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Lexical prominence, melisms and subjectivity : from automatic annotation to pragmatic functions

6 th NWCL International Conference PROSODY AND PRAGMATICS Preston, 14-16 november 2003. Lexical prominence, melisms and subjectivity : from automatic annotation to pragmatic functions. Geneviève Caelen-Haumont, Cyril Auran Laboratoire Parole et Langage

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Lexical prominence, melisms and subjectivity : from automatic annotation to pragmatic functions

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  1. 6th NWCL International Conference PROSODY AND PRAGMATICS Preston, 14-16 november 2003 Lexical prominence, melisms and subjectivity : from automatic annotation to pragmatic functions Geneviève Caelen-Haumont, Cyril Auran Laboratoire Parole et Langage Université de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, France gcaelen@lpl.univ-aix.fr, cauran@wanadoo.fr

  2. Aims of this study • Introducing to the MOMEL and INSTMEL procedures • which supply a system of phonological tones • to structure the melodic lexical prominence • in order to take advantages of these tools • to study the perlocutory values and functions of this prominence • within the scope of semantics, pragmatics and prosody G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  3. 1- INTSMEL and tonal coding

  4. Tones automatic labelling procedures • MELISM procedure involves, under Praat, MOMEL, QSP and INTSMEL tools (Caelen-Haumont & Auran, 2004) • the resulting curve looks like as composed of entirely sonorant segments (see examples further) • F0 spline-modelled values are computed every 10 ms G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  5. The INTSINT and INTSMEL procedure • the INTSINT coding supplies a surface phonological representation of intonation (Hirst & Di Cristo, 1998; Hirst, Di Cristo & Espesser, 2000) • the INTSMEL coding also a surface phonological representation • not of sentence intonation, but of any lexical item • its algorithm automatically codes the sequence of MOMEL target points • coding absolute levels corresponding to fractions (on a logarithmic scale) of the speaker’s pitch range • using a set of 9 level symbols {a, s, h, e, m, c, b, i, g} • automatically grouping them into melism tones (ex: se, ci, mg …) G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  6. INTSMEL and melism coding • INTSMEL allows to code any F0 configuration of lexical item • but in our perspective, its use is restricted to prominent words coding (melism) • Definition of melism • lack of a specific term (nor prominence, salience, range, pattern, neither focus are conducive) • melism borrowed from the domain of singing • refers to a melodic figure spreading over the duration of the word, with a suite of different F0 levels • related to the acoustical and melodic form • express the notion of a structured shape with an adapted granularity • in terms of phonological structure, i.e. of a tonal system G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  7. What about the acoustic features of a melism ? • A large F0 excursion • internal, or external if an F0 break occurs within the previous / following word), • spreading over about 10 semitones or more, • the implication of at least the infra-acute level • symbolised by level s (ormore,alevel) in our tonal system • This high level being often (but not systematically) accompanied with • a clear decrease in speaking rate, • and possibly, a dramatic increase in energy G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  8. Matrix of tones in melismed / standard • words and allotones (Caelen-Haumont and Auran, 2004) G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  9. 5 boundary tones + neutralisation of F0 variations = 9 levels • Since Delattre 1966, the speaker’s range is usually divided into 4 levels • but a precise study of the shapes of melisms requires greater precision for the description of F0 variations • the question of the neutralisation of the F0 variations (say, the allotones) has to be resolved • according to the INTSINT procedure, the allotones are set within a span of a fourth of a level • above and below each tonal boundary (i.e. in the whole, a semi-level). • The 5 boundary tones, with their respective neutralisation ranges, lead to 9 equal levels (logarithmic scale). G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  10. a s h e m c b i g The 9 levels G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  11. 2- Melisms : meaning, values, functions

