This study reports the cross-boundary f0 shifting of prosodic units (PU) in Mandarin conversational speech by analyzing the PU-initial and PU-final f0 heights as a function of its semantic structure. Initial and final f0 heights were defined as the f0 values extracted at the energy max of the first and the last syllable of the PU. The semantic structure of the PU was defined based on its co-extensiveness with a semantic unit in discourse (DU), i.e., a proposition, often encoded by a clause. Our analysis shows significant relationships between the cross-boundary f0 heights and the PU-DU co-extensiveness. PU-DU left alignment introduces a significant up-shifting effect on both initial and final f0 heights. This pitch resetting is effective across the whole PU, suggesting speakers’ sensitivity to the initiation of propositions in production. On the other hand, PU-DU right alignment introduces a down-shifting effect on both f0 heights. The regressive f0-lowering observed in the PU-initial f0 heights (anticipatory effect based on the PU-terminal semantics) and the progressive f0-raising of the PU-final f0 heights (carried-over effect based on the PU-initial semantics) both shed light on the psycholinguistic importance of the proposition and support its central role in advanced planning in spontaneous speech production.

这项研究通过分析PU初始和PU最终f0高度随其语义结构的变化，报告了普通话会话语音中韵律单元（PU）的跨界f0移位。初始和最终f0高度定义为在PU的第一个和最后一个音节的最大能量处提取的f0值。PU的语义结构是基于其与话语（DU）语义单元（即命题）的共扩展性而定义的，该语义单元通常由子句编码。我们的分析表明，跨界f0高度与PU-DU共延性之间存在显着关系。PU-DU左对齐会在初始和最终f0高度上产生明显的升档效果。这种音高重置在整个PU上都是有效的，这表明演讲者对制作主张的敏感性。另一方面，PU-DU右对齐在两个f0高度上都产生了降档效果。的在PU初始f0高度中观察到的回归f0降低（基于PU终端语义的预期效果）和PU最终f0高度的渐进f0升高（基于PU初始语义的残留效应）两者阐明了该命题的心理语言学重要性，并支持了该命题在自发言语生成高级计划中的核心作用。