Transcription of Russian intonation ToRI, an interactive research tool and learning module on the internet

This article discusses a new system for the Transcription of Russian Intonation, ToRI, on the Internet. Section 1 presents a general outline of the system. The terminology used in ToRI is defined in an online glossary, from which Section 2 gives the following examples: pitch accent and accent-lending pitch movements, perceptual equivalence, connecting pitch movements, and register. ToRI uses unambiguous symbols for the transcription of pitch accents, pitch movements connecting the pitch accents and utterance boundaries marked by pitch. Section 3 discusses these ToRI symbols in detail. In the system, each symbol representing a pitch accent is described with rules for its realization, that is, with phonetic correlates and limits of perceptual tolerance. Each pitch accent is presented with pictures of the contours, with sound examples and with interactive audiovisual exercises training the recognition and production of Russian pitch phenomena. In the examples, main communicative functions for each accent are also given. In Section 4 , pitch accent H*M is presented as a demonstration of how the pitch accents are described and how they appear on the webpages of ToRI.