Slide 1

Slide 2 Nonsegmentals or Suprasegmentals Most of the material weve discussed to this point concerns the segmental characteristics of speech. Segmental: This term refers to phonemes and allophones; e.g., /b/, /d/, /g/, /p/, /t/, /r/, /l/, /w/, [t h ], [ ], etc.; these are all phonetic segments. Attributes of segments (place, manner, & voicing, or tongue height, frontness, & lip rounding) are also referred to as segmental features. Nonsegmental or suprasegmental: Characteristics of an utterance that transcend the segment; e.g., the melody and rhythm of an utterance. Slide 3 Melody: Intonation (pattern of pitch over time). Rhythm: Stress pattern; i.e., the pattern of accented and unaccented syllables in a word. PERmit/perMIT OBject/obJECT REcord/reCORD One quick point of terminology: Prosody is a term that refers collectively to both the melodic and rhythmic aspects of speech: Prosody Intonation (melody)Stress (rhythm) Slide 4 Intonation (melodic) contour: Pattern of F 0 (pitch) over time conveys information about the grammatical structure of the utterance (e.g., phrase boundaries and sentence type), as well as affective (emotional) information. We wont have time to cover intonation, but we can at least appreciate how important it is: (Note: The FDR utterance may or may not play on the Powerpoint file you download; the others should play fine.) Slide 5 Among many other things, the intonation contour can differentiate questions from statements. F 0 Contour Statement: Falling F 0 Question: Rising F 0 Slide 6 OBject obJECT amplitude pitch (F 0 ) Relative to unstressed syllables, stressed syllables are generally: (1) greater in amplitude (i.e., louder), (2) higher in F 0 (i.e., pitch), (3) greater in duration, and (4) less centralized (i.e., closer to their target values see MacKay for a nice discussion). This example shows the role played by F 0 and amplitude only. Note that the stressed syllables are higher in amplitude and in F 0. Note: Stressed syllable is usually longer; this is true for obJECT, but not OBject. Slide 7 Summary of cues to stress : 1.F 0 /Pitch: Stressed syllables typically higher in F 0 /Pitch 2.Amplitude/Loudness: Stressed syllables typically higher in amplitude/loudness 3.Duration: Stressed syllables typically longer 4.Vowel quality: Vowels in stressed syllables typically more peripheral (i.e., less centralized). The figure below illustrates this. Vowel Quality As vowels become less prominent (i.e., less stressed), their quality becomes more centralized. In the limiting case, the weakest syllables are reduced to schwa. approximate approximately Note that the weak vowel is reduced entirely to schwa. Slide 8 Stress Sentential Stress Lexical Stress Some words in a sentence Some syllables in a word receive greater prominence receive greater prominence than others than others Slide 9 Sentential or Sentence-level Stress ELAINE: And I asked him, "Should Jerry bring anything?" JERRY: So...? ELAINE: Mmmm... and he said, Why would Jerry bring anything? JERRY: Alright, but let me ask you this question. Which word did he emphasize? Did he say, Why would Jerry bring anything? or, Why would Jerry bring anything? Did he emphasize Jerry or bring? ELAINE: I think he emphasized would. JERRY: You know what? The hell with this party. I didn't even want to go to begin with. Slide 10 This example illustrates sentence-level stress. It makes the simple point that the interpretation of an utterance can depend on which word or words in the sentence receive greater prominence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0zvGVYva8M Slide 11 Lexical Stress Basic idea is simple: Some syllables within a word receive greater prominence than others. (The within a word restriction explains why it is called lexical stress.) SEAshore not seaSHORE STICKler not stickLER BLACKboard not blackBOARD These are all examples of lexical or word-level stress. Transcription of stress patterns: How many levels of stress are needed to describe English? Most phoneticians use a three-level system, though the terminology varies a little: primary secondary - reduced primary secondary weak primary secondary - tertiary primary secondary - unstressed Other phoneticians use a four-level system. Well stick with three. Slide 12 Two Transcription Systems are in Use System 1: seashore [si o ] forward-leaning accent = primary backward-leaning accent = secondary manifest [mnf st] reduced/weak/tertiary (unmarked) Notes: (1) The stress markers are applied (as diacritics) to the vowel, not the syllable. (2) The weak/reduced/unstressed/tertiary syllable is often (though not always) simply unmarked. System 2: seashore [ si o ] vertical bar above the symbol = primary vertical bar below the symbol = secondary manifest [ mn f st] reduced/weak/tertiary Notes: (1) The stress markers are applied to the syllable, not the vowel. This is different from the system above. (2) Weak/ reduced/unstressed/tertiary syllables are unmarked. Slide 13 We will be using only System 1 in here; e.g., seashore [si o ] Slide 14 maintain [mntn] or [ men ten] grading [grd ] or [ gre d ] denounce [dinauns] or [ di nauns] (1 st vowel could be schwa, depending on pronunciation) mostly [mosli] or [ mos li] ([t] usually dropped, except in careful speech) goatee [goti] or [ go ti] pester [p st ] or [ p s t ] Slide 15 leisure [li ] (sometimes [l ]) blacksmith [blksm ] skirmish [sk m ] mustard [m st d] planter [plnt ] Slide 16 permit (v) [p m t] permit (n) [p m t] record (v) [rko d] (often pronounced with a schwa in the 1 st syllable) record (n) [r k d] sensation [s ns n] transcription [trnskr p n] Slide 17 transportation [trnsp t n] schematic [skim k] or [skm k] or [skm k] mathematics [mm ks] or [mm ks] perception [p s p n] locality [lokl i] libation [lai n] Slide 18 Velveeta [v lvi ] romantic [romnt k] or [romntk] fantastic [fntst k] guarantee [ge nti] warranty [wo nti] experience [ kspi ins] (1 st vowel could be [ ] in careful speech)