Title: Shaping the intonation of Wh-questions: information structure and beyond
1Shaping the intonation of Wh-questions
information structure and beyond
- Aoju Chen
- Max Planck institute for psycholinguistics
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 31 March, 2008
2Introduction (1)
There will be a flea market this weekend.
HL
LH
Where will Marina want to sell her mandolin?
3Introduction (2)
WH-word
Open Sentence (OS) (Lambrecht Michaelis 1998)
Where
will Marina sell her mandolin?
4Introduction (3)
- Information structure (IS) governs accent
placement in WH-questions - Information (or proposition) new to the hearer
vs. information known to the hearer - Focus vs. topic/background
- In WH-questions
- The WH-word is the focus (because )
- The OS is the topic
- e.g. As to the fact that Marina will sell her
mandolin somewhere, I want to be told where this
will be. - Previous approaches differ in the how part
- Must the WH-word be accented (because it is
focal)? - If not, when does the WH-word get accented?
- When does a constituent in the OS get accented?
5Two opposing views
- The right-asymmetry view (Lambrecht Michaelis
1998, for English) - The WH-word is typically not accented its focal
status is marked by its form and position - Accenting the WH-word only if the propositions in
the OS have been intensively under discussion
before (i.e. ratified) - Constituents in the OS get accented only if the
propositions conveyed have only been touched upon
in the previous discourse
- The left-asymmetry view (Haan 2001,for Dutch)
- The WH-word must be accented, regardless of the
IS of the OS, because it is focal - Constituents in the OS can be focal (focus of
introduction) and therefore get accented
Waar wil Marina haar mandoline verkopen?
Where will Marina want to sell her mandolin?
6Haan (2001)
- A corpus of 200 tokens of 2 WH-questions recorded
by 10 native speakers of Dutch (repeated reading) - WH-question preceded or followed by a context
sentence - 186 tokens included for analyses
71
29
Waar wil Marina haar mandoline verkopen?
- Role of information structure is hard to assess
in repeated reading - The WH-word is accented regardless of IS,
supporting Haan - Or the proposition in the OS is ratified,
supporting LM - But why accenting constituents in the OS?
7Hedberg and Sosa (2002)
- A corpus of 35 WH-questions selected from
American television shows - 34 WH-questions without negator not
- In 29 cases, the proposition in the OS could be
traced back in the earlier context - In 5 cases, the proposition in the OS was new
- In 33 of the cases, the WH-word was accented
constituents in the OS were also accented,
supporting both Haans left-asymmetric view
8What do we know now?
- It is still unclear how accent placement is
governed by information structure in natural
context - LM rely heavily on carefully constructed
WH-questions in made-up contexts - Haan repeated reading
- Hedberg and Saosa the status of the proposition
in the OS may be too generally analysed
9A corpus of naturally occurring Dutch
WH-questionsChen (2006)
- 90 naturally occurring WH-questions from the
Spoken Dutch Corpus (CGN) - Criteria for selection
- A balanced representation of different types of
WH-questions - Waarom (why)
- Wanneer (when)
- Wat (wat)
- Why these three types?
- Mostly uttered by speakers from the regions where
a variety close to the standard variety is spoken - Discourse type suitable for reliable analysis of
information structure - Mostly broadcast interviews, discussions, and
debates - Occasionally spontaneous face-to-face or
telephone conversations - Clear speech signal
- Function as real questions, uttered to require
information from the hearer(s)
10The distribution of regions and discourse types
11Annotation of intonation
- The ToDI notation (Gussenhoven 2005)
12(No Transcript)
13The inter-annotator agreement test A
- A second annotator
- Native speaker of Dutch
- Not aware of the purpose of this study
- Received a short tutorial on ToDI
- Annoated intonation of the WH-words in terms of
accented vs. not accented - Inter-annotator agreement
- 87 for accent placement on the WH-word.
14First step towards a clearer picture
- If the WH-word must be accented (because of its
focal status) regardless of the IS in the OS, as
claimed by Haan, we should see the WH-word is
accented all the time. - Question 1 How frequently is the WH-word
accented in natural speech in Dutch?
15Q1 How frequently is the WH-word accented?
Table 1. The frequency of WH-questions
with/without an accent on the WH-word.
- Although the WH-word is frequently accented, it
is unaccented in 23 of the WH-questions on
average - This is contra Haans view
- Most frequently accented in waarom-questions an
effect of question type ( But why waarom?)
16- Recall The intonation of the WH-word is related
to the information structure of the OS (LM 1998
for English) - Q2 Is the intonation of the WH-word dependent on
the information structure of the OS in Dutch
WH-questions?
