Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Fundamental Frequency in Feedback Words in Swedish

Tronnier, Mechtild LU and Allwood, Jens (2004) 18th International Congress on Acoustics p.2239-2242
Abstract
An investigation of the fundamental frequency in Swedish feedback words is presented. It is hypothesised that the F0-pattern differs between words signalling positive and negative feedback-i.e. agreement and disagreement with the utterance of the preceding speaker. When imitating the contrast, the negative feedback word nej 'no' is often produced with a falling F0, stretching over a larger range, whereas the positive feedback word ja 'yes' is produced with some steady intonation, ending in a rise. Data from spontaneous dialogues has been investigated to confirm that feedback words in discourse are handled in the described way. The data is part of the Göteborg Spoken Language Corpus (GSLC). Neither consistent use of these patterns, nor of... (More)
An investigation of the fundamental frequency in Swedish feedback words is presented. It is hypothesised that the F0-pattern differs between words signalling positive and negative feedback-i.e. agreement and disagreement with the utterance of the preceding speaker. When imitating the contrast, the negative feedback word nej 'no' is often produced with a falling F0, stretching over a larger range, whereas the positive feedback word ja 'yes' is produced with some steady intonation, ending in a rise. Data from spontaneous dialogues has been investigated to confirm that feedback words in discourse are handled in the described way. The data is part of the Göteborg Spoken Language Corpus (GSLC). Neither consistent use of these patterns, nor of any other pattern has been found in the data. An identification test was carried out, to see whether the hummed F0-pattern contained enough information for the listener to separate positive feedback words from negative ones. Results show that listeners' capability to distinguish between positive and negative feedback words when solely relying on the F0-pattern is rather poor. A variety of F0-patterns are used for positive and negative feedback words within and across the categories. The recognition of the contrast between the two categories depends presumably on more information, which may also be found in a broader scope of prosody, like phrasal prosody, including intonation and pausing. Otherwise one might assume that in some cases-such as noticeable hesitation-information about the feedback type is solely conveyed by the words. It seems like the F0-patterns previously described reflect other factors-like emphasis-rather than contrast between positive and negative feedback. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
ICA 2004 : proceedings of the 18th International Congress on Acoustics, Kyoto International Conference Hall, 4-9 April, 2004, Kyoto, Japan - proceedings of the 18th International Congress on Acoustics, Kyoto International Conference Hall, 4-9 April, 2004, Kyoto, Japan
pages
2239 - 2242
publisher
International Congress on Acoustics
conference name
18th International Congress on Acoustics
conference location
Kyoto, Japan
conference dates
2004-04-04 - 2004-04-09
ISBN
9901915-6-0
4-9901915-0-1
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
http://www.icacommission.org/Proceedings/ICA2004Kyoto/
id
31c08489-0178-4f78-b4e3-1b08dc86c07c
date added to LUP
2017-08-30 16:56:22
date last changed
2021-03-23 21:26:52
@inproceedings{31c08489-0178-4f78-b4e3-1b08dc86c07c,
  abstract     = {{An investigation of the fundamental frequency in Swedish feedback words is presented. It is hypothesised that the F0-pattern differs between words signalling positive and negative feedback-i.e. agreement and disagreement with the utterance of the preceding speaker. When imitating the contrast, the negative feedback word nej 'no' is often produced with a falling F0, stretching over a larger range, whereas the positive feedback word ja 'yes' is produced with some steady intonation, ending in a rise. Data from spontaneous dialogues has been investigated to confirm that feedback words in discourse are handled in the described way. The data is part of the Göteborg Spoken Language Corpus (GSLC). Neither consistent use of these patterns, nor of any other pattern has been found in the data. An identification test was carried out, to see whether the hummed F0-pattern contained enough information for the listener to separate positive feedback words from negative ones. Results show that listeners' capability to distinguish between positive and negative feedback words when solely relying on the F0-pattern is rather poor. A variety of F0-patterns are used for positive and negative feedback words within and across the categories. The recognition of the contrast between the two categories depends presumably on more information, which may also be found in a broader scope of prosody, like phrasal prosody, including intonation and pausing. Otherwise one might assume that in some cases-such as noticeable hesitation-information about the feedback type is solely conveyed by the words. It seems like the F0-patterns previously described reflect other factors-like emphasis-rather than contrast between positive and negative feedback.}},
  author       = {{Tronnier, Mechtild and Allwood, Jens}},
  booktitle    = {{ICA 2004 : proceedings of the 18th International Congress on Acoustics, Kyoto International Conference Hall, 4-9 April, 2004, Kyoto, Japan}},
  isbn         = {{9901915-6-0}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{2239--2242}},
  publisher    = {{International Congress on Acoustics}},
  title        = {{Fundamental Frequency in Feedback Words in Swedish}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/75051861/We4.H.5.pdf}},
  year         = {{2004}},
}