| Description |
Intonation is used in a language like English for several purposes. Different intonation contours signal different sentence types--questions, for example, have systematically different 'tunes' from declarative statements, as do rebuttals, heges, and other speech-act types. In addition, the placement of the intonation nucleus signals what is new and what is old information, as in the difference between "JOHN died" and "John DIED". The course will explore the principles of phonology, syntax, semantics and discourse structure that constitute our present understanding of such phenomena, both in English and across different language types. |