Prosodic phrasing and F0 in Singapore English

A number of studies have investigated the phonetic properties of intonation patterns in Singapore English (SE). Additionally, it has been proposed that SE intonation is structured by a level of phonological phrasing above the word called the Accentual Phrase (AP), which encompasses a content word and preceding function words. This study investigates experimentally whether there are any durational correlates of AP boundaries and explores their possible relationship to established F0 patterns. In addition, the sensitivity of F0 movements to lexical stress within an AP is examined. Our findings show that word-final syllables at an AP boundary are marked by longer vowel durations than those in a phrase-medial word, and that this difference corresponds closely with known F0 correlates. Finally, within an AP, stress in a word-initial syllable results in an overall raising of F0 across the entire phrase, although the actual slopes of the contours do not differ.