Language-Specificity in the Perception of Paralinguistic Intonational Meaning

Autor/inn/en	Chen, Aoju; Gussenhoven, Carlos; Rietveld, Toni
Titel	Language-Specificity in the Perception of Paralinguistic Intonational Meaning
Quelle	In: Language and Speech, 47 (2004) 4, S.311-349 (39 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0023-8309
DOI	10.1177/00238309040470040101
Schlagwörter	Language Patterns; Listening; Paralinguistics; Semantics; Native Speakers; Indo European Languages; Intonation; English; Auditory Stimuli; Self Esteem; Personality Traits; Foreign Countries; Auditory Perception; Netherlands; United Kingdom + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Sprachmodell; Sprachstruktur; Hörvorgang; Zuhören; Paralinguistik; Semantik; Muttersprachler; Indoeuropäisch; English language; Englisch; Auditive Stimulation; Self-esteem; Selbstaufmerksamkeit; Individual characteristics; Personality characteristic; Persönlichkeitsmerkmal; Ausland; Auditive Wahrnehmung; Akustische Wahrnehmung; Akustik; Niederlande; Großbritannien
Abstract	This study examines the perception of paralinguistic intonational meanings deriving from Ohala's Frequency Code (Experiment 1) and Gussenhoven's Effort Code (Experiment 2) in British English and Dutch. Native speakers of British English and Dutch listened to a number of stimuli in their native language and judged each stimulus on four semantic scales deriving from these two codes: SELF-CONFIDENT versus NOT SELF-CONFIDENT, FRIENDLY versus NOT FRIENDLY (Frequency Code); SURPRISED versus NOT SURPRISED, and EMPHATIC versus NOT EMPHATIC (Effort Code). The stimuli, which were lexically equivalent across the two languages, differed in pitch contour, pitch register and pitch span in Experiment 1, and in pitch register, peak height, peak alignment and end pitch in Experiment 2. Contrary to the traditional view that the paralinguistic usage of intonation is similar across languages, it was found that British English and Dutch listeners differed considerably in the perception of "confident," "friendly," "emphatic," and "surprised." The present findings support a theory of paralinguistic meaning based on the universality of biological codes, which however acknowledges a language-specific component in the implementation of these codes. (Contains 2 tables, 17 figures and 13 footnotes.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10