Segmental anchoring in Peruvian Amazonian Spanish intonation

Segmental Anchoring Hypothesis (SAH) and Invariant Rise Hypothesis (IRH) are two models that account for the effects of segmental information on tonal alignment. While SAH suggests that tonal targets are anchored to specific segments, IRH suggests that segmental factors condition tonal alignment. In this paper, I explore Peruvian Amazonian Spanish and examine the effects of segmental duration and syllable structure on tonal alignment. Results show that F0 peaks consistently occur in the stressed syllable, regardless of segmental duration and syllable structure. Furthermore, F0 peaks tend to align with the stressed vowel, even in closed syllables, possibly suggesting that this vowel is the segmental anchor. These findings thus provide supporting evidence in favor of SAH, contrary to previous claims for Spanish.

• Affiliations: 1: The Ohio State University