Tue-1-4-4 F0 slope as a cue to speech segmentation in French

Abstract: This paper evaluates the use of intonational cues during word segmentation in French. In specific, we aim to examine how the specificities of the fundamental frequency (F0) that can be observed at the beginning of the words influence their processing. Native speakers of French were presented with phonemically identical sequences, such as /selami/ (c’est l’amie/la mie (“it’s the friend/the crumb”). To test which characteristics of the F0 affect the perceived segmentation, we manipulated the F0 slope and/or the mean value of the first vowel /a/ in consonant-initial items (e.g. la mie). To assess for differences in off-line vs online processing, we used a two-alternative forced-choice task in Experiment 1 and a lexical decision task in Experiment 2. A previous study showed that vowel-initial segmentation was enhanced when the F0 mean value increased. Yet, the present study shows that modifying the F0 slope while keeping the F0 mean value constant also influences speech segmentation in both off-line and online tasks. This suggests that listeners used the slope of F0 as a cue to the beginning of content words.