The Use of High Rise Terminals in Southern California English

The form and use of uptalk in Southern Californian English

Amanda Ritchart Amalia Arvaniti University of California, San Diego University of Kent [email protected] [email protected]

Speech Prosody 2014 Dublin 21 May 2014 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Uptalk

• Rising pitch movements at the end of statements • High Rising Terminal • Example

1 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Background

• Usage of uptalk in some English dialects has been relatively well-documented (Fletcher, Grabe, & Warren 2005 for a review) – Australian English (e.g., Fletcher et al. 2005) – New Zealand English (e.g., Warren 2005, Ainsworth 2004, Daly & Warren 2001) – British English (e.g., Barry 2007, Grabe 2004) • What about American English?

2 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Research Questions

• What are the forms of uptalk? (phonological) • What are the functions of uptalk? (pragmatic)

• Do sociolinguistic variables affect the realization, function or frequency of uptalk?

3 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Participants

• 23 Native Southern Californian speakers • 12 female, 11 male • Counties: • San Diego (7) • Orange (6) • Los Angeles (8) • Riverside (2) • Ethnic background • Asian (12) • Hispanic (6) 8 bilinguals • White (5)

4 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Participants

• 23 Native Southern • MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status Californian speakers • Lower (4), Middle (13), Upper (6) • 12 female, 11 male • Counties: • San Diego (7) • Orange (6) • Los Angeles (8) • Riverside (2) • Ethnic background • Asian (12) • Hispanic (6) 8 bilinguals • White (5)

5 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Participants

6 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Tasks 1. Reading of isolated questions and statements 2. Reading the script of a (muted) video clip (Scrubs or How I met your mother) 3. Recounting of the video clip (Clip Retell) 4. Map Task with local landmarks

7 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Tasks 1. Reading of isolated questions and statements 2. Reading the script of a (muted) video clip (Scrubs or How I met your mother) 3. Recounting of the video clip (Clip Retell) 4. Map Task with local landmarks

8 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Data Analysis

• Type of final pitch movement – Rise – Fall – Plateau • Discourse function of uptalk – Question – Confirmation Request – Floor Holding – Statement

1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Data Analysis

• Scaling: size of the rise (F0max – F0min) • Alignment: onset of rise with respect to the last stressed syllable of the utterance

LSVUs Ue LSVUs Ue LSV Us Ue LSV Us Ue

an’ then do you see Valley Mall ok so go past Valley Mall go in that direction

Q S FH S

0 104.663 Time (s) 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Results: frequency of uptalk

• Uptalk was more frequent in the Map Task than in Clip Retell [p < 0.001] • Uptalk was used more often by females than males [p < 0.001]

% of uptalk by task % of uptalk by gender

50 50 45 45 40 40 35 35 30 30 25 25 20 20

15 15 % of total utterances total of % 10 utterances total of % 10 map task clip retell female male 11 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Results: discourse function

• Females used uptalk 70

to hold the floor more 60 often than males 50 [p < 0.001] 40 • Questions and 30 confirmation requests 20 were signaled by utterances total of % 10 uptalk 100% of the 0 time female male floor holding statement

12 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Results: alignment

• Uptalk used with statements had later alignment than question rises [p < 0.001] • Females had later alignment than males [p < 0.001]

250 statement question 200

150 100 50 0 -50 ms from LSV onset LSV from ms female male -100 -150 13 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Results: scaling

• Questions and confirmation requests > floor holding > statement [p < 0.001]

2 1,6 *

1,2

ERB 0,8

0,4

0 Question Confirmation Floor Holding Statement Request 14 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Phonological Analysis

L* L-H%: Statements H* H-H%: Confirmation Requests, Questions H% H% H- H* L* L-

L* H-H%: Questions H* H-L%: Floor holding H% H* H- L%

L* H- 15 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Discussion • Uptalk is used widely in SoCal English • Sociolinguistic variables do not seem to play a role in uptalk function or realization • Evidence for gender differences – Females use uptalk more than males and more for certain purposes – Females and males realize uptalk differently – Males do use uptalk • Different discourse functions are signaled by different melodies, primarily L* L-H% vs. L* H-H%

16 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Next Steps • Consistency of labeling (semi-naïve raters) • Presence of HL* tone

• Alignment of early rises • Examine the distribution of rises in more detail in order to find the reasons behind the differences related to gender 17 Thank you!

• Thank you to our participants and to our RAs Annabelle Cadang, Andy Hsiu, Karla Barranco, and Bianca Chong

UCSD Phonetics Lab

ELL LingLab 18 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Statistical Analysis

• Linear mixed-effects models – Dependent variables: • Type of final pitch movement • Alignment • Pitch excursion – Random effect: • Speaker – Fixed effects: • Task • Gender • Region • SES • Discourse Function

19 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Results: Pitch Excursion

• Greater pitch excursion • (As expected) females in the Map Task than in used greater excursions Clip Retell [p < 0.001] than males [p < 0.001] 1,5 2

1,5

1 ERB * ERB 0,5 * 0,5

0 0 Map Task Clip Retell Female Male 20 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Analysis & Results 4. Discussion and Conclusions Examples

FLOOR HOLDING STATEMENT

L+H* !H* !H* H-L% H* L* L-H% ok so you go aroundLa Jolla Mesa past the green lagoon 0 3.616 Time (s) CONFIRMATION REQUEST

21 References

• Ainsworth, H. (2004). Regional Variation in New Zealand English : The Taranaki Sing-song Accent. Ph.D. thesis, Victoria University of Wellington.

• Anderson, A., Bader, M., & Bard, E. (1991). The HCRC map task corpus. Language and Speech, 34(4), 351–366.

• Barry, A. S. (2007). The form, function, and distribution of high rising intonation in Southern California and Sourthern British English. Ph.D. thesis, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.

• Daly, N., & Warren, P. (2001). Pitching it differently in New Zealand English : Speaker sex and intonation patterns. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 5(1), 85–96.

• Fletcher, J., Grabe, E., & Warren, P. (2005). Prosodic typology: The Phonology of Intonation and Phrasing, chap. Intonaional Variation in Four Dialects of English: the High Rising Tune, pp. 390–409. Oxford University Press.

• Warren, P. (2005). Patterns of late rising in New Zealand English: Intonational variation or intonational change?. Language Variation and Change, 17(02), 209–230.