In Palermo Italian yes-no interrogatives, if the last syllable of a phrase is unstressed, the nuclear pitch contour is rising-falling, whereas if it is stressed, the contour is simply rising. An autosegmental analysis, where pitch configurations are expressed in terms of H(igh) and L(ow) tones which are either part of a pitch accent or at intermediate or intonation phrase boundaries, is shown to offer the flexibility necessary to account for such context-dependent variation. The interrogative marker consists of a L*+H pitch accent. There is no paradigmatic contrast on the intermediate phrase...
In Palermo Italian yes-no interrogatives, if the last syllable of a phrase is unstressed, the nuclear pitch contour is rising-falling, whereas if it i...