I will present ongoing work aimed at developing a framework for formulating phonetic grammars of tone realization that can derive complete fundamental frequency (f0) contours from phonological specifications.

The proposed framework consists of two main components: A set of weighted constraints that select and locate optimal tone targets for a given phonological representation, and a functional model of f0 production that maps time-aligned tone targets to f0 contours. These two components work in parallel: the constraints that determine tone targets evaluate properties of the resulting f0 contour.

In addition to generating f0 contours, the model of f0 production can also be fitted to observed f0 contours to infer the underlying f0 targets, effectively parsing the f0 contour. This proves particularly valuable when analyzing tones with targets that are difficult to locate because they correspond to a turning point in the f0 contour that is not a local maximum or minimum (often referred to as ‘elbow’ targets).

The framework will be illustrated through analyses of two tonal phenomena that involve elbow targets: (i) the timing of the L- phrase accent in English H*L- intonational melodies, and (ii) realization of the Mandarin rising tone.

Location – Haines Hall 220