TONAL STRUCTURES OF COMPLEX SENTENCES IN GREEK Anthi Chaida Department of Linguistics, University of Athens, Greece

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1 TONAL STRUCTURES OF COMPLEX SENTENCES IN GREEK Anthi Chaida Department of Linguistics, University of Athens, Greece Abstract This is a study of tonal structures as a function of different sentence types and sentence complexity in Greek. A two-part experiment is reported, the results of which indicate: (a) each sentence type, i.e. statement, command, polar question and wh-question, is associated with a distinct tonal structure; (b) sentence complexity is correlated, as a rule, with a prosodic phrase boundary between the conjoined simple sentences of the complex sentence; (c) the prosodic phrase boundary combines two prosodic phrases and, in most cases, each roughly corresponds to the sentence type of the complex sentence tonal structure. 1. Introduction This is an experimental study of tonal structures as a function of sentence type and sentence complexity in Greek. Two basic questions are addressed: (1) what is the tonal structure of statements, commands, polar questions and wh-questions? (2) what is the tonal structure of simple sentences versus complex sentences, as a function of different sentence types? Different sentence types are usually associated with both local and global tonal structures. Questions e.g., in comparison to other sentence types, are mostly associated with higher tonal structures, such as a higher tonal register, less tonal declination or a final tonal rise (see among others, Grønnum, 1998; Gusenhoven, 1984; t Hart, 1998; van Heuven & Haan, 0; Botinis, et al., 1). Although several linguistic factors may be associated with different sentence types, such as lexical, syntactic and prosodic ones, the prosodic factor is critical, especially in languages where different sentence types may differ only in prosody, such as polar questions in Greek and Italian. The tonal structure of statements and questions in many languages has been investigated in the literature (Grønnum, 1998; t Hart, 1998; van Heuven & Haan, 0; Jun & Fougeron, 0; Botinis et al, 1; Baltazani, 6). Considerable research has been carried out with reference to tonal production of various sentence types and focus in Greek (among others, Botinis, 1989; Botinis et al., 0; Baltazani, 2). However, despite significant research in Greek prosody in the last years, the prosody of complex sentence types has not drawn considerable attention, and this is also the case in a wide range of languages reported in the international literature (e.g. Botinis, 1998; Grønnum, 1998; Gusenhoven, 1984). 61

2 In the remainder of this paper, the second section describes the method of the experiment, the third section presents the results, and the fourth section concludes the paper with a discussion. 2. Experimental Methodology A two-part experiment was designed, according to which speakers produced simple sentences and complex sentences, both coordinated and subordinated, in the first and the second part of the experiment respectively, as a function of four different sentence types (see Table 1). Two female speakers of native Athenian Greek in their early twenties produced the speech material in randomised repetitions and a different context for each sentence was read aloud by the author, in order to elicit the production of the different target sentence types. Table 1. The speech material of complex target sentences (the first part of each complex sentence involves the speech material of simple sentences). STATEMENT COMMAND POLAR QUESTION WH-QUESTION O Manólis mazévi lemónia ce i María mirázi balónia. (Manolis is picking lemons and Maria is distributing balloons.) O Manólis mazévi lemónia ótan i María mirázi balónia. (Manolis is picking lemons when Maria is distributing balloons.) O Manólis mazévi lemónia parólo pu i María mirázi balónia. (Manolis is picking lemons although Maria is distributing balloons.) Manóli mázeve lemonia ce María míraze balónia! (Manolis pick lemons and Maria distribute balloons!) Manóli mázeve lemonia ótan i María mirázi balónia! (Manolis pick lemons when Maria is distributing balloons!) Manóli mázeve lemonia parólo pu i María mirázi balónia! (Manolis pick lemons although Maria is distributing balloons!) O Manólis mazévi lemónia ce i María mirázi balónia? (Manolis is picking lemons and Maria is distributing balloons?) O Manólis mazévi lemónia ótan i María mirázi balónia? (Manolis is picking lemons when Maria is distributing balloons?) O Manólis mazévi lemónia parólo pu i María mirázi balónia? (Manolis is picking lemons although Maria is distributing balloons?) Jatí o Manólis mazévi lemónia ce i María mirázi balónia? (Why is Manolis picking lemons and Maria is distributing balloons?) Jatí o Manólis mazévi lemónia ótan i María mirázi balónia? (Why is Manolis picking lemons when Maria is distributing balloons?) Jatí o Manólis mazévi lemónia parólo pu i María mirázi balónia? (Why is Manolis picking lemons although Maria is distributing balloons?) All four sentence types, i.e. statements, commands, polar questions and wh-questions, have the same SVO syntactic structure for both simple and complex sentences. The complex sentences are conjoined with the coordination conjunction {ce} (and) and either with {ótan} (when) or {parólo pu} (although), which are subordination conjunctions, introducing a temporal and a concessive clause respectively. Thus, the first part of the experiment consists of 20 sentence productions (i.e. 4 sentence types X 5 female speakers), whereas the second- 62

