Syllable structure and word stress effects in Peninsular Spanish nuclear accents

Abstract In this study we analyzed temporal alignment between F0 turning points and acoustic landmarks in rising (L+¡H*) and falling (H+L*) nuclear pitch accents in Peninsular Spanish wh-questions. In the research design we devised two experimental factors based on nuclear syllable configuration: syllable structure (open vs. closed) and stress position (penultimate vs. ultimate). Regarding leading tone alignment, the L point of L+¡H* displayed close synchrony with the start of the nuclear syllable, whereas the H point of H+L* was more variable within the pretonic syllable. These findings provide only partial (i.e., accent-specific) confirmation for the syllable onset anchoring hypothesis. Regarding starred tone alignment, both accents showed the same result: syllable structure did not affect alignment in words with penultimate stress. Although these findings support the principle of segmental anchoring in nuclear position, we propose that anchoring landmarks for tonal targets may constitute entire segments themselves. All in all, this work contributes to the study of intonational phonology by documenting that patterns of temporal alignment are specific to individual pitch accent specifications.