Variation in the intonation of extra-sentential elements

Extra-sentential elements usually form independent intonational domains. Due to this property, they have been used in the phonological literature to define the intonational phrase. This study, using English and Catalan empirical data collected in three experiments, shows significant variation in the phrasing and accentuation of these constructions. We argue that their role is primarily semantic: they are supplementary, semantically non-restrictive, and anaphorically linked to their referent. Prosody signals their grammatical function by means of independent phrasing, by reductions in pitch span leading to total deaccentuation, and/or by tonal reduplication. We argue that both tonal and junctural cues are used in combination to mark extra-sentential elements as external to the phrase.

Published online: 06 April 2007
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.282.08ast