ETRW on Dialogue and Prosody September 1-3, 1999 Veldhoven, The Netherlands

On the Relationship Between the Melodical Structure and Discourse Functions of the Particles NU and VOT in Spontaneous Russian

Anne Kuosmanen

University of Tampere, Finland

Russian discourse particles nu and vot can signal transition on four levels of discourse, the definitions of which are based on Schiffrin’s [1:25] discourse model. The transitions can be further classified into four main groups: turn transitions, topical transitions, situational transitions and informative transitions [2]. In this paper Shiffrin’s model is applied to spontaneous speech material. The resulting classification of discourse functions of nu and vot is followed by an acoustic study of the accented cases of these particles. Fundamental frequency, intensity, syllable duration and pausing were taken into account in the analysis. At this stage, the acoustic side of the study is focused on F0 measurements and their statistical analysis. The aim of this study is, thus, to clarify the complex relationship between discourse functions and melodic structure of nu and vot in spontaneous Russian.

References

1. Schiffrin, D., Discourse markers, Studies in Interactional Sociolinguistics 5, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987.
2. Multisilta, T. "Pragmatic Particles nu and vot in Spoken Russian". Organization in Discourse. Anglicana Turkuensia vol. 14. Turku. 1995.



Full Paper

Bibliographic reference.  Kuosmanen, Anne (1999): "On the relationship between the melodical structure and discourse functions of the particles NU and VOT in spontaneous Russian", In DIAPRO-1999, 105-110.