scholarly journals Gradient prosodic boundary strength in syntactic disambiguation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregg Castellucci ◽  
Dolly Goldenberg
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Pause Duration ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
Single Class ◽  
Prosodic Boundaries ◽  
Ambiguous Stimuli ◽  
Prosodic Boundary ◽  
Boundary Strength

Unlike syntactic structure, prosodic structure is typically thought of as non-recursive, with categorical boundaries delineating constituents within a rudimentary hierarchy. However, several experimental studies have demonstrated that prosodic boundaries are not produced categorically, and listeners are sensitive to these gradient variations in production, therefore suggesting that prosodic structure is more complex than normally assumed. While intriguing, it remains unclear whether such variability in boundary production is linguistically meaningful. Here, we explicitly test whether variability within a single class of prosodic boundary can be used to disambiguate sentences containing coordinative structures having multiple possible meanings. Interestingly, a majority of participants reliably employed gradient differences in pause duration to differentiate these ambiguous stimuli, demonstrating conclusively that listeners are not only able to perceive non-categorical variation in prosodic boundary strength, but that this variation can be linguistically meaningful. These results therefore indicate that prosodic structure may be less rigid than previously thought.

scholarly journals Acoustic Correlates of Prosodic Boundaries in French A Review of Corpus Data / Correlatos acústicos de fronteiras prosódicas em francês: uma revisão de dados de corpora

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 1531 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Christodoulides
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Boundary Function ◽  
Analysis Procedure ◽  
Speech Segmentation ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
Acoustic Correlates ◽  
Prosodic Boundaries ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Structure Annotation ◽  
Boundary Strength

Abstract: In this article we investigate the acoustic correlates of prosodic boundaries in French speech. We compare the prosodic structure annotation performed by experts in two multi-genre corpora (Rhapsodie and LOCAS-F). A uniform analysis procedure is applied to both corpora. The results show that the main acoustic correlates of prosodic boundaries are silent pauses and pre-boundary syllable lengthening. Pitch movements contribute to the perception of boundaries but are essentially correlates of boundary function, rather than boundary strength. Two levels of four-level annotation of boundary strength in the Rhapsodie corpus (periods and packages) correspond to the two-levels of strength in the LOCAS-F corpus.Keywords: prosody; speech segmentation; prosodic boundaries; corpus linguistics; French.Resumo: Neste artigo investigamos os correlatos acústicos de fronteiras prosódicas da fala em língua francesa. Comparamos a anotação da estrutura prosódica efetuada por anotadores experts em dois corpora multigêneros (Rhapsodie e LOCAS-F). Um procedimento de análise uniforme é aplicado a ambos os corpora. Os resultados indicam que os principais correlatos acústicos de fronteiras prosódicas são pausa silenciosa e alongamento da sílaba pré-fronteira. Movimentos de pitch contribuem para a percepção de fronteiras mas são essencialmente correlatos de funções de fronteira, e não de força de fronteira. Dois dos níveis de anotação dos quatro níveis de anotação de força de fronteira do corpus Rhapsodie (períodos e pacotes) correspondem aos dois níveis de intensidade do corpus LOCAS-F.Palavras-chave: prosódia; segmentação da fala; fronteiras prosódicas; linguística de corpus; francês.

scholarly journals Gestural coordination at prosodic boundaries and its role for prosodic structure and speech planning processes

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1658) ◽  
pp. 20130397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Krivokapić
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
Multiple Functions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Prosodic Boundaries ◽  
Planning Processes ◽  
Speech Planning ◽  
Prosodic Boundary ◽  
Important Progress ◽  
Made In

Prosodic structure is a grammatical component that serves multiple functions in the production, comprehension and acquisition of language. Prosodic boundaries are critical for the understanding of the nature of the prosodic structure of language, and important progress has been made in the past decades in illuminating their properties. We first review recent prosodic boundary research from the point of view of gestural coordination. We then go on to tie in this work to questions of speech planning and manual and head movement. We conclude with an outline of a new direction of research which is needed for a full understanding of prosodic boundaries and their role in the speech production process.

scholarly journals Effects of Cooperating and Conflicting Prosody in Spoken English Garden Path Sentences: ERP Evidence for the Boundary Deletion Hypothesis

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 2731-2751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Efrat Pauker ◽  
Inbal Itzhak ◽  
Shari R. Baum ◽  
Karsten Steinhauer
Keyword(s):  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Garden Path ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
Prosodic Boundaries ◽  
On Line ◽  
Prosodic Boundary

