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The University of Kansas
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Language and Speech.
1995. 38 (1), 57 - 76
Acoustic
Correlates of Grammatical Class
Joan A.
Sereno and Allard Jongman
| The present experimenl
invesligates acoustic correlates of grammatical class in English. Results
of previous studies examining the acoustic correlates of stress have established
that variations in duration. amplitude and fundamental frequency are cues
to lexical stress. The present sludy investigales uhelher syslemalic acoustic
differences would also be observed in words which maintain a conslanl stress
pauern across synlaclic funclion. In the present experiment, five speakers
were recorded producing 16 grammatically ambiguous lexical ilems such as
answer or design. Stimuli were read eilher as a noun or a
verb. Measuremenis for each stimulus consisled of a ralio of the first to
the second syllable for the three acouslic parameters: duration, amplilude,
and fundamental frequency. The data show slight but consistent acoustic
differences in speakers" production of syntactically ambiguous words contingent
upon their production as a noun or as a verb. Duration and amplitude cues
appear to be the most robust cues for signaling these differences in grammatical
function. These results are in accord with recent evidence documenting the
paradigmatic stress pattern for grammatical class in English. |
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