In Search of the Acoustic Correlates of Stress: Fundamental Frequency, Amplitude, and Duration in the Connected Utterance of Some Native and Non-Native Speakers of English

Abstract

Abstract In this investigation of the correlates of stress, account was taken of both production and perception aspects of the phenomenon in the connected utterance of a group each of native and non-native speakers of English. Measurement of the fundamental frequency, amplitude, and duration of the syllables stressed by these subjects revealed that duration was by far the most frequently used cue and that amplitude was the least used. The two groups differed significantly both in the incidence and placement of stress, although no evidence was found to suggest that native and non-native speakers consistently employ different acoustic parameters to signal this feature at the sentence level.