Prosodic characteristics associated with the clause in Venezuelan Spanish: an acoustic, audio-perceptive analysis

Abstract

This study presents a series of analyses related to the prosodic characteristics of clauses in the Mrida dialect of Venezuelan Spanish. We based this study on two analyses: one acoustic and one audio-perceptive. The parameters we analysed were the distribution and nature of pauses, the variations on fundamental frequency at the beginning and at the end of clauses, the different types of accents in both stressed initial and final syllables and the duration of stress syllables both in initial and final positions. The results suggest that clauses have certain prosodic features that identify them. Our data reveals that prosody leads to the recognition of syntactic-discursive structures in the spoken language.