Level Of Tone Research Articles

Feeling the Beat in an African Tone Language: Rhythmic Mapping Between Language and Music

Text-setting patterns in music have served as a key data source in the development of theories of prosody and rhythm in stress-based languages, but have been explored less from a rhythmic perspective in the realm of tone languages. African tone languages have been especially under-studied in terms of rhythmic patterns in text-setting, likely in large part due to the ill-understood status of metrical structure and prosodic prominence asymmetries in many of these languages. Here, we explore how language is mapped to rhythmic structure in traditional folksongs sung in Medʉmba, a Grassfields Bantu language spoken in Cameroon. We show that, despite complex and varying rhythmic structures within and across songs, correspondences emerge between musical rhythm and linguistic structure at the level of stem position, tone, and prosodic structure. Our results reinforce the notion that metrical prominence asymmetries are present in African tone languages, and that they play an important coordinative role in music and movement.

Dynamics of the Auditory Continuity Illusion.

Illusions give intriguing insights into perceptual and neural dynamics. In the auditory continuity illusion, two brief tones separated by a silent gap may be heard as one continuous tone if a noise burst with appropriate characteristics fills the gap. This illusion probes the conditions under which listeners link related sounds across time and maintain perceptual continuity in the face of sudden changes in sound mixtures. Conceptual explanations of this illusion have been proposed, but its neural basis is still being investigated. In this work we provide a dynamical systems framework, grounded in principles of neural dynamics, to explain the continuity illusion. We construct an idealized firing rate model of a neural population and analyze the conditions under which firing rate responses persist during the interruption between the two tones. First, we show that sustained inputs and hysteresis dynamics (a mismatch between tone levels needed to activate and inactivate the population) can produce continuous responses. Second, we show that transient inputs and bistable dynamics (coexistence of two stable firing rate levels) can also produce continuous responses. Finally, we combine these input types together to obtain neural dynamics consistent with two requirements for the continuity illusion as articulated in a well-known theory of auditory scene analysis: responses persist through the noise-filled gap if noise provides sufficient evidence that the tone continues and if there is no evidence of discontinuities between the tones and noise. By grounding these notions in a quantitative model that incorporates elements of neural circuits (recurrent excitation, and mutual inhibition, specifically), we identify plausible mechanisms for the continuity illusion. Our findings can help guide future studies of neural correlates of this illusion and inform development of more biophysically-based models of the auditory continuity illusion.

The Impact of Disclosure Sentiment on the Share Prices of Russian Companies

Information about companies published in a news feed is invariably tinted by emotional tonality. As such, resultingperceptions may influence the opinion of market players, and consequently affect the dynamics of a company’s shareprice. This study aims to evaluate various hypotheses about the impact of the tone of news items regarding dividends,capital expenditures, and development on the stock prices of Russian companies. Information disclosure is extensivelystudied, and there have been limited studies on the effect of disclosures on Russian companies. However, until now, therehave been no research studies which verify hypotheses on the influence of news sentiment on corporate share prices inthe Russian market.
 This analysis was conducted using data from 49 Russian public companies included in the Moscow exchange indexover the period from the end of 2017 to the beginning of 2019. To account for the proximate impact of news items onconsequential market phenomena, an event study methodology was applied in order to estimate and construct themodels of dependency of cumulative abnormal return (CAR) on news tone level, and control for financial and nonfinancialfactors.
 Our results provide evidence for the positive impact of the tone of news texts on the share prices of Russian companies.The increase in news tone by one standard deviation leads to a cumulative abnormal stock return increase of 0.26percentage points. This result is consistent with previous research conducted on data from developed stock markets.Moreover, the relationship between the tone or sentiment level of a news item and the stock price reaction is linear,without the diminishing marginal effect.
 Our conclusions should prompt companies to invest effort in delivering information in a tonally positive way,highlighting the most positive news. Investors, in turn, should rationally approach the interpretation of publishedinformation.

