Introduction to Intonation Jennifer J. Venditti Cognitive Science March 2001

Intonation makes the difference A: What types of foods are a good source of vitamins? B1: Legumes are a good source of vitamins. B2: Legumes are a good source of vitamins. A: I’d like to fly to Davenport, Iowa on TWA. B: TWA doesn’t fly there... B1: They fly to Des Moines. B2: They fly to Des Moines. A1: I met Mary and Elena’s mother at the mall yesterday. A2: I met Mary and Elena’s mother at the mall yesterday.

Speech production oral & nasal cavities larynx lungs air

Speech production oral & nasal cavities larynx lungs The vocal folds may be held wide open, or may vibrate.

Speech production oral & nasal cavities larynx lungs Positioning of the tongue, lips, etc. acoustically ‘shapes’ the air.

Vocal fold vibration Physical: Fundamental frequency (F0)  rate of vibration of the vocal folds Perceptual: Pitch perceived pitch fundamental freq. [UCLA Phonetics Lab demo]

legumes are a good source of VITAMINS Graphic representation of F0 time F0 (in Hertz)

legumes are a good source of VITAMINS [ t ] [ s ] The ‘ripples’ F0 is not defined for consonants without vocal fold vibration.

legumes are a good source of VITAMINS [ v ] [ g ] [ z ] The ‘ripples’... and F0 can be perturbed by consonants with an extreme constriction in the vocal tract.

legumes are a good source of VITAMINS Abstraction of the F0 contour Our perception of the intonation contour abstracts away from these perturbations.

legumes are a good source of VITAMINS The ‘waves’ and the ‘swells’ ‘wave’ = accent ‘swell’ = phrase

TOPIC #1 Accent Placement and Intonational Tunes

Stress vs. accent  Stress is a structural property of a word — it marks a potential (arbitrary) location for an accent to occur, if there is one.  Accent is a property of a word in context — it is a way to mark intonational prominence in order to ‘highlight’ important words in the discourse. (x) (accented syll) xxstressed syll xxxfull vowels xxxxxxxsyllables vitaminsCalifornia

Which word receives an accent?  It depends on the context. For example, the ‘new’ information in the answer to a question is often accented, while the ‘old’ information usually is not.  Q1: What types of foods are a good source of vitamins?  A1: LEGUMES are a good source of vitamins.  Q2: Are legumes a source of vitamins?  A2: Legumes are a GOOD source of vitamins.  Q3: I’ve heard that legumes are healthy, but what are they a good source of ?  A3: Legumes are a good source of VITAMINS.

Intonation makes the difference A: What types of foods are a good source of vitamins? B1: Legumes are a good source of vitamins. B2: Legumes are a good source of vitamins. A: I’d like to fly to Davenport, Iowa on TWA. B: TWA doesn’t fly there... B1: They fly into Des Moines. B2: They fly into Des Moines. A1: I met Mary and Elena’s mother at the mall yesterday. A2: I met Mary and Elena’s mother at the mall yesterday.

Same ‘tune’, different alignment LEGUMES are a good source of vitamins The main rise-fall accent (= “I assert this”) shifts locations.

Same ‘tune’, different alignment Legumes are a GOOD source of vitamins The main rise-fall accent (= “I assert this”) shifts locations.

Same ‘tune’, different alignment legumes are a good source of VITAMINS The main rise-fall accent (= “I assert this”) shifts locations.

Broad focus legumes are a good source of vitamins “Tell me something about the world.” In the absence of narrow focus, English tends to mark the first and last ‘content’ words with perceptually prominent accents.

Yes-No question tune are LEGUMES a good source of vitamins Rise from the main accent to the end of the sentence.

Yes-No question tune are legumes a GOOD source of vitamins Rise from the main accent to the end of the sentence.

Yes-No question tune are legumes a good source of VITAMINS Rise from the main accent to the end of the sentence.

WH-questions WHAT are a good source of vitamins WH-questions typically have falling contours, like statements. [I know that many natural foods are healthy, but...]

Broad focus legumes are a good source of vitamins “Tell me something about the world.”

legumes are a good source of vitamins Rising statements High-rising statements can signal that the speaker is seeking approval. “Tell me something I didn’t already know.” [... does this statement qualify?]

are legumes a good source of VITAMINS Yes-No question Rise from the main accent to the end of the sentence.

