Expanding research on ʔayʔaǰuθəm interrogative intonation

Abstract

Relatively little research has been done on ʔayʔaǰuθəm prosody. This lack of research is due in part to the idea that stress and tone are not distinctive features in the language. However, recent studies have found evidence of suprasegmental features in ʔayʔaǰuθəm interrogatives. Additionally, previous work indicates that—as has been reported with other Salishan languages—there is no significant rise in fundamental frequency at the end of ʔayʔaǰuθəm interrogatives, though the mean vowel fundamental frequency is higher in interrogative than in declarative sentences. These findings are not unique to ʔayʔaǰuθəm, but they do contribute to growing evidence that a final rise in fundamental frequency in interrogative sentences is not universal. In the present study, we aim to address the limitations of our previous work by expanding on the amount of data used, incorporating methods for analyzing the entire fundamental frequency contour, and measuring the mean fundamental frequency of vowels from more balanced stimuli. Although we do not expect different results from the present study, it is our hope that the methodologies used will increase the validity of our findings on ʔayʔaǰuθəm interrogative intonation.