Segmental anchoring of pitch movements: autosegmental phonology or speech production?

Abstract

Arvaniti, Ladd & Mennen (1998) reported a phenomenon of “segmental anchoring”: the beginning and end of a pitch movement are anchored to specific locations in segmental structure, while the slope and duration of the pitch movement vary according to the segmental material with which it is associated. This finding has more recently been replicated and extended in several languages. In a superficially attractive autosegmental interpretation of the phenomenon, the pitch movement is analysed as a sequence of tones which independently undergo “secondary association” to specific points in structure. However, recent empirical findings make such a phonological account less plausible, and suggest that some aspects of segmental anchoring need to be explained in terms of quantitative language-specific phonetic detail. Analogies to diphthong dynamics and to voice onset time, meanwhile, provide an impetus for detailed studies of the production and perception of pitch movements that may advance our understanding of segmental anchoring in general.