StOp RePeAtInG mE!: The Prosody of Mocking Repetition in American English
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Abstract
Languages make use of intonation patterns to convey the function of an utterance. Some studies (e.g. Couper-Kuhlen 2020, Rossi 2020) have described some of these patterns in other-repetition in order to understand how speakers convey the function of their repetition. This study investigates the pitch contours of another function of other-repetitions: mockery. In this paper, I describe the pitch contours of mocking other-repetitions in American English as a series of rise-fall pitch alternations, which are continued throughout an utterance. This simple description should be augmented in future studies through investigations into other prosodic and non-prosodic cues that signal the mocking function of repetitions.