Aspects of intonation in Cantonese

This paper addresses the question of whether intonation plays a linguistic role in Cantonese, a language known for its rich inventory of lexical tones and if so, what specific forms it may take and what functions it may serve. Applying a combination of auditory and instrumental analyses to several sets of sound recordings, it was found that it is possible to establish a system of intonation for Cantonese comprising two main components: utterance body intonation and utterance final intonation. The former is best described using gradual declination from a mid-high pitch to a low pitch as a baseline, with possible variation along the parameters of pitch height, range and slope. A higher onset was noticeable in interrogatives as opposed to declaratives, and in utterances with an 'excited' tone of voice as opposed to ones said in a 'quiet' tone. In addition to the general phenomenon of utterance declination one also finds phrase declination effects which have clear syntactic functions. As far as utterance final intonation is concerned, four patterns are recognised: 'neutral',falling, rising, and rising-falling. These help distinguish sentence-types (declarative, interrogative, imperative), and, through variations in pitch height, may convey gradient expressive implications.