Gothenburg Swedish word accents: a fine distinction

Abstract

In a previous investigation (Segerup, 2003) the word accent manifestations in a number of West Swedish dialects and Gothenburg Swedish were examined. Contrary to the generally accepted picture of the word accent distinction the results showed no clear and systematic distinction between the word accents with respect to the timing and shape of the pitch contours. The present paper focuses on the pitch contours of the word accents in Gothenburg Swedish. The acoustic analysis shows that in focal position both accents involve a fall in the first (stressed) vowel and a peak late in the second syllable. The word accent distinction is carried by relatively small differences in the timing and/or the height of this fall. It will be suggested that the timing and height of the pitch contours in the stressed vowel enter into a ‘trading relation’ perceptually.