Perspectives on Speech Timing: Coupled Oscillator Modeling of Polish and Finnish

This stud y was ai med at analyzing empirical duration data for Polish spoken at different tempos using an updated version of the Coupled Oscillator Model of speech timing and rhythm variability (O'Dell and Nieminen, 1999, 2009). We use Bayesian inference on parameters relating to speech rate to investigate how tempo affects timing in Polish. The model parameters found are then compared with parameters obtained for equivalent material in Finnish to shed light on which of the effects represent general speech rate mechanisms and which are specific to Polish. We discuss the model and its predictions in the context of current perspectives on speech timing.