Model of the configurations of intonation movements in Danish ‐ suggesting an 'intoneme'

Abstract

This study examines the inventory of intonation movements in Danish. The aim is to identify the micro intonation and to produce a model of the movement patterns in Danish, which would predict the intonation of synthetic speech in order to establish a close‐to‐natural intonation. The theoretical background is a modified version of the "close copy theory" ('t Hart et al.), in which movements are tendency lines in the intonation pattern. A new movement starts when the tendency line shifts direction. The acoustic analysis comprises measurements of time, semitones and slope (semitones/second = slope) and a description of the (parts of) phones in intonation movements of actual speech. The analysis suggests that the slope of the movement is one of the most important features of intonation, and that speakers are aiming to produce one of a set of 5 standard slopes, depending mainly on the phonetic segment, suggesting an underlying unit ‐ an "intoneme"‐ displaying the same relationship as that of phoneme and phone.