine Grice
Keyword(s):  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Metrical Structure ◽  
Stressed Syllable ◽  
Prosodic Word ◽  
High Rise ◽  
Completion Task ◽  
Focus Structure ◽  
The Common ◽  
Pitch Accents

This paper explores phrase-length-related alternations in the association of tones to positions in metrical structure in two melodic constructions of Spanish. An imitation-and-completion task eliciting (a) the low–falling–rising contour and (b) the circumflex contour on intonation phrases (IPs) of one, two, and three prosodic words revealed that, although the focus structure and pragmatic context is constant across conditions, phrases containing one prosodic word differ in their nuclear (i.e. final) pitch accents and edge tones from phrases containing more than one prosodic word. For contour (a), short intonation phrases (e.g. [Manolo]IP) were produced with a low accent followed by a high edge tone (L* H% in ToBI notation), whereas longer phrases (e.g. [El hermano de la amiga de Manolo]IP‘Manolo's friend's brother’) had a low accent on the first stressed syllable, a rising accent on the last stressed syllable, and a low edge tone (L* L+H* L%). For contour (b), short phrases were produced with a high–rise (L+H* ¡H%), whereas longer phrases were produced with an initial accentual rise followed by an upstepped rise–fall (L+H* ¡H* L%). These findings imply that the common practice of describing the structure of intonation contours as consisting of a constant nuclear pitch accent and following edge tone is not adequate for modeling Spanish intonation. To capture the observed melodic alternations, we argue for clearer separation between tones and metrical structure, whereby intonational tones do not necessarily have an intrinsic culminative or delimitative function (i.e. as pitch accents or as edge tones). Instead, this function results from melody-specific principles of tonal–metrical association.

Seeking an Anchorage. Stability and Variability in Tonal Alignment of Rising Prenuclear Pitch Accents in Cypriot Greek

2016 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charalambos Themistocleous
Keyword(s):  
Pitch Accent ◽  
High Tone ◽  
Stressed Syllable ◽  
Invariance Hypothesis ◽  
Low Tone ◽  
Pitch Accents

Although tonal alignment constitutes a quintessential property of pitch accents, its exact characteristics remain unclear. This study, by exploring the timing of the Cypriot Greek L*+H prenuclear pitch accent, examines the predictions of three hypotheses about tonal alignment: the invariance hypothesis, the segmental anchoring hypothesis, and the segmental anchorage hypothesis. The study reports on two experiments: the first of which manipulates the syllable patterns of the stressed syllable, and the second of which modifies the distance of the L*+H from the following pitch accent. The findings on the alignment of the low tone (L) are illustrative of the segmental anchoring hypothesis predictions: the L persistently aligns inside the onset consonant, a few milliseconds before the stressed vowel. However, the findings on the alignment of the high tone (H) are both intriguing and unexpected: the alignment of the H depends on the number of unstressed syllables that follow the prenuclear pitch accent. The ‘wandering’ of the H over multiple syllables is extremely rare among languages, and casts doubt on the invariance hypothesis and the segmental anchoring hypothesis, as well as indicating the need for a modified version of the segmental anchorage hypothesis. To address the alignment of the H, we suggest that it aligns within a segmental anchorage–the area that follows the prenuclear pitch accent–in such a way as to protect the paradigmatic contrast between the L*+H prenuclear pitch accent and the L+H* nuclear pitch accent.

scholarly journals Information Structure Preferences in Focus-Sensitive Ellipsis: How Defaults Persist

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 480-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse A. Harris ◽  
Katy Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Focus Structure ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Default Position ◽  
Focus Marking ◽  
Pitch Accents

We compare the roles of overt accent and default focus marking in processing ellipsis structures headed by focus-sensitive coordinators (such as Danielle couldn’t pass the quiz, let alone the final/Kayla). In a small auditory corpus study of radio transcripts, we establish that such structures overwhelmingly occur with contrastive pitch accents on the correlate and remnant ( the quiz and the final, or Danielle and Kayla), and that there is a strong bias to pair the remnant with the most local plausible correlate in production. In two auditory naturalness ratings experiments, we observe that marking a non-local correlate with contrastive pitch accent moderates, but does not fully overturn, the bias for local correlates in comprehension. We propose that the locality preference is due to a sentence-final default position for sentence accent, and that auditory processing is subject to “enduring focus,” in which default positions for focus continue to influence the focus structure of the sentence even in the presence of overt accents. The importance of these results for models of auditory processing and of the processing of remnants in ellipsis structures is discussed.

