1887
image of Intonation of polar questions in German-dominant heritage speakers of Italian

Abstract

Abstract

In heritage language (HL) research, prosodic aspects of heritage speakers (HSs) speech have only recently started to receive attention and the results have been mixed. While some studies report cross-linguistic influence (CLI) for HL intonation, others consider it robust. The present study contributes to this debate and examines the intonational patterns of polar questions (PolQs) in the two languages of 30 HSs of Italian with German as majority language. This language combination displays overlapping and distinct intonational patterns in PolQs, making intonation potentially subject to CLI in bilingual language acquisition. The results of an elicited production task indicate that HSs maintain a systemic difference between their two languages. In German, HSs produce PolQs in a monolingual like manner. In Italian of HSs, both monolingual-like performance and CLI from German has been observed. Early Italian use is beneficial for monolingual-like outcomes in the HL.

Available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/lab.23031.kri
2024-04-16
2024-12-14
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/10.1075/lab.23031.kri/lab.23031.kri.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1075/lab.23031.kri&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Alderson, J. C.
    (2005) Diagnosing Foreign Language Proficiency: The interface between learning and assessment. Continuum.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Andreeva, B., Dimitrova, S., Gabriel, C., & Grünke, J.
    (2021) Intonational convergence in Bulgarian Judeo-Spanish spontaneous speech. InA. Teixeira Kalkhoff, M. Selig & C. Mooshammer. (Eds.), Prosody and conceptional variation (pp.–). Peter Lang.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Arona, S., & Kupisch, T.
    (2022) Italienisch als Herkunftssprache im Fremdsprachenunterricht: Die Rolle der Dialektkompetenz. Zeitschrift für Interkulturellen Fremdsprachenunterricht, (), –.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Arvaniti, A., Ladd, D. R., & Mennen, I.
    (2006) Tonal association and tonal alignment: evidence from Greek polar questions and contrastive statements. Language and Speech, (), –. 10.1177/00238309060490040101
    https://doi.org/10.1177/00238309060490040101 [Google Scholar]
  5. Avesani, C.
    (1995) ToBIt: un sistema di trascrizione per l’intonazione italiana. InG. Lazzari. (Ed.) Atti delle V Giornate di Studio del Gruppo di Fonetica Sperimentale (A.I.A.) (pp.–). Servizio Editoria ITC.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B. M., & Walkers, S. C.
    (2015) Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, (), –. 10.18637/jss.v067.i01
    https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01 [Google Scholar]
  7. Beckman, M. E., & Hirschberg, J.
    (1994) The ToBI annotation conventions. Ohio State University.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Berruto, G.
    (2018) 18. The languages and dialects of Italy. InW. Ayres-Bennett & J. Carruthers. (Eds.), Manual of Romance sociolinguistics (pp.–). De Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110365955‑019
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110365955-019 [Google Scholar]
  9. Bocci, G.
    (2013) The Syntax Prosody Interface: A cartographic perspective with evidence from Italian. John Benjamins Publishing. 10.1075/la.204
    https://doi.org/10.1075/la.204 [Google Scholar]
  10. Boersma, P., & Weenink, D.
    (2015) Praat: doing phonetics by computer (version 6.1.05).
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Bolinger, D., & Bolinger, D. L. M.
    (1989) Intonation and its uses: Melody in grammar and discourse. Stanford University Press. 10.1515/9781503623125
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503623125 [Google Scholar]
  12. Braun, B., Dehé, N., Neitsch, J., Wochner, D., & Zahner, K.
    (2019) The prosody of rhetorical and information-seeking questions in German. Language and Speech, (), –. 10.1177/0023830918816351
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0023830918816351 [Google Scholar]
  13. Bullock, B. E.
    (2009) Prosody in contact in French: A case study from a heritage variety in the USA. International Journal of Bilingualism, (), –. 10.1177/1367006909339817
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006909339817 [Google Scholar]
  14. Canepari, L.
    (1980) Italiano standard e pronunce regionali. Padova: Cleup.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Carter, P. M., López Valdez, L., & Sims, N.
