F/sub 0/ declination in read-aloud and spontaneous speech

Abstract

The paper deals with a prosodic comparison of spontaneous and read-aloud speech. More specifically, the study reports data on F/sub 0/ declination in these two speaking modes using Swedish materials. For both speaking styles the analysis revealed negative slopes, a steepness-duration dependency with declination being less steep in longer utterances than in shorter ones and resetting at utterance boundaries. However, there was a difference in degree of declination between the two speaking styles, read-aloud speech in general having steeper slopes, a more apparent time dependency and stronger resetting than spontaneous speech.