English Sentence Prosody

- The Interface between Sound and Meaning -


Contents


         
Acknowledgments v
Introduction 1
  0.1. Aim 1  
  0.2. Organization 4  
  0.3. Basic Notions 6  
  0.4. Notation 8  
  Notes to Introduction 9  
 
PART I
ENGLISH SENTENCE PROSODY
AND A THEORY OF SENTENCE ACCENT ASSIGNMENT
 
Chapter 1
Sentence Accent Assignment
and the Specific/Nonspecific Distinction 12
  1.0. Introduction 12  
  1.1. Issues 13  
  1.1.1. Basic Facts 14  
  1.1.2. Issues to be Resolved 17  
  1.2. The Nature of the Facts 19  
  1.3. A Semantic Generalization 20  
  1.3.1. Specificity 20  
  1.3.2. A Generalization in Terms of Specificity 23  
  1.4. Formulating a Semantics-Phonology Mapping Rule 26  
  1.5. Further Cases 29  
  1.5.1. The Accentuation of NPs in Want-Contexts 29  
  1.5.2. The Accentuation of Object NPs in Imperative Sentences 31  
  1.5.3. The Accentuation of Effecturn Objects 32  
  1.5.4. The Accentuation of the Head Nouns of Infinitival Relative Clauses 34  
  1.5.5. The Accentuation of Interrogative Pronouns 35  
  1.5.6. The Accentuation of Object NPs in Negative Sentences 37  
  1.6. Summary 38  
  Notes to Chapter 1 38  
 
Chapter 2
Sentence Accent Assignment
and the Action/Nonaction Distinction 41
  2.0. Introduction 41  
  2.1. Basic Facts 42  
  2.1.1. Two-Nucleus Pattern 42  
  2.1.2. One-Nucleus Pattern 43  
  2.1.3. Cases Exhibiting either the Two-Nucleus or the One-Nucleus Pattern 44  
  2.2. Issues to be Resolved 46  
  2.3. A Semantic Characterization of the Accentuation of English Predicates 48  
  2.3.1. Nakau's (1994) Tripartite Theory of Basic Predicate Types 48  
  2.3.2. A Semantic Characterization of the Three Types of Predicates 51  
  2.3.3. A Semantic Generalization about the Accentuation of English Predicates 55  
  2.3.4. Pitch Accent Assignment Rule as a Semantics-Phonology Mapping Rule 56  
  2.4. Answers to the Questions 58  
  2.5. Further Cases 59  
  2.5.1. Transitive Verbs which Form Focus Domains with Subject NPs 59  
  2.5.2. Transitive Verbs which Form Focus Domains with Object NPs 60  
  2.5.3. The Accentuation of Verbs in Infinitival Relative Clauses 62  
  2.5.4. The Accentuation of English Auxiliary Verbs 63  
  2.6. Summary 63  
  Notes to Chapter 2 64  
 
Chapter 3
A Theory of Sentence Accent Assignment 68
  3.0. Introduction 68  
  3.1. An Overview of the Theory 69  
  3.1.1. Assumptions 69  
  3.1.2. A Model of Sentence Accent Assignment 71  
  3.2. Pitch Accent Assignment Rules 73  
  3.3. The Nucleus Assignment Rule 74  
  3.4. Rules for Phonological Phrase Formation 80  
  3.5. The Accentuation of Focus Domains Comprising a Nonspecific NP and a Nonaction Predicate 88  
  3.6. Summary 91  
  Appendix: Another Condition on English PPh-Formation 92  
  Notes to Chapter 3 94  
 
Chapter 4
Case Studies 97
  4.0. Introduction 97  
  4.1. The Accentuation of Focus Domains Comprising an Accented Specific Subject NP and an Accentless Action-Type Predicate 98  
  4.2. Default Accentuation 101  
  4.3. More on the Accentuation of Wh-Questions 104  
  4.4. The Accentuation of Adjectival Object Complements 111  
  4.5. Miscellaneous Data 114  
  4.5.1. Data Adduced by Schmerling (1976) 114  
  4.5.2. Data Adduced by Allerton and Cruttenden (1979) 118  
  4.5.3. Data Adduced by Bolinger (1985, 1986, 1989, 1991) 121  
  4.5.4. Other Cases 126  
  4.6. Summary 129  
  Notes to Chapter 4 130  
 
