Year: 2014
Type: conference-paper
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Filled pauses usually reveal speech planning or execution problems even though the speaker does not produce an overt error and may have a function of discourse marker as well. In Hungarian, the most frequent form of filled pauses is a schwa-like vowel of various durations. The purpose of this study was to analyze the occurrence, duration and formant structure of Hungarian schwa-like filled pauses in 16 nine-year-old children, in 16 young adults and in 16 elderly speakers. Our hypotheses were that filled pauses (i) would be more frequent in elderly than in other two age groups, (ii) would show similar durations in all age groups, and (iii) would show different formant structures depending on age. Results confirmed age-dependent occurrences, durations and formants of filled pauses; the hypotheses were partly verified. Speakers’ age is one of those factors that influence the occurrences and formant values of filled pauses.
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1493180375