title: Timing and communicative functions of pitch contours.
abstract: A new research paradigm is applied to F(0) synchronization with articulation, in peak and valley contours, under four principles: (a) Timing of F(0) contours enters the definitions of the pitch categories. (b) These phonetic exponents are linked to communicative functions. (c) The listener plays a pivotal role. (d) Contextualization of test stimuli is essential for pitch data collection. Data are presented and interpreted from an experimental investigation of the substance-function relationship in the perception of peak and valley shift series by German listeners, using the semantic differential technique. The findings of the substance-function relationship are explained with reference to the frequency code and to auditory enhancement,i.e. syntagmatic contrast of high-low or low-high pitch trajectories in synchronization with articulatory landmarks of accented syllables.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Phonetics and Digital Speech Processing (IPDS), University of Kiel, Germany. kk@ipds.uni-kiel.de
authors.forename: Klaus J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kohler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D012660:Semantics; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors