Understanding Language Tones and Accents: Basics and Typology

1. Pitch Tracking + Prosody January 19, 2012

2. Homework! • For Tuesday: introductory course project report • Background information on your consultant and the language they speak. • For Thursday: Digital Signal Processing exercises!

3. A Typology • F0 is generally used in three different ways in language: 1. Tone languages (Chinese, Navajo, Igbo) • Lexically determined tone on every syllable • “Syllable-based” tone languages 2. Accentual languages (Japanese, Swedish) • The location of an accent in a particular word is lexically marked. • “Word-based” tone languages 3. Stress languages (English, Russian) • It’s complicated.

4. Mandarin Tone • Mandarin (Chinese) is a classic example of a tone language. ma1: mother ma2: hemp ma3: horse ma4: to scold

5. How to Transcribe Tone • Tones are defined by the pattern they make through a speaker’s frequency range. • The frequency range is usually assumed to encompass five levels (1-5). • (although this can vary, depending on the language) Highest F0 5 4 3 2 Lowest F0 1

6. Tone 1 2 3 4 • In Mandarin, tones span a frequency range of 1-5 • Each tone is denoted by its (numerical) path through the frequency range • Each syllable can also be labeled with a tone number (e.g., ma1, ma2, ma3, ma4)

7. How to Transcribe Tone • Tone is relative • i.e., not absolute • Each speaker has a unique frequency range. For example: Male Female 200 Hz Highest F0 5 350 Hz 4 3 2 100 Hz Lowest F0 150 Hz 1

8. General Relativity • In ordinary conversation, for European languages (Fant, 1956) : • Men have an average F0 of 120 Hz • A range of 50-250 Hz • Women have an average F0 of 220 Hz • A range of 120-480 Hz • Children have an average F0 of 330 Hz • In a normal utterance, the F0 range is usually one octave. • i.e., highest F0 = 2 * lowest F0

9. Relativity, in Reality • The same tones may be denoted by completely different frequencies, depending on the speaker. • Tone is an abstract linguistic unit. female speaker ma, tone 1 (55) male speaker

10. Accent Languages • In accent languages, there is only one pitch accent associated with each word. • The pitch accent is realized on only one syllable in the word. • The other syllables in the word can have no accent. • Accent is lexically determined, so there can be minimal pairs. • Japanese is a pitch accent language… • for some, but not all, words • for some, but not all, dialects

11. Japanese • Japanese words have one High accent • it attaches to one “mora” in the word • A mora = a vowel, or a consonant following a vowel, within a syllable. • For example: • [ni] ‘two’ has one mora. • [san] ‘three’ has two morae. • The first mora, if not accented, has a Low F0. • Morae following the accent have Low F0. It’s actually slightly more complicated than this; for more info, see: http://sp.cis.iwate-u.ac.jp/sp/lesson/j/doc/accent.html

12. Japanese Examples • asa ‘morning’ H-L • asa ‘hemp’ L-H

13. “chopsticks” H-L-L • “bridge” L-H-L • “edge” L-H-H

14. Stress Languages • Stress is a suprasegmental property that applies to whole syllables. • It is defined by more than just differences in F0. • Stressed syllables are higher in pitch (usually) • Stressed syllables are longer (usually) • Stressed syllables are louder (usually) • Stressed syllables reflect more phonetic effort. • More aspiration, less coarticulation in stressed syllables. • Vowels often reduce to schwa in unstressed syllables. • The combination of these factors give stressed syllables more prominence than unstressed syllables.

15. Stress: Pitch • (N) • (V) Complicating factor: pitch tends to drift downwards at the end of utterances

16. Intonation • Languages superimpose pitch contours on top of word-based stress or tone distinctions. • This is called intonation. • It turns out that English: • has word-based stress • and phrase-based pitch accents (intonation) • The pitch accents are pragmatically specified, rather than lexically specified. • = they change according to discourse context.

17. English Intonation • We’ll analyze English intonation with a framework called TOBI • Tones and Break Indices • Note: intonational patterns vary across dialects • The patterns and examples presented today might not match up with your own intonational system • Also: this framework has only been applied to a few (primarily western) languages • Check out the following: • http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~tobi/ • Course in Phonetics, pp. 99-107 • Mary Beckman’s notes

18. Levels of Prominence • In English, pitch accents align with stressed syllables. • Example: “exploitation” • vowel X X X X • full vowel X X X • stress X X • pitch accent X • Normally, the accent falls on the last stressed syllable.

19. Pitch Accent Types • In English, pitch accents can be either high or low • H* or L* • Examples: High (H*) Low (L*) • Yes. Yes? • H* L* • Magnification. Magnification? • As with tones in tone languages, “high” and “low” pitch accents are defined relative to a speaker’s pitch range. • My pitch range: H* = 155 Hz L* = 100 Hz • Mary Beckman: H* = 260 Hz L* = 130 Hz

20. Whole Utterances • The same pitch pattern can apply to an entire sentence: • H* • H*: Manny came with Anna. • L* • L*: Manny came with Anna? • H* • H*: Marianna made the marmalade. • L* • L*: Marianna made the marmalade?

21. Information • Note that there’s a tendency to accent new information in the discourse. • 4 different patterns for 4 different contexts: • H* • H*: Manny came with Anna. • H* • H*: Manny came with Anna. • L* • L*: Manny came with Anna? • L* • L*: Manny came with Anna?