  12. Corpus • Inspired from the HCRC Map Task Corpus (Brown, Anderson, Shillcock, Yule, 1984) • 12 French speakers (6 men, 6 women) X 6 spontaneous dialogues X 15 mn each in a sound-proof room, on separate tracks for each speaker • a role played between two persons (a tourist and an employee of the local tourist office) • involving the management of a conflict of objectives (tourist: interest in sporting activities  employee: in cultural visits) • aimed at the resolution of specific tasks (dialogue constraints) • 1/ updating the town map • 2/ establishing a program for a visit • 3/ fixing the itinerary for these activities, taking into account road-works, modified one-way streets, etc.. as it is today G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  13. Hypotheses • The present study bears on the output of a single female speaker (O4) • From the constraints bearing on the dialogue as defined above, the hypotheses are the following ones 1 the speaker is subjectively involved in her role of employee of the tourist office, 2this involvement will be marked at the F0 level, by melisms, • melisms will be related to the lexical items 4 linked to the objectives of the dialogue 5 and the personal motives of the speaker O4 G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  14. Melisms and the identification of the dialogue objectives • From the planned tasks, dialogue objectives can be identified … • through a number of semantic and pragmatic lexical fields A:the spatial coordinates of the town and the touristic objects (names and directions), Bthe actual elements of spatial, temporal, architectural, and economic (…) characteristics of the places, objects and activities (tourist’s and employee’s ones), C the map updating, of the computer tools (manipulation and advices) Dthe(subjective) appraisal of the touristic objects, of the tasks (tourist’s task, employee’s task) and argumentation E dialogue interaction (verbs and adverbs of interaction, phatic particles) G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  15. The melismed words: 1- Selection • out of a total of 1860 words (including both grammatical and lexical words), • using MOMEL and INTSMEL procedures trough PRAAT … • all the items (speaker O4) complying strictly the melism conditions (especially a and s levels)were selected and labelled • 71 lexical words were pronounced with a melism • 35% of the melisms correspond to a word in group-final position and • 65% to a group-internal lexical word • this study will give no consideration to the melism forms (next task) G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  16. The melismed words: 2- Distribution Percentage of melisms in function of the semantic/pragmatic fields of the lexical words. Categories A, B, C, D, E cf above. Category F: other elements • 74.6% of the melisms linked to the semantic/pragmatic fields expressing the objectives of the dialogue  the hypotheses proposed above are verified • 22.5% are linked to the lexicon of discursive exchange G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  17. The melismed words: 3- Lexical illustration • The melisms correspond • to the lexical description of objective tourist objects (B: buttress, furniture, menu, to day …) • to the subjective appraisal (D: traditionnal, lovely, exotic, good…) • to spatial coordinates (A: Berlioz street, faced to, rue perpendicular street) • to discursive and phatic exchanges(E: d’accord ?, euh, ah remarque, hein ?…) • Melisms associated with the technical task are quite rare (C: superpose exactly on …) G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  18. MOMEL Targets Hz F0 semi-tones Tones Lexicon The melismed words: 4a- Pictural illustration G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  19. MOMEL Targets Hz F0 semi-tones Tones Lexicon The melismed words: 4b- Pictural illustration G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  20. MOMEL Targets Hz F0 semi-tones Tones Lexicon The melismed words: 4c- Pictural illustration G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  21. Melisms and meaning: 1- Perlocutory aims • Perlocutory aims: the beliefs attached to values and their effect on the listener • In order to be received in an optimal manner … • the message must be perceived (vs. produced) as the expression of a belief • and then must carry a subjective dimension, the space of individual encounter • This subjective dimension is supported by the high F0 level (melism) • 2 levels of beliefs • the underlying beliefs • the local and actual beliefs G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  22. Melisms and meaning: 2- Beliefs • The underlying beliefs (task constraints shared by all the 6 employees) • the need to convince the ‘tourist’ to include cultural visits in his/her itinerary, • the desire to help the tourist with • a choice of activities, of itineraries, providing information on tourism, the town, gastronomy • a technical help with the computer interface • a diplomatic dialogue management • The employee’s main beliefs (O4) G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  23. Melisms and meaning: 2- Beliefs • The employee’s main beliefs (O4) • derivated from the underlying beliefs, and supported by the lexical level (cf lexical fields) • the employee’s (O4) main ones • a specific cultural tourist object (castle, church, traditional restaurant, market, shops, etc.) is worth a visit to the tourist, • a charateristic (exotic, smart, unique, esthetic ...) of this object is both shareable and motivating, • an element of the town (roundabout, one way...), a landmark represent an indispensable knowledgeto get more time, or be more secure G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  24. Melisms and meaning: 3- Values • In fact these beliefs are based on values • either inherited from instructions and assumed tasks, • or specific to the speaker if he/she gets involved in his/her task • personal values reinforce, relay, prolong or extend the circumstantial values imposed by the instructions • The main values inherited • follow the instructions (establish a programme of cultural visits, update the map, elaborate an itinerary, inform) • The main values introduced by the employee O4 • insistence on natural elements (the park with its trees, rose-gardens, ponds, birds etc.), • insistence on traditional elements (market, handcrafts, costumes etc.), • insistence on esthetic environment • insistence on human interaction (hospitality and atmosphere of restaurants, friendliness of shopkeepers etc.). G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  25. Melisms and meaning: 4- functions • In the framework of this corpus and study, the functions assumed by the melism are the following: • drawing attention to a given lexical item • because of its informative content (touristic, computing, strategic, procedural …), • sharing belief about a valueby use of the affective pitch register (especially a and s level) • This affective register is in particular that of emotions and memories attached to them • Remembering, evocation, suggestion are in this context important manipulatory values G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  26. Conclusion • Theory and automatic procedures (MOMEL, INTSMEL, PRAAT) allow to study objectively melisms, their structure and their functions • Melism is a preferential means of expression of subjectivity and basic emotion • It is the area of inter-individual contact which can lead • either to a sharing of values when beliefs are common or compatible, • or to a confrontation when they are not and which may subsequently result in action • Discourse without melisms is an external discourse which avoids contact and subjective communication … • a discourse where the individual is in some sense absent. G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

  27. Some references • Caelen-Haumont, G.; Bel, B., 2000. Le caractère spontané dans la parole et le chant improvisés : de la structure intonative au mélisme, Revue Parole, 15/16, 251-302, 2000. • Caelen-Haumont, G.; Auran, C., (submitted). The Phonology of Melodic Prominence : the structure of melisms • Hirst & Di Cristo, A., 1998. Intonation Systems: a survey of twenty languages. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. • Hirst, D.; Di Cristo, A.; Espesser, R., 2000. Levels of Representation and Levels of Analysis for the Description of Intonation Systems. In Horne, M. (ed.): Prosody: Theory and Experiment. Text, Speech and Language Technology, 14. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 51-87. G. Caelen-Haumont, C. Auran, LPL, Aix-en-Provence

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