© 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel 0031–8388/03/0604–0261 Fax + 41 61 306 12 34 $19.50/0 E-Mail karger@karger.ch Accessible online at: www.karger.com www.karger.com/journals/pho Toni Rietveld Department of Language and Speech Radboud University Nijmegen Erasmusplein 1, NL–6525 HT Nijmegen (The Netherlands) Tel. +31 24 361 2905, Fax: +31 24 361 5481, E-Mail a.rietveld@let.kun.nl Original Paper Phonetica 2003;60:261–272 DOI: 10.1159/000076376 Cues for Perceived Pitch Register Toni Rietveld a Patricia Vermillion b a Department of Language and Speech, University of Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands b School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand Abstract The aim of this experiment was to assess empirically listeners’ behaviour in characterising pitch contours with the label pitch register. The motivation for this assessment was initiated by the conflicting use of the term register in speech science and intonology. The findings reported here indicate that pitch register would more appropriately be associated with the position of the low pitch targets and the mean value of the tonal contour. In addition, the importance of the reference frequency (the lowest F 0 of a speaker) and the distance between H and L targets have been found to be weaker than previously assumed. Copyright © 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel Introduction A number of terms are used to describe the overall characteristics of pitch con- tours, such as pitch register, overall level, tonal space, grid, pitch range and pitch span. These terms are often used in conjunction with the labels reference frequency (F ref ), F 0 min or baseline [Gårding, 1983; Liberman and Pierrehumbert, 1984; Connell and Ladd, 1990; Ladd 1990, 1996; Gussenhoven and Rietveld, 1994] when describing into- nation. Pitch register has different meanings in different fields. In speech pathology or speech science it is essentially the same as vocal mode, which is a term used on a discrete scale to describe laryngeal behaviour [Perkins, 1977]. The mode or register permitting highest pitch is called falsetto, the mode with the lowest pitch is vocal fry and the mode in between modal register. In the field of intonation, the term register is sometimes used to parameterise the distance between high (H) and low (L) tones [Con- nell and Ladd, 1990], equivalent to the concept of tonal space [Ladd, 1992]. Register has also been used to express the distance between H and L tones and the lowest F 0 value realised by a specific speaker (F ref ). If both H and L tones are downstepped, the term register shift is used [Ladd, 1992]; such use implies that register is the distance between the whole contour and the reference frequency (i.e. the distance between the mean F 0 and F ref ). In a less technical context register is used to refer to the phenomenon of speaking up, in which both the L and H tones are raised, not necessarily to the same Received: July 10, 2003 Accepted: December 23, 2003