3 part of the experiment consists of 72 utterances in total (4 sentence types X 3 variations X 2 speakers X 3 repetitions). The speech material was recorded onto computer disc and speech analysis was carried out with WaveSurfer Three F0 measurements were taken per syllable and graphs were created in Excel. 3. Results The results of the two-part experiment described in the previous section are shown in Figures 1a-4b Statements In Fig.1a simple sentence statements are shown. There are three stress groups (distinct tonal gestures of prosodic sequences of stress and unstressed syllables), based on the stressed syllables of each word, forming a tonal rise-fall each. Moderate tonal prominence is noted on the object, {lemónia}, and then F0 gradually falls to the lowest value of the sentence. Figure 1a. Tonal structure of simple sentence statement productions (mean values). 1 o ma nó lis ma zé vi le mó nia Figure 1b. Tonal structure of complex sentence statement productions (mean values) as a function of coordination conjunctions ({ce} and ) and subordination conjunctions ({ótan} when, {parólo pu} although ). CE OTAN PAROLO PU 1 o ma nó lis ma zé vi le mó nia CONJ i ma rí a mi rá zi ba ló nia 63

4 With reference to complex sentence statements (Fig.1b), the effect of prosodic phrasing is evident, as in most sentence types. There is a tonal fall at the stressed syllable {mó}, immediately followed by a prominent tonal rise, which covers the last syllable of the simple sentence {lis} and reaches its peak at the stressed syllable of the conjunctive word. Right after this tonal rise-fall of phrasing which by some speakers is also marked by a small pause a resetting tonal pattern is observed. A tonal fall is aligned with the article {i} of the second clause, but the rest of the tonal pattern follows the same form as for single sentences, while the boundary is also low Polar questions In Fig.2a simple sentence polar questions are shown. Two different tonal realizations for neutral (all new - out of the blue) questions were observed. The tonal nucleus aligns with the object for most of the speakers (contour B), while for the rest it aligns with the verb (contour A). The boundary tone peak covers the stressed syllable of the last word of the utterance (I), unless this word is the tonal nucleus -in that case the peak is pushed to the right (II). This is probably an effect of tonal crowding, which also causes the low boundary to be undershot (point II). The pragmatic factors that regulate the choice between different realizations within the same sentence types need to be further investigated. It should be pointed out that the two different realisations came up as reactions to the same context ( Ti me rótises? ). This might indicate that several strategies are available to the speakers. Complex sentence polar questions (Fig.2b) also share the prosodic phrasing s effects. However, the pattern of the simple (matrix) sentence in that case resembles to the corresponding pattern of the complex statements. There is also a division between utterances that have the tonal nucleus placed on the verb (contour A) and utterances which have it placed on the object (contour B). In the first case, resetting occurs and a tonal rise-fall movement covers the conjunctive word until the first syllable of the second clause s subject; the rest of the pattern follows the characteristics of the corresponding part of the single sentence. In the second case, there is no resetting and the second clause starts with a plateau, which reaches the last syllable of the verb. The prosodic phrase boundary tone has two different realizations, as in simple sentences (I, II). 64

