Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain and Language, Spain.
Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Letterari (DiSLL), Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy.
Lang Speech. 2020 Jun;63(2):242-263. doi: 10.1177/0023830919835849. Epub 2019 Mar 13.
We tested the hypothesis that languages can be classified by their degree of tonal rhythm (Jun, 2014). The tonal rhythms of English and Italian were quantified using the following parameters: (a) regularity of tonal alternations in time, measured as durational variability in peak-to-peak and valley-to-valley intervals; (b) magnitude of F0 excursions, measured as the range of frequencies covered by the speaker between consecutive F0 maxima and minima; (c) number of tonal target points per intonational unit; and (d) similarity of F0 rising and falling contours within intonational units. The results show that, as predicted by Jun's prosodic typology (2014), Italian has a stronger tonal rhythm than English, expressed by higher regularity in the distribution of F0 minima turning points, larger F0 excursions, and more frequent tonal targets, indicating alternating phonological H and L tones. This cross-language difference can be explained by the relative load of F0 and durational ratios on the perception and production of speech rhythm and prominence. We suggest that research on the role of speech rhythm in speech processing and language acquisition should not be restricted to syllabic rhythm, but should also examine the role of cross-language differences in tonal rhythm.
我们检验了一个假说，即语言可以根据其音高节奏的程度进行分类（Jun，2014）。英语和意大利语的音高节奏使用以下参数进行量化：(a) 音高交替在时间上的规律性，以峰峰和谷谷间隔的时长可变性来衡量；(b) F0 振幅的大小，以说话者在连续的 F0 最大值和最小值之间覆盖的频率范围来衡量；(c) 每个语调单位的音高目标点数量；(d) 语调单位内 F0 上升和下降轮廓的相似性。结果表明，正如 Jun 的韵律类型学（2014）所预测的那样，意大利语的音高节奏比英语更强，表现在 F0 最小值转折点分布的更高规律性、更大的 F0 振幅和更频繁的音高目标上，这表明交替的语音 H 和 L 音。这种跨语言差异可以用 F0 和时长比在感知和产生语音节奏和重音方面的相对负荷来解释。我们建议，关于语音节奏在语音处理和语言习得中的作用的研究不应仅限于音节节奏，还应研究音高节奏的跨语言差异的作用。
