Experiment on Spanish vocative contours
KUBARTH Hugo
The experiment was designed to show intonation patterns of Spanish vocatives and to allow a subsequent analysis of a supposed relationship between pattern choice and external variables. The following controlled factors were taken into account: social distance and social power as relating caller and (supposed) addressee; pragmatic distribution of the call (before a Y/N-question or an imperative, or its integration into a routine instruction; attitude of the speaker (neutral first or emphatic second call).
12 drawings were used to elicite the calls. Each of them showed one of four fictional addresses (daughter, grandfather, subordinate, boss) together with a written question, order or routine instruction). Texts are shown below.
Every participant was instructed to repeat their call more urgently after a short break.
Participants received a remuneration of € 10,- at the end of the recording session when the goal of the experiment was explained to them.
In order to allow a representative survey, recordings were made of 41 L1 speakers of Spanish, 40 coming from Spain and most of them with Extremadura-origin, all studying at the University of Extremadura in Cáceres.
Recordings were made between the 4th and 6th of november 2019 in an acoustically suitable class-room of the abovementioned University, using a a stereo microphone (Philips SBC ME 570) and a digital recorder (Olympus LS-PS).
List of text templates:
Manuela, ¿quieres una manzana?
Manuela, ¡no salgas del parque!
Manuela, ¡desayuno!
Abuelo, ¡telediario!
Abuelo, ¿subo el volumen?
Abuelo, ¡quedate para cenar!
Gabriela, ¿falta mucho?
Gabriela, ¡la carpeta!
Gabriela, ¡correo!
Doña Amparo, ¿tiene un minuto?
Doña Amparo, ¡suba con el de la derecha!
Doña Amparo, ¡sus llaves!