Effect of tonal noise and task difficulty on electroencephalography and cognitive performance

ABSTRACT Objectives. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of tonal noise and task difficulty on electroencephalography (EEG) and cognitive performance. Methods. Twelve healthy volunteers participated in the present study. Four noise signals were generated by four prominence tone levels (0, 2, 5 and 9) at background noise levels of 55 dBA and frequency of 500 Hz using the Test Tone Generator from Esser Audio (USA). The participants were asked to perform the tasks with low, moderate and high levels of difficulty while exposed to the noises in an acoustics laboratory. The values of reaction time, correct rate and missed numbers were recorded during each step. Moreover, the EEG signals were measured. Results. The results showed that higher tone level and more task difficulty significantly decreased the correct rate, and increased the miss numbers. However, no significant effect was observed on reaction times. Furthermore, tone level and task difficulty significantly increased activity of the θ and β bands and decreased activity of the α band. Conclusion. Task difficulty and tone level could significantly affect the parameters of performance and the activity of EEG bands. Therefore, noise control can help sustain appropriate performance.

The effect of linguistic experience on perceived vowel duration: Evidence from Taiwan Mandarin speakers

Perceived vowel duration is known to be influenced by many factors, including f0 height/movement and ones’ native phonological system. Using multiple experimental paradigms, this study examined whether native tonal representations and phonetic knowledge of duration associated with different lexical tones may further shape the ways in which vowel duration is perceived. In a perception experiment, Taiwan Mandarin and Korean listeners rated the duration of duration-controlled CV syllables carrying one of the four lexical tones in Mandarin or a reduced T3half (X21). The results showed that perceived vowel duration by Korean listeners, the control group, reflected general perceptual biases: contour tones were rated as longer than level tones, and high-f0 tones were rated as longer than low-f0 tones. Taiwan Mandarin listeners, on the other hand, overestimated the duration of vowels carrying T3 (X214) and T3half, despite their short phonetic duration in Taiwan Mandarin, indicating the significance of the canonical representation of the complex T3 contour. A spontaneous imitation experiment further supported the canonicity effect: T3half was again hyperarticulated, produced as longer and with similar f0 trajectories as T3full, based on its phonological association to T3. Taken together, the findings of the present study suggest that the perception of vowel duration is guided by higher-order phonological knowledge from speakers’ linguistic experience as well as by general perceptual biases.

Negativity (Election Campaign Coverage)

Negativity (Election Campaign Coverage)

Investigating Abnormal Disclosure Tone in Corporate Narratives: Evidence from an Emerging Market

This study aims to investigate abnormal disclosure tone levels (i.e., extent of management’s tone manipulation) in narrative disclosures of earnings press releases of Egyptian firms. Net disclosure tone is measured by applying manual textual analysis using the financial-domain wordlist of Henry (2008). Then, abnormal disclosure tone is estimated using the model proposed by Huang et al. (2014). Results show that net disclosure tone in the narratives of earnings press releases of firms in all industry sectors tend to be positive and optimistic. In addition, while estimating abnormal disclosure tone levels, using Huang et al (2014) model, it is found that firms that are more profitable, larger, with less growth opportunities and more business segments tend to provide more positive and optimistic tone in their narrative disclosures. Moreover, results provide evidence for the existence of levels of abnormal tone in the narrative disclosures of earnings press releases (both upward and downward tone management), indicating the existence of some levels of tone manipulation by management in the Egyptian firms’ disclosures. Firms in the materials and the real estate sectors are found to have higher levels of abnormal disclosure tone in their earnings press releases. This study contributes to the existing literature, by providing insights regarding management’s use of abnormal tone (i.e., Tone management) in the narrative disclosures of Egyptian firms, which is an unexplored area yet in the Egyptian market or any other emerging market.

Risk of Sensorineural Hearing Loss in Patulous Eustachian Tube.

