The phenomenon to be discussed in the present paper is a frequently occurring but not previously studied discourse-prosodic process of colloquial Norwegian, whereby two consecutive Intonation Units (IUs) in an answering turn are truncated and blended, ending up as one IU instead of two, Tb: first IU of the input sequence of intonation contours where this IU reduction may take place is always an affirmative or negative response word, and the second input IU is always a declarative sentence reinforcing, expanding, or commenting on the response already given. How can we account for this intonational reduction process? What is its functional basis? These are the central questions this paper attempts to answer. It will be demonstrated that the phenomenon is not simply a function of rapid conversational style, even if it tends to occur much more in allegro speech of the rather informal sort than in more formal speaking styles. There are some specific rule-governed constraints on its application, some formal constraints that will be shown to interrelate with certain pragmatic constraints.
Cite as: Fretheim, T. (1991) The structural and pragmatic basis of an intonational reduction process in colloquial Norwegian. Proc. ESCA Workshop on Phonetics and Phonology of Speaking Styles, paper 025
@inproceedings{fretheim91_ppst,
author={Thorstein Fretheim},
title={{The structural and pragmatic basis of an intonational reduction process in colloquial Norwegian}},
year=1991,
booktitle={Proc. ESCA Workshop on Phonetics and Phonology of Speaking Styles},
pages={paper 025}
}