ISCA Archive SpeechProsody 2014
ISCA Archive SpeechProsody 2014

Comparison of Pitch Range and Pitch Variation in Slavic and Germanic Languages

Bistra Andreeva, Grazyna Demenko, Magdalena Wolska, Bernd Möbius, Frank Zimmerer, Jeanin Jügler, Magdalena Oleskowicz-Popiel, Jürgen Trouvain

This study presents the results of a large-scale comparison of various measures of pitch range and pitch variation in two Slavic (Bulgarian and Polish) and two Germanic(German and British English) languages. The productions of twenty two speakers per language (eleven male and eleven female) in two different tasks (read passages and number sets) are compared. Significant differences between the language groups have been found: German and English speakers use lower pitch maxima, narrower pitch span and generally less variable pitch than Bulgarian and Polish speakers. These findings support the hypothesis that particular linguistic communities tend to be characterized by particular pitch profiles.