Variable prosodic realization of verb focus in Urdu

Jabeen, Farhat; Bögel, Tina; Butt, Miriam

Variable prosodic realization of verb focus in Urdu

Files

Jabeen_2-44813iazmfft5.pdf(225.45 KB)

Date

2016

Publication type

Contribution to a conference collection

Publication status

Published

Published in

Speech Prosody 2016 / Barnes, Jon et al. (ed.). - Baixas, France : ISCA, 2016. - pp. 731-735. - ISSN 2333-2042

Abstract

Urdu/Hindi has SOV default word order and an immediately preverbal default focus position. We were interested in the interplay between syntax and prosody with respect to verb focus in declaratives. We tested SOV vs. SVO orders in contexts of broad vs. contrastive focus. In order to force the verb to be focused, we created situations of contrastive verb focus and conducted a production experiment. Our results show that the prosodic realization of verb focus is variable. The general pitch contour on prosodic phrases seems to be L*+H. Verb focus in SVO contexts is realized via a higher pitch span, which is consonant with existing literature. In contrastive SOV contexts, however, the clause ends with L% as opposed to non-contrastive SOV, which features H%. Prosodic realization of verb focus in Urdu is thus variable according to context. We conclude that the L% in SOV is used to signal verb focus because it indicates a marked prosodic structure in contrast to the H% found otherwise on declaratives. Simply increasing the pitch span of the L*+H contour would not serve to provide a clear prosodic distinction. In conclusion, the prosodic realization of focus in Urdu is variable across different syntactic structures.

Subject (DDC)

400 Philology, Linguistics

Keywords

verb focus, contrastive & corrective focus, word order, Urdu/Hindi

Conference

Speech Prosody 2016, May 31, 2016 - Jun 3, 2016, Boston, USA

Cite This

ISO 690

JABEEN, Farhat, Tina BÖGEL, Miriam BUTT, 2016. Variable prosodic realization of verb focus in Urdu. Speech Prosody 2016. Boston, USA, May 31, 2016 - Jun 3, 2016. In: BARNES, Jon, ed. and others. Speech Prosody 2016. Baixas, France:ISCA, pp. 731-735. ISSN 2333-2042. Available under: doi: 10.21437/SpeechProsody.2016-150

BibTex

@inproceedings{Jabeen2016Varia-37657,
  year={2016},
  doi={10.21437/SpeechProsody.2016-150},
  title={Variable prosodic realization of verb focus in Urdu},
  issn={2333-2042},
  publisher={ISCA},
  address={Baixas, France},
  booktitle={Speech Prosody 2016},
  pages={731--735},
  editor={Barnes, Jon},
  author={Jabeen, Farhat and Bögel, Tina and Butt, Miriam}
}

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Bibliography of Konstanz

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