• MALSORI
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• no.63
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• pp.85-100
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• 2007

This paper aims to propose how to extract intonation patterns using Momel, a pitch stylization algorithm, and to present results of analyzing speech corpora in comparison with those in earlier researches. Two speech corpora are used: one is the sound files obtained from the K-ToBI web site, and the other consists of 80 passages pronounced by 4 speakers (2 male and 2 female). The results show that Momel provides significant pitch targets which can be labeled as H and L tones within prosodic units such as Accentual Phrase (AP) and Intonation Phrase (IP). The resulting AP patterns and IP boundary tone patterns correspond to those in earlier researches. Thus, this study will contribute to the study of intonation as well as to the development of automatic intonation labeling systems.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.87-105
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• 2006

Many researchers have studied the relationship between the information structure and intonation. Arguments about the relations between the information structure and intonation researched so far can be summarized as follows: the intonation of topic and focus in English information structure is represented as i) a pitch accent, ii) a tune (a pitch accent + an edge tone), or iii) a boundary tone. The purpose of this paper is to study various informational patterns of the topic in English information structure, using real TV discussion data. In this paper, the topic is classified as contrastive topics and non-contrastive topics, based on contrastiveness. The results show that the intonation of the topic in English information structure is implemented as a pitch accent, neither a tune nor a boundary tone. Of the non-contrastive topics, while anaphoric determinative NP topics (Lnc, Lncd) are mainly represented as a H* pitch accent, the pronoun topic(Lp) does not have a pitch accent. Of contrastive topics, while the semantically focused topic(Lci) is mainly represented as a H* pitch accent, the contrastively focused topic(Lcc) is represented as both H* and L+H* pitch accents. It shows that it is not always true that the topic or focus to have the meaning of contrast is represented as a L+H* pitch accent as argued in the previous researches.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.117-123
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• 2014

This study investigated the intonation patterns of accentual phrase in Jeju dialect. 9 speakers (Experiment 1) and 6 speakers (Experiment 2) read a carrier sentence '__ youngah miwonghumnida' with a target accentual phrase varying its number of syllables from 1 to 8. The results showed that like Seoul dialect pattern could be the basic pattern of accentual phase in Jeju dialect even though several differences were observed in the realization of each tone: Flat staircase-like tones in L, M, and even in H were often observed, and a very small difference in F0 between intial L and +H was found in many speakers. For some of these differences, this paper tried to give an explanation still in the Intonational Phonology framework. However, introducing M tone as a lexical tone was also suggested as one possible solution. Finally, unlike Seoul dialect, most speakers showed pattern in an accentual phrase beginning with a strong consonant, i.e., aspirated and unaspirated obstruents including /h/ and /s/.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 1996.10a
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• pp.574-575
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• 1996

