Pauline Welby [email protected] Col áiste na Tríonóide, Baile Átha Cliath Irlanda

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Segmental anchoring or segmental anchorage?Tonal alignment and scaling of the French late rise and implications for models of intonational structure

Pauline [email protected]

Coláiste na Tríonóide, Baile Átha CliathIrlanda

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Research carried out at:Institut de la Communication Parlée (CNRS)(Département Parole et Cognition de GIPSA-lab (CNRS))Grenoble, France

Joint work with Hélène Lœvenbruck

Welby, Pauline and Hélène Lœvenbruck. (2006). Anchored down in Anchorage: Syllable structure and segmental anchoring in French. Rivista di Linguistica/ Italian Journal of Linguistics 18: 74–124. Current Issues in Tonal Alignment. Mariapaola D'Imperio (ed.).

Welby, Pauline and Hélène Lœvenbruck. (2005) Interspeech.

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IntroductionSegmentalAnchoringFrench prosody

Production exptMethodsResults

Conclusions

Introduction• Aims

• Examine language universal claims of the “segmental anchoring” hypothesis (Ladd et al., 1999)

• Examine influence of syllabic structure on tonal alignment in French

• Learn about French intonation and intonation structure more generally

• Approach• Record two read speech corpora• Examine tonal alignment and tonal scaling

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Segmental anchoring

• Hypothesis about the nature of tonal alignment and tonal scaling, cross-linguistically (Arvaniti et al., 1998, Ladd et al., 1999)

• Languages examined for hypothesis include: CatalanDutchEnglishGerman GreekRussianSpanish



Conclusions

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Conclusions

Segmental anchoring and tonal alignment

Tonal alignment:timing of peaks and valleys in the fundamental frequency (F0) curve with segmental landmarks

Segmental anchoring claim: “… when we look more closely at the differences

of detail that have been documented between one syllable structure and another or between one language and another, we find that both the beginning and the end of the f0 movement can and must be precisely specified [with respect to segmental landmarks]” (Ladd et al. 2000, emphasis added).

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Segmental anchoring and tonal scaling

Tonal scaling: relative position of peaks and valleys in the “tonal space”

Segmental anchoring claim:“Strictly speaking, the segmental anchoring hypothesis makes no predictions about the size of the F0 excursion, yet the idea of independent L and H targets leads to the expectation that rate will have little effect on excursion size.” (Ladd et al. 1999)



Conclusions

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A prediction

Steeper slope as rate increases

normalnormal fastfast

rise timerise time

F0F0 e

xcur

sion

siz

e e

xcur

sion

siz

e



Conclusions

8

Research question 1

• Do French patterns support the claims of segmental anchoring?

• anchors for start and end of F0 rise?• little variation in position of start and end?

(within and across rates)• fairly constant tonal scaling across rates?• steeper slopes in fast rate utterances?



Conclusions

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Conclusions

Basics of French prosody

[Les vitamines]AP qu’ils recèlent naturellement…

‘The vitamins that they naturally contain….’

late rise

(AP = accentual phrase)(AP = accentual phrase)

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late riseearly rise

late rise




Conclusions

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late riseearly rise

LL LLHH

LLLLHH HH

late rise




Conclusions

12




late riseearly rise

LL LLHH

LLLLHH HH

late rise

Models using tonal targets: Di Cristo & Hirst (1996), Di Cristo (1999, 2000); Post (2000); Jun & Fougeron (2000, 2002); Mertens (1987, 2002); Welby (2002, 2003, 2004); Welby & Lœvenbruck (2006)



Conclusions

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Example from corpus

Fund

amen

tal f

requ

ency

(H

z)Fu

ndam

enta

l fre

quen

cy (

Hz)

Time (s)Time (s)

150

200

250

300

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3det target carrier 2

sm1s1 s2 s3 sp1

o1v1o2v2o3v3c3

L1 H1 L2 H2

Les vitamines qu’ils recèlent naturellement sont un prétexte pour les gourmands.

‘The vitamins that they naturally contain are just an excuse for people who like to eat.’

L1L1 L2L2

H1H1H2H2

Son (OLE2)



Conclusions

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Alignment of L2 and H2

H2:• “close to the end” of the last syllable of the AP(Welby 2003) L2:• sometimes in penultimate syllable• sometimes in last syllable• association to (Jun & Fougeron, 2000)/ alignment to

(Post, 2002) penultimate syllable



Conclusions

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Conclusions

Research question 2

• What are the precise anchors for L2 and H2?

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H2 anchor point: end of vowel

C V C V C Vs1 s2 s3

C V C V C V Csons1 s2 s3

C V C V C V Cobss1 s2 s3

salamisalami

vitaminevitamine

pyramidepyramide

[mi][mi]

[min][min]

[mid][mid]



Conclusions

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H2 anchor point: end of sonorant rhyme

C V C V C Vs1 s2 s3



salamisalami

vitaminevitamine

pyramidepyramide

[mi][mi]

[min][min]

[mid][mid]



Conclusions

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H2 anchor point: end of syllable

C V C V C Vs1 s2 s3



salamisalami

vitaminevitamine

pyramidepyramide

[mi][mi]

[min][min]

[mid][mid]



Conclusions

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L2 anchor point

• not possible to posit specific anchor points a priori

• alignment with respect to penultimate syllable (Jun & Fougeron, 2000; Post, 2002) or last syllable?



Conclusions

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Methods: Participants

• 6 native speakers of Parisian French

• Students or researchers in Grenoble

• Average age: 27



Conclusions

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Methods: Corpus

• 6 noun triplets: C1V

1.C

2V

2.C

3V

3(C

3)

salami /sa.la.mi/ /CV.CV.CV/

vitamine /vi.ta.min/ /CV.CV.CVCson/

pyramide /pi.Ra.mid/ /CV.CV.CVCobs/

• Targets embedded in carrier sentences: {le, la, les} target [{qui, que, qu’ils, qu’elles…} VP] VP ‘the target that…’• Sentences placed in paragraphs



Conclusions

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La cuisine de Marie-Noëlle regorge de victuailles. Un salami qui a été rapporté de Parme suinte d'une graisse très prometteuse. Sur la desserte, un immense compotier déborde de fruits de toutes sortes. Les vitamines qu'ils recèlent naturellement sont un prétexte pour les gourmands. Une pièce-montée en choux et nougatine trône sur le buffet. La pyramide qui dégouline de caramel fera sûrement des amateurs.

‘Marie-Noëlle's kitchen is overflowing with provisions. A salami that was brought back from Parma is dripping with very promising grease. On the side table, a giant bowl is brimming with all kinds of fruit. The vitamins that they naturally contain are just an excuse for people who like to eat. A layer cake with puff pastries and nougatine is prominently displayed on the cabinet. The pyramid, dripping with caramel, will surely be appreciated.’



Conclusions

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Methods: Procedures • 6 paragraphs read at 2 rates:

• normal• fast

• Recorded to DAT (44.1 kHz), transferred to PC, downsampled (22.05 kHz)

• Target sentences saved to separate files

• Labelled (Praat): words, syllables, segments, L2, H2

• 133 items with LHLH in critical APs

• Duration, latency, rate, etc. extracted/ calculated (Praat)



Conclusions

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Results – Rate

** **

SpeakerSpeaker

Rat

e, ta

rget

wor

d (s

ylla

ble/

ms)

Rat

e, ta

rget

wor

d (s

ylla

ble/

ms)

fastfastnormalnormalIntroduction

SegmentalAnchoringFrench prosody


Conclusions

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Results – Rise time

** ** fastfastnormalnormal



Conclusions

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Results – F0 excursion size

**

(Hz)

(Hz)

** fastfastnormalnormal



Conclusions

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Results:correlation rise time/ F0 excursion size

Speaker r p N

1 -0.140 0.272 ns 21

2 0.442 0.015* 24

3 0.527 0.010* 19

4 0.316 0.062 ns 25

5 -0.139 0.216 ns 34



Conclusions

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Results – rise time, f0 excursion

rise timerise time

F0F0 e

xcur

sion

siz

e e

xcur

sion

siz

e

rise timerise time

F0F0 e

xcur

sion

siz

e e

xcur

sion

siz

e



Conclusions

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Results – L2 alignment

• L2 rarely in penultimate syllable• Generally toward the beginning of last syllable.

Cf. Jun & Fougeron (2000), Post (2002), Welby (2003a/b)



Conclusions

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Two potential anchors examined

Rate effects for 2 speakers

C V C

S3

begS3begS3toL2toL2

begV3begV3toL2toL2

L2L2

H2H2IntroductionSegmentalAnchoringFrench prosody


Conclusions

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100

150

200

250

300

350

400

0 0.5la sentinelle

sm1 s1 s2 s3

o1 v1 o2 v2 o3 v3 c3

L1 H1 L2 H2

‘‘the sentinel/ watchman’the sentinel/ watchman’

L2L2L1L1

H1H1

H2H2

end end of onset of onset

consonantconsonant

normalnormal



Conclusions

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150

200

250

300

350

0 0.5le milanais

sm1 s1 s2 s3

o1 v1 o2 v2 o3 v3

L1 H1 L2 H2


‘‘The man from Milan’The man from Milan’

L2L2

L1L1

H1H1

H2H2

start start of onset of onset

consonantconsonant

fastfastIntroductionSegmentalAnchoringFrench prosody


Conclusions

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H2 anchor point: end of vowel

C V C V C Vs1 s2 s3



salamisalami

vitaminevitamine

pyramidepyramide

[mi][mi]

[min][min]

[mid][mid]



Conclusions

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H2 anchor point: end of sonorant rhyme

C V C V C Vs1 s2 s3



salamisalami

vitaminevitamine

pyramidepyramide

[mi][mi]

[min][min]

[mid][mid]



Conclusions

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H2 anchor point: end of syllable

C V C V C Vs1 s2 s3



salamisalami

vitaminevitamine

pyramidepyramide

[mi][mi]

[min][min]

[mid][mid]



Conclusions

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Potential H2 anchor points

C V CobsS3

C VS3

L2L2

H2H2

endV3endV3toH2toH2

C V CsonS3

[mi][mi]

[min][min]

[mid][mid]



Conclusions

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Potential H2 anchor points

L2L2

H2H2

endSonRhymeendSonRhymetoH2toH2

C V CsonS3

[min][min]



Conclusions

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Observed H2 alignment

C V C V C Vs1 s2 s3


salamisalami

pyramidepyramide

[mi][mi]

[mid][mid]



Conclusions

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Observed H2 alignment

C V C V C Vs1 s2 s3



salamisalami

vitaminevitamine

pyramidepyramide

[mi][mi]

[min][min]

[mid][mid]



Conclusions

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Results – H2 alignment

CVCV CVCobsCVCobs

endV3toH2endV3toH2 endV3toH2endV3toH2

CVCsonCVCson

endV3toH2endV3toH2

CVCsonCVCson

endSonRhymeToH2endSonRhymeToH2

[mi][mi]

[min][min]

[mid][mid]

[min][min]



Conclusions

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150

200

250

300

350

0 0.5les vitamines

sm1 s1 s2 s3

o1 v1 o2 v2 o3 v3 c3

L1 H1 L2 H2

les vitaminesles vitamines‘‘the vitamins’the vitamins’

L2L2

L1L1

H1H1 H2H2IntroductionSegmentalAnchoringFrench prosody


Conclusions

42


150

200

250

300

350

0 0.5ce matinal

sm1 s1 s2 s3

o1 v1 o2 v2 o3 v3 c3

L1 H1 L2 H2

ce matinalce matinal‘‘this morning person’this morning person’

L2L2

L1L1

H1H1

H2H2IntroductionSegmentalAnchoringFrench prosody


Conclusions

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Alignment results summary L2• Differences from previous studies

• No stable anchor point

• Rate effects for 2/5 speakers

H2• Effect of syllable structure on alignment

CV & CVCobs vs. CVCson

• No simple anchor point for CVCson:great alignment variability (60ms+)

contracontrasegmental segmental anchoringanchoring

contracontrasegmental segmental anchoringanchoring



Conclusions

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Anchor vs. Anchorage

anchor (n): a mechanical device that prevents a vessel from moving



Conclusions

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Anchor vs. Anchorage

anchor (n): a mechanical device that prevents a vessel from moving

anchorage (n): a place where vessels anchor; a place suitable for anchoring



Conclusions

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C V CS

segmental segmental anchoranchor

APAP

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C V CS

APAP

segmentalsegmentalanchorageanchorage

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ConclusionsSegmental anchoring not supported for French

• No clear anchor point for L2• Rate effects on L2 alignment• Rate effects on F0 excursion size• No stable anchor point for H2

Segmental anchoring claims cannot be spoken language universals. For some languages:• Only one end of a rise is anchored• Rate effects on F0 excursion size• Anchorages rather than anchors

Segmental anchorage is not claimed to be a spoken language universal. Rather, it is one of the range of alignment possibilties.



Conclusions

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ConclusionsAlignment of French H2

• Surface alignment differences across syllables structures

• Unified account provided by the notion of segmental anchorage

• For H2, region stretching from ~ 25 ms before the end of the last full vowel of the accentual phrase to the end of the phrase.

• Few peaks in voiced obstruents:– physical constraints on maintaining voicing– preserving of cues to consonant identity



Conclusions

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Conclusions

Danger of arguing for language universals based on data from a few languagesIntroduction

SegmentalAnchoringFrench prosody


Conclusions

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Directions for future research

• Are segmental anchorages found in other languages?

• Articulatory alignment of H2?

• Similarities in other languages with LHLH patterns (Korean, Occitan)?



Conclusions

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Acknowledgments

Allison BlodgettChristian BulfoneBarbara Gili FivelaNino MedvesPascal PerrierCristel Portes

Experiment participants

This research was supported by a Marie Curie International Fellowship within the 6th European Community Framework Programme.



Conclusions

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Gràcies!

Merci !

Go raibh maith agaibh!

Documents

Pauline Welby [email protected] Col áiste na Tríonóide, Baile Átha Cliath Irlanda