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Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 9:1 (1986) ► pp.136–149

Discourse function of intonation in Kuniyanti

| Kimberley Language Resource Centre

The purpose of this paper is to explore the significance of intonation in narrative texts in Kuniyanti (Kimberley, WA). It is suggested that intonation realizes the information structure of texts. Tone units correspond to information units. Each tone unit has one syllable that is more prominent than the others; this falls within the constituent which has the most important item of new information. The investigation is based principally on solicited texts.

Published online: 1 January 1986
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https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.9.1.07mcg
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