Fonetická realizace slovního přízvuku u delších slov v češtině
The phonetic realization of lexical stress in longer words in Czech

Summary/Abstract: This study addresses the fragmentation of existing attempts at identifying the correlates of lexical stress in Czech. Its objective is therefore to thoroughly examine all commonly used correlates of prominence from the melodic, dynamic and temporal domain, as well as those of vowel quality, in three speaking styles. To evaluate various factors, we applied linear mixed effects models (LME). The results show that the stressed syllable in Czech does not manifest prominence in any of the examined domains – it is not higher, stronger, or longer. In comparison with previous studies, the analyses indicate only a weak tendency toward post-stress melodic rise. It is clear that as a language with fixed stress which does not serve a contrastive function, Czech does not require distinctive prominence marking. One interesting result of the study is the documented lengthening of word-final vowels, even within prosodic phrases, which may contribute to discontinuities between adjacent stress groups and which also has repercussions for the naturalness of speech synthesis.

• Details
• Contents