Prosody
Refers to all of the linguistic properties that exceed the segment level
Suprasegmentals
Includes both linguistic prosody and paralinguistic (nongrammatical) influences
Features of speech that affect an utterance beyond the phonetic and allophonic features
Prosody
- Intonation (pitch, stress, rhythm)
- Loudness variations (amplitude)
- Timing (pausing)
PARALINGUISTICS
- Vocal quality
- hoarse, breathy, hyper or hyponasal - Speaking style (vocal adjustments) may change according to setting
- Emotion
-sad, angry, fear, joy
Pitch
perceptual property
Varies along perceptual dimension of high to low
Closely related to the frequency of vocal fold vibration during phonation
Loudness
Perceived magnitude or strength of the speech signal
Varies along continuum of weak (soft) to strong (loud)
Acoustic property of intensity
Duration
Length of the speech unit
Differences influences perception of rhythm or tempo of speech
syllables and stress
A syllable contains a vowel with or without surrounding consonants
- 1 syllable words - a, it, run, stop, scrap
- multi-syllabic words - how many syllables in each?
Masquerade -3
Dictionary - 4
Multiplication - 5
Halloween - 3
What is a syllable?
A syllable can best be defined by its internal structure: onset + rhyme
Onset
Consists of all the consonants that precede a vowel (fun, stop, splash, sunshine)
Some syllables have no onset (i.e. they begin with vowels
e.g. each, up, under (first syllable in under)
Rhyme
Consists of the nucleus + coda
Nucleus - vowel
Coda - consonant (s) + is optional
- some syllables have no coda (no, see, coda)
Syllable Consonants
Syllabic consonants - when a syllable has no vowel and the consonant assumes the nucleus role
e.g. muscle, button, table
Open Syllables
end with a vowel (no coda)
e.g. three, maybe
Closed syllables
syllables end with coda (end with a consonant)
Syllable Stress - degrees of stress
IPA recognizes primary, secondary, and tertiary stress
Two different ways to notate:
Traditional: [‘jɛ,lo] superior vertical stroke primary stress and lower vertical stroke secondary stress
Newer (Shriberg and ent and Pepperfont):
[jɛlo] small numbers 1 and 2 above vowels (1 above ɛ and 2 above o)
Listening for stress
The development of good listening skills is crucial to the mastery of syllable stress
General Rules:
- monosyllabic words: always stressed
e.g. cup, steak, round
- These vowels appear in unstressed syllables: /ə ɚ/
- both syllables receive primary stress = spondaic stress (usually compound words)
e.g. hotdog, baseball, greenhouse
Intonation
Pattern or melody of pitch changes in an utterance
- Rhythm - helps us process the info
- Pitch changes - how we identify linguistic units
Stress
Degree of prominence or emphasis associated with a particular syllable in a word or with a word in a phrase, clause, or sentence
Stress perception is related to:
- Fundamental frequency (increased stress - elevated pitch)
- Intensity (increased stress - increased intensity)
- Duration (increased stress - longer duration)
Facts about stress
- can alter vowel and consonant articulation
- stressed syllables - articulatory movements are larger
- stressed syllables have longer durations
Lexical Stress
- stress pattern intrinsic to a word
- noun vs. verb forms
e.g. record, object, project, address
Stress placed on the first syllable - noun
Stress placed on the second syllable - verb
Lexical Stress
Nouns:
[‘r ɜ ,k ɔ r d]
[‘p r o ,t ɛ s t]
[‘ɪ n ,k l aɪ n]
Verbs:
[,r ɛ ‘k ɔ r d]
[,p r o ‘t ɛ s t]
[,ɪ n ‘k l aɪ n]
Rhythm
Distribution of events over time
Timing - tempo
Tempo - the speed at which a piece is or should be played
Timing - juncture
Pause
the sound of silence
