The “sing-song” intonation of Maltese English: The contribution of “early” highs and final rises
The Talk host will be Prof. Alexandra Vella (University of Malta – Institute of Linguistics & Language Technology)
Maltese English (MaltE), the variety of English of speakers of Maltese, is often perceived by listeners with experiences of other varieties, to have a “sing-song” quality to its intonation. Two observations about MaltE intonation can be made:
- Early high peaks (Hs) can often be observed to occur at the start of intonation groups.
- A relatively large number of tunes having a rising global shape seem to be available to speakers of this variety.
This talk examines material taken from a variety of sources, mostly (semi-)spontaneous / “real” data (e.g. MapTasks, interviews - #TimesTalk, news reports - Lovin Daily). It sets out to illustrate the prevalence of both early Hs at the left edges and rises at the right edges of intonation groups in an attempt at providing a starting characterisation of the intonation of MaltE. Parallels are also drawn with data from Maltese.
It is evident that language contact between Maltese and English in the Maltese context can serve to explain some of the characteristics of the intonation of MaltE. The driving force for continuing work on the intonation of this variety of English on the lines of similar work such as that reported in Grice, German & Warren (2020), however, lies in the fact that such work can bring to light intonational phenomena which may not yet be well attested. In so doing, it can lead to further the development of theoretical models to better capture the range of phenomena underlying intonation across different languages and language varieties.
To register for this event, kindly contact Ms Jessica Formosa by sending an email and you will receive a Zoom link to the event.
