Some Temporal Regularities of Spoken Swedish

Acoustic segments of speech are known to exhibit a great deal of durational variation. In the present research we have tried to disentagle some of the variables that determine segment durations in spoken (Stockholm) Swedish and estimate the magnitude of the effect contributed by each variable. A tentative theory of segment durations and fundamental frequency control will be proposed. In view of the complexity of the processes that underly the patterning of segment durations in human speech, at the present stage such a theory must necessarily be of a heuristic character serving primarily to increase the precision with which agreement and disagreement between hypotheses and data can be established and to facilitate the construction of still better frameworks. Nevertheless although not intended as a conclusive summary of established facts and principles the present proposal appears capable of accommodating a large body of observations and is meant to supercede the durational descriptions published previously by our research group (Lindblom & Rapp, 1972; Carlson et al. , 1972).