The term boundary tone refers to a rise or fall in pitch that occurs in speech at the end of a sentence or other utterance, or, if a sentence is divided into two or more intonational phrases, at the end of each intonational phrase. It can also refer to a low or high intonational tone at the beginning of an utterance or intonational phrase.
The term was first introduced in a PhD thesis on English intonation by Mark Liberman in 1975 but without being developed further.[1] It was taken up again in 1980 in another PhD thesis on English intonation by Janet Pierrehumbert.[2] In Pierrehumbert's model, which later developed into the ToBI system of intonational transcription, every intonational phrase is marked as ending in a boundary tone, written either H% when the speaker's voice rises up or remains high, or L% when it falls or remains low.
In modern intonational studies the term 'boundary tone' replaces the notion of 'terminal junctures' (falling #, rising //, and level /) used in earlier American studies of intonation.[3]
Pierrehumbert gives the example of the sentence This is my sister Mary. This can be pronounced in two ways, either as a single intonational phrase with a single high pitch on the first syllable of Mary (L L L L L H L), or as two intonational phrases with a high pitch both on sister and on Mary (L L L H L H L). If it is pronounced the second way, the words sister and Mary both have a falling intonation, and each one is transcribed by Pierrehumbert as H* L− L%.[4] Here the asterisk (*) indicates a pitch accent, the hyphen (−) indicates a phrase accent, which fills the interval between the last pitch accent and the final boundary tone, and the percent symbol (%) indicates the boundary tone itself.[5]
Pitch track illustrating the H% boundary tone, from Pierrehumbert (1980), p. 266.
In another example, in response to the question, "What about Anna? Who did she come with?", a speaker may reply Anna came with Manny. Again there are two possible pronunciations: the speaker can either say this as a single intonational phrase with a single high pitch on Manny (L L L L H L), or as two intonational phrases with one high pitch on the first syllable of Anna and another on the first syllable of Manny (H L L L H L). If the sentence is pronounced in the second way, because the word Anna is the topic of the sentence and does not give new information, it will have a slight rise in pitch on the second syllable (see the illustration). In this case it is transcribed by Pierrehumbert as H* L− H%.[6]
A boundary tone can also begin a sentence or intonational phrase. For example, the phrase Another orange would usually be pronounced with a low pitch on the first syllable. However, it can sometimes be pronounced with a high pitch on the vowel A-. Pierrehumbert marks this high pitch also with H%.[7] (A low boundary tone at the beginning of an utterance is usually not marked by Pierrehumbert.)
Boundary tones in other languages
Because of its simplicity compared with previous attempts at transcribing English intonation, Pierrehumbert's model has been influential[8] and has been successfully adapted to several other languages, for example Persian,[9]German,[10] and Dutch.[11] Some analyses use a larger number of boundary tones than L% and H%; for example for Dutch, Gussenhoven uses L%, H%, and % (no boundary tone) at the end of an utterance, and %L, %H, and %HL at the beginning;[11] while for Italian Frota and Prieto posit six boundary tones, written L%, H%, LH%, HL%, L!H%, and H!H% (where !H represents a downstepped high tone, i.e. one slightly lower in pitch than the previous one).[12]
Internal boundary tones
A rising boundary tone can often be heard internally in a sentence in some languages, for example, to mark a topic,[13] to mark off items in a list, or following the subordinate clause in a sentence such as "If you like it, please buy it".[14] (See further: Chichewa tones#Boundary tones.)
Question boundary tones
Boundary tones are also used to mark questions in many languages. For example, in Chichewa, a yes-no question may be indicated either by a rising tone on the final syllable, or by a high-low falling tone (e.g. mwalandirâ? "have you received it?").[15] In Luganda, a related language spoken in Uganda, on the contrary, a yes-no question is indicated by a low tone on the final syllable (e.g. ssóméró 'it is a school' vs. ssóméro 'is it a school?').[16] (See Chichewa tones and Luganda tones.)
