IfL-Phonetics, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
PLoS One. 2019 May 23;14(5):e0216859. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216859. eCollection 2019.
The framework of dynamical systems offers powerful tools to understand the relation between stability and variability in human cognition in general and in speech in particular. In the current paper, we propose a dynamical systems approach to the description of German nuclear pitch accents in focus marking to account for both the categorical as well as the continuous variation found in intonational data. We report on results from 27 native speakers and employ an attractor landscape to represent pitch accent types in terms of f0 measures in a continuous dimension. We demonstrate how the same system can account for both the categorical variation (relative stability of one prosodic category) as well as the continuous variation (detailed modifications within one prosodic category). The model is able to capture the qualitative aspects of focus marking such as falling vs. rising pitch accent types as well as the quantitative aspects such as less rising vs. more rising accents in one system by means of scaling a single parameter. Furthermore, speaker group specific strategies are analysed and modelled as differences in the scaling of this parameter. Thus, the model contributes to the ongoing debate about the relation between phonetics and phonology and the importance of variation in language and speech.
动力系统框架为理解人类认知，特别是言语中的稳定性和可变性之间的关系提供了强大的工具。在当前的论文中，我们提出了一种动力系统方法来描述德语核重音在焦点标记中的作用，以解释音高数据中发现的类别和连续变化。我们报告了 27 名母语为德语的说话者的结果，并采用吸引景观来根据连续维度中的 f0 测量值来表示重音类型。我们展示了同一个系统如何同时解释类别变化（一个韵律类别相对稳定性）和连续变化（一个韵律类别内的详细变化）。该模型能够通过缩放单个参数来捕捉焦点标记的定性方面，例如下降重音与上升重音类型，以及定量方面，例如上升幅度较小与上升幅度较大的重音。此外，还分析和建模了特定说话者群体的策略，这些策略表现为该参数缩放的差异。因此，该模型为正在进行的关于语音学和音系学之间的关系以及语言和言语中变异性的重要性的辩论做出了贡献。
