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Examining Online Syntactic Processing of Spoken Complex Sentences in Chinese Using Dual-Modal Interference Tasks
Published on: September 5, 2019
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Interaction of prosody and syntax-semantics in Mandarin wh-indeterminates.
1The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, China.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|September 3, 2020
Summary
Mandarin sentence-final particles shape speech prosody, distinguishing questions from statements and interrogatives from indefinites. Acoustic strategies fine-tune intonation while preserving lexical tones.
Area of Science:
- Phonetics
- Linguistics
- Speech Communication
Background:
- Mandarin sentence-final particles (SFPs) and wh-phrases play crucial roles in conveying syntactic and semantic information.
- Understanding the prosodic realization of these elements is key to deciphering Mandarin information structure.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the acoustic-prosodic features of Putonghua and Taiwan Mandarin SFPs and wh-phrases.
- To determine how prosody distinguishes between interrogative and indefinite readings, and between questions and statements.
Main Methods:
- Two speech-production experiments were conducted.
- Analysis focused on acoustic properties like F0, intensity, and duration of wh-phrases in different sentence types.
Main Results:
- SFPs influence the prosody of sentence-final wh-phrases, causing right-edge shortening and lowering of F0 and intensity.
- These prosodic modifications effectively differentiate wh-interrogatives from indefinites and questions from statements.
- Speakers employ complex acoustic strategies, integrating prosody with syntax, semantics, and focus while maintaining lexical tones.
Conclusions:
- Prosody, modulated by SFPs, serves as a critical cue for information structure in Mandarin.
- Putonghua and Taiwan Mandarin exhibit variations in how prosodic differences encode syntactic-semantic information.
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