Acoustic Correlates of Subtypes of Irony in Chilean Spanish
Utterances containing verbal irony display prosodic particularities that distinguish them from non-ironic speech. While some prosodic features of irony have been identified in Spanish, previous studies have not accounted for different subtypes, nor have they examined this phenomenon in Chilean Spani...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | Languages |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/9/1/22 |
| _version_ | 1797343177717317632 |
|---|---|
| author | Mariška Bolyanatz Abril Jiménez Isabella Silva DePue |
| author_facet | Mariška Bolyanatz Abril Jiménez Isabella Silva DePue |
| author_sort | Mariška Bolyanatz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Utterances containing verbal irony display prosodic particularities that distinguish them from non-ironic speech. While some prosodic features of irony have been identified in Spanish, previous studies have not accounted for different subtypes, nor have they examined this phenomenon in Chilean Spanish despite the unique intonation patterns in this dialect. This study examined the acoustic and prosodic correlates of five subtypes of irony (jocularity, rhetorical questions, understatements, hyperbole, and sarcasm) spontaneously occurring in the casual speech of sociolinguistic interviews with fifteen Chilean women. We segmented 3907 syllable nuclei from 197 spontaneously occurring instances of irony and compared the syllables within the ironic utterances to those in the pre-ironic utterances, along seven acoustic and prosodic variables: pitch range, duration, F0, F1, F2, H1*–H2*, and HNR. The results showed that the speakers favored jocularity and did not produce sarcasm or understatements, and that jocularity, hyperbole, and rhetorical questions significantly differed from the baseline utterances along a variety of acoustic and prosodic measures. We argue that these cues contributed to marking the ironic utterances as salient, allowing these women to talk about difficult real-life events with a touch of humor. Our study provides additional evidence for the connection between prosody and pragmatics in Chilean Spanish and lays the groundwork for further examination of irony and prosody in this and other Spanish dialects. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:43:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1357148b5bcd4141b950495f482e4130 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2226-471X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:43:59Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Languages |
| spelling | doaj.art-1357148b5bcd4141b950495f482e41302024-01-26T17:20:15ZengMDPI AGLanguages2226-471X2024-01-01912210.3390/languages9010022Acoustic Correlates of Subtypes of Irony in Chilean SpanishMariška Bolyanatz0Abril Jiménez1Isabella Silva DePue2Spanish & French Studies, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA 90041, USAHispanic Studies, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035, USAHispanic Studies, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035, USAUtterances containing verbal irony display prosodic particularities that distinguish them from non-ironic speech. While some prosodic features of irony have been identified in Spanish, previous studies have not accounted for different subtypes, nor have they examined this phenomenon in Chilean Spanish despite the unique intonation patterns in this dialect. This study examined the acoustic and prosodic correlates of five subtypes of irony (jocularity, rhetorical questions, understatements, hyperbole, and sarcasm) spontaneously occurring in the casual speech of sociolinguistic interviews with fifteen Chilean women. We segmented 3907 syllable nuclei from 197 spontaneously occurring instances of irony and compared the syllables within the ironic utterances to those in the pre-ironic utterances, along seven acoustic and prosodic variables: pitch range, duration, F0, F1, F2, H1*–H2*, and HNR. The results showed that the speakers favored jocularity and did not produce sarcasm or understatements, and that jocularity, hyperbole, and rhetorical questions significantly differed from the baseline utterances along a variety of acoustic and prosodic measures. We argue that these cues contributed to marking the ironic utterances as salient, allowing these women to talk about difficult real-life events with a touch of humor. Our study provides additional evidence for the connection between prosody and pragmatics in Chilean Spanish and lays the groundwork for further examination of irony and prosody in this and other Spanish dialects.https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/9/1/22conversational humorironyprosody–pragmatics interfacespontaneous speechvoice quality |
| spellingShingle | Mariška Bolyanatz Abril Jiménez Isabella Silva DePue Acoustic Correlates of Subtypes of Irony in Chilean Spanish Languages conversational humor irony prosody–pragmatics interface spontaneous speech voice quality |
| title | Acoustic Correlates of Subtypes of Irony in Chilean Spanish |
| title_full | Acoustic Correlates of Subtypes of Irony in Chilean Spanish |
| title_fullStr | Acoustic Correlates of Subtypes of Irony in Chilean Spanish |
| title_full_unstemmed | Acoustic Correlates of Subtypes of Irony in Chilean Spanish |
| title_short | Acoustic Correlates of Subtypes of Irony in Chilean Spanish |
| title_sort | acoustic correlates of subtypes of irony in chilean spanish |
| topic | conversational humor irony prosody–pragmatics interface spontaneous speech voice quality |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/9/1/22 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mariskabolyanatz acousticcorrelatesofsubtypesofironyinchileanspanish AT abriljimenez acousticcorrelatesofsubtypesofironyinchileanspanish AT isabellasilvadepue acousticcorrelatesofsubtypesofironyinchileanspanish |