Abstract
The temporal lengthening that occurs at phrase edges is known as phrasal lengthening. The scope of phrasal lengthening refers to the distance both before and after a phrase edge that phrasal lengthening can occur. This paper examines the influence of prosodic prominence on the scope of phrasal lengthening in articulation. Pitch accent was placed immediately adjacent to the phrase edge and at varying distances before and after the phrase edge. Articulatory durations of gestures were measured in the pitch-accented syllables and in the syllables intervening between the phrase edge and the pitch-accented syllables. Acoustic measurements of consonant, syllable, and vowel duration were also examined. These constriction durations were compared to those for gestures in phonologically parallel control sentences that lacked a phrase boundary. The results indicate that phrasal lengthening is most systematic immediately adjacent to the phrase edge. However, pitch accent can attract phrasal lengthening. One subject showed phrasal lengthening in a pitch-accented syllable, three syllables away from the boundary. Finally, when the remote pitch-accented syllable showed phrasal lengthening, gestures intervening between the phrase edge and the pitch-accented syllable also showed phrasal lengthening. These patterns are evaluated in the context of the prosodic gestural model of Byrd & Saltzman (2003).
Published Version
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