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This study examines anticipatory pharyngealisation (i.e., emphasis) in Libyan Arabic, across a hierarchy of prosodic boundary levels (syllable vs. word vs. phonological phrase vs. intonation phrase ‘IP’) in order to quantify the magnitude, and identify the planned domain of anticipatory pharyngealisation. The acoustic manifestation of pharyngealisation is lowering in the second formant (F2) in pharyngealised contexts compared to their plain cognates. To investigate speech production models of how pharyngealisation is anticipated in advance, F2 measurements were taken at onset, mid and offset points of both vowels (V) in a word-final VCV sequence, in the context [VbV # Emphatic trigger]. The strength of [#], a prosodic boundary, was varied syntactically to manipulate the presumed hierarchical strength of that boundary from zero (where the VbV and the trigger are in the same word) up to an intonational phrase boundary. We expect that the stronger the boundary, the greater the resistance to the spread of pharyngealisation. The duration of the final vowel (i.e., the pre-trigger vowel) was also measured to assess if pharyngealisation magnitude on it and on the first vowel is influenced by the temporal proximity to the emphatic trigger. Results show (1) that within word boundaries pharyngealisation effects are present on both vowels, and (2) there are effects of pharyngealisation on the final vowel, i.e. the pre-trigger across word and phrase boundaries, and (3) there is no evidence of pharyngealisation across an IP boundary. An examination of the pre-trigger vowel + pause duration suggests that the lack of coarticulatory effects on the final vowel, i.e., pre-trigger vowel, across an IP boundary may be due to the temporal distance from the trigger: all tokens in this condition had a pre-trigger pause. For word and phrase boundary conditions, F2 was higher the greater the temporal distance from the pharyngealised trigger. These results suggest that anticipatory pharyngealisation is qualitatively different within the word as compared to across word boundaries. More clearly, the magnitude of pharyngealisation is categorical within word boundaries, and gradient across prosodic boundaries higher than the word. These findings suggest that pharyngealisation within the word is phonological, whereas across word boundaries it is primarily a phonetic process, conditioned by the temporal proximity to the pharyngealised trigger. Results also show that the planned domain of [pharyngealisation] is the word. However, additional phonetic pharyngealisation effects can extend across word boundaries as a result of coarticulation.

Speakers break their otherwise continuous speech stream into meaningful segments, the edges of which are marked by audible cues such as pauses, rate changes and pitch movement. Prosodic boundaries, as these segment edges and the cues marking them are known, play a role critical to language processing and spoken language acquisition. While great progress has been made in quantifying the complicated range of acoustic cues that mark boundaries, little is understood about the cognitive processes by which these cues guide linguistic interpretation. Further, while prosodic boundary measures typically treat critical cues from pitch and timing independently, evidence suggests that pitch and timing are perceptually interdependent. In fact, pitch factors may at times distort perceived duration. This dissertation presents 3 pairs of perception experiments investigating pitch-­time interaction, including putative distortion of perceived duration from dynamic pitch and cross-‑silence pitch jumps (i.e., the kappa effect). Each pair uses the same set of stimuli, resynthesized with crossed continua of pitch and timing manipulations, in two different tasks: one psychoacoustic judgment of duration, and one of linguistic interpretation. Results suggest that perceptual interaction of major cues from timing (preboundary lengthening and pauses) and pitch (edge tones and reset) can be analyzed as reflecting gestalt-­like grouping principles (proximity, similarity and continuity) that have been shown to play a role in perceptual grouping in other cognitive domains, including vision and non-speech auditory perception. In addition to these potentially more cognitive­‐general principles, a new role is introduced for learned and potentially language-­specific patterns to prosodic grouping, in particular intonational schemas, i.e., recognizable cross-­phrase pitch patterns. Beyond this, results also support the hypothesis that perceived grouping is the driving force behind several types of pitch­based auditory illusions, including the auditory kappa effect. This dissertation offers insights into why prosodic boundaries are expressed with the particular pitch and timing cues that are common cross-­linguistically. While much language form is arbitrary, the expression of grouping by way of acoustic cues appears to be much less so. This research has potential toexplain the perceptual foundations of boundary cues, and therefore the cross-­linguistic similarities of prosodic grouping cues.

This thesis explores the relationship between inhalation amplitude and turn-taking in spontaneous multiparty conversations held in Estonian. Respiratory activity is recorded with Respiratory Inductance Plethysmography. The main focus is on how inhalation amplitude varies between the inhalations produced directly before turn onset compared to the following inhalations within the same speaking turn. The results indicate a significant difference in amplitude, realised mainly by an increase in inhalation end lung volume values. One of the possible functions of this pattern is to signal an intention of taking the conversational turn. Another could be a phrasing or grouping function connected to lower inhalation amplitudes within turns. / 2014-1072 Andning i samtal (Vetenskapsrådet)