Intonational convergence in language contact: Utterance-final F0 contours in Catalan–Spanish early bilinguals

• Published in: Journal of the International Phonetic Association Vol. 41; no. 2; pp. 157 - 184
• Main Author: Simonet, Miquel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01-08-2011; Cambridge University Press for the International Phonetic Association
• Subjects: Accentuation; Bilingualism; Catalan language; Convergence; Fundamental frequency; Intonation; Language; Language contact; Lexical stress; Native language; Native languages; Nonnative languages; Phonetics; Phonological intonation; Pitch; Regional dialects; Second language learning; Sociolinguistics; Spanish language; Surface contours; Vowels; Majorca
• ISSN: 0025-1003; 1475-3502
• DOI: 10.1017/S0025100311000120

This study investigates utterance-final pitch accents in declaratives in two contact languages (Catalan and Spanish) as produced by two groups of Catalan–Spanish bilinguals (Catalan-dominant and Spanish-dominant). It contributes to a growing body of research showing that bilinguals transfer the intonational patterns of their native language to their non-native language, and it provides a sociolinguistic profile of an intonational variable in a language contact situation. We also examine the interaction of native and non-native patterns within the performance of the bilinguals. Evidence is presented for the existence of a process of phonetic category assimilation of non-native pitch contrasts to native pitch contours, as well as for phonetic new-category formation in second language learning.