Pausing and tempo variation as strategies in signalling poetic structure

Abstract

The study investigates how prosodic features reflect information structure and poetic organization during oral poetry performance. Specifically, we examined how repetition and structural position influence articulation rate (AR) and pause duration in spoken verse. Thirty-two native Czech speakers read three structurally comparable poems aloud, each differing in the presence and distribution of repeated lines. Poem 1 served as a baseline, containing no repetition; Poem 2 included a fully repeated final stanza; and Poem 3 featured repeated distichs within each stanza. Results showed that repeated lines (given information) were delivered at faster and more consistent rates than non-repeated lines (new information). Across poems with repetition, a gradual tempo decline followed by a tempo reset was observed, suggesting a strategic use of tempo modulation to signal textual recurrence. Additionally, pause duration reliably marked structural boundaries, with the longest pauses at stanza breaks. Discrepancies between syllabic and phonemic AR further highlighted the influence of phonotactic variability. Overall, the findings demonstrate that speakers intentionally manipulate prosodic timing to convey both informational and structural cues, enhancing listener comprehension of poetic form.