Article

Name: Emotive intonation structure of the Buryat language

Authors: Yu. D. Abaeva

Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies SB RAS, Ulan-Ude, Russian Federation

In the section Фонетика

Abstract:

The article focuses on analyzing the meaning of a commonly used intonation contour in Buryat oral speech. This contour is characterized by a high pitch level and a noticeable elongation of stressed words. The research material was taken from audio recordings of spontaneous speech. Acoustic analysis was performed using the Speech Analyzer and Praat computer programs. The following parameters were investigated: the intonation contour shape, the rising and falling interval of the fundamental frequency, the register, and the sound length compared to the average duration. The analysis revealed three meanings expressed by the contour: intensification, agreement, and surprise. Hence, the Buryat language has a remarkable intonation structure employed to convey a multitude of emotionally resonant semantic meanings. The additional experiment conducted to transform emotional intonation into a neutral one demonstrated that this intonation is used in two specific types of statements: emotionally charged statements and veritably emotive statements. The first type demonstrates the supplementary role of intonation by strengthening the meanings expressed by other linguistic means (lexical and syntactic). Intonation allows the speaker to express their emotional evaluation and convey their attitude. In the second type, the change of intonation entails a change in semantic meaning, with the expression of emotions being the dominant communicative task. Additionally, it has been revealed that the intonation contour under examination displays stratification in terms of age and territorial factors. Its usage is more prevalent among the speakers of the Aga subdialect and is particularly common among the older generation.

Keywords: Buryat language, emotive intonation, dialect speech, pitch, duration, intensification, agreement, emotion of surprise

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