    (2020) New dialect formation through language contact: vocalic and prosodic developments in Miami English. American Speech, (), –. 10.1215/00031283‑7726313
    https://doi.org/10.1215/00031283-7726313 [Google Scholar]
  16. Carter, P. M., & Wolford, T.
    (2016) Cross-generational prosodic convergence in South Texas Spanish. Spanish in Context, (), –. 10.1075/sic.13.1.02car
    https://doi.org/10.1075/sic.13.1.02car [Google Scholar]
  17. Cataldo, V.
    (2023) The intonation of closely related varieties. The case of Campania Italian. Ghent University.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Cerruti, M.
    (2011) Regional varieties of Italian in the linguistic repertoire. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, , –. 10.1515/ijsl.2011.028
    https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2011.028 [Google Scholar]
  19. Chang, C. B.
    (2021) Phonetics and phonology of heritage languages. InS. Montrul & M. Polinsky. (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Heritage Languages and Linguistics (pp.–). Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781108766340.027
    https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108766340.027 [Google Scholar]
  20. Cohen, J.
    (1960) A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Education and Psychological Measurement, , –. 10.1177/001316446002000104
    https://doi.org/10.1177/001316446002000104 [Google Scholar]
  21. Colantoni, L., & Gurlekian, J.
    (2004) Convergence and intonation: historical evidence from Buenos Aires Spanish. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, (), –. 10.1017/S1366728904001488
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728904001488 [Google Scholar]
  22. Crocco, C.
    (2006) Prosodic and informational aspects of polar questions in Neapolitan Italian. Proceedings of Speech Prosody (pp.–). Dresden, Germany. 10.21437/SpeechProsody.2006‑106
    https://doi.org/10.21437/SpeechProsody.2006-106 [Google Scholar]
  23. Cruttenden, A.
    (1981) Falls and rises: meanings and universals. Journal of Linguistics, (), –. 10.1017/S0022226700006782
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022226700006782 [Google Scholar]
  24. Dehé, N.
    (2018) The intonation of polar questions in North American (“heritage”) Icelandic. Journal of Germanic Linguistics, (), –. 10.1017/S1470542717000125
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S1470542717000125 [Google Scholar]
  25. Gamer, M., Lemon, J., Fellows, I., & Singh, P.
    (2019) irr: various coefficients of interrator reliability and agreement. R package version 0.48.1.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Geiss, M., Gumbsheimer, S., Lloyd-Smith, A., Schmid, S., & Kupisch, T.
    (2022) Voice onset time in multilingual speakers: Italian heritage speakers in Germany with L3 English. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, (), –. 10.1017/S0272263121000280
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263121000280 [Google Scholar]
  27. Gili Fivela, B., Avesani, C., Barone, M., Bocci, G., Crocco, C., D’Imperio, M., Giordano, R., Marotta, G., Savino, M., & Sorianello, P.
    (2015) Intonational phonology of the regional varieties of Italian. InS. Frota & P. Prieto. (Eds.), Intonation in Romance (pp.–). Oxford University Press. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199685332.003.0005
    https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199685332.003.0005 [Google Scholar]
  28. Grice, M.
    (2006) Intonation. InK. Brown. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. 2nd Edition, Vol. (pp.–). Elsevier. 10.1016/B0‑08‑044854‑2/00045‑6
    https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/00045-6 [Google Scholar]
  29. Grice, M., & Baumann, S.
    (2002) Deutsche Intonation und GToBl. Linguistische Berichte, –.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Grünke, J. C.
    (2021) Intonation in Language Contact: the Case of Spanish in Catalonia. Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Hirsh-Pasek, K., Nelson, D. G. K., Jusczyk, P. W., Cassidy, K. W., Druss, B., & Kennedy, L.