‘Surprise-redundancy’ tune legumes are a good source of vitamins Low beginning followed by a gradual rise to a high at the end. [How many times do I have to tell you...]

‘Contradiction’ tune linguini isn’t a good source of vitamins Sharp fall at the beginning, flat and low, then rising at the end. “I’ve heard that linguini is a good source of vitamins.” [... how could you think that?]

TOPIC #2 Alignment of Accent with Stressed Syllable

Alignment with syllable matters Rise right at start of stressed syllable cues statement of fact. they fly to Des Moines [TWA doesn’t fly there...]

Alignment with syllable matters Rise which is delayed somewhat cues suggestion, or uncertainty about whether the statement qualifies as relevant. they fly to Des Moines [TWA doesn’t fly there...]

Two distinct alignment categories  Pierrehumbert & Steele (1989) synthesized many intonation contours with varying degrees of peak delay, and asked speakers to imitate what they heard.  Peak delay of speakers’ responses patterned in two categories: early (‘assertion’) and late (‘suggestion’).

Intonation makes the difference A: What types of foods are a good source of vitamins? B1: Legumes are a good source of vitamins. B2: Legumes are a good source of vitamins. A: I’d like to fly to Davenport, Iowa on TWA. B: TWA doesn’t fly there... B1: They fly to Des Moines. B2: They fly to Des Moines. A1: I met Mary and Elena’s mother at the mall yesterday. A2: I met Mary and Elena’s mother at the mall yesterday.

TOPIC #3 Intonational phrasing and disambiguation

A single intonation phrase legumes are a good source of vitamins Broad focus statement consisting of one intonation phrase (that is, one intonation tune spans the whole unit).

Multiple phrases legumes are a good source of vitamins Utterances can be ‘chunked’ up into smaller phrases in order to signal the importance of information in each unit.

Phrasing can disambiguate  Global ambiguity: The old men and women stayed home. Sally saw the man with the binoculars. John doesn’t drink because he’s unhappy.

Phrasing can disambiguate  Global ambiguity: The old men and women stayed home. The old men % and women % stayed home. Sally saw % the man with the binoculars. Sally saw the man % with the binoculars. John doesn’t drink because he’s unhappy. John doesn’t drink % because he’s unhappy.

Phrasing can disambiguate  Temporary ambiguity: When Madonna sings the song...

Phrasing can disambiguate  Temporary ambiguity: When Madonna sings the song is a hit.

Phrasing can disambiguate  Temporary ambiguity: When Madonna sings % the song is a hit. When Madonna sings the song % it’s a hit. [from Speer & Kjelgaard (1992)]

Phrasing can disambiguate I met Mary and Elena’s mother at the mall yesterday Mary & Elena’s mother mall One intonation phrase with relatively flat overall pitch range.

Phrasing can disambiguate I met Mary and Elena’s mother at the mall yesterday Mary mall Elena’s mother Separate phrases, with expanded pitch movements.

Intonation makes the difference A: What types of foods are a good source of vitamins? B1: Legumes are a good source of vitamins. B2: Legumes are a good source of vitamins. A: I’d like to fly to Davenport, Iowa on TWA. B: TWA doesn’t fly there... B1: They fly into Des Moines. B2: They fly into Des Moines. A1: I met Mary and Elena’s mother at the mall yesterday. A2: I met Mary and Elena’s mother at the mall yesterday.

References The content of this lecture is based mainly on these two sources:  Bolinger, D. (1972) Intonation [introduction and chapter 1]. Penguin Books, Ltd. [also appears as: Bolinger, D. (1964) Around the edge of language. Harvard Educational Review 34(2): ]  Pierrehumbert, J. (1980) The Phonetics and Phonology of English Intonation. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Other sources cited in the lecture include:  Pierrehumbert, J. and S. Steele (1989) Categories of tonal alignment in English. Phonetica 46:  Speer, S. and M. Kjelgaard (1992) Prosodic resolution of temporary syntactic ambiguity. Paper presented at the 25 th Annual Congress of Psychology, Brussels.