The effect of nuclear accent and phrase position

To observe the influence of nuclear accent on the duration of words¹we need to separately analyse phrase-final and non-phrase-final accented words. Table 6.11 displays absolute durations of non-phrase-final nuclear syllables and words, and their share in the whole measured phrase. The phrases were measured without preheads in order to eliminate the influence of strong native reduction of that unit on the general timing relations. Although most of the measured phrases are not complete tone groups, they will be referred to as IPs for convenience.

Even though each nuclear syllable and word (except enough) is shorter in native production, they constitute a larger proportion of the measured phrase.

The differences between the two groups are quite consistent though not very large; therefore we have applied a one-way ANOVA test for group factor significance. Apart from these data, the two bottom rows of Table 6.12 display

6.2 Word/foot-level timing relations 121

1The durations of nuclear feet are presented in the next section, devoted to IP-level timing relations.

Table 6.11. Mean absolute and relative duration of non-phrase-final nuclear words and their accented syllables

Unit Group

Nuclear syllable Nuclear word

god(mother) wed(ding) (e)nough shout(ing) wedding enough shouting Mean absolute duration in (ms)

PL1 267 200 275 360 380 329 582

PL2 270 156 275 320 321 311 477

EN 249 138 265 311 307 317 435

Unit duration relative to the whole measured phrase (%)

PL1 16.5 11.8 20.0 18.3 22.4 23.8 29.4

PL2 19.4 11.2 23.5 18.1 23.2 26.8 26.6

EN 21.2 10.4 26.5 21.4 23.3 31.5 29.8

Table 6.12.The duration of non-phrase-final nuclear words and syllables, and whole tested tone group units in cross-group relations

Relation IP Nuclear syllable Nuclear word

FG DoW HEG SSaC god wed nough shout wedding enough shouting PL1:EN <.001 <.001 <.001 <.001 .227 <.001 .618 .007 .009 .534 <.001 PL1:PL2 .008 <.001 .002 .108 .864 .004 .968 .043 .014 .177 .008 PL1:PL2 t <.001 <.001 <.001 .027 .299 .003 .482 .007 .004 .082 .005 PL2:EN .002 .299 .028 .070 .195 .254 .620 .583 .572 .726 .144

Abbreviations: FG=fairy god(mother), DoW=dreamed of wedding (bells), HEG=had enough (gowns), SSaC=started shouting at Cinders.

the significance of unit duration change in Polish speakers as a group (P1:P2 — ANOVA), and individual tendencies (P1:P2 t — paired t-test).

Statistical tests applied to longer prosodic units show a significant difference in IP duration between English speakers and untrained Polish learners (PL1:EN). There was, however, no regularity in cross-group differences in mean word and syllable duration. The second recording revealed (especially in the paired t-test) a significant shortening of those nuclear syllables and words which had been longer in PL1 (PL2:PL1, PL2:PL1 t). In effect, the duration of all syllables and words became comparable in Polish and English respondents (PL2:EN), and only two of the four measured tone groups still differed significantly.

Considering the effects of final lengthening described in the previous chapters, we expected a larger difference in phrase-final nuclear trochaic words, and a much larger difference in phrase-final nuclear monosyllables. These relations are demonstrated in Tables 6.13 and 6.14.

In line with prior expectations, the proportion of nuclear syllables and words in the whole phrases is consistently higher in native English speech, while all the measured IPs are 13—26% longer in PL1. In PL2, mean IP durations are only 5—9% longer than the native scores, but the relative duration of nuclear syllables and words, though consistently longer than in the first recording, remains considerably shorter than the native proportions. In terms of absolute values, all PL2 measured units approach native standards, but the timing relations are only slightly changed. Table 6.14 shows statistical significance of between-group mean absolute duration differences in IPs with final trochaic nuclei, the accented words and nuclear syllables. “PL1:PL2 t”

refers to a paired t-test; the others are one-way ANOVA results.

The nuclear syllables and whole words, with the exception of parties, are similar in duration in PL1 and EN, while PL1 IPs are again considerably longer. In the learners’ second recording, all measured units are similar in length to native speakers’ performance. The word parties, shorter in PL1 as a result of weaker final lengthening effect, remains shorter in PL2, owing to the Polish learners’ general tendency to accelerate.

