Cover not available
Part of
Contemporary Trends in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics: Selected papers from the Hispanic Linguistic Symposium 2015
Edited by Jonathan E. MacDonald
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 15] 2018
► pp. 281–308

Chapter 13
Mothers’ use of F0 after the first year of life in American English and Peninsular Spanish

| University of Massachusetts Amherst
| University of Massachusetts Amherst
| University of Massachusetts Amherst
| University of Massachusetts Amherst
| University of Massachusetts Amherst
Infant-directed speech has been shown to be different from adult-directed speech in that it is generally characterized by short, acoustically exaggerated (e.g. higher F0 peaks, wider F0 range) utterances (Fernald et al., 1989; Kitamura et al., 2001, inter alia). Thus, at some point parents begin to change these acoustic parameters once the child is no longer an infant. The present study uses longitudinal data to compare F0 use in two language varieties, American English (AE) and Peninsular Spanish (PS), in an effort to understand how two prosodic aspects (mean F0 and F0 range) change after a child’s first birthday. Specifically, we asked how these parameters might change as a function of the child’s linguistic development, here defined as the children’s mean length of utterance (MLU). Results show that mothers show changes in their use of both of these parameters after the second birthday, with turning points between 28 and 31 months. MLU was not found to be a significant predictor for either language. Additionally, despite differences in how AE and PS exploit F0 for expressing focus, both AE- and PS-speaking mothers were shown to use more narrow F0 range for utterances not containing a focused element sometime after 30 months. Implications for language acquisition are discussed.
Keywords: Mean F0, F0 range, child-directed speech, infant-directed speech, Peninsular Spanish, American English
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Present study
    • 2.1Research questions and hypotheses
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Corpus and subjects
    • 3.2Coding and analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Mean F0
    • 4.2F0 range
  • 5.Discussion and conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 14 February 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.15.14san
References (56)
References
Armstrong, M. E. (2016). Production of mental state intonation in the speech of toddlers and their caretakers. Language Acquisition. Advance online publication. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cruttenden, A. (1986). Intonation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Backman, N. (1987). Intonation errors in second-language pronunciation of eight Spanish-speaking adults learning English. Interlanguage Studies Bulletin, 4(2), 239–265.Google Scholar
Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2014). lme4: Linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4. R package version 1.0–6. <DOI logo>Google Scholar
Beckman, M. E., & Pierrehumbert, J. B. (1986). Intonational structure in Japanese and English. Phonology, 3(01), 255–309.Google Scholar
Beckman, M. E., Hirschberg, J., & Shattuck-Hufnagel, S. (2005). The original ToBI system and the evolution of the ToBI framework. In Jun, S. A. (2006). Prosodic typology: The phonology of intonation and phrasing (Vol. 1). Oxford: Oxford University Press on Demand. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Blount, B. G., & Padgug, E. J. (1976). Prosodic, paralinguistic and interactional features in parent-child speech: English and Spanish. Journal of Child Language, 4(1), 67–86.Google Scholar
Boersma, P., & Weenink, D. B. (2015). Praat: Doing phonetics by computer. Retrieved from <[URL]>
Demuth, K., Culbertson, J., & Alter, J. (2006). Word-minimality, epenthesis, and coda licensing in the acquisition of English. Language & Speech, 49, 137–174. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Domínguez, L. (2004). Mapping focus: The syntax and prosody of focus in Spain. Boston, MA: Boston University.Google Scholar
Estebas-Vilaplana, E. (2014). The evaluation of intonation: Pitch range differences in English and in Spanish. In G. Thompson, & L. Alba-Juez (Eds.), Evaluation in context (pp. 179–193). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fernald, A., & Simon, T. (1984). Expanded intonation contours in mother’s speech to newborns. Developmental Psychology, 20, 104–113. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fernald, A. (1989). Intonation and communicative intent: Is the melody the message? Child Development, 60, 1497–1510. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fernald, A., Taeschner, T., Dunn, J., Papousek, M., & de Boysson Bardies, B. (1989). A cross-language study of prosodic modifications in mothers’ and fathers’ speech to preverbal infants. Journal of Child Language, 16, 477–501. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fernald, A., & Mazzie, C. (1991). Prosody and focus in speech to infants and adults. Developmental Psychology, 27, 209–221. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fernald, A. (1992). Meaningful melodies in mothers’ speech to infants. In H. Papousek, U. Jurgens, & M. Papousek (Eds.), Nonverbal vocal behaviour: Comparative and developmental approaches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
