Intonation Contours in Spontaneous Speech of Russian Germans: An Experimental Study of German Language Islands
Abstract
Today, there are a few German language islands still existing in the Kirov region. The dialects spoken in these linguistic communities represent unique varieties of the German language as they are functioning in the context of intralingual and interlingual interaction. The research on the German language islands of the Kirov region is not only focused on studying the segment structure of the dialects, but it also looks into the features on the suprasegmental level.
This paper describes an experimental technique used to determine complete and incomplete intonation phrases, identify intonation patterns, and describe the nuclear contours. This new experimental technique is based on the analysis of non-intonation criteria, such as semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic factors. The findings of the research suggest that the intonation contours identified in speech of Russian Germans are characteristic of speakers of both High German and Low German dialects. The study has shown no distinctions in this parameter between the dia lects, which indicates the mixed nature of the dialects spoken in the region.
We believe the suggested technique may become an effective tool in the study of the suprasegmental features of the German language islands. It may be of interest to researchers of suprasegmental properties of spontaneous speech.
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References
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