scholarly journals The Role of Prosodic Breaks and Pitch Accents in Grouping Words during On-line Sentence Processing

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (9) ◽  
pp. 2447-2467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Bögels ◽  
Herbert Schriefers ◽  
Wietske Vonk ◽  
Dorothee J. Chwilla
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
On Line ◽  
Group Words ◽  
Pitch Accents

The present study addresses the question whether accentuation and prosodic phrasing can have a similar function, namely, to group words in a sentence together. Participants listened to locally ambiguous sentences containing object- and subject-control verbs while ERPs were measured. In Experiment 1, these sentences contained a prosodic break, which can create a certain syntactic grouping of words, or no prosodic break. At the disambiguation, an N400 effect occurred when the disambiguation was in conflict with the syntactic grouping created by the break. We found a similar N400 effect without the break, indicating that the break did not strengthen an already existing preference. This pattern held for both object- and subject-control items. In Experiment 2, the same sentences contained a break and a pitch accent on the noun following the break. We argue that the pitch accent indicates a broad focus covering two words [see Gussenhoven, C. On the limits of focus projection in English. In P. Bosch & R. van der Sandt (Eds.), Focus: Linguistic, cognitive, and computational perspectives. Cambridge: University Press, 1999], thus grouping these words together. For object-control items, this was semantically possible, which led to a “good-enough” interpretation of the sentence. Therefore, both sentences were interpreted equally well and the N400 effect found in Experiment 1 was absent. In contrast, for subject-control items, a corresponding grouping of the words was impossible, both semantically and syntactically, leading to processing difficulty in the form of an N400 effect and a late positivity. In conclusion, accentuation can group words together on the level of information structure, leading to either a semantically “good-enough” interpretation or a processing problem when such a semantic interpretation is not possible.

Rate Limits of On-Beat and Off-Beat Tapping With Simple Auditory Rhythms

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno H. Repp
Keyword(s):  
Dependent Measure ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Finger Tapping ◽  
Adaptive Procedure ◽  
Metrical Structure ◽  
Relative Difficulty

THE RELATIVE DIFFICULTY of on-beat and off-beat finger tapping with simple auditory rhythms was assessed in four experiments with musically trained participants. The rhythms consisted of cyclically repeated TT0 or TTT0 patterns, where T denotes the presence and 0 denotes the absence of a tone. The tasks were to tap in synchrony with one of the T ("on-beat") positions or with the 0 ("off-beat") position. Experiments 1-3 used an adaptive procedure that determined the fastest tempo at which each task could be accomplished. Experiment 1 demonstrated that it is easier to tap on tones that carry a rhythmic grouping accent (T2 in TT0, T1 and T3 in TTT0) than on other tones or in the 0 position. Off-beat tapping was more difficult in TT0 than in TTT0 sequences. Experiment 2 showed that a dynamic ( pitch) accent on one of the tones facilitates synchronization with that tone and impedes synchronization with adjacent tones. Off-beat tapping was less affected by accent location. Experiment 3 required participants to "hear" different T positions as metrically accented (i.e., to construe them as the downbeat) while carrying out the various tapping tasks. Most participants found it difficult to maintain a cognitive downbeat at fast tempi when it did not coincide with their taps. However, when such a downbeat could be maintained, it did not seem to increase the difficulty of tapping (with one exception). This suggests a unidirectional dependence of metrical structure on action. In Experiment 4, the same tasks were presented at more moderate tempi, and the dependent measure was the variability of asynchronies. Metrical downbeat location still did not have any significant effect. Thus, synchronization difficulty seems to be affected only by a rhythm's physical structure, not by the cognitive interpretation that is given to that structure.

scholarly journals Study on Key Points of Steel Structure Construction Technology on High-Rise Building

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Chao Chen
Keyword(s):  
Steel Structure ◽  
Normal Operation ◽  
Construction Technology ◽  
Quality And Safety ◽  
Construction Quality ◽  
Reference Function ◽  
High Rise ◽  
High Rise Building ◽  
Key Points ◽  
The Common

<p>Study of steel structure construction technology on high-rise building was needed to strengthen, in order to improve the construction quality and safety of our building, ensure the normal operation of production and living of people. Therefore, the article will analyze the common technology in steel structure construction of high-rise building, and expect able to play a certain reference function.</p>

scholarly journals Magis rythmus quam metron

1970 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 59-74
Author(s):  
Lieven Danckaert
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Metrical Structure ◽  
Greek Comedy ◽  
The Common

In this contribution I analyze the metrical structure of Seneca's anapaests.After a brief introduction, I first develop a theoretical framework, with specialattention to the boundaries of metrical periods. In the next sections, Ichallenge the common practice of subdividing long anapaestic passages intosocalled anapaestic dimeters. I propose a new analysis in which such a subdivisionis not made, yielding a structure that formally resembles the πνιγη ofclassical Greek comedy.