In reading, a comma in the wrong place can cause more severe misunderstandings than the lack of a required comma. Here, we used ERPs to demonstrate that a similar effect holds for prosodic boundaries in spoken language. Participants judged the acceptability of temporarily ambiguous English “garden path” sentences whose prosodic boundaries were either in line or in conflict with the actual syntactic structure. Sentences with incongruent boundaries were accepted less than those with missing boundaries and elicited a stronger on-line brain response in ERPs (N400/P600 components). Our results support the notion that mentally deleting an overt prosodic boundary is more costly than postulating a new one and extend previous findings, suggesting an immediate role of prosody in sentence comprehension. Importantly, our study also provides new details on the profile and temporal dynamics of the closure positive shift (CPS), an ERP component assumed to reflect prosodic phrasing in speech and music in real time. We show that the CPS is reliably elicited at the onset of prosodic boundaries in English sentences and is preceded by negative components. Its early onset distinguishes the speech CPS in adults both from prosodic ERP correlates in infants and from the “music CPS” previously reported for trained musicians.

scholarly journals Temporal markers of prosodic boundaries in children's speech production

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Dankovičová ◽  
Kathryn Pigott ◽  
Bill Wells ◽  
Sue Peppé
Keyword(s):  
Pause Duration ◽  
Considerable Variability ◽  
Prosodic Features ◽  
Minimal Pairs ◽  
Temporal Cues ◽  
Conflicting Evidence ◽  
Prosodic Boundaries ◽  
Temporal Boundary ◽  
Prosodic Boundary ◽  
Children's Speech

It is often thought that the ability to use prosodic features accurately is mastered in early childhood. However, research to date has produced conflicting evidence, notably about the development of children's ability to mark prosodic boundaries. This paper investigates (i) whether, by the age of eight, children use temporal boundary features in their speech in a systematic way, and (ii) to what extent adult listeners are able to interpret their production accurately and unambiguously. The material consists of minimal pairs of utterances: one utterance includes a compound noun, in which there is no prosodic boundary after the first noun, e.g. ‘coffee-cake and tea’, while the other utterance includes simple nouns, separated by a prosodic boundary, e.g. ‘coffee, cake and tea’. Ten eight-year-old children took part, and their productions were rated by 23 adult listeners. Two phonetic exponents of prosodic boundaries were analysed: pause duration and phrase-final lengthening. The results suggest that, at the age of 8, there is considerable variability among children in their ability to mark phrase boundaries of the kind analysed in the experiment, with some children failing to differentiate between the members of the minimal pairs reliably. The differences between the children in their use of boundary features were reflected in the adults' perceptual judgements. Both temporal cues to prosodic boundaries significantly affected the perceptual ratings, with pause being a more salient determinant of ratings than phrase-final lengthening.

scholarly journals Focus Marking and Prosodic Boundary Strength in French

Phonetica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 244-267
Author(s):  
Amandine Michelas ◽  
James S. German
Keyword(s):  
Prosodic Boundary ◽  
Focus Marking ◽  
Boundary Strength

Intonational Structure Influences Perception of Contrastive Vowel Length: The Case of Phrase-Final Lengthening in Tokyo Japanese

2020 ◽  
pp. 002383092097184
Author(s):  
Jeremy Steffman ◽  
Hironori Katsuda
Keyword(s):  
Target Word ◽  
Speech Signal ◽  
Choice Task ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
Vowel Duration ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Target Sound ◽  
Tokyo Japanese ◽  
Forced Choice Task ◽  
Prosodic Boundary

Recent research has proposed that listeners use prosodic information to guide their processing of phonemic contrasts. Given that prosodic organization of the speech signal systematically modulates durational patterns (e.g., accentual lengthening and phrase-final (PF) lengthening), listeners’ perception of durational contrasts has been argued to be influenced by prosodic factors. For example, given that sounds are generally lengthened preceding a prosodic boundary, listeners may adjust their perception of durational cues accordingly, effectively compensating for prosodically-driven temporal patterns. In the present study we present two experiments designed to test the importance of pitch-based cues to prosodic structure for listeners’ perception of contrastive vowel length (CVL) in Tokyo Japanese along these lines. We tested if, when a target sound is cued as being PF, listeners compensatorily adjust categorization of vowel duration, in accordance with PF lengthening. Both experiments were a two-alternative forced choice task in which listeners categorized a vowel duration continuum as a phonemically short or long vowel. We manipulated only pitch surrounding the target sound in a carrier phrase to cue it as intonational phrase final, or accentual phrase medial. In Experiment 1 we tested perception of an accented target word, and in Experiment 2 we tested perception of an unaccented target word. In both experiments, we found that contextual changes in pitch influenced listeners’ perception of CVL, in accordance with their function as signaling intonational structure. Results therefore suggest that listeners use tonal information to compute prosodic structure and bring this to bear on their perception of durational contrasts in speech.

