Grillo, Nino orcid.org/0000-0002-8224-365X, Santi, Andrea and Turco, Giuseppina (2026) Duration and the prosodic disambiguation of nested structure. In: Meyer, Lars and Strauss, Antje, (eds.) Rhythms of Speech and Language. Cambridge University Press. (In Press)
Abstract
Durational information provides strongly reliable cues for organizing and tracking syntactic structure of sentences. At the same time, durational properties of speech are largely dependent on complexity, often modelled as a function of predictability: higher predictability is reliably associated with shorter duration, while less predictable elements of utterances are more carefully articulated, and thus produced more slowly. While the two determinants of duration (structure and predictability) are often aligned, there exist a well-defined set of exceptions where the two factors make opposite predictions. We discuss converging evidence that rhythm modulation might play a crucial role in the disambiguation of structural nesting, leading to shorter duration for more complex nested structures and longer duration for simpler structures involving sisterhood. We then present an account of these durational differences and rhythmic patterns, based on the interaction of independently motivated prosodic principles.
Metadata
Item Type: | Book Section |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Cambridge University Press 2026. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details. |
Keywords: | Prosodic disambiguation,Nesting,Duration,Tempo,Rhythm,Predictability,prosodic structure |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Language and Linguistic Science (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 10 Jul 2024 10:30 |
Last Modified: | 17 Sep 2025 11:50 |
Status: | In Press |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:214536 |
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