LOOKING FOR RHYTHMS IN CONVERSATIONAL SPEECH

Michael O'Dell1, Mietta Lennes2, Stefan Werner3 & Tommi Nieminen4
1University of Tampere; 2University of Helsinki; 3University of Joensuu; 4University of Jyväskylä

ID 1382
[full paper]

Our exploratory study looks for units of temporal structure in conversational Finnish speech. The relative significance of different hierarchical levels of rhythm was evaluated using Bayesian inference on a linear regression model of coupled oscillators. Results suggest that mora, stress and foot timing as rhythmic factors in Finnish are more relevant than traditionally assumed.