Bitonal pitch accent and phonological alignment in Sardinian

Probus ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miran Kim ◽  
Lori Repetti
Keyword(s):  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
Stressed Syllable ◽  
Romance Language ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Landing Sites ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
As Stress

Abstract This study presents new data on pitch accent alignment in Sardinian, a Romance language spoken in Italy. We propose that what has been described as “stress shift” in encliticization processes is not a change in the word level stress, but variation in the association of the pitch accent. Our claim is that word level stress remains in situ, and the falling tune which our data exhibit can be interpreted as a bitonal pitch accent (HL*) associated with the entire verb + enclitic unit: the starred tone is associated with the rightmost metrically prominent syllable, and the leading tone is associated with the word-level stressed syllable. The research questions we address are twofold: (i) how are the landing sites of the two tonal targets phonetically identified; (ii) how are the phonetic facts reconciled with prosodic structure.

scholarly journals The intonation of the Q-marking construction: A comparison of Hungarian and Slovenian

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-397
Author(s):  
LOUISE MYCOCK
Keyword(s):  
Pitch Accent ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Pitch Accents

This paper examines the Q-marking construction: an interrogative construction in which a question phrase takes scope over a higher clause even though it appears in a lower clause. In this construction, the scope of a question phrase is extended by the presence of another word, the Q-marker, in a higher clause. While the syntax of this construction has been described and analysed in a number of works, its intonation is yet to receive commensurate attention. This paper presents data from two unrelated languages in which the Q-marking construction can be used to form questions: Hungarian and Slovenian. Data show that while the Q-marker shares properties with question words in Hungarian (they bear the same pitch accent), in Slovenian the Q-marker and question words bear distinct pitch accents. Furthermore, in Hungarian a direct intonational link exists between the Q-marker and a question phrase whose scope is extended, rather than an indirect one between the Q-marker and the entire lower clause in which the question phrase appears. The Slovenian data are compatible with the existence of either an indirect or a direct intonational link. These findings reveal hitherto unidentified dimensions of cross-linguistic variation, for which any analysis of the Q-marking construction must account.

Nuclear Pitch Accents in Majorcan Catalan Declaratives: Phonology, Phonetics, Diachrony

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miquel Simonet
Keyword(s):  
Read Aloud ◽  
Stressed Syllable ◽  
Relative Pitch ◽  
Acoustic Study ◽  
Production Experiment ◽  
Pitch Accents

AbstractThe present paper reports on the findings of an acoustic study of nuclear pitch accents in Majorcan Catalan. A total of 10 speakers participated in a production experiment. Nuclear pitch accents were investigated by measuring relative pitch changes between several sequential temporal landmarks in and around nuclear stressed syllables in read-aloud declaratives. The results provide evidence for the presence of a low (L) tone associated with the nuclear stressed syllable for 9 of the 10 participants, and that of a high (H) trailing tone for only 4 of the participants. The implications of these results for a phonological analysis of Majorcan Catalan nuclear pitch accents, as well as the diachrony of nuclear pitch accents in Iberian Romance, are discussed.

scholarly journals Prosodically-conditioned Syllable Structure in English

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Orzechowska ◽  
Janina Mołczanow ◽  
Michał Jankowski
Keyword(s):  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Lexical Stress ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Metrical Structure ◽  
Stressed Syllable ◽  
Main Stress ◽  
Unstressed Syllable

Abstract This paper investigates the interplay between the metrical structure and phonotactic complexity in English, a language with lexical stress and an elaborate inventory of consonant clusters. The analysis of a dictionary- and corpus-based list of polysyllabic words leads to two major observations. First, there is a tendency for onsetful syllables to attract stress, and for onsetless syllables to repel it. Second, the stressed syllable embraces a greater array of consonant clusters than unstressed syllables. Moreover, the farther form the main stress, the less likely the unstressed syllable is to contain a complex onset. This finding indicates that the ability of a position to license complex onsets is related to its distance from the prosodic head.

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