1. TOBI Basics
April 13, 2010

2. Intonation
Languages superimpose pitch contours on top of word-based stress or tone distinctions.
This is called intonation.
It turns out that English:
has word-based stress
and phrase-based pitch accents (intonation)
The pitch accents are pragmatically specified, rather than lexically specified
They change according to discourse context.
In English, pitch accents align with stressed syllables.

3. Pitch Accent Types In English, pitch accents can be either high or low
Examples: High (H*) Low (L*)
Yes. Yes?
H* L*
Magnification. Magnification?
As with tones in tone languages, “high” and “low” pitch accents are defined relative to a speaker’s pitch range.
My pitch range: H* = 155 Hz L* = 100 Hz
Mary Beckman: H* = 260 Hz L* = 130 Hz

4. Information
Note that there’s a tendency to accent new information in the discourse.
4 different patterns for 4 different contexts: H*
H*: Manny came with Anna. L*
L*: Manny came with Anna?
Note that:
The H* is followed by a falling pitch pattern
The L* is followed by a rising pitch pattern

5. Phrases Intonation organizes utterances into phrases “chunks”
Intonational phrases are the largest phrases
Boundary tones mark the end of intonational phrases
In the transcription of intonation, phrase boundaries are marked with Break Indices
Hence, TOBI: Tones and Break Indices
Break Indices are denoted by numbers
1 = break between words
4 = break between intonational phrases

6. Tone Types There are two types of tones at play: Pitch Accents
associated with a stressed syllable
may be either High (H) or Low (L)
marked with a *
Boundary Tones
appear at the end of a phrase
not associated with a particular syllable
marked with a %

7. Sample TOBI Transcription
Tones: L* H%
Breaks:

8. Question Formation Note that not all questions end in L* H%.
What’s the intonational difference between these two?
Did you see Bob?
L*H%
Where did you go?
H* L%
The upsloping intonation only applies to yes/no questions.
Also note: “Uptalk”
= application of L* H% pattern to declarative sentences.

9. Downstepping
There can be more than one pitch accent within an intonational phrase.
Successive H* accents tend to drift downward in F0 within an intonational phrase.
= downdrift, or downstepping
This provides further evidence for phrasal organization.
Downstepped H* accents are denoted with a !H*
Anna gave Manny a mango.
H* !H* !H* L%
There’s a lovely, yellowish, old one.
H* !H* !H* L%

10. Downstepping Pitch Track
H* !H* !H* L%
=271 Hz =238 Hz =200 Hz

11. Intermediate Phrases
A downstepping pattern can be reset by the presence of an intermediate phrase boundary.
Example:
It’s lovely, and yellowish, and it’s an old one.
H* !H* L H* L-L%
Intermediate phrase boundaries are marked with a break index of 3.
At the end of each intermediate phrase is a phrase accent
Either Low (L-) or High (H-)

12. Intermediate Phrase Transcription
H* !H* L- H* L-L%

13. One Phrase vs. Two Phrases
No intermediate phrase boundary:
“I” means insert.
H* H*L-L%
An intermediate phrase boundary, with a L- phrase accent:
H* L- H*L-L%
Note: intermediate sense of disjuncture, between word and intonational phrase.

14. One Phrase vs. Two Phrases
No intermediate phrase boundary:
Marianna made the marmalade.
L* L* H-H%
An intermediate phrase boundary, with a H- phrase accent:
L* H L* H-H%

15. A Chunking Review utterance
intonational phrase (intonational phrase) ...
intermediate phrase (intermediate phrase) ...
(pitch accent) nuclear accent
(stressed syllable) stressed syllable

16. Break Indices 4 marks boundaries between intonational phrases
associated with a boundary tone (H% or L%)
sense of complete disjuncture
3 marks boundaries between intermediate phrases
associated with a phrase accent (H- or L-)
lesser sense of disjuncture
1 marks boundaries between words
0 marks non-boundaries between words
(2 marks uncertainties or apparent mismatches)
rarely used

17. Combinations
Different combinations of phrase accents and boundary tones have different connotations.
L-L% Declarative sentences
H-H% Yes/No questions (usually)
L-H% Continuations
H-L% A “plateau” pattern
Upstep: boundary tones after H- are higher than normal.

18. Upstepping
H-H%
H-L%
“My name is Marianna.”

19. Bitonal Pitch Accents
In addition to H* and L*, there are three bitonal pitch accents.
Here are the first two:
L + H*
L* + H
The starred element denotes the tone which is associated with the stressed syllable.
L + H* = high peak on stressed syllable, preceded by a sharp rise in pitch.
L* + H = low pitch target on stressed syllable, followed by a sharp rise in pitch.

20. H* vs. L + H* Marianna won it. H* L + H*
Note: informative vs. contrastive function

21. L* vs. L* + H Only a millionaire. L* + H L- H% H*
Marianna made the marmalade. L* L*
H-H%

22. L + H* vs. L* + H There’s a lovely one in Bloomingdale’s. L* + H

23. Filling the Gap
Another feature of phrase accents is that they fill in the gap between the nuclear accent and the boundary of the intermediate phrase.
L* + H L- H%

24. More Downstepping Bitonal pitch accents can also undergo downstepping.
L + H* L + !H* L + !H* L-L%

25. H + !H* The final pitch accent in the TOBI inventory is H+!H*.
This one often appears at the beginning of phrases.

26. Pitch-Accents Round-up
There are five pitch accents: H* L*
L + H*
L* + H
H + !H*
The * attaches to stressed syllables.
The final pitch accent in an intonational phrase is the nuclear accent.
Generally perceived as more prominent.