García-Lecumberri, M. L. (1995). Intonational signalling of information structure in English and Spanish: A comparative study. London: University of London.Google Scholar
Gleitman, L. R., Gleitman, H., Landau, B., & Wanner, E. (1988). Where learning begins: Initial representations for language learning. In Newmeyer (ed.) Language: Psychological and biological aspects (pp. 150–193). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Grieser, D. L., & Kuhl, P. K. (1988). Maternal speech to infants in a tonal language: Support for universal prosodic features in motherese. Developmental Psychology, 24(1), 14–20. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gussenhoven, C. (2004). The phonology of tone and intonation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hirsh-Pasek, K., Kemler Nelson, D. G., Jusczyk, P. W., Wright Cassidy, K., Druss, B., & Kennedy, L. (1987). Clauses are perceptual units for young infants. Cognition, 26, 269–286. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hothorn, T., & Zeileis, A. (2015). Partykit: A modular toolkit for recursive partytioning in R. Journal of Machine Learning Research, 16, 3905–3909.Google Scholar
Ito, K., Bibyk, S., Wagner, L., & Speer, S. (2014). Interpretation of contrastive pitch accent in 6- to 11-year-old English speaking children (and adults). Journal of Child Language, 41(1), 84–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ito, K. (To appear). Gradual development of focus and aspect prosody comprehension: A proposal for a holistic approach. In N. Esteve-Gibert, & P. Prieto (Eds.), Prosodic development in first language acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Jun, S. A. (Ed.). (2005). Prosodic typology: The phonology of intonation and phrasing (Vol. 1). Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kemler Nelson, D. G., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Jusczyk, P. W., & Wright Cassidy, K. (1989). How the prosodic cues in motherese might assist language learning. Journal of Child Language, 16, 55–68. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kitamura, C., Thanavishuth, C., Burham, D., & Luksaneeyanawin, S. (2001). Universality and specificity in infant-directed speech: Pitch modifications as a function of infant age and sex in a tonal and non-tonal language. Infant Behavior and Development, 24(4), 372–392. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kitamura, C., & Burnham, D. (2003). Pitch and communicative intent in mother’s speech: Adjustments for age and sex in the first year. Infancy, 4(1), 85–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ko, Eun-Suk. (2012). Nonlinear development of speaking rate in child-directed speech. Lingua, 122, 841–857. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kochanski, G., Grabe, E., Coleman, J., & Rosner, B. (2005). Loudness predicts prominence: Fundamental frequency lends little. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 118(2), 1038–1054. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ladd, R. (1996). Intonational Phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Levitan, R., Gravano, A., Willson, L., Benus, S., Hirschberg, J., & Nenkova, A., (2012). Acoustic-prosodic entrainment and social behavior. In Proceedings of the Conference of the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics – Human Language Technologies (pp. 11–19). Montreal, Canada.Google Scholar
Llinàs-Grau, M. (2000). El desarrollo de las categorías gramaticales: Análisis contrastivo de la adquisición lingüística temprana del inglés, castellano y catalán. Barcelona: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.Google Scholar
López Ornat, S. (1994). La adquisición de la lengua Española. Madrid: Siglo XXI.Google Scholar
López-Bobo, M. J., & Cuevas-Alonso, M. (2010). Cantabrian Spanish intonation. In P. Prieto, & M. Cuevas-Alonso (Eds.), Transcription of intonation of the Spanish language (pp. 49–85). Munich: Lincom.Google Scholar
MacWhinney, B. (2000). The CHILDES Project: Tools for Analyzing Talk (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Mahrt, T., & Cole, J. (2014). The contribution of individual acoustic cues to the perception of focal prominence. Poster presented at Laboratory Phonology 14, Tokyo.
