Previous research on the tone system of Yucatec Maya provides contradictory accounts which this paper intends to do away with, disentangling tonal and intonational effects. The first part presents the mere realisation of lexical high and low tones, the only tonal distinction we identify for Yucatec Maya. Second, we claim that in Yucatec Maya no interaction exists between intonation and lexical tone. We prove this claim showing that neither topic nor focus is realized by means of intonational pitch accents; instead they are marked only by syntax. Deviating tonal patterns from tonal default realisation are a result of tonal effects that surface as tonal transitions, and/or phrasing effects
Cite as: Kügler, F., Skopeteas, S. (2006) Interaction of lexical tone and information structure in Yucatec Maya. Proc. 2nd International Symposium on Tonal Aspects of Languages (TAL 2006), 77-82
@inproceedings{kugler06_tal,
author={Frank Kügler and Stavros Skopeteas},
title={{Interaction of lexical tone and information structure in Yucatec Maya}},
year=2006,
booktitle={Proc. 2nd International Symposium on Tonal Aspects of Languages (TAL 2006)},
pages={77--82}
}