To investigate whether the long-term presence of a patulous Eustachian tube (PET) is associated with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Retrospective chart review. Tertiary referral center. Ears (n = 100) were classified into two groups based on duration of PET symptom(s), i.e., Short (≤3 mo; n = 47 ears) and Long (≥48 mo; n = 53 ears). Contralateral ears without PET (n = 28 ears) were classified as the Contralateral group. We used ISO 7029 to calculate the hearing thresholds of an age- and sex-matched population at a given frequency. Hearing loss was defined as >25% of these calculated values. At 4 kHz, the Long PET group showed a higher prevalence of hearing loss (47%) at 4 kHz than did the Contralateral (21%) and Short PET (19%) groups (p = 0.0280 and 0.0043, respectively). Ears with breathing autophony or a sonotubometric low probe tone level showed a higher prevalence of hearing loss at 4 kHz than those without this symptom or with a high probe tone level (p = 0.0329 or 0.0103, respectively). At low frequencies, ≥89% of the ears in all groups showed mild hearing loss. Chronic PET was associated with SNHL at 4 kHz. PET patients showed low-frequency hearing loss regardless of disease duration. Further studies are needed to better understand the pathophysiology of SNHL in patients with PET.

Polarity in a four-level tone language: tone features in Tenyidie

This paper reports a new kind of tone polarity, where the phenomenon is seen in a language with four level tones, Tenyidie (also known as Angami). I show that the polarity is in the features of the tones, i.e. at a subtonal level. The data also provide evidence that tones themselves can be broken down into smaller features. Furthermore, I demonstrate that the polarity pattern observed in the language is an epiphenomenon, a reflex of the Obligatory Contour Principle, not a phonological process in its own right. I show this with the help of a new type of tonal representation. Theoretical discussions of tone polarity have so far been almost entirely restricted to African tone systems, and to languages with just two tones. This paper brings into the discussion a Tibeto-Burman language with four tones.

REM Sleep Without Atonia and Gait Impairment in People with Mild-to-Moderate Parkinson's Disease.

Subtle gait deficits can be seen in people with idiopathic rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD), a prodromal stage of Parkinson's disease (PD) and related alpha-synucleinopathies. It is unknown if the presence and level of REM sleep without atonia (RSWA, the electromyographic hallmark of RBD) is related to the severity of gait disturbances in people with PD. We hypothesized that gait disturbances in people with mild-to-moderate PD would be greater in participants with RSWA compared to those without RSWA and matched controls, and that gait impairment would correlate with measures of RSWA. Spatiotemporal characteristics of gait were obtained from 41 people with PD and 21 age-matched controls. Overnight sleep studies were used to quantify muscle activity during REM sleep and group participants with PD into those with RSWA (PD-RSWA+, n = 22) and normal REM sleep muscle tone (PD-RSWA-, n = 19). Gait characteristics were compared between groups and correlated to RSWA. The PD-RSWA+ group demonstrated significantly reduced gait speed and step lengths and increased stance and double support times compared to controls, and decreased speed and cadence and increased stride velocity variability compared to PD-RSWA- group. Larger RSWA scores were correlated with worse gait impairment in the PD group. The presence and level of muscle tone during REM sleep is associated with the severity of gait disturbances in PD. Pathophysiological processes contributing to disordered gait may occur earlier and/or progress more rapidly in people with PD and RBD.

