The effects of beat gestures and written stress marks on the acoustic realisation of lexical stress by Spanish native speakers.
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2024-06-24
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en
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This study explored the interaction between beat gestures and written stress marks on the acoustic realization of lexical stress by Spanish native speakers. Lexical stress in Spanish is indicated by written stress marks and can be emphasized by beat gestures, which align prosodically with speech. Using a within-subjects design, participants read multisyllabic words aloud, sometimes accompanied by a beat gesture. Acoustic analyses of duration, pitch, and intensity revealed that beat gestures primarily affected intensity, suggesting a biomechanical link between gestures and speech production. Written stress marks influenced all cues of lexical stress, with duration being negatively affected, possibly due to cognitive processing interactions. The study underscores the importance of comparing stressed and unstressed syllables in investigating lexical stress and suggests potential future research on using beat gestures in second language acquisition and further examining the effects of written stress marks on lexical stress across different languages.
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Faculteit der Letteren