While not much has been done on intonation patterns in Gullah, some observations have been made. Turner (2002) offers several observations, many of which have been explored more recently in Bryan (2001). According to Turner, declarative sentences in Gullah often end in either a high, mid, or rising tone, as oppose to the falling tone typically found in StAmE varieties (2002: 249–250). According to Bryan, all three patterns appear to persist in modern-day Gullah. However, she observes that the rising tone pattern “seems to be the least affected by language contact” (2001: 3). Turner also observes many alternating tones throughout the course of a statement. For example, he notes use of level tones—mid, high, or low, use of low and mid or low and high tones, use of tones that fall from high to mid, and use of tones that rise from low or mid to high or from low to mid (2002: 250–252). Similarly Bryan observes that Gullah has many phrases that alternate high and low tones throughout the statement. She says this is particularly true of imperatives and pleas of desperation (2001: 4).

Finally, Turner observes that Gullah speakers tend to use a level tone “at the end of a question, whether or not yes or no is required for an answer” (2002: 253). This pattern, of course, contrasts with that found in StAmE, where a rising tone is used for yes/no questions and a falling tone is used otherwise. Bryan finds that, among the intonational patterns observed by Turner, this particular pattern has undergone the most change. She observes,

Younger speakers of Gullah (roughly from age 2–50) seem to almost always use a rising intonation for yes/no questions. When older Gullah speakers use the level tone for interrogatives, they sometimes preface the question with yes or no. For example, an elder would ask ... ‘Yes, are you going to the farm tomorrow?’ (2001: 5–6).

Bryan hypothesizes that this type of construction, by which yes or no prefaces the interrogative, was introduced by speakers who did not assimilate to the StAmE pattern, in order to clarify the intended yes/no interpretation (2001: 6).

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

قسم العلاقات العامة يختتم فعاليات محطات فتية الكفيل الثقافية في محافظة نينوى

ما الخدمات التي قدّمها موكب أشبال الطفّ لزائري عاشوراء؟

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تنظّم مسيرات عزائية لإحياء ذكرى عاشوراء في نينوى

قسم الشؤون الفكرية يحيي ذكرى استشهاد الإمام الحسين (عليه السلام) في القارة الإفريقية

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

تناول الجبن.. مفيد للجسم أم خطر يهدد صحتك؟

طبيبة أسنان تحذر.. لا تتجاهل هذه العلامة بعد التنظيف

يجب أن تأكل المزيد من الشمام هذا الصيف.. إليك السبب ؟

تأثير صحي كبير.. كم بيضة يجب أن تتناول يوميا؟

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

أداء خلايا البيروفسكايت الشمسية تحت الماء قد يزيد كفاءة تحويل الكهرباء

مسافة الأمان: أساس القيادة الآمنة وتجنب الحوادث

هل القيادة السريعة تعني استهلاك اكثر للوقود؟

لماذا يعتبر كوكب المريخ غير صالح للحياة؟

المزيد