Geluykens1988
| Geluykens1988 | |
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| BibType | ARTICLE |
| Key | Geluykens1988 |
| Author(s) | Ronald Geluykens |
| Title | On the myth of rising intonation in polar questions |
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| Tag(s) | IL, Prosody, Polar Questions |
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| Year | 1988 |
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| Journal | Journal of Pragmatics |
| Volume | 12 |
| Number | 4 |
| Pages | 467–485 |
| URL | Link |
| DOI | 10.1016/0378-2166(88)90006-9 |
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Abstract
Using an extensive corpus conversational data, it is shown that the role ofRising intonation (i.e. Rises, Fall-Rises, and Fall+Rises) in polar questions is overrated. Two types of polar - or ‘yes/no’ - questions are investigated: Inversion-questions (e.g. Is this a question?), and Queclaratives (e.g. This is a question?). In Inversion-questions, though Rising intonation is relatively frequent, the most frequent tone, in absolute terms, is a Fall; moreover, intonation is not used to distinguish genuine Inversion-questions from interrogatives without Question-status, such as Rhetorical Questions and Requests. In Queclaratives, a Falling intonation contour is by far the most frequent pattern, mostly accompanied by a step-up in pitch in the Head of the Tone Unit. Attention is also paid to the Pitch Range of polar questions, and to Pausal aspects of Question - Answer pairs. In all, the claim that Rising intonation (and, more particularly, final Rises) is the ‘normal’ pattern for polar questions lacks empirical justification.
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