Variations in the realization of the French Accentual Phrase in the light of language contact

In this paper we discuss the French prosodic system in the light of language contact. Similar data of three contact varieties are compared with two varieties spoken in monolingual contexts. The data are semi-automatically processed, and three prosodic features are analyzed: metrical weight of the realized APs, respect of AP-restructuring rules and realizations of sandhi phenomena. Rhythmic constraints and speech rate measurements are also considered. Our findings suggest that the prosodic systems of the contact varieties share several features with word prosodic systems.

Speech prosody of French regional varieties

This paper compares the prosody of 6 varieties of French spoken in three different areas: France (Paris and Lyon), Belgium (Tournai and Liège), and Switzerland (Geneva and Neuchâtel). The objective is to adress whether some regional varieties, namely those of Geneva and Tournai, are closer to standard French (i.e. the varieties spoken in France, represented here by Paris and Lyon) than others (Neuchâtel and Liège). The recordings of the same text read by 4 speakers representing each variety were semi-automatically processed in order to study accentuation, speech rate and rhythm, and 8 prosodic measures that can possibly discriminate the 6 varieties were compared. A top-down clustering supported evidence for the expected classification with regard to the “standard” varieties, while a bottom-up clustering pointed out a more contrasted configuration.

Regional variations of speech rhythm in French : in search of lost times

This paper addresses the relevancy of speech rhythm acoustic measures for the description of some standard, regional and contact varieties of French. First, the limitations of conventional measures of speech rhythm, such as (%V, ΔC) [Ramus et al. 1999] and Pairwise Variability Index [Grabe & Low 2002], for the description of French regional variations is discussed. Then, alternative acoustic measures of speech rhythm, based on long-term characteristics associated with timing (regularity of accentual phrases) and tempo (articulation rate, speech rate) are introduced and discussed. A comparison with the conventional measures indicates that long-term measures conduct to a classification which is more consistent with the expected classification, either for the description of continuous similarities or categorical grouping.