Riou Marine
Prismes, Sorbonne Nouvelle, France; LLF, Paris Diderot, France.
Lang Speech. 2017 Dec;60(4):658-678. doi: 10.1177/0023830917696337. Epub 2017 Mar 26.
In conversation, speakers can mobilize a variety of prosodic cues to signal a switch in topics. This paper uses a mixed-methods approach combining Conversation Analysis and Instrumental Prosody to investigate the prosody of topic transition in American English, and analyzes the ways in which speakers can play on register level and on register span. A cluster of three prosodic parameters was found to be predictive of transitions: a higher maximum fundamental frequency (F0), a higher median F0 (key), and an expanded register span. Relative to speakers' habitual profiles, the mobilization of such prosodic cues corresponds to a marked upgraded prosodic design. This finding is consistent with the general assumption that continuation constitutes the norm in conversation, and that departing from it, as in the case of a topic transition, requires a marked action and marked linguistic design. The disjunctive action of opening a new topic corresponds to the use of a marked prosodic cue.
在对话中，说话者可以运用各种韵律线索来表明话题的转换。本文采用一种结合会话分析和仪器韵律学的混合方法，来研究美式英语中话题转换的韵律，并分析说话者在语域层面和语域跨度上发挥作用的方式。研究发现，一组三个韵律参数可预测话题转换：更高的最大基频（F0）、更高的F0中位数（调值）以及更宽的语域跨度。相对于说话者的习惯特征，这些韵律线索的运用对应着显著提升的韵律设计。这一发现与一般假设一致，即延续是对话中的常态，而像话题转换这种偏离常态的情况，则需要显著的行为和显著的语言设计。开启新话题的转折行为对应着使用显著的韵律线索。
