27. Phrasal and Utterance Intonation

Rising-nucleus accent in utterance context 11 sentences

How does a rising-nucleus accent system function in utterance context?

The accent-dialect split 1 claims ·4 sentences

How do accent dialects differ from unaccented varieties in lexical pitch?

1. In the Tokachi dialect, a non-rising intonation contour occurs in interrogatives lacking a final predicate verb when ending in a noun, nominalizer, or conjunctive particle followed by an interrogative particle.
   十勝方言では、文末述語動詞を欠き名詞・形式名詞または接続小詞＋疑問小詞で終わる疑問文において非上昇イントネーションが生じる。
   distribution hokkaido/central/tokachi always
   reports shiraishi2022
   • shiraishi2022:13.7 reports checked

Declarative and continuation contours 5 claims ·5 sentences

What is the fundamental frequency contour of declarative utterances?

1. In Sakhalin Ainu, declarative sentences are generally pronounced with rising intonation, whereas interrogative sentences are pronounced with falling intonation.
   樺太アイヌ語の一般的な発話では叙述文が上がり音調で、疑問文が下がり音調で発話される。
   form-function sakhalin generally
   asserts murasaki2025
   • murasaki2025:84 asserts checked
   • contrasts(differs in dialect): In the Shizunai dialect, sentence intonation rises gradually in questions.— Questions have falling intonation in Sakhalin Ainu but rising intonation in Shizunai.
   • contrasts(differs in dialect): In the Shizunai dialect, sentence intonation is slightly falling in declarative sentences.— Declaratives have rising intonation in Sakhalin Ainu but falling intonation in Shizunai.
2. In affirmative sentences, sentence-final intonation tends to rise slightly, though not as high as in interrogative sentences.
   肯定文では文末のイントネーションがやや上がり気味になる傾向があるが、疑問文ほどは上昇しない。
   other ainu tends
   asserts nakagawa2024
   • nakagawa2024:407 asserts checked
   • contrasts(differs in dialect): In the Shizunai dialect, sentence intonation is slightly falling in declarative sentences.— Nakagawa reports slight terminal rising in affirmative sentences across Ainu, whereas Refsing reports slightly falling declarative intonation in Shizunai.
3. In the Shizunai dialect, sentence intonation is slightly falling in declarative sentences.
   静内方言において、平叙文の文イントネーションはわずかに下降する。
   form-function hokkaido/southwest/shizunai always
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:75 asserts checked
4. In ordinary declarative speech in the Saru dialect, pitch exhibits a natural decline without a final rise or fall at the end of the sentence.
   沙流方言の通常の平叙発話では、文末の上昇や下降を伴わず自然にピッチが下降する。
   distribution hokkaido/southwest/saru always
   reports shiraishi2022
   • shiraishi2022:13.7 reports checked
5. In the Saru dialect, a rising intonation contour appears when the speaker expects a reaction from the interlocutor.
   沙流方言では、聞き手からの反応を期待する場合に上昇イントネーションが現れる。
   form-function hokkaido/southwest/saru always
   reports shiraishi2022
   • shiraishi2022:13.7 reports checked

Interrogative contours and sentence-final particles 6 claims ·11 sentences

What intonational features characterize polar interrogatives?

1. In Sakhalin Ainu, sentences ending in the final particle hVV take falling intonation in questions and rising intonation in non-questions.
   樺太アイヌ語において終助詞 hVV を伴う文は、疑問文で下がりイントネーション、非疑問文で上がりイントネーションをとる。
   form-function sakhalin always hVV
   asserts murasaki2025
   • murasaki2025:19 asserts checked
   • refines(differs in scope): In Sakhalin Ainu, declarative sentences are generally pronounced with rising intonation, whereas interrogative sentences are pronounced with falling intonation.— Applies the Sakhalin pattern of rising non-questions and falling questions specifically to sentences with the final particle hVV.
2. In the Shizunai dialect, sentence intonation rises gradually in questions.
   静内方言において、疑問文の文イントネーションは次第に上昇する。
   form-function hokkaido/southwest/shizunai always
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:75 asserts checked
   • contrasts(differs in dialect): In the Saru dialect, interrogative sentences without a final rising pitch contour are attested.— Shizunai questions exhibit rising intonation, while Saru attests interrogatives without final rise.
3. In the Shizunai dialect, the use of sentence-final particles and forms greatly diminishes the importance of intonation.
   静内方言において、文末小詞や文末形式の使用によりイントネーションの重要性は大幅に減少している。
   distribution hokkaido/southwest/shizunai always
   asserts refsing1986
   • refsing1986:75 asserts checked
4. In the Saru dialect, interrogative pitch movement and intensity peaks occur primarily on sentence-final interrogative particles.
   沙流方言の疑問文では、ピッチ変動と強度のピークが主に文末の疑問小詞に現れる。
   distribution hokkaido/southwest/saru mostly haweyaahe
   reports shiraishi2022
   • shiraishi2022:13.7 reports checked
5. In the Saru dialect, interrogative sentences without a final rising pitch contour are attested.
   沙流方言において、文末上昇音調を伴わない疑問文の存在が確認されている。
   existence hokkaido/southwest/saru exists
   reports shiraishi2022
   • shiraishi2022:13.7 reports checked
6. In acoustic data of the Saru dialect, interrogative sentences ending in nankora are uttered with a falling intonation contour.
   沙流方言の音声データにおいて、nankora で終わる文は下降イントネーションで発話される。
   distribution hokkaido/southwest/saru always nankora
   reports shiraishi2022
   • shiraishi2022:13.7 reports checked
   • refines(differs in scope): In the Saru dialect, interrogative sentences without a final rising pitch contour are attested.— Documents a specific interrogative particle that yields a falling contour without sentence-final rise.

Exclamatory and wish prosody 2 claims ·4 sentences· 1 examples

How does prosody mark exclamatory and optative utterances?

1. In Sakhalin Ainu, utterances expressing surprise are typically spoken with falling intonation.
   樺太アイヌ語において驚きを表現する発話では下がり音調が典型的である。
   form-function sakhalin typically
   asserts murasaki2025
   • murasaki2025:84 asserts checked
2. In the Saru dialect, expressing exclamation or wish raises the pitch of the whole utterance and produces a lengthened rising-falling contour at the end of the sentence.
   沙流方言では感嘆や願望を表す際に発話全体のピッチが高くなり、文末に長引く上昇下降の音調が現れる。
   form-function hokkaido/southwest/saru always
   reports shiraishi2022
   • shiraishi2022:13.7 reports checked

Phrasal grouping and prosodic domains 1 claims ·9 sentences

What prosodic phrase boundaries exist between the word and the utterance?

1. In Hokkaido Ainu, a level or falling intonation contour implies continuation, whereas a rising contour marks utterance finality.
   北海道アイヌ語において、平坦または下降音調は後続発話の存在を暗示し、上昇音調は発話の明確な終末を標示する。
   form-function hokkaido always
   reports shiraishi2022
   • shiraishi2022:13.7 reports anchored

Typological comparison: Hachijō intonation 4 sentences

How does Hachijō Japanese intonation compare typologically?