Intonation of restrictive and nonrestrictive relative clauses in English and Spanish

Abstract

Some investigators have commented on the intonational differences between restderive (RRC) and nonrestrictive relative clauses (NRRC); however, none of them provide instrumental evidence for their claims. In order to test the differences, identical utterances containing both clause types were recorded from speakers of English (Southern American dialect) and Spanish (River Plate dialect) so that lexical peculiarities would not affect the outcome. Broad and narrow band spectograms were made of each utterance. Three significant variables emerged: (I} pitch [fo] fluctuation and (2) vowel length in the word preceding the pause, and (3) the pause length preceding and following the relative clause. Variation of these parameters indicate that both clause types are accompanied by characteristic patterns of intonation and juncture in both languages, although no major differences were found between languages. RRCs typically have sustained or rising pitch; NRRCs display rising‐falling or falling‐rising pitch. RRCs have a shorter vowel and pause, while NRRCs lengthen either one or both. However, these characteristics are not always present simultaneously. In sum, intonation may well provide information for decoding relative clauses, in addition to that supplied by their syntactic and lexical structure.