Interrogative particle and phrasal pitch-accent in polar questions in Fa d’Ambô
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We present in this work the linguistic strategies for the utterance of polar questions in Fa d’Ambô (FA). We discuss (i) the use of the final interrogative particle a, and (ii) the association of phrasal pitch-accent to the last mora of the final prosodic word of the sentence with a possible change in word accent and raising of intonation. The interrogative sentence allows using the particle a for polar questions, but its use is not licensed in WH-questions. Previous studies have not addressed this question (Barrena, 1957; Post, 1995; Zamora, 2010) or have stated that polar interrogatives are constructed as declarative sentences (Post, 1995). Furthermore, we argue that FA stress words at the end of a polar question differ from what occurs in other positions and that the pitch-accent is attracted to the right edge of the sentence, which is a previously unattested top-down system (Gordon, 2014). In addition, we offer further evidence for the presence of this phenomenon in the Proto-Creole of the Gulf of Guinea (PGG), as a sign of the influence from Niger-Congo substrate languages, especially those from the Sudanic belt, in the Gulf, since this is an area-related feature of this group.
- Ana Lívia Agostinho, Gabriel Antunes de Araujo, Eduardo Ferreira dos Santos
- Dossiê
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