This article contributes to our knowledge about the prosodic realisation of rhetorical questions (RQs) as compared to information-seeking questions (ISQs). It reports on a production experiment testing the prosody of English wh- and polar RQs and ISQs in a Canadian variety. In previous literature, the contribution of prosody to the distinction between the two illocution types has often been limited to the intonational realisation of the terminus of the utterance, i.e. whether it ends in a rise or a fall. Along with edge tones, we tested other phonological and phonetic parameters. Our results are as follows: (i) The intonational terminus was distinctive only for polar questions (rise vs plateau), not for wh-questions (low throughout). (ii) Moreover, the semantic difference between RQs and ISQs is signalled by pitch accents. It is reflected in nuclear pitch accent type for wh-questions, and accent type and position for polar questions. (iii) Phonetically, RQs are produced with longer constituent durations and – for wh-questions – a softer voice quality in the wh-word. Taken together, several intonational categories and phonetic parameters contribute to the distinction between RQs and ISQs. A simple distinction between rising and falling intonation is in any case insufficient.

中文翻译：

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英语反问句的韵律

与信息搜索问题 (ISQ) 相比，本文有助于我们了解修辞问题 (RQ) 的韵律实现。它报道了一个测试英语韵律的生产实验什——以及加拿大品种中的极地 RQ 和 ISQ。在以往的文献中，韵律对区分两种言说类型的贡献往往仅限于话语结尾的语调实现，即它是否以上升或下降结束。除了边缘音，我们还测试了其他语音和语音参数。我们的结果如下：（i）语调终点仅对极地问题（上升与高原）是独特的，而不是什么-问题（低）。(ii) 此外，RQ 和 ISQ 之间的语义差异由音调重音表示。它反映在核音高重音类型中什么-问题，以及极性问题的口音类型和位置。(iii) 在语音上，产生的 RQ 具有较长的成分持续时间，并且 – 对于什么-questions – 语音质量更柔和什么-单词。总之，几个语调类别和语音参数有助于区分 RQ 和 ISQ。在任何情况下，简单区分升调和降调是不够的。