SOME RELATIONS BETWEEN EMOTIONS AND THE PROSODIC PARAMETERS OF SPEECH,
Abstract
The study investigates relations between emotional states and the prosodic parameters of speech. After a brief delimitation of the terms 'emotion' and 'prosodies,' the literature relevant to the study of these relations is reviewed in detail. The relations are then studied for two male adult speakers of American English in 3 experiments. In the first experiment 30 utterances of controlled speech were evaluated by 19 listeners on 9 seven-point scales dealing with emotion and on 3 scales dealing with the prosodic characteristics of the utterances. In the second experiment 12 listeners made these judgments for 30 utterances of normal speech. In the third experiment 10 listeners judged 30 pairs of mechanically distorted utterances with regard to 8 adjectives descriptive of emotion. Measurements of prosodic features of the utterances were made from spectrographic records. In the first two experiments linear correlation coefficients were computed between the listeners' prosodic judgments and their emotional judgments and between each variable of these two types and the prosodic measurements of the utterances. The degree of emotion perceived in a person's speech was found to be directly related to the fundamental frequency, intensity, and speed of his speech. A similar relation was found for perceived anger, happiness, and fear. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1967
- Accession Number
- AD0663287
Entities
People
- George Lee Huttar