Donna Erickson, Kiyoshi Honda, Hiroyuki Hirai, Mary E. Beckman
The production of low tones in English intonation
Abstract:This paper examines the relationship between fundamental frequency target and sternohyoid activity in low tones of four different pitch accents and of a phrase boundary in English intonation contours produced at three levels of overall vocal effort. Minimum F0 values for the low targets differed as a function of paradigmatically contrasting tone type and as a function of voice effort level. SH activity level also varied as a function of tone type, in inverse relationship to the F0 value. However, it did not show the same simple relationship to variation in F0 value as a function of overall vocal effort, suggesting a shift in the baseline value due perhaps to concomitant changes in subglottal pressure or to jaw lowering for segmental effect.