Govor, Vol. 41 No. 1, 2024.
Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.22210/govor.2024.41.02
The final nondecreasing tonal peak in German language conversations
Dario Marić
orcid.org/0000-0003-3133-054X
; Faculty of Philosophy, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
This paper shows preliminary analysis of the final, nondecreasing tonal peak which is realized in spoken German and which is characterized by audible rise on the relatively high tonal value and audible drop on relatively middle tonal value that directly follows it. The analysis should determine which of all final tonal peaks and possible tonal movements that follows it, leave the auditory impression of incompleteness of the later slope of the tonal peak, and furthermore, whether the final, nondecreasing tonal peak is a feature of the local varieties of spoken German. The research should also narrow the list of possible contexts in which final, nondecreasing tonal peak appears and ascertain whether is it used only in affective speech. For the first time the exact time of appearance of the final, nondecreasing tonal peak will be shown in this paper, which will enable a more successful perceptual identification. Research so far shows that the final, nondecreasing tonal peak (L-h-m%) before the turn characterizes only the Freiburg city variant and not other variants investigated in this paper. Speech acts comprising final, nondecreasing tonal peak are interpreted as a presentation of facts which support a complaint, of amazement, as a contradiction to the interlocutor, as a description of tragic events or statements whereby immediate confirmation is expected from the interlocutor. All the speech acts are mainly realized within the affective speech. The initial assumption that final, nondecreasing tonal peak shows the final remaining excitement of the speaker is supported by the presence of affective content in which the final, nondecreasing tonal peak is realized. It is also supported by the fact that these utterances are mainly nonfinal, followed by utterances in which the excitement of the speaker gradually decreases until the next speaker takes over.
Keywords
final nondecreasing tonal peak; German language conversations; affective speech; supraregional prosody
Hrčak ID:
318871
URI
Publication date:
4.7.2024.
Visits: 488 *