The cohesive function of prosody in Ékegusií (Kisii) folktales · 24 folktales recorded near...
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Realizations of prosody pause accent pitch reset intonational parallelism intonational contour Functions of Prosody signals phonological structure signals syntactic structure signals discourse prominence signals affect abets information flow Introduction Prosody as Cohesion helps listeners to detect discourse boundaries, and the degree of cohesion or discontinuity between successive utterances structure (whether phonological or syntactic) is always cohesion- forming This study shows how prosodic features are used by speakers to lend cohesion to their discourse, by signaling the transitions from one unit of discourse to the next, the relations that hold between those units, and their relative prominence. Background, Data & Methods Ékegusií (Gusii, Kisii), Great Lakes Bantu, southwest Kenya Endangered: ~600,000 speakers, few under 30 y.o. 24 folktales recorded near Kisii Town, Kenya, Summer 2014 Lexical database, with audio, ~14,000 words Texts annotated for prosodic features listed above Prosodic boundaries were not marked - just the features Pauses The length of pauses helps structure the text into its narrative stages Pauses (cont.) the participants are introduced and given descriptions, topic- comment style, each separated by a long pause the complicating action is a sequence of utterances, where each utterance correspond to one step in a sequence of events each step in the complicating action is followed by a long pause, creating a slower narrative pacing pauses are extremely short during the movement toward the climax, creating a rapid pacing Speakers use pauses to structure texts into major narrative sections, and control their pacing, thereby giving cohesion to each section. Vowel Elision Ékegusií typically elides vowels at word junctions Sometimes elision fails to occur phrase-internally, creating minor prosodic breaks Vowel elision can be manipulated to create minor prosodic breaks even without pause, most typically at the transition to reported speech, or to demarcate distinct events in a rapid sequence. Intonational Parallelism Isotony or intonational parallelism is the realization of the same intonational contour on separate, typically successive, stretches of speech. By repeating the same intonational contour across two stretches of speech, the speaker highlights a similarity between them, whether in form or semantic content. Intonational Parallelism (cont.) Pitch Reset Problems determining pitch reset: canonical cases of pitch reset are rare in the Ékegusií corpus terminal contours or prosodic accent may interrupt declination trends pitch may reset down rather than up many utterances show a flat contour or even a gradual rise reported speech consistency shows a higher register Pitch reset is best understood as a more holistic property of how hearers perceive phrases, abstracting away from the parts of the pitch contour that are irrelevant to the overall trend. Intonational Contour Ékegusií has many types of intonational contours, each with a dedicated function. Classifying these contours as simply H or L, or falling or rising, fails to capture important differences between them. Some examples: sharp terminal rise: backgrounding function, for conditionals, new topics, and ‘when’-clauses gradual terminal rise: continuing topic, more information to come high level register: extended sequences of events sharp fall to low register: conclusion of sequence of events Speakers attend to the overall, conventionalized pattern of the intonational contour, rather than individual pitch targets. Conclusion Each prosodic feature helps delineate units of discourse and convey their relationship to the units around them. These features work in tandem to create stronger or weaker breaks in the discourse, thereby creating hierarchical prosodic structure. The cohesive function of prosody in Ékegusií (Kisii) folktales Daniel W. Hieber (University of California, Santa Barbara) ~ danielhieber.com ACAL 48, Indiana University, March 30 - April 2, 2017. Research supported by NSF GRFP Grant No. 1144085.
Transcript of The cohesive function of prosody in Ékegusií (Kisii) folktales · 24 folktales recorded near...
Realizations of prosodypauseaccentpitch resetintonational parallelismintonational contour
Functions of Prosodysignals phonological structuresignals syntactic structuresignals discourse prominencesignals affectabets information flow
Introduction
Prosody as Cohesionhelps listeners to detect discourse boundaries, and the degree ofcohesion or discontinuity between successive utterancesstructure (whether phonological or syntactic) is always cohesion-forming
This study shows how prosodic features are used by speakers tolend cohesion to their discourse, by signaling the transitions fromone unit of discourse to the next, the relations that hold betweenthose units, and their relative prominence.
Background, Data & MethodsÉkegusií (Gusii, Kisii), Great Lakes Bantu, southwest KenyaEndangered: ~600,000 speakers, few under 30 y.o.24 folktales recorded near Kisii Town, Kenya, Summer 2014Lexical database, with audio, ~14,000 wordsTexts annotated for prosodic features listed aboveProsodic boundaries were not marked - just the features
PausesThe length of pauses helps structure the text into its narrative stages
Pauses (cont.)the participants are introduced and given descriptions, topic-comment style, each separated by a long pausethe complicating action is a sequence of utterances, where eachutterance correspond to one step in a sequence of eventseach step in the complicating action is followed by a long pause,creating a slower narrative pacingpauses are extremely short during the movement toward the climax,creating a rapid pacing
Speakers use pauses to structure texts into major narrativesections, and control their pacing, thereby giving cohesion to eachsection.
Vowel ElisionÉkegusií typically elides vowels at word junctionsSometimes elision fails to occur phrase-internally, creating minorprosodic breaks
Vowel elision can be manipulated to create minor prosodic breaks evenwithout pause, most typically at the transition to reported speech, or todemarcate distinct events in a rapid sequence.
Intonational ParallelismIsotony or intonational parallelism is the realization of the sameintonational contour on separate, typically successive, stretches ofspeech.By repeating the same intonational contour across two stretches ofspeech, the speaker highlights a similarity between them, whether inform or semantic content.
Intonational Parallelism (cont.)
Pitch ResetProblems determining pitch reset:
canonical cases of pitch reset are rare in the Ékegusií corpusterminal contours or prosodic accent may interrupt declination trendspitch may reset down rather than upmany utterances show a flat contour or even a gradual risereported speech consistency shows a higher register
Pitch reset is best understood as a more holistic property of how hearersperceive phrases, abstracting away from the parts of the pitch contourthat are irrelevant to the overall trend.
Intonational ContourÉkegusií has many types of intonational contours, each with a dedicatedfunction. Classifying these contours as simply H or L, or falling or rising,fails to capture important differences between them. Some examples:
sharp terminal rise: backgrounding function, for conditionals, newtopics, and ‘when’-clausesgradual terminal rise: continuing topic, more information to comehigh level register: extended sequences of eventssharp fall to low register: conclusion of sequence of events
Speakers attend to the overall, conventionalized pattern of theintonational contour, rather than individual pitch targets.
ConclusionEach prosodic feature helps delineate units of discourse and convey theirrelationship to the units around them. These features work in tandem tocreate stronger or weaker breaks in the discourse, thereby creatinghierarchical prosodic structure.
The cohesive function of prosody in Ékegusií (Kisii) folktalesDaniel W. Hieber (University of California, Santa Barbara) ~ danielhieber.com
ACAL 48, Indiana University, March 30 - April 2, 2017. Research supported by NSF GRFP Grant No. 1144085.
