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12 - The Intonation of Declaratives and Polar Questions in Modern versus Heritage Icelandic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2024

By
Nicole Dehé  and
Meike Rommel
Edited by
Rajiv Rao
Rajiv Rao
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Summary

Based on quasi-spontaneous speech data taken from a map task study designed to test Icelandic intonation, this chapter compares the intonation of declaratives and polar questions (PQs) in moribund North American (heritage) Icelandic (NAmIce), spoken by elderly speakers in Manitoba, Canada, to that of Modern Icelandic (ModIce), spoken by two age groups in Iceland. We find similarities between ModIce and NAmIce that we interpret as maintenance of Icelandic characteristics in NAmIce (e.g., L*+H L% nuclear contour in NAmIce PQs), as well as differences that we interpret as transfer from North American English to NAmIce (e.g., L* H% nuclear contour in NAmIce PQs, L*+H nuclear accent in NAmIce declaratives). These results are in line with previous research on intonation in heritage languages. We do not find pervasive differences between the two ModIce age groups.

Keywords

CanadadeclarativeintonationModern Icelandicmoribund varietyNorth American Icelandicpolar question
Type
Chapter
Information
The Phonetics and Phonology of Heritage Languages , pp. 259 - 279
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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