The theme of the current study is to study intonation of Taiwanese(Tw.) by comparing the intonation patterns in native language (Ll), target language (L2), and interlanguage (IL). Studies on interlanguage have dealt primarily with segments. Though there were studies which addressed to the issues of interlanguage intonation, more often than not, they didn't offer evidence for the statement, and the hypotheses were mainly based on impression. Therefore, a formal description of interlanguage intonation is necessary for further development in this field. The basic assumption of this study is that native speakers of one language perceive and produce a second language in ways closely related to the patterns of their first language. Several studies on interlanguage prosody have suggested that prosodic structure and rules are more subject to transfer than certain other phonological phenomena, given their abstract structural nature and generality(Vogel 1991). Broselow(1988) also shows that interlanguage may provide evidence for particular analyses of the native language grammar, which may not be available from the study of the native language alone. Several research questions will be addressed in the current study: A. How does duration vary among native and nominative utterances\ulcorner The results shows that there is a significant difference in duration between the beginning English learners, and the native speakers of American English for all the eleven English sentences. The mean duration shows that the beginning English learners take almost twice as much time (1.70sec.), as Americans (O.97sec.) to produce English sentences. The results also show that American speakers take significant longer time to speak all ten Taiwanese utterances. The mean duration shows that Americans take almost twice as much time (2.24sec.) as adult Taiwanese (1.14sec.) to produce Taiwanese sentences. B. Does proficiency level influence the performance of interlanguage intonation\ulcorner Can native intonation patterns be achieved by a non-native speaker\ulcorner Wenk(1986) considers proficiency level might be a variable which related to the extent of Ll influence. His study showed that beginners do transfer rhythmic features of the Ll and advanced learners can and do succeed in overcoming mother-tongue influence. The current study shows that proficiency level does play a role in the acquisition of English intonation by Taiwanese speakers. The duration and pitch range of the advanced learners are much closer to those of the native American English speakers than the beginners, but even advanced learners still cannot achieve native-like intonation patterns. C. Do Taiwanese have a narrower pitch range in comparison with American English speakers\ulcorner Ross et. al.(1986) suggests that the presence of tone in a language significantly inhibits the unrestricted manipulation of three acoustical measures of prosody which are involved in producing local pitch changes in the fundamental frequency contour during affective signaling. Will the presence of tone in a language inhibit the ability of speakers to modulate intonation\ulcorner The results do show that Taiwanese have a narrower pitch range in comparison with American English speakers. Both advanced (84Hz) and beginning learners (58Hz) of English show a significant narrower FO range than that of Americans' (112Hz), and the difference is greater between the beginning learners' group and native American English speakers.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2009

Many researchers have argued about the relationship between information structure and intonation. Their results can be summarized in three main points: the intonation of topic and focus in English information structures is implemented as i) a pitch accent, ii) a tune (a pitch accent + (an) edge tone(s)), or iii) a boundary tone. The purpose of this paper is to study various intonational patterns of topic and focus in English information structures, using natural conversations. In this paper, the types of topics and foci are divided, based on contrastiveness. The topics are classified as five non-contrastive and four contrastive topics. The foci are classified as neutral focus, informational focus, and contrastive focus. The results show that the intonation of the topic in English information structures is mainly implemented as a pitch accent, except for the type of the pronoun topic (Lp) which is not implemented as a pitch accent or a tune. However, the intonation of the focus is implemented as a tune in the neutral focus (Fn) and as a pitch accent or a tune in the informational focus (Fi) and the contrastive focus (Fe). In our discussion and conclusion, we suggest that it is not always true that for the meaning of contrast, the topic or the focus is represented as a $L+H^{\ast}$ pitch accent, which has been the main contrastive intonation from earlier studies.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.113-128
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• 2005

The underlying premise of this study was that L1 production is easily transferred into L2 production. In neutral intonation, there is a consonant-tone correlation in Korean: High tone patterns are correlated with voiceless aspirated and tense consonants and Low-High tone patterns are correlated with lax or other voiced consonants. The purpose of this study was to see whether the correlation in Korean (L1) is transferred into English (L2) production and whether the degree of transfer differs depending on the degree of proficiency. Eight Korean speakers and two American speakers participated in the experiment. F0 contours of words and sentences were collected and analyzed. The results of the present study showed that there is a strong correlation between voicing and tone in L2 utterances. When utterance-initial consonant types were voiceless, the word or the sentence began with the H pattern; otherwise it had the LH pattern. The degree of interference differed depending on the degree of proficiency: less proficient speakers showed a stronger correlation in terms of the magnitude (Hz) and size (ms) of the effects on F0. The results indicate that the consonant-tone correlation in L1 is strongly transferred into L2 production and the correlation transfer can be one of the actual aspects that cause L2 speakers to produce deviant L2 accents and intonation.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.243-246
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• 2007

This paper aims to propose an intonation labeling method using Momel and to present results of analyzing a speech corpus consisting of 80 passages pronounced by 4 speakers (2 male and 2 female) using the proposed method. The results show that Momel works well enough to derive meaningful pitch targets, which could be labeled with H and L tones. On the other hand, the results of the analysis of Korean speech corpus correspond to earlier work.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 1997.07a
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• pp.228-229
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• 1997

