Accent Command Model Parameter Alignment in Argentine Spanish Absolute Interrogatives

The goal of this study is to explore the position of pitch accent commands relative to the accented syllable in final and non-final words for absolute interrogative sentences in Spanish. Fundamental frequency parameters are obtained from the Fujisaki model. Results indicate that accent commands for three-syllable words in final position are associated with late peaks no matter which the stressed syllable position is. In non-final words, accent commands are associated with early peaks also for all stressed syllable positions. These results are compared and presented with those obtained for declarative sentences. The influence of both phrase accents and boundary tones over pitch accents show that: 1) F0 contours ending with a high tone produce an attraction of H* accents; 2) F0 contours ending with a low tone have a tendency to keep distance from the realization of H* accents.