TUCUMAN SPANISH NEUTRAL INTERROGATIVES INTONATION ... · ´no intonation studies on the...

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TUCUMAN SPANISH NEUTRAL INTERROGATIVES INTONATION: CATEGORICAL VS PARALINGUISTIC MEANINGS VIRGINIA TERAN MARTA ORTEGA-LLEBARIA UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH 1

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TUCUMAN SPANISH NEUTRAL INTERROGATIVES INTONATION:

CATEGORICAL VS PARALINGUISTIC MEANINGS

VIRGINIA TERANMARTA ORTEGA-LLEBARIAUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

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INTRODUCTION: BACKGROUND

´ TS is a variety of Spanish with a strong Quechua substrate in the northwest of Argentina

´ There is paucity of prosodic data in the Northwestern dialect zone in Argentina: ´ no intonation studies on the Northwestern Argentinian variety following the Autosegmental-

Metrical (AM) model of intonation (e.g., Pierrehumbert, 1980; and the Sp-ToBI annotation conventions (Aguilar et al., 2009)

´ Therefore, we documented the intonation system of Tucumán Spanish as spoken in San Miguel de Tucumán across different sentence types. (Terán and Ortega-Llebaria in preparation)

´ Data elicitation method: a version of the Argentinian Spanish Discourse Context Task (DCT) in the Atlas interactivo de la entonación del español (Prieto &

Roseano, 2009, 2010).´ 32 participants: 300 analyzed utterances (9 pragmatic conditions )´ Data analysis: 2 researchers manually labelled the data following Sp_ToBI

annotation conventions

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RESULTS OF TS SENTENCE TYPE DOCUMENTATION

Fine-grained phonetic analysis of intonational contours shows a great deal of variability across pragmatic conditions but more importantly within-pragmatic condition variability.

3 Table 1. Nuclear pitch configurations across pragmatic condition and their corresponding frequencies.

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How to analyze/ categorize within-pragmatic condition variability?

´given that more than one contour is linked to the same

pragmatic condition,

´How is variability explained?

´what is the phonological level of representation and what is a

phonetic one across pragmatic conditions?

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How to analyze/ categorize within-pragmatic context variability?

´ The phonological and phonetic levels of representation in sentence intonation contours is a matter of current debate (e.g. Cruz-Ferreira 1983; Pierrehumbert & Steele 1987, 1990; Gussenhoven, 2004; Ladd, 2008).´ which dimensions of pitch variation are relevant to phonological contrasts (pitch

accents, pitch range, etc)

´ Local view of intonation: pitch accents and their combinations convey intonation meaning´AM model of intonation (Ladd, 1998; Pierrehumbert, 1980, Pierrehumbert & Beckman,

1988) claims that pitch accents represent phonological contrasts and pitch height variation encodes paralinguistic meaning (increase/decrease of emphasis)

´Different pitch accents & tonal scaling as possible phonetic realizations of the same phonological entity in Catalan (Estebas-Vilaplana,…) vs different pitch accents across same sentence type to account for tonal height differences (Prieto, 1995)

´ Tonal scaling of the leading H tone (expressed in two different pitch accents) in Majorcan Catalan=primary perceptual cue that distinguishes contrast between neutral and confirmation yes-no questions. (Vanrell, 2013; Vanrell et al., 2012)

´ Global view of intonation: the whole contour expresses a pragmatic meaning (e.g., Crystal (1975 page 11, Singh 2014 in Punjabi)

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´ Examine interspeaker variation (See Figures 1, 2, 3, 4) across neutral yes-no questions, which respond to the context of asking the grocer if he has tangerines.

´ Determine the pattern that corresponds to the default neutral yes-no question in TS.

CURRENT STUDY: PURPOSE

Q2: L* HH%Q1: L* H%

Q3: L+>H* HH% Q4: L* HH%

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS1. Given the amount of interspeaker variation across neutral yes-no questions, as illustrated in the 4 different intonation contours attested, can speakers easily recognize those patterns as belonging to the category “interrogative utterance”?2. What is the default pattern across neutral yes-no questions (if there’s one)?3. Which contours can be regarded as discrete phonological intonational

categories and which can be considered phonetic realization?

´ Data elicitation method: two tasks administered via Qualtrics online1. A sentence-type decision task.2. A congruity + naturalness rating task ´ Participants: 58 Tucumán native-born people

METHODOLOGY

Age

Frequency Percent

Valid 18-34 144 15.5

35-55 688 74.1

56+ 96 10.3

Total 928 100.0

Gender

Frequency Percent

Valid female 768 82.8

male 160 17.2

Total 928 100.0

POR

Frequency Percent

Valid born in Tuc and always lived there

416 44.8

born in Tuc and lived there most

life

272 29.3

born in Tuc but now lives

abroad

64 6.9

not born in Tuc but lived there

most life

176 19.0

Total 928 100.0

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TASK 1: SENTENCE TYPE DECISION TASK

´ Consisting of a total of 16 randomized audios (8 neutral yes-no questions and 8 statements, which functioned as the control stimuli)

´ After hearing each audio, participants were asked to decide if what they heard was a question or an affirmative sentence.