1 Intonation is important. It cannot be ignored. To convince students of the importance of intonation, we can use sentences with two very different interpretations according to intonation. Example: "I thought it would rain" with a fallon "rain" means it did not rain, but with a fall on "thought" and a rise on "rain" it means that it did rain. 2 Although complex, intonation is structured. For both teacher and student, the big job of tackling intonation is made simpler by remembering that intonation can be analysed into systems and units. There are three main systems in English intonation: Tonality (division into phrases) Tonicity (selection of accented syllables) Tone (the choice of pitch movements) Examples: Tonality: My brother who lives in London is a doctor. Tonicity: Hello. How ARE you. Hello. How are YOU. Tone: Ways to say "Thank you" 3 In deciding what to teach, we must distinguish what is universal from what is specifically English. This is where contrastive studies of intonation are very valuable. Usually, for instance, division into phrases (tonality) works in broadly similar ways across languages. Some uses of pitch are also similar across languages - for example, very high pitch may signal excitement or urgency. 4 Although most people think that intonation is mainly about pitch (the tone system), actually accent placement (tonicity) is probably the single most important aspect of English intonation. This is because it is connected with information focus, and the effects on interpretation are very clear-cut. Example: They asked for coffee, so I made them coffee. (The second occurrence of "coffee" must not be accented). 5 Ear-training is the beginning of intonation training in the VeL approach. First, students learn to identify fall vs rise vs fall-rise. To begin with, single words are used, then phrases and sentences. When learning tones, the fIrst words used should have unstressed syllables after the stressed syllable (Saturday) to make the pitch movement clearer. 6 In production drills, the fIrst thing is to establish simple neutral patterns. There should be no drama or really special meanings. Simple drills can be used to teach important patterns: Example: A: Peter likes football B: Yes JOHN likes football TOO A: Mary rides a bike B: Yes JENny rides a bike TOO 7 The teacher must be systematic and let learners KNOW what they are learning. It is no good using new patterns and hoping that students will "pick them up" without noticing. 8 Visual feedback of fundamental frequency with a computer display can help students learn correct patterns. The teacher can use the display to demonstrate patterns, or students can practise by themselves, imitating recorded models.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.131-145
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• 2004

The informative or important entities in utterances are focused and the focused items are usually accompanied by changes in phonetic manifestation. Phonetic realizations triggered by focus include changes of tonal contours as well as segmental strengthening. Focus in Korean is characterized by new phrase initiation, dephrasing, and initial tone contour with an enlarged pitch range in addition to segmentally lengthened initial segment. Focusing on the prosodic cues which play an important role in delivering the speakers' intention, this study aims to find out what intonational characteristics of Korean focus are realized by English learners of Korean. The English learners are divided into two groups according to their fluency in Korean, and the differences in focus realization between each group are discussed. Furthermore, the phonological and phonetic realizations of focus by English learners of Korean are compared to those by Korean native speakers. The results of this study yields two suggestions for Korean intonation education of L2 learners. First, the comparison between the two speaker groups can give better understanding in how and why the Korean intonation of English speakers is different from that of Koreans. Second, each phonological and phonetic characteristic of focus realization can weigh differently and its realization provides a criterion for evaluation of L2 Korean proficiency.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.71-78
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Japanese(L1) on the production of Korean accentual phrases(L2). Korean and Japanese have a similar prosodic structure. But different from Korean, Japanese is a pitch accent language. So each word has its own pitch accent. And pitch accents are maintained in the sentence intonation. This difference will have a negative influence on the production of Korean sentence intonation. For this study 4 Korean natives speakers and 10 advanced Japanese learners of Korean participated in the production test. The material analysed constituted 11 Korean sentences, six of which contain formally identical Sino-Korean and Sino-Japanese words. The results show that the initial pitch pattern of Korean accentual phrases was affected by Japanese pitch accent types and this interference was greater for formally identical Sino-Korean and Sino-Japanese words. But besides initial tones of accentual phrase, some positive interference was observed in the internal tonal pattern of accentual phrase. In the phonetic realization, the internal pitch range and initial pitch rising of accentual phrases was greater for Japanese learners of Korean than native speakers of Korean.