EFFECTS OF TONAL CONTEXT AND FOCUS ON CANTONESE F0

F0 variations of the speech of tone languages are not only constrained by individual lexical tones but also affected by various contextual factors. In this work the effects of two factors, i.e. tonal context and emphatic focus, on F0 contours of Cantonese speech are investigated through a controlled experiment. For tonal context, all the four combinations of carryover/anticipatory and assimilatory/dissimilatory effects are observed, but with different magnitudes and domains. For focus, the effect covers a wider range and shows a similar nature in pre-focus, onfocus, and post-focus domains, both raising F0 values and expanding F0 ranges. The interactions between the two factors are also addressed.