Pitch Range Variations Research Articles

The Function of Pitch Range Variations in Samples of Emotional Expressions in Persian

This study aims at investigating the interface between emotion and intonation patterns (more specifically, duration and pitch amplitude of speech). To this end, the acoustic properties of spectral parameters related to speech prosody are investigated. The results of acoustic and Statistical analysis show that mean level and range of FO in the contours vary strongly as a function of the degree of activation of the portrayed emotions. The results also indicate that FO/pitch and other vocal aspects affected by emotion and/or emotional arousal in collected samples of speech in Persian.

Pitch Range Variations Improve Cognitive Processing of Audio Messages

This research was supported by a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IOF, 328636).

자동회전의 트림 범위와 특성(I): 로터 스피드 한계와 피치범위

Numerical analysis has been performed to investigate the rotor speed and pitch range variations when the airspeed is increased in autorotation. Transient Simulation Method(TSM) was used to obtain the steady states of autorotation. The rotor blade was analyzed by the two-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes solver in order to adapt to the airspeed increase and the results were used in the transient simulation method. Meanwhile, the Pitt/Peters inflow theory was used to supply the induced velocity fields. For the prescribed torque equilibrium state, the combinations of velocity, shaft angle, and pitch angle were produced to investigate the rotor speeds and variable ranges. The rotor tip Mach number and rotor speed were correlated and the trim range of pitch angle was observed with respect to the shaft angle decrease.

Pitch Range Variation in English Tonal Contrasts: Continuous or Categorical?

The importance of pitch range variation for intonational meaning and theory is well known; however, whether pitch range is a phonetic dimension which is treated categorically in English remains unclear. To test this possibility, three intonation continua varying in pitch range were constructed which had endpoints with contrastive representations under autosegmental-metrical (AM) theory: H* vs. L+H*, H* with ‘peak delay’ vs. L*+H, and %H L* vs. L*. The prediction derived from AM theory was that the reproduction of continuous pitch range variation should show a discrete pattern reflecting a change in the phonological representation of tonal sequences and in the number of tonal targets across each continuum. Participants’ reproductions of each stimulus set showed continuous variation in pitch range, suggesting that pitch range is a gradient phonetic dimension in English conveying semantic contrast, similar to the formant space for vowels. Moreover, the gradience observed in productions across all parts of the pitch range suggests that contours within each series had the same number of tonal targets. The results support a version of AM theory in which rises and falls are usually comprised of two tonal targets, with strictly monotonic f₀ interpolation between them.

De l'ambiguïté dans les interrogations fermées en russe moderne

In this paper, we intend to show how ambiguity can be cleared in positive yes/no questions in modern Russian. For the purpose of our study, we will analyze three interrogative transitive predicate structures (svO1, sVo et soV). Despite the same syntactic surface structure and the same nuclear accent placement, each of them satisfies two different types of questions. The analyses reveal that when the segmental level does not allow disambiguisation, this is achieved via various prosodic techniques: nature of nuclear accent ("neutral" accent vs. "exclusive" accent) combined with specific features of F0 contour on the prenuclear region, pitch range variations, and pause.

Effects of pitch range variation on f0 extrema in an imitation task

A central issue in speech intonation research concerns how fundamental frequency ( f 0) variation relates to phonological categories. The hypothesis was tested that pitch range variation which affects whether one syllable is higher or lower than another would elicit categorical shifts in f 0 extremum timing in an imitation task. Participants heard synthetic versions of the phrase Some lemonade with rising-falling or falling-rising intonation and flat f 0 contours across le- and mo-. The f 0 levels of le- and mo- were varied such that for half the stimuli, le- had a higher f 0 than mo-, while the reverse was true for the remainder. Participants produced f 0 peaks and valleys on syllables that had flat f 0 in stimuli; extremum types (peaks or valleys) and their temporal alignments varied categorically with the relative f 0 levels of le- and mo- in the stimuli. The results are discussed in terms of theories of intonational phonology. It is shown that an account of these results under autosegmental-metrical theory (e.g., Pierrehumbert, J. (1980). The phonology and phonetics of English intonation. Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, MA) requires positing additional constraints in phonetic models of f 0. A revised version of the Pierrehumbert and Beckman [(1988). Japanese tone structure. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press] phonetic model is therefore proposed which assumes additional constraints on relative tone heights and strictly monotonic interpolation between tones.

Interaction of word stress, focus, and sentence type in English

This study investigates prosodic differences between statements and declarative questions in American English by examining their interaction with focus, as manifested in the local and global pitch range variations, and in the underlying pitch targets of the stressed syllables in the pre-, post-, and on-focus content words. Five native speakers read 24 sentences eight times. Results of F0 analyses indicate that focus has no effect on the prefocus region for either statements or questions. In the on-focus region, the pitch range of the stressed syllable is raised in statements, but lowered in questions. The postfocus pitch range is compressed and lowered in statements, but compressed and raised in questions. Furthermore, the pitch target of the stressed syllable in a content word is high or falling in statements and low or rising in questions, depending on the focus condition and on the word’s stress and syllabic pattern. Comparisons of duration and spectral balance in each statement-question pair yielded no significant difference. These results suggest that a particular combination of word stress, focus, and sentence type in an English utterance largely determines its local and global pitch contours. Only after these communicative functions are identified can the associated forms be explained.

A comparative intonational analysis of spontaneous and read speech.

Many studies have investigated acoustic differences between spontaneously produced speech and prepared read speech and have found that no single aspect of the speech signal (average duration, average F0 frequency, frequency variation) conveys the spontaneity. Remez etal. suggested that spontaneity is expressed at the sentence level [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 89, 2011–2012 (A) (1991)]. This study looks at the function and meaning of pitch range variations and intonational structure in spontaneous versus read speech. Narrative portions of a spontaneous conversation are compared with fluent readings by the same speakers of a text prepared from the conversation. Although the sentences in the two versions match lexically and syntactically, they do not always match in pragmatic and thematic function within the larger text. Symbolic intonation transcriptions were made and compared. While the two versions agree quite closely at the level of intonational phrasing, the spontaneous version has many more intermediate phrases and uses a wider variety of intonation contours. Also, while the overall pitch range is similar in the two versions, locally the use of expanded pitch range corresponds in only about half of the phrases, with the remaining half occurring in different locations. Pitch range variations mark the organizational structure of discourse, by signaling topic changes and focus prominence, and setting off parentheticals. Thus it might be more accurate to say that spontaneity is expressed at the discourse level. [Work supported by an NSF Graduate Fellowship.]

Initial prominence and accent in Seoul Korean prosody

This paper investigates two questions about the prosodic system of Seoul Korean—whether there is a word‐initial prominence, and whether a concurrent F0 peak is best seen as an optional pitch accent or as a boundary tone associated with some prosodic level. It analyzes the utterances of two speakers of the Seoul dialect. The durations of syllables and vowels placed in various positions within a sentence are compared. The two intonational analyses are tested by noting the position of the F0 peak, determining how consistently the peak appears, and noting the effects of pitch range variation. Results suggest: (1) that initial syllables of a word are consistently longer than medial syllables; (2) the position of the initial F0 peak is closely bound to the initial syllable of the utterance, but not of the word; and (3) the initial F0 peak appears in all tokens, except relatively short or fast tokens. This lack is shown to be due to tonal undershoot of a following low tone, as is apparent from strong and continuous relationships between height of pitch fall and rise and the temporal distance between the F0 peaks. These results suggest there is a word initial prominence in Seoul prosody, distinct from initial tones. The tones are best analyzed as boundary markers for some larger prosodic level, which become associated with initial syllables.