The phonetics of sentence-initial topic and focus in adult and child Dutch
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Aoju Chen
Abstract
This study investigates whether adults and children use phonetic means to distinguish sentence-initial topic and focus marked with the same accent type (H*L) in Dutch declaratives. It was found that in adults’ speech, the falling accent starts to fall earlier and has a larger F0 excursion and lower F0 minimum in focus than in topic. Further, the low F0 is maintained longer in focus. Moreover, the accented syllable and word are longer in focus than in topic. In contrast, children do not yet use any of the phonetic cues to distinguish topic and focus at the age of 4 or 5. At the age of 7 or 8, they become adult-like only in the use of F0 lowering. Considering that children are fully adult-like in phonological marking of topic and focus at the age of 7 or 8, our findings suggest that phonetic marking is acquired later than phonological marking.
Abstract
This study investigates whether adults and children use phonetic means to distinguish sentence-initial topic and focus marked with the same accent type (H*L) in Dutch declaratives. It was found that in adults’ speech, the falling accent starts to fall earlier and has a larger F0 excursion and lower F0 minimum in focus than in topic. Further, the low F0 is maintained longer in focus. Moreover, the accented syllable and word are longer in focus than in topic. In contrast, children do not yet use any of the phonetic cues to distinguish topic and focus at the age of 4 or 5. At the age of 7 or 8, they become adult-like only in the use of F0 lowering. Considering that children are fully adult-like in phonological marking of topic and focus at the age of 7 or 8, our findings suggest that phonetic marking is acquired later than phonological marking.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Between phonetics and phonology
- Schwa in American English V+/r/ sequences 15
- Perception of word stress in Castilian Spanish 35
- Do complex pitch gestures induce syllable lengthening in Catalan and Spanish? 51
- Cues to contrastive focus in Romanian 71
- The phonetics of sentence-initial topic and focus in adult and child Dutch 91
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Part II. Segmental and prosodic interactions
- Prosodic structure and consonant development across languages 109
- Rhythmic and prosodic contrast in Venetan and Sicilian Italian 137
- Stem boundary and stress effects on syllabification in Spanish 159
- Prosodic and segmental effects on vowel intrusion duration in Spanish /rC/ clusters 181
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Part III. Interactions between segments and features
- Acoustic and aerodynamic factors in the interaction of features 205
- Fixed and variable properties of the palatalization of dental stops in Brazilian Portuguese 235
- Post-tonic vowel harmony in some dialects of Central Italy 247
- Vowel reduction and vowel harmony in Eastern Catalan loanword phonology 267
- Index of Subjects and Languages 287
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Between phonetics and phonology
- Schwa in American English V+/r/ sequences 15
- Perception of word stress in Castilian Spanish 35
- Do complex pitch gestures induce syllable lengthening in Catalan and Spanish? 51
- Cues to contrastive focus in Romanian 71
- The phonetics of sentence-initial topic and focus in adult and child Dutch 91
-
Part II. Segmental and prosodic interactions
- Prosodic structure and consonant development across languages 109
- Rhythmic and prosodic contrast in Venetan and Sicilian Italian 137
- Stem boundary and stress effects on syllabification in Spanish 159
- Prosodic and segmental effects on vowel intrusion duration in Spanish /rC/ clusters 181
-
Part III. Interactions between segments and features
- Acoustic and aerodynamic factors in the interaction of features 205
- Fixed and variable properties of the palatalization of dental stops in Brazilian Portuguese 235
- Post-tonic vowel harmony in some dialects of Central Italy 247
- Vowel reduction and vowel harmony in Eastern Catalan loanword phonology 267
- Index of Subjects and Languages 287
