Pitch Range, Dynamism and Level in Postcolonial Varieties of English: A Comparison of Educated Indian English and British English

Abstract

Pitch range (difference between maximum and minimum pitch), pitch dynamism and mean pitch level have been shown to differ between varieties of English, and such differences can lead to (un)favourable judgements about a speaker's attitude and likeability. Little is known about pitch range in nativised varieties of English, which are spoken in postcolonial countries. While in many functional and structural ways they are similar to native varieties, in other ways they resemble learner varieties. Since learners commonly have a compressed pitch range compared to native speakers, this paper investigates pitch range and level in 20 speakers of Educated Indian English (IndE) in order to determine whether IndE is similar to British English or more like learner varieties in this respect. The analysis reveals that IndE has a smaller pitch range than British English in read speech, but a wider pitch range in spontaneous speech, which is not compatible with results for learner varieties. Moreover, IndE has a higher pitch level than BrE. These prosodic differences might explain reports of crosscultural communication difficulties. Finally, the comparison of four different L1 backgrounds in IndE also shows small L1based differences, which, however, are not significant.

Homogeneity vs Heterogeneity in Indian English: Investigating Influences of L1 on f0 Range

“…Though small differences in mean f0 between read and spontaneous speech have been reported, read speech has been found to be an overall reliable medium for studies of f0 patterns [31]. Recent research has, however, shown some differences between the two speech styles for speakers of IndE [23]. We consider the implications of these findings further, in relation to both IndE and to Indian L1s, in our discussion.…”

“…These include standard deviation (SD) and maximum minus minimum f0 (max-min f0). We also added a measure of pitch dynamism quotient (pdq), which was calculated by dividing the SD in f0 by its mean in Hz [23,37]. The latter allows us to compare findings with those of [23].…”

“…We also added a measure of pitch dynamism quotient (pdq), which was calculated by dividing the SD in f0 by its mean in Hz [23,37]. The latter allows us to compare findings with those of [23]. Consistent with previous research [see 7], analyses of pitch level measures were performed in Hz.…”

“…Consistent with previous research [see 7], analyses of pitch level measures were performed in Hz. An attempt was made to account for f0 differences across adult male and female voices by applying a normalization technique used in [23]. However, due to the particularly high pitch register for one of the Tamil speakers (in both L1 and IndE), this approach was not implemented.…”

“…To date, only [23] has examined f0 pitch range in IndE, finding higher pitch level in IndE compared to British Inglish (BrE), but also reporting differences between two speech styles (smaller pitch range in IndE in read speech and wider in spontaneous speech). [23]'s findings also suggest small but not significant differences on the basis of L1, indicative of homogeneity rather than heterogeneity in IndE on the basis of the parameters investigated. There is a dearth of studies in this area of IndE prosody, with existing studies typically comparing IndE with BrE or American (AmE), and little comparison, if any, carried out with L1s.…”