Some observations on segment duration and its interaction with the fundamental frequency contour in Swedish

Abstract

In a previous study [B. Lyberg, J. Phonet. 9, 97–103 (1981)] quite strong evidence was found in favor of a relationship between segment duration and fundamental frequency change in certain positions of an utterance such as the phrase final position. The speech material used in the study was built up of Swedish words containing only phonologically long vowel segments. In the present investigation this relationship was studied once more but this time for both phonologically long and short vowel segments in order to elucidate the interaction between the signaling of the quantity distinction and the fundamental frequency contour. The results show that the segment duration of the stressed vowel in monosyllabic words in phrase final position is positively correlated with the fundamental frequency change of the terminal fall when the vowel is followed by a voiced consonant for both phonologically short and long vowels. When the vowel is followed by a voiceless consonant the terminal fall seems to be compressed in the time dimension.