Creation of prosody during sentence production

Psychol Rev. 1993 Apr;100(2):233-53. doi: 10.1037/0033-295x.100.2.233.

Abstract

Phrase-final words tend to be lengthened and followed by a pause. The dominant view of prosodic production is that word lengthening and pausing reflect the syntax of a sentence. The author demonstrates that, instead, lengthening and pausing reflect a distinctly prosodic representation, in which phonological constituents are arranged in a hierarchical, nonrecursive structure. Prosodic structure is created without knowledge of words' phonemic content. As a result, within a single sentential position, greater word lengthening necessitates shorter pauses, but across positions, word and pause durations show a positive correlation. The author presents a model of prosodic production that describes the process of prosodic encoding and provides a quantitative specification of the relation between word lengthening and pausing. This model has implications for studies of language production, comprehension, and development.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attention*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Psycholinguistics
  • Semantics*
  • Speech Production Measurement
  • Verbal Behavior*