Abstract
This paper presents an acoustic analysis of focus prosody in Fijian – a verb-first language. Through analyzing pitch (fo), intensity, and duration data, we compared (i) VP (i.e. initial) vs. neutral focus, (ii) subject vs. corrective-subject focus, and (iii) object vs. corrective-object focus. We found significant on-focus mean fo raising for VP focus, but no post-focus compression. Significant on-focus shortening of syllable duration was also observed. Compared with subject focus, corrective-subject is marked by significant on-focus increase in intensity and shortening of syllable duration. No significant difference between object and corrective-object focus was observed in the on-focus domain. Our findings pave the way for future systematic investigations of Fijian prosody, a currently understudied area in phonetics. Copyright © 2023 Guarant International.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Prague 2023 |
| Editors | Radek SKARNITZL, Jan VOLÍN |
| Place of Publication | Czech Republic |
| Publisher | Guarant International |
| Pages | 3311-3315 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9788090811423 |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Citation
Lee, A., Simard, C., Tamata, A., Sun, J., & Mut, T. C. (2023). Focus prosody in Fijian: A pilot study. In R. Skarnitzl & J. Volín (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Prague 2023 (pp. 3311-3315). Guarant International. https://www.icphs2023.org/programme/proceedings/Keywords
- Fijian
- Focus