Effects of tone and focus on the formation and alignment of F0 contours

The present study examines how lexical tone and focus contribute to the formation and alignment of f0 contours in speech. This was done through an investigation of f0 contour formation in short Mandarin sentences. These sentences all consisted of five syllables with varying tones on the middle three syllables. The sentences were produced by eight Mandarin speakers with four different focus patterns: focus on the first, second or last word, or with no narrow focus. f0 patterns of these sentences were examined through point-by-point f0 tracing, graphical comparison of averaged f0 contours, f0-contour-syllable alignment analysis, and analysis of maximum, minimum f0, and slope of f0 contours. The results indicate that a) while lexical tone of a syllable is the most important determining factor for the local f0 contour of the syllable, sentence focus extensively modulates the global shape of the f0 curve, which in turn affects the height and even the shape of local contours; b) the tones of adjacent syllables also extensively influence both the shape and height of the f0 contour of a syllable, with the preceding tone exerting more influence than the following tone; c) despite extensive variations in shape and height, the f0 contour of a tone remains closely aligned with the associated syllable; and d) both focus and tonal interaction may generate substantial f0 decline over the course of an utterance. These findings seem to be able to reduce the unpredictability in the formation and alignment of f0 contours in speech.

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