Phonotactic and phrasal properties of speech rhythm. Evidence from Catalan, English, and Spanish

The goal of this study is twofold: first, to examine in greater depth the claimed contribution of differences in syllable structure to measures of speech rhythm for three languages that are reported to belong to different rhythmic classes, namely, English, Spanish, and Catalan; and second, to invest...

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Main Authors: Prieto, P, Vanrell, MDM, Astruc, L, Payne, E, Post, B
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2011
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author Prieto, P
Vanrell, MDM
Astruc, L
Payne, E
Post, B
author_facet Prieto, P
Vanrell, MDM
Astruc, L
Payne, E
Post, B
author_sort Prieto, P
collection OXFORD
description The goal of this study is twofold: first, to examine in greater depth the claimed contribution of differences in syllable structure to measures of speech rhythm for three languages that are reported to belong to different rhythmic classes, namely, English, Spanish, and Catalan; and second, to investigate differences in the durational marking of prosodic heads and final edges of prosodic constituents between the three languages and test whether this distinction correlates in any way with the rhythmic distinctions. Data from a total of 24 speakers reading 720 utterances from these three languages show that differences in the rhythm metrics emerge even when syllable structure is controlled for in the experimental materials, at least between English on the one hand and Spanish/Catalan on the other, suggesting that important differences in durational patterns exist between these languages that cannot simply be attributed to differences in phonotactic properties. In particular, the vocalic variability measures nPVI-V, ΔV, and VarcoV are shown to be robust tools for discrimination above and beyond such phonotactic properties. Further analyses of the data indicate that the rhythmic class distinctions under consideration finely correlate with differences in the way these languages instantiate two prosodic timing processes, namely, the durational marking of prosodic heads, and pre-final lengthening at prosodic boundaries.
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spelling oxford-uuid:a842d5e0-871d-47a3-a4b3-96bb8d5c30462022-05-23T14:08:39ZPhonotactic and phrasal properties of speech rhythm. Evidence from Catalan, English, and SpanishJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:a842d5e0-871d-47a3-a4b3-96bb8d5c3046EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2011Prieto, PVanrell, MDMAstruc, LPayne, EPost, BThe goal of this study is twofold: first, to examine in greater depth the claimed contribution of differences in syllable structure to measures of speech rhythm for three languages that are reported to belong to different rhythmic classes, namely, English, Spanish, and Catalan; and second, to investigate differences in the durational marking of prosodic heads and final edges of prosodic constituents between the three languages and test whether this distinction correlates in any way with the rhythmic distinctions. Data from a total of 24 speakers reading 720 utterances from these three languages show that differences in the rhythm metrics emerge even when syllable structure is controlled for in the experimental materials, at least between English on the one hand and Spanish/Catalan on the other, suggesting that important differences in durational patterns exist between these languages that cannot simply be attributed to differences in phonotactic properties. In particular, the vocalic variability measures nPVI-V, ΔV, and VarcoV are shown to be robust tools for discrimination above and beyond such phonotactic properties. Further analyses of the data indicate that the rhythmic class distinctions under consideration finely correlate with differences in the way these languages instantiate two prosodic timing processes, namely, the durational marking of prosodic heads, and pre-final lengthening at prosodic boundaries.
spellingShingle Prieto, P
Vanrell, MDM
Astruc, L
Payne, E
Post, B
Phonotactic and phrasal properties of speech rhythm. Evidence from Catalan, English, and Spanish
title Phonotactic and phrasal properties of speech rhythm. Evidence from Catalan, English, and Spanish
title_full Phonotactic and phrasal properties of speech rhythm. Evidence from Catalan, English, and Spanish
title_fullStr Phonotactic and phrasal properties of speech rhythm. Evidence from Catalan, English, and Spanish
title_full_unstemmed Phonotactic and phrasal properties of speech rhythm. Evidence from Catalan, English, and Spanish
title_short Phonotactic and phrasal properties of speech rhythm. Evidence from Catalan, English, and Spanish
title_sort phonotactic and phrasal properties of speech rhythm evidence from catalan english and spanish
work_keys_str_mv AT prietop phonotacticandphrasalpropertiesofspeechrhythmevidencefromcatalanenglishandspanish
AT vanrellmdm phonotacticandphrasalpropertiesofspeechrhythmevidencefromcatalanenglishandspanish
AT astrucl phonotacticandphrasalpropertiesofspeechrhythmevidencefromcatalanenglishandspanish
AT paynee phonotacticandphrasalpropertiesofspeechrhythmevidencefromcatalanenglishandspanish
AT postb phonotacticandphrasalpropertiesofspeechrhythmevidencefromcatalanenglishandspanish