Intonational patterns of Multiethnolectal Zurich German

Supervisor: Prof Stephan Schmid

Findings from an SNSF-funded research project on Multiethnolectal Zurich German have revealed a number of phonetic features which differentiate the speaking style of adolescents with a multicultural background from the more traditional dialect. Among these phonetic features are for instance the voicing of plosives and the variability of vowel durations. Instead, no research has been done so fare on intonational patterns.

A segmented and annotated database of both read and spontaneous speech is available. Intonational analysis can be done both from a phonetic and a phonological perspective(F0 range and variability, placement and shape of pitch accents etc.).It is also possible to focus on speakers of one particular heritage language (e.g., Albanian).

Passive knowledge of Swiss German.

TBA