The last group of nuclei, phrase-final monosyllabic words, show the same relations as trochaic nuclei. Slightly longer in PL1, in PL2 they often become shorter than EN responses when the learners accelerate. A similar trend is observed in the duration of whole measured portions of text. The lack of preheads means that the relative durations of monosyllabic nuclei depend on individual cases rather than showing consistent cross-group relations (Table 6.15). In most cases, however, the nuclear syllable constitutes a larger part of the phrase in native speech than in the Polish learners’ performance, and the training does not significantly change these proportions. Smaller nucleus shares appear in the native speakers’ bad mood and find my hat, where

6.2 Word/foot-level timing relations 123

Table6.13.Absoluteandrelativedurationsofphrase-finaltrochaicnuclei(column2),theiraccentedsyllables(1),andwholecarrierphrases(3). Percentagesincolumns3(inbold)relatetheIPmeandurationstocorrespondingmeanENduration Unit Group

Columns 123123123123 CinCindersChCparpartiesGtPcleacleaningHtDtCgorgorgeousPWwG Absoluteduration(ms) PL131847091432644084624848911383284601370 PL229643977031443080924446410142984121158 EN3134367363244987512554659293184521084 Relativeduration(%) PL135.151.912438.752.211322.143.312224.033.8126 PL238.857.010539.354.010824.245.910925.835.7107 EN42.759.310043.166.210027.550.110029.241.6100 Abbreviations:ChC=calledherCinders,GtP=goingtoparties,HtDtC=hadtodothecleaning,PWwG=PrinceWilliamwasgorgeous. Table6.14.ThedurationofIPswithfinaltrochaicnuclei(column3),thetrochaicnuclearwords(2)andnuclearsyllables(1)incross-grouprela- tions(one-wayANOVA/pairedt-test) Unit Group

Columns 123123123123 CinCindersChCparpartiesGtPcleacleaningHtDtCgorgorgeousPWwG One-wayANOVA PL1:EN.650.500<.001.877.015.010.608.333<.001.625.771<.001 PL1:PL2.020.156.001.439.583.421.720.216.025.088.032.001 Pairedt-test PL1:PL2.020.085<.001.131.233.214.330.038.001.039.008<.001 PL2:EN.142.906.346.514.003.202.398.973.077.250.098.148

Table6.15.Groupmeanabsoluteandrelativedurationofphrase-finalaccented(nuclear)monosyllabicwords(column1)andtheircarrierIP’s Head+Nucleus(2) Unit Group

Columns 121212121212 sonQOSgoneWhShGbrideLfaBmoodBMhatFmHgown(s)BsNG Meanabsoluteduration(ms) PL13801199340130941210203156683568043971625 PL231495632511943959053076513206993511347 EN368102131910654018793056623558193711269 Relativeduration(%) PL132.011726.212340.711647.210144.711524.5121 PL232.89427.711243.610347.49846.08526.1106 EN36.110029.910045.910045.710043.410029.2100 Abbreviations:QOS=Queen’sonlyson,WhShG=Whenhersistershadgone,LfaB=lookingforabride,BM=badmood,FmH=findmyhat,BsNG=buysomenewgowns. Table6.16.Thedurationofphrase-finalmonosyllabicnuclearwordsandsyllables(column1)andwholetestedH+Ncombinations(2)in cross-grouprelations Unit Ratio

Columns 121212121212 sonQOSgoneWhShGbrideLfaBmoodBMhatFmHgown(s)BsNG PL1:EN.528.011.201<.001.582.009.597.838.971.766.184<.001 PL1:PL2.001<.001.411.122.489.028.597.532.043.009.001<.001 PL1:PL2t<.001<.001.170.040.206.006.245.192.021<.001<.001<.001 PL2:EN.008.178.788.086.812.569.911.659.145.011.296.018

the Polish learners make the head syllables less stressed and, consequently, much shorter.

The statistical analysis of durational differences shown in Table 6.16 confirms the observations that the untrained learners take more time to read an English phrase than native speakers unless it is a simple phrase with a high proportion of content words. Only bad mood and find my hat were not longer in PL1. The nuclear words, on the other hand, were all comparable in length.

Generally, the nuclear syllables are similar in absolute length in Polish learners and native English speakers, which makes them relatively longer, and therefore more prominent, in the latter group, considering the longer phrase durations in the learners’ performance. This effect is additive to final lengthening effect.