Lexical government and tone group formation in Xiamen Chinese

Phonology ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo-wang Lin
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Group Formation ◽  
Phonological Representation ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
Tone Sandhi ◽  
Field Of Study ◽  
The Past ◽  
Syntactic Information

The study of the relation between syntactic structure and phonological representation has attracted the attention of many phonologists in the past few years. One important contribution to this field of study is Chen's (1987) work on Xiamen Chinese tone sandhi domains. He suggests that the syntax–phonology relation appeals to syntactic information such as category types and the edges of syntactic bracketings. This insight has been further elaborated in the general theory of the syntax—phonology relation of Selkirk (1986). In this theory, the relation between syntactic structure and prosodic structure above the foot and below the intonational phrase is defined in terms of the edges of syntactic constituents of designated types. More precisely, this theory incorporates two hypotheses. One is that there are designated category types in syntactic structure with respect to which one end (Right or Left) of the designated category is relevant in the formulation of a prosodic constituent C, which extends from one instance of the appropriate end (R/L) of the designated category to the next. This hypothesis has been called the End Parameter.

Phrase Lengths and the Perceived Informativeness of Prosodic Cues in Turkish

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazik Dinçtopal Deniz ◽  
Janet Dean Fodor
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Prosodic Cues ◽  
Late Closure ◽  
Prosodic Boundary ◽  
First Time ◽  
Rational Speaker

It is known from previous studies that in many cases (though not all) the prosodic properties of a spoken utterance reflect aspects of its syntactic structure, and also that in many cases (though not all) listeners can benefit from these prosodic cues. A novel contribution to this literature is the Rational Speaker Hypothesis (RSH), proposed by Clifton, Carlson and Frazier. The RSH maintains that listeners are sensitive to possible reasons for why a speaker might introduce a prosodic break: “listeners treat a prosodic boundary as more informative about the syntax when it flanks short constituents than when it flanks longer constituents,” because in the latter case the speaker might have been motivated solely by consideration of optimal phrase lengths. This would effectively reduce the cue value of an appropriately placed prosodic boundary. We present additional evidence for the RSH from Turkish, a language typologically different from English. In addition, our study shows for the first time that the RSH also applies to a prosodic break which conflicts with the syntactic structure, reducing its perceived cue strength if it might have been motivated by length considerations. In this case, the RSH effect is beneficial. Finally, the Turkish data show that prosody-based explanations for parsing preferences such as the RSH do not take the place of traditional syntax-sensitive parsing strategies such as Late Closure. The two sources of guidance co-exist; both are used when available.

scholarly journals Prosodic Structure Shapes the Temporal Realization of Intonation and Manual Gesture Movements

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 850-864 ◽  
Author(s):  
Núria Esteve-Gibert ◽  
Pilar Prieto
Keyword(s):  
Target Word ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
Final Position ◽  
Prosodic Phrasing ◽  
Temporal Coordination ◽  
Contrastive Focus ◽  
Focus Condition ◽  
Manual Gesture ◽  
Prosodic Boundary ◽  
Pointing Gesture

Purpose Previous work on the temporal coordination between gesture and speech found that the prominence in gesture coordinates with speech prominence. In this study, the authors investigated the anchoring regions in speech and pointing gesture that align with each other. The authors hypothesized that (a) in contrastive focus conditions, the gesture apex is anchored in the intonation peak and (b) the upcoming prosodic boundary influences the timing of gesture and intonation movements. Method Fifteen Catalan speakers pointed at a screen while pronouncing a target word with different metrical patterns in a contrastive focus condition and followed by a phrase boundary. A total of 702 co-speech deictic gestures were acoustically and gesturally analyzed. Results Intonation peaks and gesture apexes showed parallel behavior with respect to their position within the accented syllable: They occurred at the end of the accented syllable in non–phrase-final position, whereas they occurred well before the end of the accented syllable in phrase-final position. Crucially, the position of intonation peaks and gesture apexes was correlated and was bound by prosodic structure. Conclusions The results refine the phonological synchronization rule (McNeill, 1992), showing that gesture apexes are anchored in intonation peaks and that gesture and prosodic movements are bound by prosodic phrasing.

scholarly journals The Syntax and Prosody of Weak Pronouns in Chamorro

2003 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Chung
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Mutual Interaction ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
Austronesian Language ◽  
Independent Components ◽  
Prosodic Phrase ◽  
Phonological Phrase

In the modular linguistic theory assumed by many generative linguists, phonology and syntax are interconnected but fundamentally independent components of grammar. The effects of syntax on phonology are mediated by prosodic structure, a representation of prosodic constituents calculated from syntactic structure but not isomorphic to it. Within this overall architecture, I investigate the placement of weak pronouns in the Austronesian language Chamorro. Certain Chamorro pronominals can be realized as prosodically deficient weak pronouns that typically occur right after the predicate. I showthat these pronouns are second-position clitics whose placement is determined not syntactically, but prosodically: they occur after the leftmost phonological phrase of their intonational phrase. My analysis of these clitics assumes that lexical insertion is late and can affect and be affected by prosodic phrase formation-assumptions consistent with the view that the mutual interaction of phonology and syntax is confined to the postsyntactic operations that translate syntactic structure into prosodic structure.

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