LOCAL AND GLOBAL PITCH CONTOURS IN INTONATION

本研究的目的是了解潜在的音高目标与音高产生中的发音限制之间的关系，以及音调局部和整体方面之间的关系。我们将在中文和英文中研究形成表面F0轮廓的三个重要因素：(a)潜在的局部音高目标的性质，(b)实施音高目标的发音约束，以及(c)全球语调模式与局部音高目标之间的相互作用。该项目的第一部分将研究潜在的音高目标和发音限制如何共同决定局部音高轮廓的形状和对齐。我们将研究时间压力对汉语中F0轮廓的形状和对齐的影响。我们还将通过考察母语为普通话、上海语和英语的人在相反方向上反复改变音高的速度，来研究发音限制的程度。第二部分将研究英语肯定句和疑问句中与焦点相关的局部F0轮廓。我们将研究英语中与焦点突出相关的音高目标，以确定它们的潜在属性以及它们如何在发音限制下实现。第3部分将扩展对全局语调模式的研究。我们将尝试确定是否存在全局语调模式，其完整性取决于其所有成分的存在，以及这些成分如何与局部音高轮廓相互作用。我们将使用一个新设计的范式来研究英语和普通话的一些全球语调模式。该范式将允许我们在实验室条件下诱导相对复杂的语调模式，同时保持严格的实验控制。本项目所寻求的对语调理解的提高，可能有利于语音自动合成和识别、语音和语言病理学以及第二语言教学等领域。

The goal of this research is to understand the relation between underlying pitch targets and the articulatory constraints in pitch production, and the relation between local and global aspects of intonation. We will investigate in both Chinese and English three factors important for forming surface F0 contours: (a) the nature of underlying local pitch targets, (b) the articulatory constraints under which pitch targets are implemented, and (c) the interaction between global intonation patterns and local pitch targets. Part 1 of the project will investigate how underlying pitch targets and articulatory constraints jointly determine the shape and alignment of local pitch contours. We will examine the effect of time pressure on the shape and alignment of F0 contours in Mandarin. We will also investigate the magnitude of articulatory constraints by examining how fast native speakers of Mandarin, Shanghai and English can change their pitch repeatedly in opposite directions. Part 2 will investigate local F0 contours related to focus in English affirmative and interrogatory sentences. We will examine the pitch targets associated with focal prominence in English to determine their underlying properties and how they are realized under articulatory constraints. Part 3 will extend the investigation into global intonation patterns. We will try to determine whether there exist global intonation patterns whose integrity is dependent on the presence of all their constituents, and how these constituents interact with local pitch contours. We will study a number of global intonation patterns in both English and Mandarin using a newly devised paradigm. The paradigm will allow us to induce relatively complicated intonation patterns under laboratory conditions while maintaining rigorous experimental control. The improved understanding of intonation that this project seeks to achieve may benefit the areas of automatic speech synthesis and recognition, speech and language pathology, and second language teaching.