17Propositions in the Open Sentence
- Status before the WH-question is uttered
- Having been intensively under discussion
- Having been briefly touched upon
- Having not been discussed at all
Topicality Presupposition (TP)
Knowledge Presupposition (KP)
Neither TP or KP
LM (1998)
18Accent WH-word
KP TP
19Q2 Is the intonation of the WH-word dependent on
the information structure of the OS?
- Does the sameness of the KP and the TP make it
more likely for the WH-word to be accented than
unaccented? -
- Does discrepancy between the KP and the TP make
it more likely for the WH-word to be unaccented
than accented?
20The inter-annotator agreement test B
- A second annotator
- Native speaker of Dutch
- Not aware of the purpose of this study
- Received a short tutorial on ToDI.
- Annoated intonation of the WH-words in terms of
accented vs. not accented - Received readings on the basic concepts of LM
model - Annotated information structure of the OS in
terms of TP, KP and neither - Inter-annotator agreement
- 87 for accent placement on the WH-word
- 73 for labels of information structure
21Q2A If KPTP, will the WH-word be more often
accented?
Table 2. Frequencies of WH-questions with/without
an accent on the WH-word when KP TP in the OS.
- The WH-word is nearly always accented when the KP
and the TP are identical, arguably according with
LMs claim
22KPTP accented WH-word vs. unaccented WH-word
- Example 1- 1.waarom_fn000042_48_N00028_Rivieren
- Context The interviewer was talking to Marianne
Schlaman, an expert in Dutch studies in Nijmegen,
about a series of evening presentations given by
Dutch writers. Mrs. Schlaman went to the
presentations on the first evening. - Interviewer Maar waarom was je naar de avond
gegaan? - But why did you go to this
evening? - TP you went to this evening
23KPTP accented WH-word vs. unaccented WH-word
- Example 2 2.waarom_fn007514_58_N03402_Utrecht
- Context Oscar, interviewee, explained to the
interviewers (there were two) that men and women
were more alike than the feminists would like to
admit. - Male interviewer Waarom zouden feministen dit
vervelend vinden eigenlijk? - Why would feminists find this
annoying actually? - TP feminists would find this annoying
24KPTP accented WH-word vs. unaccented WH-word
- Example 3 10.waarom_fn007252_83_N03115_Nholland
- Context The interviewee was Jacques Booy, a
member of the Federation of Dutch tax advisors.
Mr Booy talked to the interviewer about Minister
of Finance Mr. Zalms new tax plan (for 2001) and
in particular, commented on the weak points of
this plan. The most discontenting weak point was
that Mr. Zalm and his vice-minister Mr. Vermeend
were rushing this very important plan through
Parliament. - Interviewer Waarom hebben ze zoveel haast?
- Why are they in such a hurry?
- TP they are in a hurry
25KPTP accented WH-word vs. unaccented WH-word
- Example 4 11.waarom_fn007489_10_N03131_Zholland
- Context The interviewee was Herman Vuijsje, a
sociologist and political commentator. Mr.
Vuijsje told the interviewer that it was not the
time yet for tip-off lines but people were at
last ready to discuss this issue. This was
different a few years ago because people tended
to associate tip-off lines with betrayals during
the Second World War. - Interviewer Waarom komen mensen altijd met die
oorlog aanzetten? - Why do people always start mentioning the
war? - TP people always start mentioning the war
26Q2B If KP ? TP, will the WH-word be more often
unaccented?
Table 3. Frequencies of WH-questions with/without
an accent on the WH-word when KP?TP in the OS.
- The WH-word is observably more frequently
accented than unaccented
- This trend is the strongest in waarom-questions
an effect of question type
- Discrepancy between the KP and the TP does not
prevent the WH-word from being accented more
often, contra LM
27KP?TP accented WH-word vs. unaccented WH-word
- Example 5 5.waarom_fn007297_62_N03024_Zholland
- Context The interviewee was Remco Meijer, the
author of the book Aan het hof . He described to
the interviewer the organization of the court.
The interviewer then brought up that Queen
Beatrix reorganised the court after she was
crowned. -
- Interviewer Waarom was dat nodig?
- Why was that necessary?
