Music and Language
I study intonation in languages. I do this because I love music and language and thus- I am interested in the melodies that overlay language and the function of these melodies.
Categorical Distinctions
Languages use a variety of ways to differentiate questions from statements. This is an important distinction in a language... in order to convey the correct message...i.e. is this a request for information..."You want to go to the store?" or an observation...fact..."You want to go to the store."
In order to make this distinction, languages use syntactic, lexical, or prosodic cues- or a combination thereof. This is where it gets interesting. :)
As noted by Grabe (2002), there is a trade-off between prosodic and syntactic or lexical cues. If the language uses more syntactic and lexical cues to provide categorical distinctions between questions and statements, the intonation doesn't need to work as hard- this is very much simplified here, but the take away is that- if the language lacks a question word or doesn't use a different word order to signal a question- the intonation takes over and does all the work.
As noted by Grabe (2002), there is a trade-off between prosodic and syntactic or lexical cues. If the language uses more syntactic and lexical cues to provide categorical distinctions between questions and statements, the intonation doesn't need to work as hard- this is very much simplified here, but the take away is that- if the language lacks a question word or doesn't use a different word order to signal a question- the intonation takes over and does all the work.
So-
For languages that rely heavily on prosodic cues (intonation)- the intonation has to work hard...and what is observed is that questions consistently have higher intonation than that of statements. This 'highness' can manifest in different ways. For example, in Chickasaw (Gordon, 2005), questions start at high pitch and gradually fall- whereas statements have rising intonation- the opposite of what occurs in American English. It is the HIGH onset that signals the question...some languages have more of a globally highness- that spans across the entire utterance make the distinction.
Other paralinguistic observations have been noted about why questions are high...I won't go into that here, but in general, a contrastive high pitch is an attention getter, and since questions require a response, the speaker must get the listener's attention....this is an important exchange in the conversation...there are other codes mentioned by Gussenhoven that contribute to the discussion of why questions are higher (biological and production), but I won't go into that here... you can look those up if you want to. :)
Hawaiian and Hawaii Creole English (HCE)
In my research, I analyzed intonation patterns in Hawaiian and Hawaii Creole English. It has been observed, but not formally studied (before my research), that Hawaiian and HCE share the same intonation pattern. This pattern is unique in that both languages have falling question intonation. What makes this situation unique is that, not many languages have falling question intonation and the fact that Hawaii Creole English (an English lexified creole) has falling question suggests that the intonation pattern came from Hawaiian (English does not have the same falling question intonation found in HCE).
Not only did I compare Hawaiian and HCE, but I also provided much needed formal analysis of the intonation systems of Hawaiian and HCE.
As I mentioned- some languages must rely heavily on prosody to provide categorical distinctions....Hawaiian and HCE are good examples...
In some instances- the syntax of Hawaiian questions and statements is identical and the intonation is the only difference. I observed that although questions and statements- both have overall falling intonation patterns, questions start much higher- and maintain this height throughout the utterance....so the onset is high and then there is a global height that is maintained, ending in a dramatic fall. This occurs in both Hawaiian and HCE.
So...what's the point? Why is this so interesting?
hmmmmmmm.....good question....
Well-
Studying both Hawaiian and HCE contributes to the overall knowledge of how language works. :) There are universals in languages that we can start to observe when we compare a bunch of languages.
For example, is there a cross-linguistic universal question intonation? Some languages have rising intonation to show questions (demonstrates uncertainty) and some languages have falling intonation for questions (usually used for statements- shows completion and certainty)....but what do they all seem to have in common? They all manifest height to convey the question- at some point in the utterance.... this height in intonation seems to be important to questions. :)
and the way that all languages have different melodies- but achieve the same distinction....well- that's just fascinating.
Try listening to HCE on youtube.... it's hard to the untrained ear to distinguish between questions and statements because the cues that are salient to a speaker of Mainland US English- are not the same cues that are salient to the HCE (Pidgin) speaker. So, even if the question height is there, the placement of this height is not salient.
The universal is there but the way in which languages incorporate it varies.
and....well....
that is just an introduction to my research....I am also interested in other languages with falling question intonation...and well....that will be a post for another day.
For languages that rely heavily on prosodic cues (intonation)- the intonation has to work hard...and what is observed is that questions consistently have higher intonation than that of statements. This 'highness' can manifest in different ways. For example, in Chickasaw (Gordon, 2005), questions start at high pitch and gradually fall- whereas statements have rising intonation- the opposite of what occurs in American English. It is the HIGH onset that signals the question...some languages have more of a globally highness- that spans across the entire utterance make the distinction.
Other paralinguistic observations have been noted about why questions are high...I won't go into that here, but in general, a contrastive high pitch is an attention getter, and since questions require a response, the speaker must get the listener's attention....this is an important exchange in the conversation...there are other codes mentioned by Gussenhoven that contribute to the discussion of why questions are higher (biological and production), but I won't go into that here... you can look those up if you want to. :)
Hawaiian and Hawaii Creole English (HCE)
In my research, I analyzed intonation patterns in Hawaiian and Hawaii Creole English. It has been observed, but not formally studied (before my research), that Hawaiian and HCE share the same intonation pattern. This pattern is unique in that both languages have falling question intonation. What makes this situation unique is that, not many languages have falling question intonation and the fact that Hawaii Creole English (an English lexified creole) has falling question suggests that the intonation pattern came from Hawaiian (English does not have the same falling question intonation found in HCE).
Not only did I compare Hawaiian and HCE, but I also provided much needed formal analysis of the intonation systems of Hawaiian and HCE.
As I mentioned- some languages must rely heavily on prosody to provide categorical distinctions....Hawaiian and HCE are good examples...
In some instances- the syntax of Hawaiian questions and statements is identical and the intonation is the only difference. I observed that although questions and statements- both have overall falling intonation patterns, questions start much higher- and maintain this height throughout the utterance....so the onset is high and then there is a global height that is maintained, ending in a dramatic fall. This occurs in both Hawaiian and HCE.
So...what's the point? Why is this so interesting?
hmmmmmmm.....good question....
Well-
Studying both Hawaiian and HCE contributes to the overall knowledge of how language works. :) There are universals in languages that we can start to observe when we compare a bunch of languages.
For example, is there a cross-linguistic universal question intonation? Some languages have rising intonation to show questions (demonstrates uncertainty) and some languages have falling intonation for questions (usually used for statements- shows completion and certainty)....but what do they all seem to have in common? They all manifest height to convey the question- at some point in the utterance.... this height in intonation seems to be important to questions. :)
and the way that all languages have different melodies- but achieve the same distinction....well- that's just fascinating.
Try listening to HCE on youtube.... it's hard to the untrained ear to distinguish between questions and statements because the cues that are salient to a speaker of Mainland US English- are not the same cues that are salient to the HCE (Pidgin) speaker. So, even if the question height is there, the placement of this height is not salient.
The universal is there but the way in which languages incorporate it varies.
and....well....
that is just an introduction to my research....I am also interested in other languages with falling question intonation...and well....that will be a post for another day.
Murphy, Kelly. "Melodies of Hawaiʻi: The Relationship Between Hawaiʻi Creole English and ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Prosody." (2013).
|
Good explanation of a difficult topic. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks Martin! :)
ReplyDelete