ХВИЛЬОВА СТРУКТУРА СЕРЦЕВОГО РИТМУ ПРИ ОРТОПРОБІ У ОСІБ З РІЗНИМ РІВНЕМ ВЕГЕТАТИВНОГО ТОНУСУ

Introduction. It is known that there are typological features among healthy young people according to the level of autonomic tone. Accordingly, there are groups of sympatho-, normo- and vagotonics. Work has been carried out to study the influence of the initial level of autonomic tone on thereactions of the cardiovascular system in respiratory hypocapnia, pulsed ophthalmic photostimulation, in different phases of the biological cycle for women. However, there is no work on the analysis of changes in the wave structure of heart rate depending on the initial level of autonomic tone. Purpose. The aim was to determine the features of the wave structure of the heart rhythm during orthoprobe for healthy young men with different levels of tone of the autonomic nervous system at rest. Methods. Measurements were performed in conditions close to the main exchange. 117 healthy young men aged 18-23 years were examined in compliance with the requirements of bioethics. Three main spectral components were analyzed in the tRR spectrum: HF (0.15-0.4 Hz) LF (0.04-0.15Hz); VLF (0-0.04 Hz); TP (0-0.4 Hz). The amplitude of the largest peak of the tRR spectrogram in the frequency range 0.04-0.15 Hz (aLF) and its frequency (tLF) were calculated. Normalized median spectrograms of tRR oscillations were constructed.Results.A significant decrease in HF was observed in individuals of all three groups during orthoprobe. The median reactivity of reactivity was -67.3%, -77.5%, -77.9% for groups I, II and III, respectively. There were no differences between the groups due to the reactivity of this indicator. The reactivity of LF to changes in body position for sympathotonics was significantly different.The frequency of the maximum peak of the spectrogram in the range of low often resting heart rate did not differ between groups. This indicator probably decreased during orthoprobe in groups IIand III. It was found that the wave has two peaks in the vertical position in persons with different baseline levels of autonomic tone for vagotonics and normotonics in the frequency range from 0.04 to0.15 Hz. Originality. Differences in the reactivity of heart rate waves to orthoprobe for healthy young men with different baseline levels of autonomic tone were detected for the first time. Conclusions. The greatest differences in changes in the wave structure of the heart rhythm during orthoprobe for persons with different baseline levels of autonomic tone are manifested in therange of low heart rate. Spectrum reduction reactions in this range were predominant for sympathotonics. The reactions of increasing LF and the amplitude of the maximum peak of the spectrogram were predominant for normo- and parasympathotonics. It was found that the wave has two peaks in the vertical position in persons with different baseline levels of autonomic tone for vagotonics and normotonics in the frequency range from 0.04 to 0.15 Hz. Sympathotonics have one wave of orthopedic reactivity with maxima at 0.09 Hz in the low heart rate range. Normotonics have two waves of reactivity per orthoprobe with frequencies of 0.08Hz and 0.11 Hz. Parasympathotonics also have two waves with frequencies of 0.07 Hz and 0.09Hz. Prospects for further research include elucidation of the mechanisms of tRR wave formation depending on the level of vegetative tone under different conditions. Key words: wave structure of heart rhythm, vegetative tone, sympathotonics, normotonics, vagotonics.

Интонационная система сургутского диалекта хантыйского языка

This paper aims to present the main features of the intonation system of the Surgut dialect of Khanty. The analysis of five folklore texts narrated by one native speaker distinguished three main intonation constructions (IC). The first one (IC-1), with a rising-falling tone, is typically used to mark the rheme (focus) and the end of the utterance, though its usage can vary depending on the tone level in its final part. The second (IC-2) and the third (IC-3), characterized by even and rising tone, are used on non-contrastive and contrastive themes accordingly. The intonation of utterances is shown to correlate strongly with their syntactic structure. In particular, intonation participates in the formation of complicated syntactic structures, with the IC-1 marking the detached components. Intonation is also used to express the relation between clauses: while communicatively and syntactically homogeneous, non-subordinate clauses are pronounced with IC-1, subordinate clauses are marked by IC-2. In addition, the role of intonation in forming the communicative structure of an utterance is considered. With the word order and communicative structure of Khanty relatively rigid, intonation is used mainly to mark the boundaries between the communicative components of utterances instead of marking their theme and rheme. Even in such cases, intonation is secondary to morphological means of expressing the communicative roles of noun phrases. Due to the limited research material, this work does not claim to be a complete description of the intonation system under consideration. How-ever, the results may serve as a basis for future research.

