The Functions and Acoustic Features of a Czech Structural Demonstrative in Informal Dialogues

Abstract

The paper explores the prosodic characteristics of a Czech demonstrative pronoun “ten” as used in semi-spontaneous speech. It mainly focuses on the spectral slope characteristics of the syllable as a key parameter of syllabic prominence.

Comparing the spectral slope of the demonstrative used in a nominal position with that in an adnominal position, it reveals higher prominence of the word in the nominal usage. The results suggest that the reduced quality of the syllable in the adnominal usage may reflect the process of grammaticalization of the demonstrative pronoun into a definite article.

Keywords

• adnominal demonstrative
• nominal demonstrative
• syllabic prominence
• spectral slope
• grammaticalization