Acoustic Correlates of Grammatical Class

Abstract

The present experiment investigates 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 study investigates whether systematic acoustic differences would also be observed in words which maintain a constant stress pattern across syntactic function. In the present experiment, five speakers were recorded producing 16 grammatically ambiguous lexical items such as answer or design. Stimuli were read either as a noun or a verb. Measurements for each stimulus consisted of a ratio of the first to the second syllable for the three acoustic parameters: duration, amplitude, 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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