Dynamical Mechanism Underlying Scale-Free Network Reorganization in Low Acetylcholine States Corresponding to Slow Wave Sleep.

Sleep is indispensable for most animals’ cognitive functions, and is hypothesized to be a major factor in memory consolidation. Although we do not fully understand the mechanisms of network reorganisation driving memory consolidation, available data suggests that sleep-associated neurochemical changes may be important for such processes. In particular, global acetylcholine levels change across the sleep/wake cycle, with high cholinergic tone during wake and REM sleep and low cholinergic tone during slow wave sleep. Furthermore, experimental perturbation of cholinergic tone has been shown to impact memory storage. Through in silico modeling of neuronal networks, we show how spiking dynamics change in highly heterogenous networks under varying levels of cholinergic tone, with neuronal networks under high cholinergic modulation firing asynchronously and at high frequencies, while those under low cholinergic modulation exhibit synchronous patterns of activity. We further examined the network’s dynamics and its reorganization mediated via changing levels of acetylcholine within the context of different scale-free topologies, comparing network activity within the hub cells, a small group of neurons having high degree connectivity, and with the rest of the network. We show a dramatic, state-dependent change in information flow throughout the network, with highly active hub cells integrating information in a high-acetylcholine state, and transferring it to rest of the network in a low-acetylcholine state. This result is experimentally corroborated by frequency-dependent frequency changes observed in vivo experiments. Together, these findings provide insight into how new neurons are recruited into memory traces during sleep, a mechanism which may underlie system memory consolidation.

Learning location and seabed type from a moving mid-frequency source.

While source localization and seabed classification are often approached separately, the convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in this paper simultaneously predict seabed type, source depth and speed, and the closest point of approach. Different CNN architectures are applied to mid-frequency tonal levels from a moving source recorded on a 16-channel vertical line array (VLA). After training each CNN on synthetic data, a statistical representation of predictions on test cases is presented. The performance of a single regression-based CNN is compared to a multitask CNN in which regression is used for the source parameters and classification for the seabed type. The impact of water sound speed profile and seabed variations on the predictions is evaluated using simulated test cases. Environmental mismatch between the training and testing data has a negative impact on source depth estimates, while the remaining labels are estimated tolerably well but with a bias towards shorter ranges. Similar results are found for data measured on two VLAs during Seabed Characterization Experiment 2017. This work shows the superiority of multitask learning and the potential for using a CNN to localize an acoustic source and detect the surficial seabed properties from mid-frequency sounds.

Взаємодія просодичних характеристик у реалізації висловлювань-здивувань

The aim of the article is to define the role of prosodic variables play in actualizing emotional utterances. Sometimes they can be the only ones that indicate the speaker’s pragmatic intention. The purpose of the study is to determine the interaction level of prosodic means that helps to achieve maximum effect on the recipient as well as to establish the invariant of the intonation model of utterances expressing surprise and its variable modifications. The correlation of the intonation components and parts of the intonation contour is able to provide an adequate description of positive, negative, indefinite and complex emotions. Utterances expressing surprise of different kinds are characterized by the variability of a pitch-tone level, tempo, timbre, rhythm, each of which carries certain semantic meaning. At the same time, the type of a nuclear tone, scale, pre-scale, core elements of the melodic contour, interacting with the components of intonation define the modal meaning of an utterance. To determine the common and distinct perceptual prosodic characteristics of utterances expressing surprise, as the most frequent emotional speech units of business and cultural communication, with a view to define the prosodic model of the utterances explored, the auditory and acoustic analyses were performed. The perceptive and acoustic analyses comparison allowed us to formulate the general structure of the intonation patterns of utterances expressing surprise. It is concluded that the leading prosodic means, which differentiate the types of utterances expressing surprise, should include: the tone level of the beginning of the syntagm, the tone of the first stressed syllable, the configuration of the terminal tone and its range, the rate of pitch frequency change in the terminal rhythm group, the frequency range of the intonation group, the tone intervals on the pre-scale, scale, nuclear tone as well as tempo and timbre. Linguistic interpretation of the results of the perceptual and acoustic analyses allows us to consider the established intonation features sufficiently complete to describe their prosodic model and define them as appropriate for the use in teaching proper intonation of the English emotional utterances. The achieved data can be used in teaching students the most common intonation patterns of emotional utterances and to make them realize semantic variabilities of utterances expressing surprise.

