Interrogative intonation

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines Ikpana interrogative intonation. It provides a description of the intonation of declarative sentences as a frame of reference for the intonation of polar and wh- questions. A typologically rare pattern typifies Ikpana declarative intonation—at the right edges of Intonational Phrases, Low tones are depressed and a High/Mid tone reversal takes place. In polar questions, final High and Mid tones maintain their lexical tones, edge-final Low tones rise to sub-Mid levels, and final vowels are lengthened. The intonation of wh- questions and polar interrogatives is comparable, with two exceptions: 1) wh- questions lack final lengthening and 2) final Low tones remain Low. Typologically, the combination of final lengthening and final High maintenance/rising intonation is rare and areally distinctive. Furthermore, Ikpana bucks the cross-linguistic trend for wh- questions and declaratives to have similar intonational profiles, as the intonation of wh- questions is more similar to that of polar questions.