Comment on Why do all languages share the same intonation for questions?

ABCDE@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• lvxferre@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Good catch - WH-questions tend to have a pitch drop instead.

  Now thinking, Portuguese and Italian seem to follow the same pattern as English.

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  • Deconceptualist@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Same for German.

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• cheese_greater@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Do you really think thats true?

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  • lvxferre@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Do you really think thats true?

    “Rhetorical” questions - like this one - are specially interesting because, while they follow the syntax of a genuine question, they’re pragmatically assertions. You’re implying “this is not true”, even if you’re phrasing it as a question.

    And that phrasal pitch contour that you see in yes/no questions is dictated by the pragmatical purpose of the utterance, so if the “question” is not actually a question, it doesn’t get it.

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    • tux7350@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Can you tell me more?

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      • lvxferre@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        more [with a higher pitch]

        Yes, I can. /me leaves the room

        Serious now, this sentence is a great example because, even if phrased as a yes/no question, you’ll typically see it being used as a request - “please tell me more”. And as such you’ll often hear it without the higher pitch associated with yes/no questions.

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  • spankmonkey@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I read this as you emphasizing true, not pitching up.

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    • acosmichippo@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      are you sure about ^that?

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      • smiletolerantly@awful.systems ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Hmmm…^this?^

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• corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Sorry; maybe try again and think of some other cases?

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  • aido@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    No

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    • lando55@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      You sure about that?

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• SendMePhotos@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I love you guys

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• PrimeErective@startrek.website ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Could you give some examples of questions in English that would not be asked with a rising tone at the end?

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  • ABCDE@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    What’s your name? How old are you? Where are you from?

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    • otp@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      They seem to have a rise-drop, at least when I say them.

      “How old are you?” is interesting because the rise is on the third-last word (“old”). But “How old is your daughter?” has the rise in the first syllable of daughter.

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      • Deconceptualist@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        That’s just emphasis. You can tell because you can shift it to another word.

        • What’s your name? (more pointed)
        • How old are you? (as if it’s now suddenly important)
        • What are you from? (maybe the person has an unusual accent)
        • Where are you from? (more pointed)

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      • PrimeErective@startrek.website ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        I’m totally with you. I think it is somewhat speaker dependent, but that is how I would say those questions.

        What’s your NAme

        How OLD (are you)?

        Where are you FROm?

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  • spankmonkey@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    This clip has Arnold asking questions without the rising tone while the kids mostly use the rising tone.

    “Who is my daddy and what does he do?” actually seems to drop a little bit.

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    • PrimeErective@startrek.website ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I guess in this example, “who is your daddy?” Is the main question, which has a somewhat flat intonation, but contrasted to the emphasis in the second half of the sentence, it feels like a rise

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