DresdenFallbogenContours as an Example of Regionalized German Intonation

Abstract

Based on data from a Mid-German dialect area of Dresden, this article presents research on the structure and functions of regionalized intonation. The Dresden data comes from informal conversation-like settings and illustrates a contour that is typical of the Dresden city vernacular: a contour previously named and described as the Dresden Fallbogen. An analysis of the phonetic forms and phonological structures of the contour is provided, and its use and function in conversational interactions is described. Additional methods of investigating the perception and identification of these contours by subjects in an experimental setting are also given. The article concludes with remarks about the possible relevance of this contour as a signal of identity.