2024/06/07 by El Zarka, Dina
paper · doi:10.25364/04.49:2023.94.1
This paper outlines a configurational model of Egyptian Arabic intonation, which was developed in a data-driven analysis of naturalistic data, on the assumption that prosodic constructions are emergent from language use. Prosodic constructions are viewed as conventionalized pairings of form and meaning on different levels. The model is configurational in a dual sense. First, prosodic patterns are seen as holistic ‘configurations’ involving a multiplicity of phonetic features. Second, intonation patterns are described in terms of tonal configurations such as rises, falls and level tones. The basic unit of intonation is the accentual phrase (AP), which comes in two basic shapes, rising (linking/leading) vs. falling (closing), reflecting their most basic functions: connection vs. separation. Concatenations of these basic units are suggested to form prosodic constructions with more specialized meanings.