The effect of non-conclusive melodic rises on Czech speech sounding French

• Authors: Bořil Tomáš , Šturm Pavel , Skarnitzl Radek , Hévrová Marie , Köpke Barbara
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This paper is based on a study of first language attrition in Czechs living in France, which reveals that Czech expatriates in France use prominent rises in non-conclusive intonation patterns in their native language. We manipulated the speech of six expatriates by reducing the fundamental frequency (f 0) range of non-conclusive rises in a phrase, and the speech of six Czech control speakers by expanding the f 0 range to mimic the French-like prominent rises. The manipulations served, alongside filler items, as the basis for a perception test in which 37 native Czech listeners assessed how much the speakers’ pronunciation manifested marks of a long-term stay in France. The results confirmed our hypothesis that expanding the control speakers’ f 0 range would increase the perceived effect of French. However, reducing the f 0 range in the expatriate group did not yield lower French-effect ratings, most likely due to the presence of other pronunciation features in their speech.

Keywords

EN

cross-linguistic influence; intonation; L1 attrition; non-conclusive melody; speech perception

• Publisher: Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Arts, Czech Republic
• Journal: Linguistica Pragensia
• Year: 2022
• Volume: 32
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 125-141

Contributors

author

Bořil Tomáš

• Charles University, Prague

author

Šturm Pavel

• Charles University, Prague

author

Skarnitzl Radek

• Charles University, Prague

author

Hévrová Marie

• Charles University, Prague

author

Köpke Barbara

• Université Toulouse — Jean Jaurès