F0 variation is a crucial feature in speech prosody, which can convey linguistic information such as focus and paralinguistic meanings such as surprise. How can multiple layers of information be represented with F0 in speech: are they divided into discrete layers of pitch or overlapped without clear divisions? We investigated this question by assessing pitch perception of focus and surprise in Mandarin Chinese. Seventeen native Mandarin listeners rated the strength of focus and surprise conveyed by the same set of synthetically manipulated sentences. An fMRI experiment was conducted to assess neural correlates of the listeners’ perceptual response to the stimuli. The results showed that behaviourally, the perceptual threshold for focus was 3 semitones and that for surprise was 5 semitones above the baseline. Moreover, the pitch range of 5-12 semitones above the baseline signalled both focus and surprise, suggesting a considerable overlap between the two types of prosodic information within this range. The neuroimaging data positively correlated with the variations in behavioural data. Also, a ceiling effect was found as no significant behavioural differences or neural activities were shown after reaching a certain pitch level for the perception of focus and surprise respectively. Together, the results suggest that different layers of prosodic information are represented in F0 through different pitch ranges: paralinguistic information is represented at a pitch range beyond that used by linguistic information. Meanwhile, the representation of paralinguistic information is achieved without obscuring linguistic prosody, thus allowing F0 to represent the two layers of information in parallel.

F0变异是语音韵律的一个重要特征，它可以传达语言信息，如焦点和副语言意义，如惊喜。语音中的多层信息如何用F0表示：它们是分成离散的音高层还是重叠而没有清晰的划分？我们通过评估普通话对焦点和惊喜的音调感知来研究这个问题。17 名以普通话为母语的听众对同一组综合处理句子所传达的注意力和惊喜的强度进行了评分。进行了 fMRI 实验以评估听者对刺激的感知反应的神经相关性。结果表明，在行为上，焦点的感知阈值为 3 个半音，而惊讶的感知阈值为基线以上 5 个半音。而且，高于基线 5-12 个半音的音高范围既表示专注又表示惊喜，表明该范围内的两种韵律信息之间存在相当大的重叠。神经影像数据与行为数据的变化呈正相关。此外，发现天花板效应，因为在分别达到特定音调水平后，没有表现出显着的行为差异或神经活动，分别用于感知焦点和惊喜。总之，结果表明不同层次的韵律信息通过不同的音高范围在 F0 中表示：副语言信息在超出语言信息使用的音高范围内表示。同时，在不模糊语言韵律的情况下实现了副语言信息的表示，