- TP that (reorganizing the court)
- KP was necessary
28KP?TP accented WH-word vs. unaccented WH-word
- Example 6 19.waarom_fn007338_52_N03011_Nholland
- Context The interviewee talked about the problem
that many asylumseekers claimed falsely to be
younger than 18 in order to be treated as
underage asylumseekers. He told the interviewer
the medical examination conducted to establish
whether someone was younger than 18 in doubtful
cases. - Interviewer Maar waarom vinden ze t zo
belangrijk om zich uit te geven voor
achttien in plaats van uh tweeëntwintig? - But why do they find it so important to
pretend to be 18 instead of 22? - TP they and pretended to be 18
- KP find it important to pretend to be 18
instead of 22
29KP?TP accented WH-word vs. unaccented WH-word
- Example 7 8.waarom_fn007150_30_N03020_Nholland
- Context The interviewer talked to Hans van
Wissen, who published a provocative article in de
Volkskrant about the scandal that crown prince
Willem-Alexander promised not to run for the IOC
but nevertheless has become a member of the IOC.
Mr. van Wissen found this very disappointing
because it was not how things should work. - Interviewer Ja waarom heeft u zich dan niet wat
journalistiek terughoudener opgesteld? - Yes why didnt you reacted
journalistically in a more reserved
manner? - TP you (Hans van Wissen)
- KP were not journalistically reserved
30KP?TP accented WH-word vs. unaccented WH-word
- Example 15 30.wanneer_fn006711_21_N05003_noInter
view_Nholland - Context Speaker N01163 talked to speaker N05003
what she and her family could do in their (ski)
holiday if there would not be enough snow. - N05003 En wanneer gaan jullie weg?
And when are you leaving? - TP you
- KP are leaving
31KP?TP accented WH-word vs. unaccented WH-word
- Example 16 9. wanneer_fn008143_39_N08108_noInter
view_Nholland - Context Speaker N08108 told speaker N08109 that
Eric called him yesterday. They then recalled
what they did together with Eric on Queens day
and tried to establish when Eric went home.
Speaker N08109 believed that Eric either left
before him or a bit after him. - N08108 En en en uh uh wanneer ben jij dan naar
huis gegaan? - And and and uh uh when did you go home then?
- TP went home
- KP you (N08109)
32Q2 Is there a relationship between the
intonation of the WH-word and the information
structure of the OS?
- The intonation of the WH-word is NOT independent
of the information structure of the OS, contra
Haan (2001) - When KPTP, the WH-word is nearly always accented
- Intriguingly, the sameness of the KP and TP is
not a necessary condition for the WH-word to get
accented, contra LM - The WH-word gets accented (64) also when KP?TP
- Probably communicative motivation for the
speaker to accent the WH-word - Accenting shows a strong desire to obtain the
information required via the WH-word (e.g.
why-questions)
33Accent assignment in the OS
The left-asymmetry view (Haan 2001)
The right-asymmetry view (LM 1998)
- An accent can be assigned to a TP and a KP
- The accents in the OS tend to be realised with a
smaller pitch range than the accent on the
WH-word
- An accent cannot be assigned to a TP
- The accents in the OS are not formally different
from the accent on the WH-word
34Q3 Can TP constituents be accented?
- TP constituents are accented in 34 of the
WH-questions. - This supports Haan but not LM
- Example 2 2.waarom_fn007514_58_N03402_Outrecht
- HL on vervelend
- Example 3 10.waarom_fn007252_83_N03115_Nholland
- LH on haast
35Q4 Are the accents in the OS realised with a
reduced pitch range?
- Yes, sometimes.
- Reduced pitch accent (14 of WH-questions with an
accented WH-word) - Pitch setup (17)
36Q5 Are accents in the OS only assigned to KP and
TP? (1)
- NO.
- In 13 of the WH-questions an accent is assigned
to an adverb the WH-word is not accented - These adverbs have no topical relation to the
presupposition in the OS they introduce a new
meaning element to the discourse - These adverbs are
- eigenlijk actually
- juist exactly
- nou now
- precies precisely
- specifiek specifically
- toch nevertheless
- wel well
- zo so
37Q5 Are accents in the OS only assigned to KP and
TP? (2)
- Observed functions of these adverbs
- Intensify the contrast between the current
proposition and the set of possible propositions
(e.g. specifiek) - Affirm the truth value of the proposition (e.g.
wel) - Highlight a shift of attention from the topic at
utterance time to a different one (e.g.
eigenlijk actually) - Common effect of these accented adverbs
- The speaker sounds more engaged and eager to find
out the information required via the WH-word
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41Conclusions
- The intonation of the WH-word is to some extent
related to the information structure of the OS,
contra Haan (2001) - Communicative motivation may play a role in
accent assignment - TP constituents can be accented sometimes
accents in the OS can be realised with a reduced
pitch range or pitch step-up - Accents are also assigned to a group of adverbs
in the OS that appear to introduce a new meaning
dimension - Lack of accent on the WH-word (to avoid accent
clash)
42