Prosodic features assessed to be appropriate for conversational functions:

Toward the establishment of essential phonetic training for Japanese language learners

Abstract

This article proposes that there are commonalities in prosodic features of speech for identical conversational functions, regardless of differences in terms or expressions. First, a questionnaire survey on the functions perceived to be necessary in a university setting was conducted on beginner-level Japanese language learners. From the survey responses, a total of 20 functions were identified to be highly necessary (e.g., requests, calls for attention, and gratitude). Next, three patterns of utterances were recorded for each function by seven native Japanese speakers during roleplay; these recordings were used as audio materials. Finally, an acoustic–phonetic analysis was performed on the prosodic features (syllable duration, F0, and intensity) of the three most appropriate recordings for each function. The results indicated that 13 of the functions had distinctive prosodic features.