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Descriptive categories for the auditive analysis of intonation in conversation

A system of descriptive categories for the notation and analysis of intonation in natural conversation is presented and discussed in relation to other systems currently suggested for incorporation in discourse analysis, The categories are based on purely auditive criteria. They differ from e.g. tonetic approaches by relying more on transcribers' and analysts' perception of the form and internal
cohesiveness of contours, especially with respect to rhythmicality and/or pitch contour (gestalt). Intonation is conceived of as a relational phenomenon; the role of intonation in conversational utterances can only be analyzed by considering its co-occurrence with other properties of utterances like syntactic, semantic and discourse organizational structures and devices. In general, intonation is viewed as one signalling system contributing to the contextualization of utterances in their conversational context. A broad functional differentiation between different types of intonation categories seems plausible: Local categories like accents might fulfill mainly semantic functions, while global categories like different contour types might fulfill primarily functions with respect to the interactive coordination of activities in conversation.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:Potsdam/oai:kobv.de-opus-ubp:4198
Date January 1987
CreatorsSelting, Margret
PublisherUniversität Potsdam, Philosophische Fakultät. Institut für Germanistik
Source SetsPotsdam University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypePostprint
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceJournal of pragmatics. - 11 (1987) 6, S. 777-791, ISSN 0378-2166, DOI 10.1016/0378-2166(87)90113-5
Rightshttp://opus.kobv.de/ubp/doku/urheberrecht.php

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