Publications

Publication details [#64466]

Praet, Wout Van and Gerard O'Grady. 2018. The prosody of specification: Discourse intonational cues to setting up a variable. Journal of Pragmatics 135 : 87–100.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Place, Publisher
Elsevier

Annotation

The intonation of specification functionally surpasses a sheer background-focus contrast. The distinct communicative dynamism of (non)reversed clauses correlates with distinctions in tonality. (In)definite variables are characteristically voiced with distinct tones, expressing distinct interpersonal meanings. Reversed specificationals generally serve as phoric bridges between previous and subsequent context.