Tone

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Tone IntonationYi Xu University College
London
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Questions about tonal aspect of speech

• What is the difference between tone language
  intonational language?
• How are tones produced?
• Can a tone language have intonation?
• What kind of information does intonation convey?

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Tone language versus intonation language

• Tone language A language which uses fixed pitch
  targets to distinguish words, e.g., Thai,
  Cantonese, Mandarin, Swedish, Japanese
• All other languages can be called intonation
  languages, e.g., French, German, English, Spanish

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Tone language Mandarin example
(Data from Liu Xu 2004)
Normalized time
F0 number of open-close vocal cycles per second
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Intonation language English example
Im simply trying to get you to
under- stand!
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Mandarin Tones said in isolation

• /ma/

F
mother hemp horse to scold
H
R
L
Xu, Y. (1997). Journal of Phonetics 25, 61-83.
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How are tones said in succession?
H

• Instant transition hypothesis

L
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How are tones said in succession?
Data from Xu (1997)

• No reserved transitional period!

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Why does it take so long to make a pitch change?
Minimum time of completing a pitch change as
functions of the size of the pitch change (Xu
Sun 2002) Rise tr 89.6 8.7 d
(1) Fall tf 100.04 5.8 d (2) tr, tf
time of complete pitch rise or fall d size of
pitch rise or fall
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Long transitions are articulatorily unavoidable
(Xu Sun 2002) Minimum pitch rise time t
89.6 8.7 6 142 ms
H
F
Hz
R
6 st
H
L
Mean duration 196 ms
F0 data from Xu (1997)
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F0 movements are often as fast as possible, yet
still not fast enough to avoid undershooting the
target
(Xu Sun 2002) Minimum pitch shift time (rise
fall) t 89.6 8.7 x 6 100.4 5.8 x 4
265 ms
4 st
6 st
Mean duration 199 ms
F0 data from Xu (1997)
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F0 contours of a tone converge to a simple
configuration by end of syllable
Data from Xu (1999)
F0 (Hz)
Normalized time

• With little anticipatory influence on the
  preceding tone

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F0 contour of a tone converge to a configuration
by the end of syllable
Data from Xu (1999)

• With little anticipatory influence on the
  preceding tone

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Target Approximation model Syllable-synchronized
sequential target approximation (Xu Wang 2001)

• Local targets as simple linear functions static
  or dynamic
• F0 approaches the target asymptotically
• The approximation is synchronized with syllable

Approaching low
rise
low
F
0
S
y
l
l
a
b
l
e

2
S
y
l
l
a
b
l
e

1
time
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Target Approximation model Syllable-synchronized
sequential target approximation (Xu Wang 2001)

• Local targets as simple linear functions static
  or dynamic
• F0 approaches the target asymptotically
• The approximation is synchronized with syllable

Approaching low
rise
low
F
0
S
y
l
l
a
b
l
e

2
S
y
l
l
a
b
l
e

1
time
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Controllable aspects of Target Approximation
Pitch Range
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Parameter 1 Target Assignment

• Obligatory Each and every syllable is assigned a
  pitch target prior to articulation applying to
  all languages.
• Target assignment is not always unique Target
  can sometimes alternate by arbitrary rules
• Critical Target alternation occurs before
  target execution

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Target alternation versus Variation due to
execution

• Case 1 Mandarin L tone

Data from Xu, (1997)
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Case 3 Tone splitting in English

• F ? H L if the word is trochaic
• E.g. Bravo

• The H is aligned to the end of stressed syllable
  (Xu Xu, in press)
• Pisa Italian F ? F, even in a trochaic word
  (Gili Fivela, 2002)

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Parameter 2. Articulatory Strength

• May be used by both lexical and non-lexical
  functions
• Lexical Mandarin neutral tone, English weak
  stress
• Non-lexical Grouping, demarcation

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Mandarin Neutral tone is much influenced by the
preceding tone
Data from Chen Xu (forthcoming)
Time (ms)
But F0 during the neutral tones gradually
converges to a particular level
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Parameter 3. Pitch Range

• Pitch range determines the height and width of
  the pitch span for the target implementation
• Likely used in encoding focus, new topic, etc.

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Parameter 3. Pitch Range

• Pitch range determines the height and width of
  the pitch span for the target implementation
• Likely used in encoding focus, new topic, etc.

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Parameter 3. Pitch Range

• Pitch range determines the height and width of
  the pitch span for the target implementation
• Likely used in encoding focus, new topic, etc.

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Parallel realization of focus and tone Tri-zone
pitch range adjustment
Data from Xu (1999)
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Tri-zone pitch range adjustment by focus in
English
(Xu Xu, in press Grand means of 49 repetitions
by 7 subjects)
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Statement vs. question with focus tone
Mandarin (Liu Xu, forthcoming 8 speakers, 5
repetitions)
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Asking questions with focus English (Liu Xu,
forthcoming average of 4 repetitions, 1 speaker)

• 1 Statement with no narrow focus,
• 2 Statement with medial focus,
• 3 Statement with final focus,
• 4 Question with medial focus,
• 5 Question with final focus.

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New topic raises pitch range of sentence initial
words
From Umeda (1982, JPhon)
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Encoding meanings with pitch patterns

• Tone local targets, static or dynamic
• Neutral tone, weak stress weak strength, short
  duration, mid target
• Focus tri-zone pitch range control on-focus
  expansion, post-focus suppression, pre-focus
  neutral
• Sentence type pitch range exponential growth
• New topic/turn taking pitch range exponential
  decay

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Summary

• Difference b/w tone language intonational
  language?
• Tone languages use fixed pitch patterns to
  distinguish words. Intonation languages do not
  have lexically determined fixed pitch patterns
• How are tones produced?
• Through the articulatory process of
  syllable-synchronized sequential target
  approximation
• Can a tone language have intonation?
• Yes.
• What kind of information does intonation convey?
• Non-lexical meanings such as focus,
  question/statement, topic, and many more, to be
  learned through continued research

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An interactive quantitative model that applies
what we have learned about the tonal aspect of
speech (http//www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/yi/qTA/)