A corpus-based study of yes-no questions in American English found that the great majority of them (approximately 90%) ended in a high boundary tone (H%), most frequently (80%) using a "low-rise" final contour transcribed L*H-H%. The next most common contour is H*H-H%, which is described as "high-rise". A typical low-rise question transcribed in the study is And do you still work for a veterinarian?, with the syllable ve- marked as L* followed by a smooth rise to a high pitch at the end.[17] Less commonly a yes-no question will end in a "high-fall", for example, Is it treatable?, in which the word treatable is marked H*L-L%.[18]
Cruttenden, Alan (1986). Intonation. Cambridge University Press.
Frota, Sónia; & Pilar Prieto (Eds.) (2015), Intonation in Romance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Grice, Martine; Stefan Baumann and Ralf Benzmüller (2005) "German Intonation in Autosegmental-Metrical Phonology". Sun-Ah Jun Prosodic Typology: The Phonology of Intonation and Phrasing. Oxford University Press, pp. 55–83.
Gussenhoven, Carlos (2010). "Transcription of Dutch Intonation" in Sun-Ah Jun Prosodic Typology: The Phonology of Intonation and Phrasing. Oxford Scholarship Online, chapter 5. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199249633.001.0001.
Hedberg, Nancy, Juan M. Sosa, Emrah Görgülü (2014) "The Meaning of Intonation in Yes-No Questions in American English: A Corpus Study". Published in Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 13,2. DOI
Liberman, Mark Y. (1975) "The Intonational System of English" Ph.D. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Myers, Scott (1996). "Boundary tones and the phonetic implementation of tone in Chichewa", Studies in African Linguistics 25, 29–60.
Pierrehumbert, Janet B. (1980) Ph.D. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Port, R. ToBI Intonation Transcription Summary, Indiana University Introduction to Phonetics course.
Sadat-Tehrani, Nima, (2007). "The Intonational Grammar of Persian". Ph.D. Thesis, University of Manitoba.
May 03, 2023
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The term boundary tone refers to a rise or fall in pitch that occurs in speech at the end of a sentence or other utterance or if a sentence is divided into two or more intonational phrases at the end of each intonational phrase It can also refer to a low or high intonational tone at the beginning of an utterance or intonational phrase The term was first introduced in a PhD thesis on English intonation by Mark Liberman in 1975 but without being developed further 1 It was taken up again in 1980 in another PhD thesis on English intonation by Janet Pierrehumbert 2 In Pierrehumbert s model which later developed into the ToBI system of intonational transcription every intonational phrase is marked as ending in a boundary tone written either H when the speaker s voice rises up or remains high or L when it falls or remains low In modern intonational studies the term boundary tone replaces the notion of terminal junctures falling rising and level used in earlier American studies of intonation 3 Contents 1 Examples of boundary tones 2 Boundary tones in other languages 3 Internal boundary tones 4 Question boundary tones 5 See also 6 References 7 BibliographyExamples of boundary tones EditPierrehumbert gives the example of the sentence This is my sister Mary This can be pronounced in two ways either as a single intonational phrase with a single high pitch on the first syllable of Mary L L L L L H L or as two intonational phrases with a high pitch both on sister and on Mary L L L H L H L If it is pronounced the second way the words sister and Mary both have a falling intonation and each one is transcribed by Pierrehumbert as H L L 4 Here the asterisk indicates a pitch accent the hyphen indicates a phrase accent which fills the interval between the last pitch accent and the final boundary tone and the percent symbol indicates the boundary tone itself 5 Pitch track illustrating the H boundary tone from Pierrehumbert 1980 p 266 In another example in response to the question What about Anna Who did she come with a speaker may reply Anna came with Manny Again there are two possible pronunciations the speaker can either say this as a single intonational phrase with a single high pitch on Manny L L L L H L or as two intonational phrases with one high pitch on the first syllable of Anna and another on the first syllable of Manny H L L L H L If the sentence is pronounced in the second way because the word Anna is the topic of the sentence and does not give new information it will have a slight rise in pitch