Effects of inter-sentential and intra-sentential pauses on the production of connected speech

本研究的目的是阐明连通言语中停顿插入的性质。具体地说，它试图考察句内停顿插入对句间停顿持续时间的影响。由大约5-6个句子组成的短段落在两种情况下阅读：(1)每个组成句子有句内停顿，(2)没有句内停顿。结果表明，在一个段落中插入句内停顿确实会影响该段落内句间停顿的持续时间。研究结果还表明，句间停顿的实际效果(延长或缩短)存在个体差异。

The aim of this study is to clarify the nature of pause insertion in connected speech. Specifically, it attempts to examine the effect of intra-sentential pause insertion on the duration of inter-sentential pauses. Short paragraphs consisting of about 5-6 sentences were read under two conditions: (1) with an intra-sentential pause in each of the constituent sentences, and (2) without an intra-sentential pause. Results indicated that the insertion of intra-sentential pauses in the production of a paragraph does have an effect on the duration of inter-sentential pauses within that paragraph. Results also showed that there was individual variation in the actual effect (lengthening or shortening) on the duration of inter-sentential pauses.