What are the supra -segmental features of human speech?

Supra-segmental features of human speech are those features that are not associated with individual sounds, but rather with the connected speech. These features affect a group or sequence of sounds and help to organize and convey the meaning of speech. The main supra-segmental features of human speech include:

- Pitch or intonation: refers to the variation in the fundamental frequency of the voice during speech. Pitch is associated with the rise and fall of the voice and helps to convey emotions, emphasis, and grammatical information such as questions or statements.

- Stress or accent: refers to the relative prominence given to certain syllables or words in speech. Stress is used to highlight important words or syllables, and it can also help to convey emotions and grammatical information.

- Duration or timing: refers to the length of time taken to produce a sound or syllable. Duration can be used to convey emphasis, contrast, and grammatical information.

- Rhythm: refers to the temporal patterns created by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in speech. Rhythm helps to create a sense of flow and melody in speech, and can also convey information about the speaker's emotions and intentions.

- Timbre or Voice Quality: refers to the tonal characteristics of speech that are influenced by the acoustics of the vocal tract and the shape of the vocal folds. Timbre can convey emotions, personal identity and help with speech recognition.