Suprasegmental Properties of Speech Robert A. Prosek, Ph.D. CSD 301 Robert A. Prosek, Ph.D. CSD 301

Coarticulation (1) Speech sounds are not produced in isolation, but in context syllables, words, and phrases Individual sounds lose their distinctiveness /m ɑ m/ /ti/ vs /tu/ At any one instant in time the vocal tract shows adjustments for more than one sound this is coarticulation Speech sounds are not produced in isolation, but in context syllables, words, and phrases Individual sounds lose their distinctiveness /m ɑ m/ /ti/ vs /tu/ At any one instant in time the vocal tract shows adjustments for more than one sound this is coarticulation

Coarticulation (2) Coarticulation direction Anticipatory features of a sound appear earlier than the sound forward coarticulation /æm/ Retentive features of a sound carry over to the next one backward coarticulation /no/ It takes time to make articulatory adjustments Coarticulation direction Anticipatory features of a sound appear earlier than the sound forward coarticulation /æm/ Retentive features of a sound carry over to the next one backward coarticulation /no/ It takes time to make articulatory adjustments

Coarticulation (3) Temporal complexity phonemes become shorter when syllable length increases /ped/ /sped/ /spled/ speech rate becomes a primary consideration acoustic cues are not tightly bound to traditional phonemes Temporal complexity phonemes become shorter when syllable length increases /ped/ /sped/ /spled/ speech rate becomes a primary consideration acoustic cues are not tightly bound to traditional phonemes

Suprasegmentals (1) Clear speech speech produced with an effort to be highly intelligible contrast with conversational speech broadcasters and air traffic controllers characteristics slower avoidance of articulatory modifications greater intensity of consonants does this affect an individual’s intelligibility? yes add to the above greater f 0 variability precise timing not simply loud speech Clear speech speech produced with an effort to be highly intelligible contrast with conversational speech broadcasters and air traffic controllers characteristics slower avoidance of articulatory modifications greater intensity of consonants does this affect an individual’s intelligibility? yes add to the above greater f 0 variability precise timing not simply loud speech

Suprasegmentals (2) Prosody not confined to phonemes observed over much larger intervals three acoustic features f 0 (pitch) I (loudness) duration (length) intonation is included under prosody patterns of pitch rise and fall plus stress Prosody not confined to phonemes observed over much larger intervals three acoustic features f 0 (pitch) I (loudness) duration (length) intonation is included under prosody patterns of pitch rise and fall plus stress

Suprasegmentals (3) Phrasal stress (emphasis) giving prominence to a word or phrase linguistic stress lexical stress syllabic stress contrastive stress (contrasts with previous information) Phrasal stress (emphasis) giving prominence to a word or phrase linguistic stress lexical stress syllabic stress contrastive stress (contrasts with previous information)

Suprasegmentals (4) Boundary cues mark the ends of language units pauses changes in duration adjustments of pitch meter (rhythm) pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables Boundary cues mark the ends of language units pauses changes in duration adjustments of pitch meter (rhythm) pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

Suprasegmentals (5) Prosody is not a decoration auditory segmentation affect personal information speech rate pauses and vowels are shortened proportionately more stress patterns may change as well vocal effort adaptive adjustment to distance not the same as loudness neither is the same as intensity Prosody is not a decoration auditory segmentation affect personal information speech rate pauses and vowels are shortened proportionately more stress patterns may change as well vocal effort adaptive adjustment to distance not the same as loudness neither is the same as intensity