Zvuková signalizace verbální ironie v češtině
Acoustic cues of verbal irony in Czech

Summary/Abstract: The study investigates how native speakers of Czech signal irony through articulation rate and speech melody modulations. Recordings of six speakers reading short ironic and non-ironic statements were analyzed. To ascertain the validity of the data, a perceptual test was administered in which respondents evaluated utterances as ironic, neutral or otherwise affective. A detailed analysis of changes in articulation rate and fundamental frequency contours took into account the linguistic content of the utterances and the perceptual evaluation by the listeners. Results revealed two classes of strategies that were used by the speakers: while some used what we call a localistic approach, others exploited a globalistic mode of signalling irony in their voice.

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