Intonation as an interface between language and affect

The vocal expression of human emotions is embedded within language and the study of intonation has to take into account two interacting levels of information -- emotional and semantic meaning. In addition to the discussion of this dual coding system, an extension of Brunswik’s lens model is proposed. This model includes the influences of conventions, norms, and display rules (pull effects) and psychobiological mechanisms (push effects) on emotional vocalizations produced by the speaker (encoding) and the reciprocal influences of these two aspects on attributions made by the listener (decoding), allowing the dissociation and systematic study of the production and perception of intonation. Three empirical studies are described as examples of possibilities of dissociating these different phenomena at the behavioral and neurological levels in the study of intonation