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Phonological Features of Intonational Peaks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2026

D. Robert Ladd
D. Robert Ladd*
Affiliation:
University of Giessen
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Abstract

A new model of intonational phonology is here developed, based primarily on the ‘tone sequence’ approaches of Bruce & Gårding 1978 and Pierrehumbert 1980. As in those works, contours are seen as sequences of pitch accents composed of high and low tones. Unlike those works, this model uses cross-classifying features to represent the scaling (height) of tones, and the alignment of tones in time relative to their associated syllables. This form of representation permits both the specification of phonetic detail and the formulation of phonological generalizations. Three features—[delayed peak], [down-step], and [raised peak]—are introduced; to illustrate the type of description they make possible, largely familiar data from English, Dutch, Hungarian, and Rumanian are re-analysed in these terms.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 59 , Issue 4 , December 1983, pp. 721 - 759
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 by Linguistic Society of America

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Footnotes

*

After April 1, 1984, the author's address will be c/o Phonetics Laboratory, Morrill Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.

**

The ideas of this paper began to develop during discussion of Pierrehumbert 1980 in my intonation seminar at the Cornell Summer Linguistics Institute in 1981. For much useful discussion since then, and for reactions to two earlier versions of the paper, I alphabetically thank Bill Barry, Janet Bing, Dwight Bolinger, Loe Boves, Anne Cutler, Dafydd Gibbon, Carlos Gussenhoven, Bruce Hayes, Steve Isard, John Local, Louis Mangione, Ruta Noreika, Mark Pearson, Janet Pierrehumbert, Klaus Scherer, Lisa Selkirk, Kim Silverman, Neil Smith, Johan ‘t Hart, and Nina Thorsen. None of those listed necessarily agrees with the positions I take here. The paper was written as part of a research project on ‘Pragmatic meaning of intonation contours' at the University of Giessen, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; my collaborators on the project are Klaus Scherer and Kim Silverman. Figures are by Belinda Clark.

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