On How Accent Distribution Can Signal Speaker Adaptation
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Constantijn Kaland
Abstract
Some dialogues are perceived as running more smoothly than others. To some extent that impression could be related to how well speakers adapt their prosody to each other. Adaptation in prosody can be signaled by the use of pitch accents that indicate how utterances are structurally related to those of the interlocutor (prosodic function) or by copying the interlocutor's prosodic features (prosodic form). The same acoustic features, such as pitch, are involved in both ways of adaptation. Further, function and form may require a different prosody for successful adaptation in certain discourse contexts. In this study we investigate to what extent interlocutors are perceived as good adapters, depending on whether the prosody of both speakers is functionally coherent or similar in form. This is done in two perception tests using prosodically manipulated dialogues. Results show that coherent functional prosody can be a cue for speaker adaptation and that this cue is more powerful than similarity in prosodic form.
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© 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Further Section
- Contents Vol. 69, 2013
- Front and Back Matter
- Front & Back Matter
- Original Paper
- Harsh Voice Quality and Its Association with Blackness in Popular American Media
- On How Accent Distribution Can Signal Speaker Adaptation
- Prosodic Variation for Topic Shift and Other Functions in Local Contrasts in Conversation
- Review Article
- From Phonetics to Phonology and Back Again
- Further Section
- Book Notice
- Publications Received for Review
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Further Section
- Contents Vol. 69, 2013
- Front and Back Matter
- Front & Back Matter
- Original Paper
- Harsh Voice Quality and Its Association with Blackness in Popular American Media
- On How Accent Distribution Can Signal Speaker Adaptation
- Prosodic Variation for Topic Shift and Other Functions in Local Contrasts in Conversation
- Review Article
- From Phonetics to Phonology and Back Again
- Further Section
- Book Notice
- Publications Received for Review