PARTIAL RESULTS: all questions + statements

Accuracy Statements QuestionsFreq % Freq %

Correct 449 96.8 451 97.2Incorrect 15 3.2 13 2.8

TOTALS 464 100 464 100

Thechi-squarestatisticis0.1473.Thep-valueis.701128.Thisresultisnot significantatp <.05.

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0102030405060708090

100

statements questions

NS'S ACCURACY RATES: QUESTIONS & STATEMENTS

• Questions&StatementsarejudgedwithveryhighaccuracylevelsbyNS’s.

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TASK 1: SENTENCE TYPE DECISION TASKPARTIAL RESULTS: judgments across different contours of neutral yes-no questions

§ The chi-square statistic is 0.4277. The p-value is .980144. The result is not significant at p < .05.

Accuracy Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Freq % Freq % Freq % Freq %

Correct 113 97.4 114 98.3 113 97.4 113 97.4

Incorrect 3 2.6 2 1.7 3 2.6 3 2.6

TOTALS 116 100 116 100 116 100 116 100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Task1:NS'sJudgmentsacrossquestiontypecontour

incorrect correct

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• EachQuestionisjudgedwithveryhighaccuracylevelsbyNS’s.

• Q2 showsthehighestaccuracyrate.

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TASK 2: CONGRUITY TASK

´ Goal: evaluate the degree of perceived appropriateness of target intonational patterns within neutral yes-no questions to 2 pragmatic conditions.

Ø Context 1 (typical neutral yes-no question): you enter the grocery store and ask the grocer if he has tangerines.

Ø Context 2: (typical confirmation yes-no question): the grocery around the corner usually has tangerines. You enter the store but you don’t see the tangerines but you are almost sure they are somewhere. So you ask the grocer if he has tangerines to confirm.

´ Task: ´ a total of 16 randomized audios (8 neutral yes-no questions and 8 statements, which functioned as

the control stimuli)

´ After hearing each audio, participants were asked to decide if what they heard was:1. Coherent and natural with context 1

2. Coherent with context 1 but unnatural

3. Coherent and natural to context 2

4. Coherent with context 2 but unnatural

5. Coherent with both contexts and natural

6. Coherent with both contexts but unnatural

7. Incoherent with both contexts

A combination of semantically motivated tasks can be profitably used to investigate intonational categories (i.e., Prieto et al. 2008).10

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TASK 2: CONGRUITY TASKPARTIAL RESULTS: coherence + naturalness combined

Preliminary conclusions

• Questions:NS’smostfrequentlyratedthemasanappropriatecontourforbothneutralandconfirmationquestionsbothnatural &unnatural.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

A

B

C

D

Task2:NS'sjudgmentsonQuestions&StatementsCoherence&Naturalnesscombined

Q S

Coherence Q S

Freq % Freq %

Yes-No Qtn 176 37.9 43 9.3

Confirmation 71 15.3 131 28.2

Both qtns 207 44.6 37 8

No question 10 2.2 253 54.5

TOTALS 464 100 464 100

A= coherent with context 1 and natural + coherent with context 1 unnaturalB= coherent with context 2 and natural + coherent with context 2 unnaturalC= coherent with both contexts (natural + unnatural)D= incoherent with both contexts.

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TASK 2: CONGRUITY TASK

Coherence Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 S

Freq % Freq % Freq % Freq % Freq %

A 46 39.7 43 37.1 36 31 51 44 43 9.3B 13 11.2 18 15.5 21 18.1 19 16.4 131 28.2

C 52 44.8 54 46.6 56 48.3 45 38.8 37 8

D 5 4.3 1 .9 3 2.6 1 .9 253 54.5

TOTALS 116 100 116 100 116 100 116 100 464 100

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10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 S

Task2:NS'sjudgmentsofquestionscoherence&naturalnesscombined

A B C D

PARTIAL RESULTS: coherence + naturalness combined

Preliminaryconclusions• Q4isconsideredthemostappropriatecontourforContext1.• Alltheotherquestionsarejudgedasappropriateforbothcontexts(naturalandunnatural

audioscombined)• Q1,Q2,Q3showhigherratesofcoherencewithcontext1thanwithcontext2

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TASK 2: CONGRUITY TASKPARTIAL RESULTS: coherence + naturalness judgments across questions 7 statements

