TOBI: Bi-Tonal Pitch Accents(the exciting conclusion!)
January 31, 2017
A Modest Agenda• Your first course project reports are due!
• Production exercise #1 will be due on Friday at 5 pm.
• Now let’s walk through the rest of the TOBI paradigm...
TOBI, so far1. Pitch Accents
• H* and L*
2. Phrase Accents
• H- and L-
3. Boundary Tones
• H% and L%
4. Break Indices
• 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4
5. Downstepping and Upstepping
Bitonal Pitch Accents• In addition to H* and L*, there are three bitonal pitch accents.
• Here are the first two:
• L + H*
• L* + H
• The starred element denotes the tone which is associated with the stressed syllable.
• L + H* = high peak on stressed syllable, preceded by a sharp rise in pitch.
• L* + H = low pitch target on stressed syllable, followed by a sharp rise in pitch.
H* vs. L + H*• Marianna won it.
H*
L + H*
Note: informative vs. contrastive function
L* vs. L* + H• Only a millionaire.
• Marianna made the marmalade?
L + H* L* + H L- H%
L* L* H-H%
L + H* vs. L* + H• There’s a lovely one in Bloomingdale’s.
L* + H
L + H*
Filling the Gap• Another feature of phrase accents is that they fill in the gap between the nuclear accent and the boundary of the intermediate phrase.
L* + H L- H%
1 0 1 1 4
More Downstepping• Bitonal pitch accents can also undergo downstepping.
L + H* L + !H* L + !H* L-L%
1 1 1 1 1 4
H + !H*• The final pitch accent in the TOBI inventory is H+!H*.
• This one often appears at the beginning of phrases.
Pitch-Accents Round-up• There are five pitch accents:
• H*
• L*
• L + H*
• L* + H
• H + !H*
• The * attaches to stressed syllables.
• The final pitch accent in an intonational phrase is the nuclear accent.
• Generally perceived as more prominent.
Practice Time…• Bi-Tonal pitch accent practice:
http://www.uofclinguistics.org/441/TOBIlab4.html