Abstract
Due to their addressing nature, vocatives and imperatives have been said in multiple occasions to have the same function and similar phonological characteristics. The aim of this paper is to examine the intonational link between these two kinds of sentences in Peninsular Spanish considering sociopragmatic and situational factors like the level of formality and the degree of insistence. In order to do so, twenty-eight native speakers of Peninsular Spanish produced isolated names and verbs in formal and informal settings followed by insistent productions. The phonetic and phonological analyses of 1232 one-word productions indicate that both speech acts share multiple contours; namely L* H%, L + H* HL%, L + H* !H%, L + H* L%, L + H* H%, L + H* LH%. Nevertheless, L + H* L% was the most used contour for both speech acts regardless of the sociopragmatic and situational factors. Interestingly, speakers modified the phonetic properties of intensity and F0 depending on the situation since informal and insistent productions had a higher F0, wider pitch excursions and more intensity than their formal and non-insistent counterparts. As alternatives, L* L% contours were attested in formal imperatives while L + H* LH% and L + H* HL% were more common in informal ones. After L + H* L% contours, L + H* HL% and L* H% were the preferred options in formal vocatives but the latter was hardly attested in informal ones.
A Appendix
Examples of prompts
Vocative - Informal situation:
Amanda, tu mejor amiga, te ha invitado a cenar y te ha dicho que ha dejado la puerta abierta porque va a estar ocupada cocinando. Llegas a su apartamento y Amanda está de espaldas en la cocina pero no se da cuenta de que has llegado. Llámala. Amanda, your best friend, has invited you over for dinner and she has told you that the door will be unlocked because she will be busy cooking. When you get to her apartment she is in the kitchen facing the other way and she doesn’t realize you are there. Call her.
Amanda Amanda
Tu amiga Amanda sigue sin darse cuenta de que estás allí. Vuelve a llamarla. Your friend Amanda still doesn’t realize that you are there. Call her again.
Amanda Amanda
Imperative: Formal situation:
Eres abogado/a de una compañía, otra compañía ha estafado a la tuya y estás en una reunión con tu jefe. Él considera la opción de demandar a la otra compañía y espera tu opinión. Piensas que demandar es la mejor solución y le pides que lo haga. You work as a lawyer for a company, another company has scammed yours and now you are at a meeting with your boss. He is considering the option of suing the other company and he wants to hear your opinion. You think suing is the best solution and you ask him to do it.
Demande Sue (them)
Tu jefe expresa que sigue sin estar seguro de si debe poner una demanda. Como abogado/a sabes que es lo mejor para la compañía por lo que vuelves a intentar convencer a tu jefe. Insiste. Your boss says that he is still not sure if he should sue them. As a lawyer you know it is the best option for the company so you try again to convince your boss. Insist on him suing:
Demande Sue (them)
Averages (and SDs) for vocatives with L+H* L% configurations produced by women.
| Women - L+H* L% VOCATIVES | Range St | Average St | Average dB | Range Hz | Average Hz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st formal call | 7.9 (4.6) | 92.1 (2.3) | 69.7 (10.4) | 92.86 (50.4) | 208.2 (27.4) |
| 1st informal call | 10.2 (4.9) | 92.3 (2.1) | 74.8 (7.0) | 112.4 (47.9) | 211.7 (27.6) |
| insistent formal call | 9.4 (5.1) | 92.9 (2.3) | 72.9 (7.4) | 112.6 (55.0) | 217.4 (27.8) |
| insistent informal call | 9.3 (5.2) | 92.7 (2.5) | 76.5 (5.8) | 113.9 (68.1) | 217.2 (34.5) |
Averages (and SDs) for imperatives with L+H* L% configurations produced by men.
| Men - L+H* L% IMPERATIVES | Range St | Average St | Average dB | Range Hz | Average Hz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| non-insistent formal imperative | 5.7 (3.1) | 87.4 (4.1) | 71.1 (6.8) | 54.2 (39.1) | 161.4 (39.9) |
| non-insistent informal imperative | 7.2 (3.7) | 86.3 (5.3) | 73.7 (5.7) | 65.5 (48.7) | 155.7 (50.2) |
| insistent formal imperative | 7.6 (3.8) | 87.9 (3.6) | 72.3 (9.3) | 72.8 (42.4) | 165.6 (33.7) |
| insistent informal imperative | 9.2 (3.8) | 88.5 (4.9) | 71.2 (9.1) | 98.4 (59.7) | 175.6 (47.4) |
Averages (and SDs) for imperatives with L+H* L% configurations produced by women.
| Women - L+H* L% IMPERATIVES | Range St | Average St | Average dB | Range Hz | Average Hz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| non-insistent formal imperative | 6.8 (3.4) | 87.1 (4.9) | 71.7 (5.8) | 61.3 (33.0) | 161.1 (43.1) |
| non-insistent informal imperative | 7.4 (4.3) | 90.2 (4.4) | 73.1 (4.5) | 82.4 (51.8) | 191.8 (44.2) |
| insistent formal imperative | 7.1 (3.3) | 87.1 (4.9) | 71.8 (5.7) | 67.1 (42.3) | 160.9 (44.2) |
| insistent informal imperative | 7.7 (3.9) | 88.2 (4.9) | 74.8 (4.0) | 74.7 (42.3) | 171.1 (44.0) |
Significant effects for Average St, average Hz, Range St, Range Hz and Average dB in L+H* L% utterances produced by men and women.
| L+H* L% | Source | F | df1 | df2 | Significance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | Average St | FORMALITY | 8.640 | 1 | 181 | 0.004 |
| Average Hz | FORMALITY | 9.464 | 1 | 181 | 0.002 | |
| Women | Average St | FORMALITY | 6.6505 | 1 | 310 | 0.011 |
| SPEECH ACT | 73.412 | 1 | 310 | 0.000 | ||
| FORMALITY* | 7.234 | 1 | 310 | 0.008 | ||
| SPEECH ACT | ||||||
| Average Hz | FORMALITY | 8.788 | 1 | 310 | 0.003 | |
| SPEECH ACT | 71.605 | 1 | 310 | 0.000 | ||
| FORMALITY* | 7.432 | 1 | 310 | 0.007 | ||
| SPEECH ACT | ||||||
| Range St | FORMALITY | 9.136 | 1 | 310 | 0.003 | |
| SPEECH ACT | 6.795 | 1 | 310 | 0.010 | ||
| Range Hz | FORMALITY | 13.197 | 1 | 310 | 0.000 | |
| SPEECH ACT | 15.330 | 1 | 310 | 0.000 | ||
| Average dB | FORMALITY | 11.024 | 1 | 310 | 0.001 | |
| FORMALITY* | 5.779 | 1 | 310 | 0.017 | ||
| SPEECH ACT |
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