Chapter 5
Exceptions to the Theory and Their Explanations 131
  5.0. Introduction 131  
  5.1. Sentence Accent Assignment and the Stage-Level/Individual-Level Contrast 132  
  5.1.1. Facts 132  
  5.1.2. The Stage-Level/Individual-Level Contrast 134  
  5.1.3. Explanations for the Exceptions 135  
  5.1.4. The Stage-Level/Individual-Level Contrast and the Thetic/Categorical Contrast 139  
  5.2. Accented Nonspecific NPs within a Broad Focus Domain 142  
  5.3. Accented Nonaction-Type Predicates 143  
  5.4. The Accentuation of Secondary Predicates 145  
  5.5. Other Cases 149  
  5.5.1. Accented Wh-Phrases 149  
  5.5.2. Data Adduced by Allerton and Cruttenden (1979) 151  
  5.6. Summary 152  
  Appendix: Accentless Individual-Level Predicates 152  
  Notes to Chapter 5 156  
 
PART II
APPLICATIONS
 
Chapter 6
Sentence Accent Assignment in German 160
  6.0. Introduction 160  
  6.1. Sentence Accent Assignment in Declarative Sentences 162  
  6.1.1. The Accentuation of NPs 162  
  6.1.2. The Accentuation of Predicates 163  
  6.2. The Accentuation of Wh-Questions 165  
  6.3. Sentence Accent Assignment in Imperative Sentences 167  
  6.4. Solving the Problems 171  
  6.4.1. A Syntactic Difference between German and English 171  
  6.4.2. The Organization of Grammar and Rules 174  
  6.4.3. Derivation 176  
  6.5. Further Cases 179  
  6.5.1. The Accentuation of Intransitive Sentences 179  
  6.5.2. The Accentuation of Transitive Sentences 183  
  6.6. Puzzles 185  
  6.6.1. The Restructuring of PPhs 186  
  6.6.2. PPh-Restructuring and the Strict Layer Hypothesis 190  
  6.6.3. Intransitive Sentences with an Accentless Predicate 193  
  6.6.4. Sentence Accent and the Rhythm Rule 195  
  6.6.5. PPh-Fusion 197  
  6.7. On the Possibility of a Syntactic Analysis of the Accentuation of German Predicates 202  
  6.8. Cinque (1993) on German Sentence Prosody 206  
  6.9. Summary 207  
  Notes to Chapter 6 208  
 
Chapter 7
Sentence Accent Assignment in Dutch 210
  7.0. Introduction 210  
  7.1. The Facts 211  
  7.2. A Reanalysis 215  
  7.2.1. The Organization of Grammar and Rules 215  
  7.2.2. Derivations 219  
  7.3. A Further Case 224  
  7.4. More on the Relevance of the Head-Argument Relation to Sentence Prosody 228  
  7.5. Problems with Gussenhoven's (1984) Analysis of Sentence Accent Assignment in Dutch 230  
  7.6. Summary 232  
  Notes to Chapter 7 232  
 
Chapter 8
Danish Unit Accentuation and Semantic Information 234
  8.0. Introduction 234  
  8.1. Danish UA and the Specific/Nonspecific Distinction 236  
  8.2. Danish UA and the Action/Nonaction Distinction 241  
  8.3. Rules and Derivations 246  
  8.3.1. Assumptions and the Organization of Grammar 246  
  8.3.2. Rules 247  
  8.3.3. Derivations 248  
  8.4. Puzzles 251  
  8.4.1. PPh-Formation and the Head-Argument Relation 252  
  8.4.2. UA and 'Verba Ponendi' 255  
  8.5. Theoretical Implications 259  
  8.6. Summary 260  
  Notes to Chapter 8 260  
 
PART III
CRITIQUE OF PREVIOUS STUDIES
 
Chapter 9
Previous Studies and Their Problems 264
  9.0. Introduction 264  
  9.1. The Explanatory Targets of This Thesis 265  
  9.2. Syntactic Approaches 267  
  9.2.1. Chomsky and Halle (1968) 267  
  9.2.2. Bresnan (1971, 1972) 269  
  9.2.3. Culicover and Rochemont (1983) 271  
  9.2.4. Selkirk (1984) 273  
  9.3. Eclectic Approaches 274  
  9.3.1. Schmerling (1976) 274  
  9.3.2. Bing (1979) 275  
  9.3.3. Ladd (1980) 277  
  9.3.4. Gussenhoven (1984) 278  
  9.4. Pragmatic Approaches 280  
  9.4.1. Bolinger (1985, 1986, 1989, 1991) 280  
  9.4.2. Lambrecht (1994) 283  
  9.5. Summary 284  
 
Conclusion 285
 
Bibliography 289
Index 297


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