The role of topic shift and conversation turn in the intonation of Italian wh-questions

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse the intonation patterns of Italian wh-questions in relation to epistemic orientation, topic shift and turn organisation. The research conducted so far has shown that wh-questions have both falling and rising final contours. Linguistic, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic factors are recognised to affect intonation patterns. Nevertheless, the influence of conversational elements on intonation contours remains unclear and requires further research. This study analyses a corpus of unplanned conversations to evaluate how the retention/change of topic and the maintenance/transfer of dialogic turn affect the intonation of questions. The research revealed two significant findings. Firstly, wh-question categorisation shows that the degree of epistemic certainty has a profound impact on topic shift and floor passing. Secondly, the results suggest that conversational aspects do not significantly affect the final intonation patterns. However, they do have a relevant effect on the initial pitch level of the questions, leading to an increase in the onset and overall pitch range.