    (1987) Clauses are perceptual units for young infants. Cognition, (), –. 10.1016/S0010‑0277(87)80002‑1
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(87)80002-1 [Google Scholar]
  32. Hoot, B., & Leal, T.
    (2023) Resilience and vulnerability of discourse-conditioned word order in heritage Spanish. Applied Psycholinguistics, –. 10.1017/S0142716423000152
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716423000152 [Google Scholar]
  33. Huddleston, R.
    (1994) The contrast between interrogatives and questions. Journal of Linguistics, (), –. 10.1017/S0022226700016704
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022226700016704 [Google Scholar]
  34. Jabeen, F., & Braun, B.
    (2023) How cross–linguistic influence affects the use of duration in the production and perception of corrective and non–corrective focus types. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism. 10.1075/lab.22106.jab
    https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.22106.jab [Google Scholar]
  35. Kan, R. T., & Schmid, M. S.
    (2019) Development of tonal discrimination in young heritage speakers of Cantonese. Journal of Phonetics, , –. 10.1016/j.wocn.2018.12.004
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2018.12.004 [Google Scholar]
  36. Kim, J. -Y.
    (2019) Heritage speakers’ use of prosodic strategies in focus marking in Spanish. International Journal of Bilingualism, (), –. 10.1177/1367006918763139
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006918763139 [Google Scholar]
  37. (2020) Discrepancy between heritage speakers’ use of suprasegmental cues in the perception and production of Spanish lexical stress. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, (), –. 10.1017/S1366728918001220
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728918001220 [Google Scholar]
  38. Kupisch, T.
    (2020) Towards modelling heritage speakers’ sound systems. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, , –. 10.1017/S1366728919000385
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728919000385 [Google Scholar]
  39. Kupisch, T., Barton, D., Hailer, K., Klaschik, E., Stangen, I., Lein, T., & van de Weijer, J.
    (2014) Foreign accent in adult simultaneous bilinguals. Heritage Language Journal, (), –. 10.46538/hlj.11.2.2
    https://doi.org/10.46538/hlj.11.2.2 [Google Scholar]
  40. Kupisch, T., Lloyd-Smith, A., & Stangen, I.
    (2020) Perceived global accent in Turkish heritage speakers in Germany. InF. Bayram. (Ed.), Studies in Turkish as a Heritage Language (pp.–). SiBil Series, John Benjamins. 10.1075/sibil.60.09kup
    https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.60.09kup [Google Scholar]
  41. Ladd, D. R.
    (2008) Intonational Phonology. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511808814
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808814 [Google Scholar]
  42. Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G.
    (1977) The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, , –. 10.2307/2529310
    https://doi.org/10.2307/2529310 [Google Scholar]
  43. Lein, T., Kupisch, T., & van de Weijer, J.
    (2016) Voice onset time and global foreign accent in German–French simultaneous bilinguals during adulthood. International Journal of Bilingualism, (), –. 10.1177/1367006915589424
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006915589424 [Google Scholar]
  44. Leiner, D. J.
    (2019) SoSci Survey (Version 3.2.32).
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Lloyd-Smith, A., Einfeldt, M., & Kupisch, T.
    (2020) Italian-German bilinguals: The effects of heritage language use on accent in early-acquired languages. International Journal of Bilingualism, (), –. 10.1177/1367006919826867
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006919826867 [Google Scholar]
  46. Marotta, G., & Sorianello, P.
    (1999) Question intonation in Sienese Italian. Proceedings of the XIVth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS 14) (pp.–). San Francisco, USA.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Mennen, I.
    (2004) Bi-directional interference in the intonation of Dutch speakers of Greek. Journal of Phonetics, (), –. 10.1016/j.wocn.2004.02.002
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2004.02.002 [Google Scholar]
  48. (2015) Beyond segments: Towards a L2 intonation learning theory. Prosody and language in contact: L2 acquisition, attrition and languages in multilingual situations. –. 10.1007/978‑3‑662‑45168‑7_9
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45168-7_9 [Google Scholar]
  49. Montrul, S.
    (2016) The Acquisition of Heritage Languages. Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Pešková, A.