Coherence +Naturalness

Q S

Freq % Freq %1= yes/no qtn natural 132 28.9 24 5.22=yes/no qtn unnatural 42 9.1 19 4.13=conf qtn natural 52 11.2 58 12.54=conf qtn unnatural 19 4.1 73 15.75=both qtns natural 153 33 18 3.9

6=both qtns unnatural 54 11.6 19 4.17=no qtn appropriate 10 2.2 253 54.5TOTALS 464 100 464 100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

1

2

3

4

5

6

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Task2:NS'sjudgmentsofQuestions&StatementsCoherenceandNaturalness

Q S

• Statements:highestrateofjudgmentsasincoherentwithbothcontextsbutsecondhighestrateindicatesNS’sperceivethiscontourasapossibleconfirmationquestionbuttheyfinditunnatural.

• Questions:NS’smostfrequentlyratedthemasanappropriatecontourforbothneutralandconfirmationquestionsandperceivedtheaudiosasnatural.

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TASK 2: CONGRUITY TASKPARTIAL RESULTS: coherence + naturalness judgments across question types

Coherence +Naturalness

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 S

Freq % Freq % Freq % Freq % Freq %1 34 29.3 31 26.7 28 24.1 41 35.3 24 5.22 12 10.3 12 10.3 8 6.9 10 8.6 19 4.13 8 6.9 12 10.3 18 15.5 14 12.1 58 12.54 5 4.3 6 5.2 3 2.6 5 4.3 73 15.75 36 31 36 31 46 39.7 35 30.2 18 3.96 16 13.8 18 15.5 10 8.6 10 8.6 19 4.17 5 4.3 1 .9 3 2.6 1 .9 253 54.5TOTALS 116 100 116 100 116 100 116 100 464 100

0102030405060708090100

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Task2:NS'sjudgmentsofquestionscoherence+naturalness

Q1% Q2% Q3% Q4% S%

1. Coherent and natural with context12. Coherent with context 1 but unnatural3. Coherent and natural to context 24. Coherent with context 2 but unnatural5. Coherent with both contexts and natural6. Coherent with both contexts but unnatural7. Incoherent with both contexts

Preliminaryconclusions• Ns’s judge the 3

questions as most appropriate for both contexts and as sounding natural.

• Q4 is considered the most appropriate and natural contour for Context 1.

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DISCUSION: are research questions confirmed?

RQ1. Given the amount of interspeaker variation across neutral yes-no questions, as

illustrated in the 4 different intonation contours attested, can speakers easily

recognize those patterns as belonging to the category “interrogative utterance”?

´ YES.Task1resultsshowthatNS’sreached97%accuracyintheirjudgmentsof

questionsandstatements.

RQ2. Is there a default pattern across neutral yes-no questions (if there’s one)?

´ YES. Task 2 shows that Q4 emerges as the default contour across neutral

questions. This question was judged as most coherent as neutral yes-no question

and natural (35.3 vs 29.3, 26.7, 24.1)

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DISCUSION: are research questions confirmed?RQ3. Are any contours within neutral yes-no questions representative of discrete phonological intonational categories and which can be considered phonetic realizations?

´ YES.

´ Tasks 1 and 2 showed that pitch variation in TS can be used to encode the phonological contrast between neutral questions and statements.

´ Task 2 showed that Q4 is the default contour representative of the phonological entity (neutral yes-no questions); the other 3 questions emerge as other options for neutral yes-no questions, so these would be possible phonetic realizations of the same phonological category (these 3 contours obtained their 2nd highest rate as appropriate with context 1). What remains to see in further research is what contexts welcome these contours: impatience, social class, emotion? Or are they the result of a task effect (reading style)?

´ Even though Q4 as the default for neutral yes-no questions, pitch height variation seems to have a gradient function since the other options obtained high percentages as coherent with context 1.

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´ Q3 is judged as the most appropriate for both contexts, so given that Q4 is the favorite neutral pattern, we should examine if they are regarded similarly in other perception tasks.

´ Examine Q1 and Q2, which exhibit opposite contours regarding pitch height. Are they possible realizations to neutral questions in a given context or are they the artifact of the DCT?

´ Q1,Q2,Q3 contours appear as appropriate for both contexts, so further research needs to examine the role of tonal scaling and other perceptual cues in the differentiation between neutral yes-no questions and confirmation questions: investigate degree of speaker presupposition about getting an affirmative answer.

CONTRIBUTIONS´ This study is a contribution to disentangle the question between phonological

and phonetic levels of intonation representation´ Examination of an under-researched Spanish variety

FURTHER RESEARCH17