Sociopragmatic factors and melodic patterns: Spanish vocatives and imperatives compared

Abstract

Abstract Due to their addressing nature, vocatives and imperatives have been said in multiple occasions to have the same function and similar phonological characteristics. The aim of this paper is to examine the intonational link between these two kinds of sentences in Peninsular Spanish considering sociopragmatic and situational factors like the level of formality and the degree of insistence. In order to do so, twenty-eight native speakers of Peninsular Spanish produced isolated names and verbs in formal and informal settings followed by insistent productions. The phonetic and phonological analyses of 1232 one-word productions indicate that both speech acts share multiple contours; namely L* H%, L + H* HL%, L + H* !H%, L + H* L%, L + H* H%, L + H* LH%. Nevertheless, L + H* L% was the most used contour for both speech acts regardless of the sociopragmatic and situational factors. Interestingly, speakers modified the phonetic properties of intensity and F0 depending on the situation since informal and insistent productions had a higher F0, wider pitch excursions and more intensity than their formal and non-insistent counterparts. As alternatives, L* L% contours were attested in formal imperatives while L + H* LH% and L + H* HL% were more common in informal ones. After L + H* L% contours, L + H* HL% and L* H% were the preferred options in formal vocatives but the latter was hardly attested in informal ones.