The Structure of Tonal Representations - Evidence from Tune-Text Synchronisation

• Antragstellerinnen / Antragsteller: Professorin Dr. Martine Grice; Professor Dr. Jonathan Harrington
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Allgemeine und Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft, Experimentelle Linguistik, Typologie, Außereuropäische Sprachen
• Förderung: Förderung von 2004 bis 2010
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 5446162

In intonational phonology it is generally agreed that tones are not simply concatenated like beads an a string. However, there is no consensus as to how these tones are phonologically structured. Here we propose to develop a model of tonal representation using evidence from tune-text synchronisation within and across three varieties of German (those spoken in Vienna, Düsseldorf and Kiel). This involves the alignment of tonal targets in the form of fundamental frequency (F0) events (minima and maxima) with landmarks relating to the Sounds spoken, which serve as anchors for the targets. Evidence for tonal structure will be gained from production data at the acoustic and articulatory levels and from perception experiments. In the acoustic studies, landmarks are taken to be acoustically defined onsets and offsets of vowels and consonants; in the articulatory study landmarks are articulatory minima and maxima (measured using electromagnetic articulography) correponding to vocalic and consonantal gestures. The key to how the underlying tones relate to each other and to the text which carries them is provided by examining which alignment properties are robust across a variety of conditions, in particular across different articulation rates, levels of emphasis, and syllable structures. Robustness of alignment will reveal those aspects of alignment which are a result of phonetic implementation and those which should be interpreted as part of the phonology of a particular language variety. The gestural approach will additionally provide insights into laryngeal and supralaryngeal synchronisation, which will in turn contribute towards developing cognitive models of speech production.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen