ERIC Number: ED088294
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1973-Dec-29
Pages: 14
Abstractor: N/A
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Acoustical Measurements of Selected Intonation Contours of French.
Howie, John M.
Recent studies of rising intonation contours in French, in particular the acoustical differences that serve to distinguish Yes/No questions from other rising intonations are reviewed. The preliminary results of a pilot study of rising intonations in French, in which average curves were obtained from spectrographic measurements of fundamental frequency, are also reported. In conclusion it is found that the preliminary set of average curves presented here lend support to Pierre Delattre's description of three of his ten basic intonations of French: Yes/No, major continuation, and implication. The method described for deriving these average curves from spectrographic measurements is seen as a sound one, promising worthwhile results in future studies. Finally, in a discussion of the results of Allan Grundstrom's experiment with synthetic speech, it is noted that they seem to confirm the assumption that fundamental frequency is an effective cue for the perception of intonational distinctions. Perception testing of synthetic intonations is emphasized as a fruitful technique for acoustic description, which will eventually provide an adequate acoustic description of the distinctive intonation contour for Yes/No questions in French. (HW)
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Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Modern Language Association of America (Chicago, Illinois, December 29, 1973)