22. Pitch Tracking • H* is usually associated with a peak in F0; • L* is usually associated with a valley (trough) in F0 • Pitch tracking can help with the identification of pitch peaks and valleys. • Note: it’s easier to analyze utterances with lots of sonorants. • Check out both productions of “Manny came with Anna” in Praat. • Note that there is more to the intonation contour than just pitch peaks and valleys • The H* is followed by a falling pitch pattern • The L* is followed by a rising pitch pattern

23. Tone Types • There are two types of tones at play: • Pitch Accents • associated with a stressed syllable • may be either High (H) or Low (L) • marked with a * • Boundary Tones • appear at the end of a phrase • not associated with a particular syllable • may be either High (H) or Low (L) • marked with a %

24. Tone Transcription L* H%

25. Phrases • Intonation organizes utterances into phrases • “chunks” • Boundary tones mark the end of intonational phrases • Intonational phrases are the largest phrases • In the transcription of intonation, phrase boundaries are marked with Break Indices • Hence, TOBI: Tones and Break Indices • Break Indices are denoted by numbers • 1 = break between words • 4 = break between intonational phrases

26. Break Index Transcription Tones: L* H% Breaks: 1 1 1 4

28. Question Formation • Note that not all questions end in L* H%. • What’s the intonational difference between these two? • Did you see Bob? • L*H% • Where did you go? • H* L% • The upsloping intonation only applies to yes/no questions. • Also note: “Uptalk” • = application of L* H% pattern to declarative sentences.

29. 0 Level Boundaries • 0 level boundaries are marked wherever there is clear coarticulation across a word boundary • Also for flaps across word boundaries, as in “got it” 0 1 1 4

30. More Tones • Note that there can be more than one pitch accent within an intonational phrase. • Examples: • Anna gave Manny a mango. • L* H* L% • Anna gave Manny a mango. • H* H* H* L% • The last accent in a phrase is somehow more prominent than the others. • This accent is called the nuclear accent.

31. Downstepping • Successive H* accents tend to drift downward in F0 within an intonational phrase. • = downdrift, or downstepping • This provides further evidence for phrasal organization. • Downstepping essentially reduces the pitch range. • Downstepped H* accents are denoted with a !H* • Anna gave Manny a mango. • H* !H* !H* L% • There’s a lovely, yellowish, old one. • H* !H* !H* L%

32. Downstepping Pitch Track H* !H* !H* L% =271 Hz =238 Hz =200 Hz

33. Intermediate Phrases • A downstepping pattern can be reset by the presence of an intermediate phrase boundary. • Example: • It’s lovely, and yellowish, and it’s an old one. • H* !H* L- H* L-L% • Intermediate phrase boundaries are marked with a break index of 3. • At the end of each intermediate phrase is an phrase accent • Either Low (L-) or High (H-)

34. Intermediate Phrase Transcription H* !H* L- H* L-L% 1 1 1 3 1 1 0 1 4

35. One Phrase vs. Two Phrases • No intermediate phrase boundary: • “I” means insert. • H* H*L-L% • 1 1 4 • An intermediate phrase boundary, with a L- phrase accent: • “I” means insert. • H* L- H*L-L% • 3 1 4

36. One Phrase vs. Two Phrases • No intermediate phrase boundary: • Marianna made the marmalade. • L* L* H-H% • 1 1 1 4 • An intermediate phrase boundary, with a H- phrase accent: • Marianna made the marmalade. • L* H- L* H-H% • 3 1 1 4

37. Filling the Gap • Another feature of phrase accents is that they fill in the gap between the nuclear accent and the boundary of the intermediate phrase. L* + H L- H% 1 0 1 1 4

38. Combinations • Different combinations of phrase accents and boundary tones have different connotations. • L-L% Declarative sentences • H-H% Yes/No questions (usually) • L-H% Continuations • H-L% A “plateau” pattern • Upstep: boundary tones after H- are higher than normal.

39. Upstepping • H-H% • H-L% • “My name is Marianna.”

40. A Chunking Review utterance intonational phrase (intonational phrase) ... intermediate phrase (intermediate phrase) ... (pitch accent) nuclear accent (stressed syllable) stressed syllable

41. Break Indices • 4 marks boundaries between intonational phrases • associated with a boundary tone (H% or L%) • sense of complete disjuncture • 3 marks boundaries between intermediate phrases • associated with a phrase accent (H- or L-) • lesser sense of disjuncture • 1 marks boundaries between words • 0 marks non-boundaries between words • (2 marks uncertainties or apparent mismatches) • rarely used

42. Bitonal Pitch Accents • In addition to H* and L*, there are two bitonal pitch accents • L + H* • L* + H • The starred element denotes the tone which is associated with the stressed syllable • L + H* = high peak on stressed syllable, preceded by a sharp rise in pitch • L* + H = low pitch target on stressed syllable, followed by a sharp rise in pitch

43. H* vs. L + H* • Marianna won it. H* L + H*

44. L* vs. L* + H • Only a millionaire. L* + H L- H% H* • Marianna made the marmalade. L* L* H-H%

45. L + H* vs. L* + H • There’s a lovely one in Bloomingdale’s. L* + H L + H*

46. More Downstepping • Bitonal pitch accents can also undergo downstepping. L + H* L + !H* L + !H* L-L% 1 1 1 1 1 4

47. Pitch-Accents Round-up • There are four pitch accents: • H* • L* • L + H* • L* + H • They attach to stressed syllables • The final pitch accent in an intonational phrase is the nuclear accent. • Generally perceived as more prominent.

48. Practice Time! • Marianna made the marmalade.

49. Practice Time • That’s a cat. (H* vs. L*) • Noodle • Eileen? • Stalin. • Five versions of Amelia.