Corpus Data on Adult Life-Long Trajectory of Prosody Development in American English, with Special Reference to Middle Age

摘要

Corpus linguistics offers new opportunities for verifying previous research data and, in certain cases, re-interpreting them. Age-related changes in prosody typically described as a result of physical decline appear to be signs of speaking skills development when they are applied to middle age, a relatively advantageous stage of life, both socially and physically, before and at which most dramatic prosodic changes emerge. Older age facts of prosody changes give evidence of compensation processes based on social practice skills set against the physical and perceptual losses. In the present study the prosodic features of pitch drop and articulation rate slowing down with age are validated, while the variance of pitch maxima and the pitch range increase are measured by the PVI (pairwise variability index) metrics and positively assessed in a new perspective. The growing prominence of the accented syllables in American English telephone talks, we assume, facilitates word recognition in running speech. Thus the adult life-long trajectory of prosody development proves to be gaining in effective communication, whatever the physical background may suggest.