Presented is a systematic linguistic description of such features as intonation and stress, usually summed up in the phrase "tone of voice." Paying special attention to English, the author has aimed to present as complete a description as possible, and to clarify the theoretical concepts needed to talk precisely about these phenomena. Following…

Common internationalisms in Russian and German are listed. In general German loan-words underwent a phonetic assimilation. Even if there are overall tonal similarities, there are differences, especially in accentuation, that result from the different structures of the languages. (Text is in German.) (MS)

Augments Michael Studdert-Kennedy's state-of-the-art report on speech perception research (EJ 227 656) with comments on categorical perception of speech and nonspeech stimuli, speech perception in context, the role of prosody, and development/impairments of speech perception. Includes a summary of a discussion on speech perception research. (RL)

Discusses the use of prerecorded material as an aid to learning stress-rhythm and intonation. Central to this method is that learning prosodic features is largely auto-instructional. Once study materials have been carefully chosen and assembled, and a pace of self-instruction established, students' resources assume control. (Author/PJM)

Questions the thesis that the emphatic English "do" can only be analyzed in terms of discourse context, as opposed to sentence structure. (Text is in French.) (AM)

Four cross-modal priming experiments and two forced-choice identification experiments investigated the use of suprasegmental cues to stress in the recognition of spoken English words by native English speaking and nonnative (Dutch) listeners. Results are discussed. (Author/VWL)

Claims that punctuation contributes substantially to writing effectiveness. Argues that punctuation's primary function is to signal the "prosody" (patterns of pitch, stress, and hesitations) that authors have in mind when they write. Observes that a sensitivity to the sound of written language is essential for the effective use of…

A multiple baseline across behaviors single-subject experimental design was used to determine if selected parameters of speech prosody were modified by an intensive training program administered over nine days to a six-year-old language impaired child. The training yielded positive results indicating that prosodic skills are modifiable. (Author/DB)

Two experiments examined young children's sensitivity to linguistic contexts in which particular function morphemes occur. Results showed that children who did not produce articles in spontaneous speech were able to distinguish between sentences, verbally presented in picture identification tasks, that contained grammatical articles and those that…

Acoustic analyses, along with perceptual ratings, measured the extent to which preschoolers imitated three modeled intonation contours (declarative, interrogative, and monotone). Results indicated that five-year-old children imitated modeled contours more frequently than did three-year-old children, with between-group differences largely because…

Investigated functional differences between the accent-lending rise followed by sustained level pitch (10) and combined accent-lending rise and final rise (12) in Dutch. Thirty individuals were presented with short utterances bearing either a 10 or 12 contour. Results indicated that 10 is not readily interpreted as a question, so 10 may help…

Examined mandibular correlates of prosodic control in nonread dialog exchange involving repeated corrections. Articulatory and acoustic data were collected from four American English speakers at an x-ray laboratory, measuring jaw opening. Results suggested a local and global use of the jaw-opening gesture to produce both linguistic or…

Examines the effects of prosodic variation (vocal affect) on the type of inferences six- and nine-year-old children made about a speaker's communicative intent. Demonstrates that children's interpretations of potentially ironic utterances were influenced by prosody, and the nature of this influence differed by age. (SR)