On the Prosodic Interface: Towards the Typology of Prosody in Tonal Language

Prosody is the melody and rhythm of speech. All languages use prosody in one way or another. English uses falling or rising tune (also known as intonation) in the expression of communicative functions such as making a statement, asking a question, and highlighting part of the utterance. Different tunes (also known as tone) are also used in tonal language to distinguish lexical and/or grammatical meanings along with intonation. Cross-linguistic examination of the prosodic patterns sees problems in analysing prosody and its dynamics with grammar and information structure in tonal languages where tone and intonation entangled by using the same acoustic parameter of pitch. Among tonal languages, Tibeto-Burman languages are significant in understanding prosodic typology because they are outliers in Asia, with tone functions and patterns that resemble African-type tone languages. ITFprosd will investigate the typology of prosody of tonal language and examine the prosodic interfaces through a fine-grinded analysis of an endangered Tibeto-Burman language of Tsum. ITFprosd innovatively integrated fieldwork-based data collection with theoretical data analysis and will contribute three theoretical innovations addressed to the prosodic interface studies literature, the prosodic typology, and Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG). It employs a mixed method to provide empirically rich, granular analyses of prosody through the investigation of natural speech data in Tsum. One aim of the project is to understand how prosody interacts with other grammatical aspects in tonally complex language. The second contribution lies in its implication for prosodic typology. By conducting a comprehensive examination of the prosody in Tsum, what does Tsum tell us about the typology of Tibeto-Burman language and beyond? Thirdly, ITFprosd will enrich current theoretical perspectives on and advance the field of prosodic interface study with novel empirical data from Tsum using the framework of LFG.