Thioredoxin deficiency exacerbates vascular dysfunction during diet-induced obesity in small mesenteric artery in mice.

Thioredoxin (Trx) is a small cellular redox protein with established antioxidant and disulfide reductase properties. We hypothesized that Trx deficiency in mice would cause increased oxidative stress with consequent redox imbalance that would exacerbate obesity-induced vascular dysfunction. Non-transgenic (NT, C57BL/6) and dominant-negative Trx (dnTrx-Tg, low levels of redox-active protein) mice were either fed a normal diet (NC) or high fat diet plus sucrose (HFS) diet for 4months (3-month HFD+ 1-month HFS). Weight gain, glucose tolerance test (GTT), insulin tolerance test (ITT), and other metabolic parameters were performed following NC or HFS diet. Arterial structural remodeling and functional parameters were assessed by myography. Our study found that dnTrx mice with lower levels of active Trx exacerbated myogenic tone, inward arterial remodeling, arterial stiffening, phenylephrine-induced contraction, and endothelial dysfunction of MA. Additionally, FeTMPyP, a peroxynitrite decomposition catalyst, acutely decreased myogenic tone and contraction and normalized endothelial function in MA from dnTrx-Tg mice on HFS via increasing nitric oxide (NO)-mediated relaxation. Our results indicate that deficiency of active Trx exacerbates MA contractile and relaxing properties during diet-induced obesity demonstrating that loss of redox balance in obesity is a key mechanism of vascular endothelial dysfunction.

The phonology and noun morphology of Yi Kitʊlɛ, an Adamawa language of East-Central Nigeria

The paper describes the phonology and nominal morphology of KItʊlε, an Adamawa language of the Tula-Waja group, spoken in East-Central Nigeria. KItʊlε has a restricted consonant inventory, marked by a loss of voicing contrast in most consonants. It has a system of ATR vowel harmony, which has begun to erode in many lexical items. There are three level tones plus rising and falling glides. The underlying system of nominal number marking is suffix alternation as with the other languages in the group, but this has undergone numerous alterations, in part due to the addition of prefix alterations, and fossilised suffixes which have been incorporated into the stem. Some of these then appear as infixes, although this is not the underlying system. A note on demonstratives is appended, which shows that these are not directly concordial, but which have a broad semantic logic.

Network Physiology of Cortico-Muscular Interactions.

Skeletal muscle activity is continuously modulated across physiologic states to provide coordination, flexibility and responsiveness to body tasks and external inputs. Despite the central role the muscular system plays in facilitating vital body functions, the network of brain-muscle interactions required to control hundreds of muscles and synchronize their activation in relation to distinct physiologic states has not been investigated. Recent approaches have focused on general associations between individual brain rhythms and muscle activation during movement tasks. However, the specific forms of coupling, the functional network of cortico-muscular coordination, and how network structure and dynamics are modulated by autonomic regulation across physiologic states remains unknown. To identify and quantify the cortico-muscular interaction network and uncover basic features of neuro-autonomic control of muscle function, we investigate the coupling between synchronous bursts in cortical rhythms and peripheral muscle activation during sleep and wake. Utilizing the concept of time delay stability and a novel network physiology approach, we find that the brain-muscle network exhibits complex dynamic patterns of communication involving multiple brain rhythms across cortical locations and different electromyographic frequency bands. Moreover, our results show that during each physiologic state the cortico-muscular network is characterized by a specific profile of network links strength, where particular brain rhythms play role of main mediators of interaction and control. Further, we discover a hierarchical reorganization in network structure across physiologic states, with high connectivity and network link strength during wake, intermediate during REM and light sleep, and low during deep sleep, a sleep-stage stratification that demonstrates a unique association between physiologic states and cortico-muscular network structure. The reported empirical observations are consistent across individual subjects, indicating universal behavior in network structure and dynamics, and high sensitivity of cortico-muscular control to changes in autonomic regulation, even at low levels of physical activity and muscle tone during sleep. Our findings demonstrate previously unrecognized basic principles of brain-muscle network communication and control, and provide new perspectives on the regulatory mechanisms of brain dynamics and locomotor activation, with potential clinical implications for neurodegenerative, movement and sleep disorders, and for developing efficient treatment strategies.

