The acoustic effect of speaking rate, focus and prosodic position on syllables in Chinese
语速、焦点及韵律位置对汉语音节的声学影响
Maolin Wang 王茂林
Abstract 摘要
In this experiment the effects of speaking rate, focus and prosodic position on duration, F0, intensity and vowel quality are analyzed. The test syllables are /p‘i, p‘a, p‘u/, which are designed to be in disyllabic words. It is found that there is an effect of rate on the formants of the vowels of the key syllable, with vowels more fully realized in slow speaking rate, and there is a tendency for pitch range to be expanded in slow rate. Intensity may be affected by focus, and vowels under focused condition may be maximally realized to highlight the phonemic contrasts. There is no effect of prosodic position on voice onset time, while its effect on fundamental frequency (F0) is obvious. The influence of prosodic position on intensity is similar to that on F0. Its effect on vowel quality is weak, and the effect is in line with enhancement of the place feature rather than with sonority expansion.
Subject Keywords 主题词
Speaking rate 语速 Focus 焦点 Duration 时长 Fundamental frequency 基频 Intensity 音强 Vowel 元音
Journal of Chinese Linguistics vol.48, no.1 (January 2020): 174-205
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