The role of alignment and height in the perception of LH contours

Abstract

The DaTo system intends to describe the Brazilian Portuguese intonation using a set of labels to represented dynamic intonational contours. To evaluate what kind of physical parameters are involved in the production of emphasis, a set of perception tests were designed to compare the dynamic contours LH (rising) and >LH (late rising). These contours present the same melodic shape, but differ on alignment and pitch height. The results of three perception tests show that alignment and height cooperate as a dynamical system to produce the function of emphasis.