5 Figure 2a. Tonal structure of simple sentence polar question productions (mean values). I 1 Sinle Polar question A Single Polar question B II o ma nó lis ma zé vi le mó nia Figure 2b. Tonal structure of complex sentence polar question productions (mean values). I 1 Polar question A Polar question B II o ma nó lis ma zé vi le mó nia pa ró lo pu i ma rí a mi rá zi ba ló nia 3.3. Wh-questions In Fig.3a-3b wh-questions are presented. The tonal nucleus is a clear-cut rising pitch accent, aligned roughly with the wh-word {jatí}. Afterwards, there is a tonal fall forming a low plateau. The boundary tone is a tonal rise at the end of the last syllable. The same tonal pattern corresponds to the complex sentence wh-questions, despite the different conjunctions. Yet, the tonal boundary rising movement in that case is even more prominent. Here neither prosodic phrasing effects nor tonal resetting appears. This might be due to the increased length of the utterance something that requires further investigation. However, the peak of the tonal nucleus does not align with the stressed syllable of the whword, but it is displaced slightly on the right (roughly on the vowel of the second postnuclear unstressed syllable {ma}). The late alignment of the tonal peak may be an effect of tonal crowding, since the accented syllable of the tonal nucleus is followed by two unstressed ones. 65

6 Figure 3a. Tonal structure of simple sentence wh-questions (mean values). 1 Whword ja tí o ma nó lis ma zé vi le mó nia Figure 3b. Tonal structure of complex sentence wh-questions (mean values). CE OTAN PAROLO PU 1 Wh-word ja tí o ma nó lis ma zé vi le mó nia CONJ i ma rí a mi rá zi ba ló nia 3.4. Commands In Fig.4a simple sentence commands are shown. They have the same tonal pattern as the statements, but in commands tonal prominence is observed on the verb, with a rising tonal accent followed by a low plateau and a tonal declination (while for statements moderate tonal prominence is noted on the object). Concerning complex sentence commands (Fig.4b), three tonal realizations based on different effects of phrasing are observed: (a) two distinct prosodic phrases with the common phrase break and a tonal rise at the end of the matrix sentence; (b) three distinct prosodic phrases, plus one more prosodic phrase break at the last syllable of the subject of the second clause; (c) four distinct prosodic phrases, plus another prosodic phrase break at the last syllable of the first subject. In cases (b) and (c), the name ( Manóli, María ) is produced as a call, in a separate prosodic phrase which ends in a high boundary tone, typical for all types of calls in Greek. These phrasing effects, in most cases, are also marked with pauses along with higher standard deviation values. 66

7 Figure 4a. Tonal structure of simple sentence commands productions (mean values). 1 ma nó li má ze ve le mó nia Figure 4b. Tonal structure of complex sentence statement productions (mean values). 1 4 phrases 3 phrases 2 phrases ma nó li má ze ve le mó nia ce ma rí a mí ra ze ba ló nia 4. Discussion The results of the present study indicate that the four different sentence types have distinct tonal structures, which are summarized in Fig.5. In summary, each type of sentence is uniquely characterized in Greek by the type and location of tonal prominence (nucleus) and boundary tone (agreeing with previous studies, e.g. Botinis, 1989; Botinis et al., 0; Baltazani, 2; Chaida, 5). For statements there is a rising or high tonal prominence, which is the last constituent of the sentence in the neutral, all-new modality; the nucleus is followed by a low tonal boundary. Commands share the boundary type with statements, but they differ in the location of tonal prominence, which in this case is the verb. For polar questions, in general, the nucleus is a low tonal valley, which is found at the verb; the boundary is a very salient tonal rise-fall movement. For wh-questions, there is a tonal rising or a high nucleus invariably at the wh-word; the boundary for this type is a tonal rise. 67

