Pitch Accent Variation and the Interpretation of Rising and Falling Intonation in American English

This study tests the division of labor in the meaning conveyed by pitch accents and edge tones in English intonation. In three perception studies, we investigate where the locus of the contrast between an assertive vs inquisitive interpretation resides. By doing so, we also gain insight into the role of potentially meaningful within-and between-category variation in the phonetic implementation of discrete intonational tunes. We find that the pitch accent does not contribute to assertive interpretation. Rather, the distinction between assertive and inquisitive interpretation is cued primarily by the final F0 of the pitch contour regardless of the pitch accent, but that increased overall pitch prominence may trigger a salient focus interpretation that interferes with judging assertiveness

本研究对英语语调中重音和边界调所传达意义的分工进行了测试。在三项感知研究中，我们探究了断言性和疑问性解读之间的对比点所在。通过这样做，我们还深入了解了离散语调调型的语音实现中类别内和类别间潜在有意义的变异所起的作用。我们发现重音对断言性解读没有帮助。相反，断言性和疑问性解读之间的区别主要由音高曲线的末尾基频（F0）提示，与重音无关，但是整体音高凸显度的增加可能会引发一种显著的焦点解读，从而干扰对断言性的判断。