Cover not available

In:Spoken Corpora and Linguistic Studies
Edited by Tommaso Raso and Heliana Mello
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 61] 2014
► pp. 210–232

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Corpus design for studying the expression of emotion in speech

Published online: 14 November 2014
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.61.08sch
In this chapter, I address the issue of emotional speech sampling and the use of corpora in research on emotion expression in different disciplines, including linguistics. I propose that emotions are rare and fleeting events that are difficult to capture in a purely spontaneous fashion, especially as they are likely to be constantly manipulated for the purpose of self-regulation or to fit with social constraints. I propose that emotion sampling design and the use of speech corpora should be adapted to the specific goals pursued by a researcher and the nature of the questions asked. For example, is the work oriented toward an understanding of the production mechanisms underlying emotional speech, that is, from the perspective of the speaker, or does it concern the nature of the recognition from the attribution side, that is, from the perspective of the listener? Or are both perspectives to be employed, with the aim of understanding transmission and communication issues? Is the approach oriented toward an examination of nonlinguistic or extralinguistic cues, or are linguistic and paralinguistic features important? To what extent does the symbolic aspect (iconic, indexical, referential) of the speech feature being studied play a role?
References (52)
Aristotle. 1941. Ethica Nicomachea (Nicomachean ethics). In The Basic Works of Aristotle, 
R. McKeon (ed.), 935–1126. New York NY: Random House.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bänziger, Tanja & Scherer, Klaus R. 2010. Introducing the Geneva Multimodal Emotion Portrayal (GEMEP) corpus. In Blueprint for Affective Computing: A Sourcebook, Klaus R. Scherer, Tanja Bänziger & Etienne B. Roesch (eds), 271–294. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bänziger, Tanja, Scherer, Klaus R., Hosoya, G. & Patel, S. 2013. Concomitant modeling of encoding, transmission, and decoding in the vocal communication of emotion (submitted).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Batliner, Anton, Fischer, Kerstin, Huber, Richard, Spilker, Jörg & Nöth, Elmar. 2000. Desperately seeking emotions: Actors, wizards, and human beings. In Proceedings of the ISCA Workshop on Speech and Emotion, Newcastle, Northern Ireland , 195–200.
Batliner, Anton, Steidl, Stefan, Schuller, Björn, Seppi, Dino, Vogt, Thurid, Wagner, Johannes, Devillers, Laurence, Vidrascu, Laurence, Aharonson, Vered, Kessous, Loic & Amir, Noam. 2011. Whodunnit. Searching for the most important feature types signalling emotion-related user states in speech. Computer Speech and Language 25: 4–28. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Breckler, Steven J. 1984. Empirical validation of affect, behavior, and cognition as distinct components of attitude. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 47: 1191–1205. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brunswik, Egon. 1956. Perception and the Representative Design of Psychological Experiments. Berkeley CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bühler, Karl. 1934[1990]. Sprachtheorie (Theory of Language). Jena: Fischer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cowie, Roderick, McKeown, Gary & Gibney, Ceire. 2009. The challenges of dealing with distributed signs of emotion: Theory and empirical evidence. In Proceedings of Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction , Amsterdam, The Netherlands , 1–6.
Darwin, Charles. 1872[1998]. The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, Reprinted with introduction, afterword, and commentary by Paul Ekman (ed.). Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dawkins, Richard & Krebs, John R. 1978. Animal signals: Information or manipulation. In Behavioural Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach, John R. Krebs & Nicholas B. Davies (eds), 282–309. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Douglas-Cowie, Ellen, Campbell, Nick, Cowie, Roddy & Roach, Peter. 2003. Emotional speech: Towards a new generation of databases. Speech Communication 40: 33–60. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ekman, Paul. 1972. Universals and cultural differences in facial expression of emotion. In Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Vol. 19, James K. Cole (ed.), 207–283. Lincoln NB: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2003. Emotions Revealed. New York NY: Holt.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ekman, Paul, Sorenson, E. Richard & Friesen, Wallace V. 1969. Pan-cultural elements in facial display of emotions. Science 164(3875): 86–88. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frijda, Nico H. 1986. The Emotions. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2000. The psychologist´s point of view. In Handbook of Emotions, 2nd edn, Michael Lewis & Jeannette M. Haviland-Jones (eds), 59–74. New York NY: Guilford.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City NY: Doubleday Anchor.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hauser, Marc D. 1996. The Evolution of Communication. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hockett, Charles F. 1960. The origin of speech. Scientific American 203: 88–96. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Izard, Carol Ellis. 1971. The Face of Emotion. New York NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnstone, Tom, van Reekum, Carien M., Bänziger, Tanja, Hird, Kathryn, Kirsner, Kim & Scherer, Klaus R. 2007. The effects of difficulty and gain versus loss on vocal physiology and acoustics. Psychophysiology 44: 827–837. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leventhal, Howard & Scherer, Klaus R. 1987. The relationship of emotion to cognition: A functional approach to a semantic controversy. Cognition and Emotion 1: 3–28. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leyhausen, Paul. 1967. Biologie von Ausdruck und Eindruck, Teil 1. (The biology of expression and impression, Part 1). Psychologische Forschung 31: 113–176. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Matsumoto, David. 1990. Cultural similarities and differences in display rules. Motivation and Emotion 14: 195–214. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mulligan, Kevin & Scherer, Klaus R. 2012. Toward a working definition of emotion. Emotion Review 4(4): 345–357. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scherer, Klaus R. 1984. On the nature and function of emotion: A component process approach. In Approaches to Emotion, Klaus R. Scherer & Paul Ekman (eds), 293–317. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1985. Vocal affect signalling: A comparative approach. In Advances in the Study of Behavior, Vol. 15, Jay S. Rosenblatt, Colin Beer, Marie-Claire Busnel & Peter J.B. Slater (eds), 189–244. New York NY: Academic Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1987. Toward a dynamic theory of emotion: The component process model of affective states. Geneva Studies in Emotion and Communication 1: 1–98. [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1988. Criteria for emotion-antecedent appraisal: A review. In Cognitive Perspectives on Emotion and Motivation, Vernon Hamilton, Gordon H. Bower & Nico H. Frijda (eds), 89–126. Dordrecht: Kluwer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1992. Vocal affect expression as symptom, symbol, and appeal. In Nonverbal Vocal Communication: Comparative and Developmental Approaches, Hanus Papousek, Uwe Jürgens & Mechtild Papousek (eds), 43–60. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1994. Affect bursts. In Emotions: Essays on Emotion Theory, Stephanie H.M. van Goozen, Nanne E. van de Poll & Joseph A. Sergeant (eds), 161–196. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2000. Emotional expression: A royal road for the study of behavior control. In Control of Human Behavior, Mental Processes, and Consciousness, Walter J. Perrig & Alexander Grob (eds), 227–244. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2001. Appraisal considered as a process of multi-level sequential checking. In Appraisal Processes in Emotion: Theory, Methods, Research, Klaus R. Scherer, Angela Schorr & Tom Johnstone (eds), 92–120. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2003. Vocal communication of emotion: A review of research paradigms. Speech Communication 40: 227–256. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004. Feelings integrate the central representation of appraisal-driven response organization in emotion. In Feelings and Emotions: The Amsterdam Symposium, Antony S.R. Manstead, Nico H. Frijda & Agneta H. Fischer (eds), 136–157. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2005. What are emotions? And how can they be measured? Social Science Information 44: 693–727. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009. The dynamic architecture of emotion: Evidence for the component process model. Cognition and Emotion 23: 1307–1351. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2013. Vocal markers of emotion: Comparing induction and acting elicitation. Computer Speech and Language 27(1): 40–58. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scherer, Klaus R. & Bänziger, Tanja. 2010. On the use of actor portrayals in research on emotional expression. In Blueprint for Affective Computing: A Sourcebook, Klaus R. Scherer, Tanja Bänziger & Etienne B. Roesch (eds), 166–178. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scherer, Klaus R. & Grandjean, Didier 2008. Inferences from facial expressions of emotion have many facets. Cognition and Emotion 22(5): 789–801. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scherer, Klaus R., Grandjean, Didier, Johnstone, Tom, Klasmeyer, Gudrun & Banziger, Tanja. 2002. Acoustic correlates of task load and stress. In Proceedings ICSLP 2002 , Denver, Colorado , 2017–2020.
Scherer, Klaus R., Johnstone, Tom & Klasmeyer, Gudrun. 2003. Vocal expression of emotion. In Handbook of Affective Sciences, Richard J. Davidson, Klaus R. Scherer & Hill Goldsmith (eds), 433–456. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scherer, Klaus R. & Kappas, Arvid. 1988. Primate vocal expression of affective states. In Primate Vocal Communication, Dietmar Todt, Philipp Goedeking & David Symmes (eds), 171–194. Heidelberg: Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scherer, Klaus R., Ladd, D. Robert & Silverman, Kim. 1984. Vocal cues to speaker affect: Testing two models. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 76: 1346–1356. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Short, Thomas L. 2007. Peirce’s Theory of Signs. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stanislavski, Constantin Sergeyevich. 1936[1988]. An Actor Prepares. London: Methuen.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Susskind, Joshua Matthew, Lee, Daniel H., Cusi, Andrée, Feiman, Roman, Grabski, Wojtek & Anderson, Adam K. 2008. Expressing fear enhances sensory acquisition. Nature Neuroscience 11: 843–850. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomkins, Silvan S. 1962. Affect, Imagery, Consciousness, Vol. 1: The Positive Affects. New York NY: Springer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
van Reekum, Carien M. & Scherer, Klaus R. 1997. Levels of processing for emotion-antecedent appraisal. In Cognitive Science Perspectives on Personality and Emotion, Gerald Matthews (ed.), 259–300. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Westermann, Rainer, Spies, Kordelia, Stahl, Günter & Hesse, Friederich W. 1996. Relative effectiveness and validity of mood induction procedures: A meta-analysis. European Journal of Social Psychology 26: 557–580. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wilting, Janneke, Krahmer, Emiel & Swerts, Marc. 2006. Real vs. acted emotional speech. In Proceedings of Interspeech , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , 805–808.
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Cresti, Emanuela
2025. The affective foundation of speech. Journal of Speech Sciences 14 ► pp. e025005 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 1 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue