Quieter, faster, lower, and set off by pauses? Reflections on prosodic aspects of parenthetical constructions in modern German
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Sandra Döring
Abstract
Parentheticals are a fascinating way of interrupting spoken and written utterances. This paper focuses on prosodic aspects of the analysis of such constructions in contemporary German. The investigation starts with a discussion of the prosodic features relevant to the study of parentheticals such as discussed in previous literature – intensity, articulation rate, fundamental frequency, pauses, and intonation contours – and, drawing on these features, goes on to discuss data from recent parliamentary debates. The results show that future prosodic studies should focus on the transition zone between the part of the anchor clause preceding the parenthetical construction, and the parenthetical construction itself.
Abstract
Parentheticals are a fascinating way of interrupting spoken and written utterances. This paper focuses on prosodic aspects of the analysis of such constructions in contemporary German. The investigation starts with a discussion of the prosodic features relevant to the study of parentheticals such as discussed in previous literature – intensity, articulation rate, fundamental frequency, pauses, and intonation contours – and, drawing on these features, goes on to discuss data from recent parliamentary debates. The results show that future prosodic studies should focus on the transition zone between the part of the anchor clause preceding the parenthetical construction, and the parenthetical construction itself.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- List of contributors ix
- Parentheticals 1
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SYNTAX AND ITS INTERFACES
- Spoken parenthetical clauses in English 25
- Integrated parentheticals and assertional complements 53
- The complement of reduced parentheticals 89
- Long extraction or parenthetical insertion? Evidence from judgement studies 121
- And -parenthetical clauses 145
- On the syntax and semantics of appositive relative clauses 173
- Invisible constituents? Parentheticals as b-merged adverbial phrases 203
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SEMANTICS/PRAGMATICS AND THEIR INTERFACES
- Reduced parenthetical clauses in Romance languages: A pragmatic typology 237
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PROSODY AND ITS INTERFACES
- The relation between syntactic and prosodic parenthesis 261
- Quieter, faster, lower, and set off by pauses? Reflections on prosodic aspects of parenthetical constructions in modern German 285
- Name Index 309
- Subject Index 311
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- List of contributors ix
- Parentheticals 1
-
SYNTAX AND ITS INTERFACES
- Spoken parenthetical clauses in English 25
- Integrated parentheticals and assertional complements 53
- The complement of reduced parentheticals 89
- Long extraction or parenthetical insertion? Evidence from judgement studies 121
- And -parenthetical clauses 145
- On the syntax and semantics of appositive relative clauses 173
- Invisible constituents? Parentheticals as b-merged adverbial phrases 203
-
SEMANTICS/PRAGMATICS AND THEIR INTERFACES
- Reduced parenthetical clauses in Romance languages: A pragmatic typology 237
-
PROSODY AND ITS INTERFACES
- The relation between syntactic and prosodic parenthesis 261
- Quieter, faster, lower, and set off by pauses? Reflections on prosodic aspects of parenthetical constructions in modern German 285
- Name Index 309
- Subject Index 311