McRoberts, G. W., & Best, C. T. (1997). Accommodation in mean F0 during mother-infant and father-infant vocal interactions: a longitudinal case study. Journal of Child Language, 24(03), 719–736. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nolan, F. (2003). Intonational equivalence: an experimental evaluation of pitch scales. In Proceedings of the 15th international congress of phonetic sciences (pp. 771–774).Google Scholar
Ortega-Llebaria, M., & Colantoni, L. (2014). L2 English Intonation. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 36(02), 331–353. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Papousek, M., Bornstein, M. H., Nuzzo, C., Papousek, H., & Symmes, D. (1990). Infant responses to prototypical melodic contours in parental speech. Infant Behavior and Development, 13, 539–545. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pierrehumbert, J. (1980). The phonetics and phonology of English intonation. Unpublished PhD dissertation. MIT.Google Scholar
Prieto, P., Estrella, A., Thorson, J., & Vanrell, M. M. (2011). Is prosodic development correlated with grammatical and lexical development? Evidence from emerging intonation in Spanish and Catalan. Journal of Child Language, 39(2), 221–257. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
R Core Team. (2014). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria. Retrieved from <[URL]>
Saint-Georges, C., Chetouani, M., Cassel, R., Apicella, F., Mahdhaoui, A., Muratori, F., Laznik, Marie-Christine, & Cohen, D. (2013). Motherese in interaction: At the cross-road of emotion and cognition? (A systematic review). PloS One, 8(10), e78103. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Snow, C. E. (1977). The development of conversation between mothers and babies. Journal of Child Language, 4(1), 1–22. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1989). Understanding social interaction and language acquisition; Sentences are not enough. In M. H. Bornstein, & J. S. Bruner (Eds.), Human interaction. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Snow, D. (2006). Regression and reorganization of intonation between 6 and 23 months. Child Development, 77(2), 281–296. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stern, D., Spieker, S., & MacKain, K. (1982). Intonation contours as signals in maternal speech to prelinguistic infants. Developmental Psychology, 18, 727–735. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stern, D. N., Spieker, S., Barnett, R. K., & MacKain, K. (1983). The prosody of maternal speech: Infant age and context related changes. Journal of Child language, 10(1), 1–15. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Thorson, J., Borràs-Comes, J., Crespo-Sendra, V., Vanrell, M. M., & Prieto, P. (2014). The acquisition of melodic form and meaning in yes-no interrogatives by Catalan and Spanish speaking children. Probus, 27(1), 73–99.Google Scholar
Vallduví, E., & Engdahl, E. (1996). The linguistic realization of information packaging. Linguistics, 34(3), 459–520. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vanrell, M. D. M., Stella, A., Fivela, B. G., & Prieto, P. (2013). Prosodic manifestations of the Effort Code in Catalan, Italian and Spanish contrastive focus. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43(02), 195–220. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Werker, J. F., & McLeod, P. J. (1989). Infant preference for both male and female infant-directed talk: A developmental study of attentional affective responsiveness. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 43, 230–246. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yu, K. M., Khan, S. U. D., & Sundara, M. (2014). Intonational phonology in Bengali and English infant-directed speech. In N. Campbell, D. Gibbon, & D. Hirst (ed.) Proceedings of the 7th international conference on Speech Prosody. Dublin.Google Scholar
Zubizarreta, M. L. (1998). Prosody, focus, and word order. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

THORSON, Jill C. & James L. MORGAN
2021. Prosodic realizations ofnew,given, andcorrectivereferents in the spontaneous speech of toddlers. Journal of Child Language 48:3 ► pp. 541 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 11 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.