The effect of focus marking on supralaryngeal articulation – Is it mediated by accentuation?

Abstract

In this study we explore the effects of focus-background structure on accentuation (i.e. whether a word bears a pitch accent or not) and supralaryngeal articulation, measured in terms of acoustic durations (syllable and foot durations) and lip kinematics (parameters relating to the opening gesture: duration, displacement, peak velocity and stiffness). Although words in focus were accented and those out of focus were not, there were few supralaryngeal differences between accented words when they were produced in the broad focus context and unaccented target words (out of focus). Thus, accentuation per se did not appear to lead to supralaryngeal modifications. However, there was a clear distinction between the supralaryngeal articulation of words in broad focus and those in contrastive focus. We conclude that supralaryngeal articulation – in terms of acoustic duration and lip kinematics – is related directly to the expression of focus structure and contrastivity, and is not, contrary to conclusions drawn in previous studies, mediated by the presence or absence of accent.