The `chanted', flat or stylised type of pitch contour is used in German to signal the opening, sustaining and closing of a channel of communication (Jakobson's phatic function of language). These are the contours which are often called `call contours'; in German, they are indeed used specifically in calls, but they have a range of other functions, such as greeting, leave-taking, thanking, and, unlike other languages, in signalling cases of discourse repairs caused by mishearing (Gibbon [12],[13],[15]). The pitch drop in this contour may approximate to a musical interval, such as a minor third. This has not been experimentally established, however. Unlike English, German does not have a rising stylised contour.
- Call:
- Leave-taking:
- Request for louder repetition:
- Repetition after mishearing:
It has often been pointed out that the pitch drop in this contour may approximate to a musical interval, such as a minor third. This has not been experimentally corroborated, however. Unlike English, German does not have a rising stylised contour.
A different form of stylised contour occurs with hesitation particles such as ehm or ähm, and can also be classified as having a variety of phatic function. The hesitation contour is flat, and is accompanied by conspicuous over-lengthening of the associated vowel. Figure 4 illustrates this contour, with the utterance fragment der <pause> ähm zehnte Mai Montag der ``the <pause> erm tenth of May Monday the''. The stylised hesitation vocalisation is followed by a pitch accent on the imediately following lexical selection zehnte ``tenth'' and a rising nucleus on Mai ``May''. It is not known whether the hesitation contour, or indeed the other stylised contours with phatic functions, are universal.
Figure: Flat stylised contour on a hesitation particle.
