Acoustic correlates of word stress in American English

Acoustic parameters that differentiate between primary stress and non-primary full vowels were determined using two-syllable real and novel words and specially constructed novel words with identical syllable compositions. The location of the high focal pitch accent within a declarative carrier phrase was varied using an innovative object naming task that allowed for a natural and spontaneous manipulation of phrase-level accentuation. Results from male native speakers of American English show that when the high focal pitch accent was on the novel word, vowel differences in pitch, intensity prominence, and amplitude of the first harmonic, H1 * (corrected for the effect of the vocal tract filter), accurately distinguished full vowel syllables carrying primary stress vs. non-primary stress. Acoustic parameters that correlated to word stress under all conditions tested were syllable duration, HI*-A3*, as a measurement of spectral tilt, and noise at high frequencies, determined by band-pass filtering the F3 region of the spectrum. Furthermore, the results indicate that word stress cues are augmented when the high focal pitch accent is on the target word.

Department dc:contributor.department

Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Okobi, Anthony O. (Anthony Obiesie), 1976-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kenneth N. Stevens.

• Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37963

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/37963