How can a functional perspective be used in intonation modelling
Doina Jitca, Vasile Apopei, Magdalena Jitca, Institute for Computer Science, Romanian Academy, Iasi Branch, Romania
This paper presents some reasons to take a functional perspective in intonation modelling into account. We distinguish two functional prosodic unit types that are functionally equivalent: an elementary one - the accentual units (AUs) - and other, nonelementary- the AU groups (AUGs). Their functions at the communicative act level give meanings to corresponding F0 contour segments. A functional category includes different F0 contour realizations. We illustrate a manner of dealing with a functional model by means of a set of functional prosodic unit categories generated by a Romanian intonation modelling. We consider the accentual units, their groups and their functional labels are proper terms for describing the meanings of the intonational contours.