Acoustic Correlates of Stress

Abstract

The use of the term ‘stress’ is reviewed, and inconsistencies are pointed out An experiment is described in which synthetic nonsense syllables of the forms /sisi/, /S⊃S⊃/ and /sasa/ were played to subjects who were asked to judge the position of the stress. The parameters of fundamental frequency, intensity and duration were varied systematically. The results revealed a high level of consistency between the (naive) subjects. Variations in fundamental frequency produced far greater effects than variations in either intensity or duration, a syllable being marked as stressed if it differed from the ‘context’ fundamental. A raised fundamental was more efficient than a lowered one. In general the more intense and longer syllables were more likely to be marked as stressed, the exception being when a syllable was reduced in duration by 40%, when some listeners marked it as stressed. The use and limitations of the results and method are discussed.