The intonation of monosyllabic Hungarian yes-no questions

Abstract

The paper examines the intonation of monosyllabic Hungarian yes-no questions, which, according to the literature, is different from the intonation of polysyllabic Hungarian yes-no questions. The paper's conclusion is that the difference is only phonetic, not phonological. From a phonological point of view, such questions carry a rising-falling intonation pattern, just like their polysyllabic counterparts. This is proved by the facts of contour concord, which we can observe between the melodies of so called equivalent blocks in Hungarian sentences (Varga 2002, 100-2). From a phonetic point of view, however, the falling part of the abstract rising-falling pattern is normally truncated, leaving only a rise. The final fall (in the form of a downglide) is optionally preserved in surprised monosyllabic yes-no questions, when the syllable has a long vowel in it, able to accommodate the downglide.