Visual and auditory cues of assertions and questions in brazilian portuguese and Mexican Spanishy

Luma Da Silva Miranda,João Antônio De Moraes,Albert Rilliard,Carolina Gomes Da Silva

doi:10.20396/joss.v9i00.14958

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to compare the multimodal production of questions in two different language varieties: Brazilian Portuguese and Mexican Spanish. Descriptions of the auditory and visual cues of two speech acts, assertions and questions, are presented based on Brazilian and Mexican corpora. The sentence “Como você sabe” was produced as an yes-no (echo) question and an assertion by ten speakers (five male) from Rio de Janeiro and the sentence “Apaga la tele” was produced as a yes-no question and an assertion by five speakers (three male) from Mexico City. The results show that, whereas the Brazilian Portuguese and Mexican Spanish assertions are produced with different F0 contours and different facial expressions, questions in both languages are produced with specific F0 contours but similar facial expressions. The outcome of this comparative study suggests that lowering the eyebrows, tightening the lid and wrinkling the nose can be considered question markers in both language varieties.

Highlights

A large number of studies have shown that the multimodality of speech is part of human communication
This paper presented an analysis of the production of assertions and questions in two different languages: Brazilian Portuguese and Mexican Spanish
In MS, assertions present either a falling-rising F0 nuclear configuration (L+H*L%) or a flat low nuclear F0 (L*L%), whereas yes-no questions show a low nuclear F0 in the stressed syllable followed by a rising boundary tone configuration (L*LH%)

Summary

Introduction

A large number of studies have shown that the multimodality of speech is part of human communication. According to Kendon (2004), in addition to spoken expressions, a great amount of information regarding speakers‟ goals, attention, ideas, feelings and attitudes is transmitted by visible body actions. Those actions, which are called gestures when they constitute part of an utterance, can often be employed to achieve either the same or a similar communicative purpose as that which is verified in spoken expressions. The way in which gestures are organized with speech is varied. Gestures can be used either in conjunction with spoken language (e.g., question markers) or as complements to spoken messages (e.g., pointing gestures)

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Results

Conclusion