TOBI Basics

1. TOBI Basics April 13, 2010

2. Intonation • Languages superimpose pitch contours on top of word-based stress or tone distinctions. • This is called intonation. • It turns out that English: • has word-based stress • and phrase-based pitch accents (intonation) • The pitch accents are pragmatically specified, rather than lexically specified • They change according to discourse context. • In English, pitch accents align with stressed syllables.

3. Pitch Accent Types • In English, pitch accents can be either high or low • H* or L* • Examples: High (H*) Low (L*) • Yes. Yes? • H* L* • Magnification. Magnification? • As with tones in tone languages, “high” and “low” pitch accents are defined relative to a speaker’s pitch range. • My pitch range: H* = 155 Hz L* = 100 Hz • Mary Beckman: H* = 260 Hz L* = 130 Hz

4. Information • Note that there’s a tendency to accent new information in the discourse. • 4 different patterns for 4 different contexts: • H* • H*: Manny came with Anna. • H* • H*: Manny came with Anna. • L* • L*: Manny came with Anna? • L* • L*: Manny came with Anna? • Note that: • The H* is followed by a falling pitch pattern • The L* is followed by a rising pitch pattern

5. Phrases • Intonation organizes utterances into phrases • “chunks” • Intonational phrases are the largest phrases • Boundary tones mark the end of intonational phrases • In the transcription of intonation, phrase boundaries are marked with Break Indices • Hence, TOBI: Tones and Break Indices • Break Indices are denoted by numbers • 1 = break between words • 4 = break between intonational phrases

6. Tone Types • There are two types of tones at play: • Pitch Accents • associated with a stressed syllable • may be either High (H) or Low (L) • marked with a * • Boundary Tones • appear at the end of a phrase • not associated with a particular syllable • may be either High (H) or Low (L) • marked with a %

7. Sample TOBI Transcription Tones: L* H% Breaks: 1 1 1 4

8. Question Formation • Note that not all questions end in L* H%. • What’s the intonational difference between these two? • Did you see Bob? • L*H% • Where did you go? • H* L% • The upsloping intonation only applies to yes/no questions. • Also note: “Uptalk” • = application of L* H% pattern to declarative sentences.

9. Downstepping • There can be more than one pitch accent within an intonational phrase. • Successive H* accents tend to drift downward in F0 within an intonational phrase. • = downdrift, or downstepping • This provides further evidence for phrasal organization. • Downstepped H* accents are denoted with a !H* • Anna gave Manny a mango. • H* !H* !H* L% • There’s a lovely, yellowish, old one. • H* !H* !H* L%

10. Downstepping Pitch Track H* !H* !H* L% =271 Hz =238 Hz =200 Hz

11. Intermediate Phrases • A downstepping pattern can be reset by the presence of an intermediate phrase boundary. • Example: • It’s lovely, and yellowish, and it’s an old one. • H* !H* L- H* L-L% • Intermediate phrase boundaries are marked with a break index of 3. • At the end of each intermediate phrase is a phrase accent • Either Low (L-) or High (H-)

12. Intermediate Phrase Transcription H* !H* L- H* L-L% 1 1 1 3 1 1 0 1 4

13. One Phrase vs. Two Phrases • No intermediate phrase boundary: • “I” means insert. • H* H*L-L% • 1 1 4 • An intermediate phrase boundary, with a L- phrase accent: • “I” means insert. • H* L- H*L-L% 3 1 4 • Note: intermediate sense of disjuncture, between word and intonational phrase.

14. One Phrase vs. Two Phrases • No intermediate phrase boundary: • Marianna made the marmalade. • L* L* H-H% • 1 1 1 4 • An intermediate phrase boundary, with a H- phrase accent: • Marianna made the marmalade. • L* H- L* H-H% • 3 1 1 4

15. A Chunking Review utterance intonational phrase (intonational phrase) ... intermediate phrase (intermediate phrase) ... (pitch accent) nuclear accent (stressed syllable) stressed syllable

16. Break Indices • 4 marks boundaries between intonational phrases • associated with a boundary tone (H% or L%) • sense of complete disjuncture • 3 marks boundaries between intermediate phrases • associated with a phrase accent (H- or L-) • lesser sense of disjuncture • 1 marks boundaries between words • 0 marks non-boundaries between words • (2 marks uncertainties or apparent mismatches) • rarely used

17. Combinations • Different combinations of phrase accents and boundary tones have different connotations. • L-L% Declarative sentences • H-H% Yes/No questions (usually) • L-H% Continuations • H-L% A “plateau” pattern • Upstep: boundary tones after H- are higher than normal.

18. Upstepping • H-H% • H-L% • “My name is Marianna.”

19. Bitonal Pitch Accents • In addition to H* and L*, there are three bitonal pitch accents. • Here are the first two: • L + H* • L* + H • The starred element denotes the tone which is associated with the stressed syllable. • L + H* = high peak on stressed syllable, preceded by a sharp rise in pitch. • L* + H = low pitch target on stressed syllable, followed by a sharp rise in pitch.

20. H* vs. L + H* • Marianna won it. H* L + H* Note: informative vs. contrastive function

21. L* vs. L* + H • Only a millionaire. L* + H L- H% H* • Marianna made the marmalade. L* L* H-H%

22. L + H* vs. L* + H • There’s a lovely one in Bloomingdale’s. L* + H L + H*

23. Filling the Gap • Another feature of phrase accents is that they fill in the gap between the nuclear accent and the boundary of the intermediate phrase. L* + H L- H% 1 0 1 1 4

24. More Downstepping • Bitonal pitch accents can also undergo downstepping. L + H* L + !H* L + !H* L-L% 1 1 1 1 1 4

25. H + !H* • The final pitch accent in the TOBI inventory is H+!H*. • This one often appears at the beginning of phrases.

26. Pitch-Accents Round-up • There are five pitch accents: • H* • L* • L + H* • L* + H • H + !H* • The * attaches to stressed syllables. • The final pitch accent in an intonational phrase is the nuclear accent. • Generally perceived as more prominent.