Intonation Phrase formation in sentences with clausal embedding
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Intonation Phrase formation in sentences with clausal embedding Fabian Schubö1
Received: 11 March 2019 / Accepted: 26 August 2019 / Published online: 1 September 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract This study investigates if and how pre- and post-focal givenness affects the insertion of Intonation Phrase (henceforth, ι) boundaries in sentences with an embedded object clause in German. This is particularly interesting because sentence-internal clause edges were found to induce prosodic structure (by ι-boundary insertion) whereas focus and givenness were found to prevent prosodic structure (by destressing or dephrasing). Thus, these aspects might constitute opposing forces in the formation of ι-structure. A production experiment was conducted which tested ι-boundary insertion in sentences with an object clause in final position under different focus conditions. The results revealed the following patterns: first, speakers variably insert an ι-boundary in all-new sentences (without a narrow focus); second, narrow focus and givenness prevent the insertion of an ι-boundary if the focused constituent precedes the sentence-internal clause edge; and, third, narrow focus and givenness reduce the frequency of ι-boundary insertion if the focused constituent follows the sentence-internal clause edge, but do not prevent it altogether (where the unfocused material is discourse-given). In order to account for these findings, a model in the framework of Optimality Theory is proposed. This model accounts for variable ι-boundary insertion by means of an ordered global tie of MATCH constraints and captures the effects of focus and givenness by means of constraints that enforce the strengthening of stress positions (STRESS-FOCUS, RIGHTMOST) and a constraint militating against nuclear stress on given material (*STRESS-GIVEN). Keywords Prosodic structure · Intonation Phrase · Clausal embedding · Focus · Givenness · German
& Fabian Schubo¨ [email protected] 1
University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
123
162
F. Schubö
1 Introduction This study deals with the prosodic structure of German. It particularly focuses on the formation of Intonation Phrases (henceforth, ι-phrases) in regard to sentences with an extraposed subordinate clause embedded in final position. It is commonly assumed that the boundaries of ι-phrases (henceforth, ι-boundaries) are obligatory at the edges of root clauses; it is hardly understood, however, in which way ιboundaries relate to the edges of embedded clauses and which other factors influence their emergence. Adopting the assumption that there is a general connection between clauses and ι-phrases (e.g., Nespor and Vogel 1986; Truckenbrodt 2005; see also Downing 1970), this study investigates how aspects of syntactic structure, prosodic wellformedness, and information structure interact in the formation of ι-phrase structure (henceforth, ι-structure). This is supposed to yield a better understanding of how the components of grammar are involved in the formation of pr
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