Zellers-Post2012

From emcawiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Zellers-Post2012
BibType ARTICLE
Key Zellers-Post2012
Author(s) Margaret Zellers, Brechtje Post
Title Combining formal and functional approaches to topic structure
Editor(s)
Tag(s) IL, Topic, discourse topic, multiple cues, multiple methods, prosody
Publisher
Year 2012
Language English
City
Month
Journal Language and Speech
Volume 55
Number 1
Pages 119–139
URL Link
DOI 10.1177/0023830911428872
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

Download BibTex

Abstract

Fragmentation between formal and functional approaches to prosodic variation is an ongoing problem in linguistic research. In particular, the frameworks of the Phonetics of Talk-in-Interaction (PTI) and Empirical Phonology (EP) take very different theoretical and methodological approaches to this kind of variation. We argue that it is fruitful to adopt the insights of both PTI’s qualitative analysis and EP’s quantitative analysis and combine them into a multiple-methods approach. One realm in which it is possible to combine these frameworks is in the analysis of discourse topic structure and the prosodic cues relevant to it. By combining a quantitative and a qualitative approach to discourse topic structure, it is possible to give a better account of the observed variation in prosody, for example in the case of fundamental frequency (F0) peak timing, which can be explained in terms of pitch accent distribution over different topic structure categories. Similarly, local and global patterns in speech rate variation can be better explained and motivated by adopting insights from both PTI and EP in the study of topic structure. Combining PTI and EP can provide better accounts of speech data as well as opening up new avenues of investigation which would not have been possible in either approach alone.

Notes