    (2022): Intonation Patterns Used in Non-Neutral Statements by Czech Learners of Italian and Spanish: A Cross-Linguistic Comparison. Languages, (), . 10.3390/languages7040282
    https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7040282 [Google Scholar]
  51. (2023) L2 Spanish and Italian intonation: Accounting for the different patterns displayed by L1 Czech And German learners. (Open Romance Linguistics 5). Language Science Press. 10.5281/zenodo.8153997
    https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8153997 [Google Scholar]
  52. Peters, J.
    (2006) Intonation deutscher Regionalsprachen. De Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110201871
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110201871 [Google Scholar]
  53. Piccinini, P. & Arvaniti, A.
    (2019) Dominance, mode, and individual variation in bilingual speech production and perception. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, (), –. 10.1075/lab.17027.pic
    https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.17027.pic [Google Scholar]
  54. Pierrehumbert, J. B.
    (1980) The phonology and phonetics of English intonation [Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology]. MIT libraries. https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/16065
  55. Polinsky, M., & Scontras, G.
    (2019) Understanding heritage languages. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, (), –. 10.1017/S1366728919000245
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728919000245 [Google Scholar]
  56. Queen, R. M.
    (2001) Bilingual intonation patterns: Evidence of language change from Turkish-German bilingual children. Language in Society, , –. 10.1017/S0047404501001038
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404501001038 [Google Scholar]
  57. Rao, R.
    (2016) On the nuclear intonational phonology of heritage speakers of Spanish. InD. Pascual y Cabo. (Ed.) Advances in Spanish as a Heritage Language (pp.–). John Benjamins Publishing. 10.1075/sibil.49.04rao
    https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.49.04rao [Google Scholar]
  58. Sánchez, L.
    (2017) The dynamic nature of bilingualism. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, (), –. 10.1075/lab.00019.san
    https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.00019.san [Google Scholar]
  59. Savino, M.
    (2012) The intonation of polar questions in Italian: Where is the rise?Journal of the International Phonetic Association, (), –. 10.1017/S002510031100048X
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S002510031100048X [Google Scholar]
  60. Scharff-Rethfeldt, W., Miller, N., & Mennen, I.
    (2008) Unterschiede in der mittleren Sprechtonhöhe bei Deutsch/Englisch bilingualen Sprechern. Sprache Stimme·Gehör, (), –. 10.1055/s‑0028‑1083799
    https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0028-1083799 [Google Scholar]
  61. Schmid, S., & Dellwo, V.
    (2013) Sprachrhythmus bei bilingualen Sprechern. TRANEL-Travaux Neuchâtelois de Linguistique, , –. 10.26034/tranel.2013.2948
    https://doi.org/10.26034/tranel.2013.2948 [Google Scholar]
  62. Souganidis, C., Molinaro, N., & Stoehr, A.
    (2022) Bilinguals produce language-specific voice onset time in two true-voicing languages: The case of Basque-Spanish early bilinguals. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism. 10.1075/lab.21081.sou
    https://doi.org/10.1075/lab.21081.sou [Google Scholar]
  63. Shea, C.
    (2019) Dominance, proficiency, and Spanish heritage speakers’ production of English and Spanish vowels. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, (), –. 10.1017/S0272263117000328
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263117000328 [Google Scholar]
  64. Tosi, A.
    (2001) Language and society in a changing Italy. Multilingualism Matters.
    [Google Scholar]
  65. Weber, T., Schönhuber, M., & Grijzenhout, J.
    (2018) The prosody of yes/no-questions in German first language acquisition. Proceedings of Phonetics & Phonology in German-speaking countries (pp.–). Berlin, Germany.
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Zuban, Y., Rathcke, T., & Zerbian, S.
    (2020) Intonation of yes-no questions by heritage speakers of Russian. Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2020. –. 10.21437/SpeechProsody.2020‑20
    https://doi.org/10.21437/SpeechProsody.2020-20 [Google Scholar]
  67. Zubizarreta, M. L.
    (1998) Prosody, focus, and word order. The MIT Press.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/lab.23031.kri
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/lab.23031.kri
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error