Phrase Boundaries

[B2]	weak phrase boundary
[B3 rise]	strong phrase boundary with light rising intonation
[B3 cont]	strong phrase boundary neither rising nor falling intonation
[B3 fall]	strong phrase boundary with light falling intonation
[B9]	irregular phrase boundary

Speech is subdivided by intonational patterns, in other words utterances are combined into prosodical units while speaking. To show these units we decided to label the phrase boundaries. We're differentiating three types of boundaries with one of them divided into another three subcategories.

1. The intermediary phrase boundary [B2]:
   A [B2] is a weak boundary that can be found within a prosodical phrase. It's like a very short interruption.

   w001_ptd_001_AAA: kannst du den [B2] Videorekorder 
   programmieren ?
       

2. The phrase boundary [B3]:
   A [B3] is a strong boundary within the speech flow. This boundary is divided further into three subcategories. The subject can finish the phrase with a rising, a falling or an intonation that shows hardly any movement, which we then call `cont' (a shortform of continuous).

   w001_ptd_001_AAA: kannst du den [B2] Videorekorder 
   programmieren [B3 fall] ? hallo [B3 rise] ?
       

   Note:

   [B3 rise], [B3 fall] or [B3 cont] are placed independently of punctuation. Thus, a period does not necessarily generate a [B3 fall] and a question mark not necessarily a [B3 rise].

3. The irregular phrase boundary [B9]:
   This label is used when we come across a false start, a repetition or a correction. Turn breaks are also labelled with [B9].

   w001_ptd_001_AAA: wie lang brauchs= [B9] <*T>t
   w001_ptd_001_AAA: was +/machen s=/+ [B9] machst 
   du da [B3 rise] ?
       

In general, a phrase boundary label is placed after the last word of the phrase, separated by a blank space and always in front of the punctuation mark. Boundary labels then can be followed by other labels like those for noise, breathing etc. They should be basically found at the end of each phrase or sentence.


Note:
There is no prosodic labelling for the output of the SmartKom information system!