Perceptual correlates of sentence-type intonation in Russian and Japanese

Abstract This study identifies commonalities in intonation perception by speakers of languages with different prosodic structures. Results are presented from a perceptual experiment in which Japanese and Russian subjects identified two-syllable re-synthesized stimuli with modified rising–falling contours as exclamations, interrogatives or declaratives. The study compares perception by both groups of subjects and identifies changes in manipulated parameters which affect listeners' perception. The results demonstrate that the perception of stimuli as declarative is similar for both groups of subjects, while the perception of stimuli as interrogative and exclamatory is in some cases significantly different. The increase in the height or magnitude of a rise leads to a decrease in the perception of stimuli as declarative by both groups of listeners. Stimuli with a rise of over 5.2 st do not elicit declarative judgements. Changes in pitch peak height, magnitude of a rise, and the magnitude of a fall have a more complex impact on subjects' perception of stimuli.

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