on the second syllable see the illustration In this case it is transcribed by Pierrehumbert as H L H 6 A boundary tone can also begin a sentence or intonational phrase For example the phrase Another orange would usually be pronounced with a low pitch on the first syllable However it can sometimes be pronounced with a high pitch on the vowel A Pierrehumbert marks this high pitch also with H 7 A low boundary tone at the beginning of an utterance is usually not marked by Pierrehumbert Boundary tones in other languages EditBecause of its simplicity compared with previous attempts at transcribing English intonation Pierrehumbert s model has been influential 8 and has been successfully adapted to several other languages for example Persian 9 German 10 and Dutch 11 Some analyses use a larger number of boundary tones than L and H for example for Dutch Gussenhoven uses L H and no boundary tone at the end of an utterance and L H and HL at the beginning 11 while for Italian Frota and Prieto posit six boundary tones written L H LH HL L H and H H where H represents a downstepped high tone i e one slightly lower in pitch than the previous one 12 Internal boundary tones EditA rising boundary tone can often be heard internally in a sentence in some languages for example to mark a topic 13 to mark off items in a list or following the subordinate clause in a sentence such as If you like it please buy it 14 See further Chichewa tones Boundary tones Question boundary tones EditBoundary tones are also used to mark questions in many languages For example in Chichewa a yes no question may be indicated either by a rising tone on the final syllable or by a high low falling tone e g mwalandira have you received it 15 In Luganda a related language spoken in Uganda on the contrary a yes no question is indicated by a low tone on the final syllable e g ssomero it is a school vs ssomero is it a school 16 See Chichewa tones and Luganda tones A corpus based study of yes no questions in American English found that the great majority of them approximately 90 ended in a high boundary tone H most frequently 80 using a low rise final contour transcribed L H H The next most common contour is H H H which is described as high rise A typical low rise question transcribed in the study is And do you still work for a veterinarian with the syllable ve marked as L followed by a smooth rise to a high pitch at the end 17 Less commonly a yes no question will end in a high fall for example Is it treatable in which the word treatable is marked H L L 18 See also EditIntonation linguistics ToBIReferences Edit Liberman 1975 p 286 Pierrehumbert 1980 p 26 Cruttenden 1986 pp 45f Pierrehumbert 1980 p 266 Port R ToBI Intonation Transcription Summary Pierrehumbert 1980 pp 47 266 315 Pierrehumbert 1980 p 258 Cruttenden 1986 p 67f Sadat Tehrani 2007 Grice et al 2005 a b Gussenhoven 2010 Frota amp Prieto 2015 p 412 Myers 1996 p 34 Kanerva Jonni M 1990 Focus and Phrasing in Chichewa Phonology New York Garland p 147 Myers 1996 p 35 Hullquist C G 1988 Simply Chichewa p 145 Kamoga F K amp Stevick E W 1968 Luganda Basic Course p 242 Hedberg et al 2014 p 10 Hedberg et al p 13 Bibliography EditCruttenden Alan 1986 Intonation Cambridge University Press Frota Sonia amp Pilar Prieto Eds 2015 Intonation in Romance Oxford Oxford University Press Grice Martine Stefan Baumann and Ralf Benzmuller 2005 German Intonation in Autosegmental Metrical Phonology Sun Ah Jun Prosodic Typology The Phonology of Intonation and Phrasing Oxford University Press pp 55 83 Gussenhoven Carlos 2010 Transcription of Dutch Intonation in Sun Ah Jun Prosodic Typology The Phonology of Intonation and Phrasing Oxford Scholarship Online chapter 5 doi 10 1093 acprof oso 9780199249633 001 0001 Hedberg Nancy Juan M Sosa Emrah Gorgulu 2014 The Meaning of Intonation in Yes No Questions in American English A Corpus Study Published in Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory 13 2 DOI Liberman Mark Y 1975 The Intonational System of English Ph D Thesis Massachusetts Institute of Technology Myers Scott 1996 Boundary tones and the phonetic implementation of tone in Chichewa Studies in African Linguistics 25 29 60 Pierrehumbert Janet B 1980 The Phonology and Phonetics of English Intonation Ph D Thesis Massachusetts Institute of Technology Port R ToBI Intonation Transcription Summary Indiana University Introduction to Phonetics course Sadat Tehrani Nima 2007 The Intonational Grammar of Persian Ph D Thesis University of Manitoba Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Boundary tone amp oldid 1118578308, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
