Sp_ToBI
labeling system

The uses of Sp_ToBI

Description
of the system

Prosodic phrasing

Tonal
representation

Boundary tones

Final boundary tones at a break indice of level 4:

L%
M%
HH%

LH%
LM%
HL%

LHL%

Final boundary tones at a break indice of level 3:

L-
M-
H-

HH-
LH-
HL-

LHL-

How to discriminate between H- and HH-

H-

H- is manifested phonetically as a rising pitch movement, coming from either a high or a low pitch accent.

It is found at the end of non-final constituents, inconclusive statements, etc.


HH-

HH- is manifested phonetically as a very sharp rising pitch movement at the end of the phrase, often attaining a very high frequency in the speaker’s range.

It is found at the end of the first part of alternative polar questions.

Example 1: H-

Example 2: HH-

End of the first element of a coordination in a statement

Leche merengada y helado de vainilla?
[Merengued milk and vanilla ice cream?]

Alternative polar question

¿Leche merengada o helado de vainilla?
[(What would you like?) Merengued milk or vanilla ice cream?]

click to enlarge

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Explanations

These two examples are two similar sentences in which there is a disjunction, but whereas the first one is a statement with a coordination, the second one is an alternative polar question.

In both examples the contour is nearly the same: there is a rise on the first element with a peak at its end, and then a fall untill the end of the sentence.

The major difference in intonation between these two sentences is the height of the peak at the end of the first intermediate phrase: it is much higher in an alternative polar question (HH-) than in a coordination in a statement (H-).