Timing in talking: what is it used for, and how is it controlled?

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Speech Science
• Motor Control

Background:

• Speech timing patterns are influenced by linguistic factors and prosodic structures.
• Optimal control theory suggests a balance between recognition, speech rate, and motor costs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To summarize linguistic factors shaping speech timing.
• To propose a model balancing recognition and production constraints.
• To discuss extrinsic timing control in speech production.

Main Methods:

• Review of linguistic factors and prosodic structures.
• Application of optimal control theory principles.
• Analysis of evidence supporting extrinsic timing models.

Main Results:

• Speech timing patterns are influenced by linguistic and prosodic factors.
• A balance exists between recognition needs, speech rate, style, and motor costs.
• Three types of evidence support extrinsic timing in speech production models.

Conclusions:

• Speech timing is planned to optimize utterance recognition under various constraints.
• Extrinsic timing control is a viable mechanism in speech production models.
• Further research can explore the implementation of planned timing patterns.