Investigating Intonational Phrasing in Equational Sentences by Iraqi Speakers Using Modern Standard Arabic
Abstract
This study focuses on studying how equational sentences can be intonationally phrased. The phrasing is achieved through determining the boundaries of each equational sentence (henceforth ES) in addition to examining the identity of the boundaries at the periphery of each element within the ES from syntactic, phonological and phonetic points of view. The model adopted in the study is the Autosegmental-Metrical Approach (henceforth AM) which is firstly presented by Pierrehumbert (1980) and developed by Ladd (2008) within the framework of intonational phonology. The data are produced by Iraqi speakers using the Modern Standard Arabic in their interviews on TV show programs. The utterances are collected, edited and analysed according to a specific notation system showing the internal syntactic structure in addition to the phonological and phonetic structures of the boundaries of each ES.