Phonetic Portrait of a Ukrainian EFL Teacher: Prosodic Parameters in Academic Discourse

Particular durable second language (L2) pronunciation distinctions of speakers who belong to the same first language (L1) community serve as their instant audio-identification markers, creating their typical phonetic portrait. Deviations in non-native English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher pronunciation remain a vibrant area of research due to their impact on speech intelligibility and comprehensibility, their pragmatic and emotional potential in oral verbal communication. The purpose of this contribution was to establish standard pronunciation deviations in academic speech of Ukrainian EFL teachers, thus depicting their phonetic portrait. A research methodology included acoustic and auditory analyses of pronunciation of British and Ukrainian speakers of English. The findings showed that Ukrainian EFL teachers display a set of common pronunciation distinctions: on the tonal level of the beginning and the end of the intonation group, tonal range, interval, rate and tone movement change in different parts of the intonation group, volume realization, speech rate; lack of qualitative and quantitative differences in the pronunciation of long and short monophthongs in stressed and unstressed syllables, full pronunciation of unstressed vowels. The results will find their application in EFL teacher education programs and further research of the accented speech nature.

Intonacijos įtaka akustinei priegaidžių raiškai: eksperimentinis latvių bendrinės kalbos tyrimas

Straipsnyje, remiantis latvių bendrinės kalbos medžiaga, analizuojamas fonetinės priegaidžių ir frazės intonacijos sąveikos mechanizmas. Iš pradžių aptarus fonologines šios srities tyrimų problemas, argumentuota pasirinktoji tyrimo metodika – nuspręsta kalbamųjų prozodinių elementų akustinį ryšį apibūdinti rodikliais, gaunamais tiriamuosius objektus (su viena ar kita priegaide tariamų balsių tono kontūrus) skaidant į skirtingas laiko atkarpas. Priegaidžių diferencialumo lygmuo ir pobūdis nagrinėtas įvairiomis intonacinėmis sąlygomis: varijuota intonaciniais tipais, minimaliųjų porų (zâle „žolė“ – zãle „salė“; plâns „plonas“ – plãns „planas“) narių pozicijomis frazės kirčio (t. y. stiprioji / silpnoji frazės pozicija) ir centro (frazės inicialė, medialė arba finalė) atžvilgiu. Iš gautųjų duomenų padaryta keletas bendrojo pobūdžio išvadų. Pirma, akustinė priegaidžių raiška sietina su funkciniu jų krūviu frazėse ir poreikiu išskirti, pabrėžti kažkurio sakinio elemento dalykinį turinį. Antra, tiesioginį neigiamą frazės intonacijos poveikį priegaidėms loginio kirčio pozicijoje atspindi tono kontūrų suvienodinimas pagal bendrąją kitimo kryptį ir pobūdį. Trečia, priegaidės laikytinos veiksniu, vienaip ar kitaip modifikuojančiu frazės intonacijos implikuojamą bendrąjį akustinės energijos kiekį, jos kaitos laipsnį ir kryptį.