8 Figure 5. Stylised (typical) tonal structures and boundaries, as a function of different sentence types in Greek (simple sentences). These results agree with our previous studies (e.g. Chaida, 5), where all four distinctive sentence types had a high identification ratie (i.e. over 90 % of 1:1 correspondence). When two single sentences are joined, in most cases a reduplication of the basic tonal structure of each sentence type is observed. The only exception is the case of wh-questions, where the basic tonal structure of this sentence type is expanded and covers the length of both SVO sentences. Thus, it appears that, despite the tonal declination of an utterance has been found to be the distinctive factor for sentence types in several languages (e.g. Grønnum, 1998), in Greek it is the tonal structure that mostly distinguishes sentence types. However, the durational correlates need to be examined further, in order to find out if they play a distinctive role concerning different sentence types. Compound and complex sentence types have similar tonal structures with the corresponding single sentences, in general, but with the effects of prosodic phrasing in most cases. The fact that prosodic phrasing has both a tonal production effect and a pause production effect correlated with prosodic boundaries (Botinis et al., 4) is evident in the case of complex sentences. Resetting applies in statements and partly in polar questions and commands, while wh-questions basic pattern remains invariable and unaffected by phrasing in all cases. However, the pragmatic factors that regulate the choice between different realizations within the same sentence types need to be further investigated. It should be pointed out that the placement of different conjunctions between matrix and subordinate clauses or between two matrix sentences did not seem to affect considerably the global tonal structure of the various sentence types. That finding may also indicate that syntactically distinct subordinate clauses (i.e. temporal, concessive) and structures (i.e. coordination, subordination) do not interfere with the prosodic realization of sentences. Apart 68

9 from that, it may signify that it is the tonal structure and not the tonal range that characterizes a somehow unique signature of a sentence (Botinis et al., 0). Our study is being expanded with quantitative analysis and perception experiments. 5. Acknowledgments The present study is within the project Production and perception of the Greek sentence in the framework of the Kapodistrias research program supported by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. I would like to express my thanks to Mary Baltazani, with whom we conducted the first part of the experiment (presented at the 6 th North West Centre for Linguistics Conference: Prosody and Pragmatics, Preston, UK). Many thanks to Christina Tsakali and Dimitris Kotsifas for their help, as well as to the speakers and the listeners, who voluntarily participated in our production and perception experiments. I am also very grateful to Antonis Botinis for his guidance. References Baltazani, M., (6). Characteristics of pre-nuclear pitch accents in statements and yes-no questions in Greek. Proceedings of the ISCA Workshop on Experimental Linguistics, 81-84, Athens, Greece. Baltazani, M., (2). Quantifier Scope and the Role of Intonation in Greek. PhD Thesis, UCLA. Baltazani, M., (3). Broad focus across sentence types in Greek. Proc. 7th European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology, EUROSPEECH 3 Geneva, Switzerland. Botinis, A., (1998). Intonation in Greek. In: Hirst, D. and Di Cristo, A. (eds), Intonation Systems: A Survey of 20 Languages. CUP, Botinis, A., S. Ganetsou, M. Griva & H. Bizani, (4). Prosodic phrasing and syntactic structure in Greek. Proc. FONETIK 4, XVIIth Swedish Phonetics Conference, 96-99, Gothenburg, Sweden. Botinis, A., B. Gawronska, & A. Haida, (3). Modality disambiguation and tonal correlates. PHONUM 9, , FONETIK 3, Umeå, Sweden. Botinis, A., B. Granström & B. Möbius, (1). Developments and paradigms in intonation research. Speech Communication 33, Botinis, A., R. Bannert, & M. Tatham, (0). Contrastive tonal analysis of focus perception in Greek and Swedish. In: Botinis, A. (ed), Intonation: Analysis, Modelling and Technology. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, Chaida, A., (5). Intonation of sentence types and focus in Greek: production and perception. MA Thesis, University of Skövde, Sweden, & University of Athens, Greece. Grønnum (Thorsen), N., (1998). Intonation in Danish. In: In: Hirst, D., Di Cristo, A. (eds), Intonation Systems: A Survey of Twenty languages. Cambridge: CUP, Gussenhoven, C,. (1984). On the grammar and semantics of sentences accents. Dordrecht: Foris. t Hart, J., (1998). Intonation in Dutch. In: Hirst, D., Di Cristo, A. (eds), Intonation Systems: A Survey of Twenty Languages. Cambridge: CUP,