Linguists interested in intonation have long struggled to establish a maximally broad set of annotation conventions that function equally well across varieties of American English. The current study tests the advantages and limitations of the widely-used MAE-ToBI conventions, focusing on the H* and L+H* distinction, for three varieties of American English: African American English, Appalachian English, and Jewish English. Results of quantitative analysis of production data from 30 speakers of the three varieties finds major differences in rate of use of the H* and L+H* pitch accent as well as the phonetic realizations of these pitch accents, which may not be captured solely using the MAE-ToBI conventions. These differences appear not only between MAE-ToBI and the other three varieties, but also between the varieties themselves in unique ways that may shed light on the nature of sociolinguistic variation at the level of intonation, as well as the debated status of the distinction of H* vs. L+H* as a phonological or phonetic distinction. These findings provide further motivation for the development and use of annotation systems that explicitly consider sociolinguistic variation as well as phonetic parameters. Such systems will become even more essential as both sociolinguists and phoneticians expand intonational analysis beyond so-called “standard varieties” in order to arrive at a richer and more accurate picture of the intonational system of American English.

长期以来，对语调感兴趣的语言学家一直在努力建立一套最广泛的注释约定，这些约定在各种美式英语中同样有效。目前的研究测试了广泛使用的 MAE-ToBI 约定的优点和局限性，重点是 H* 和 L+H* 的区别，用于三种美式英语：非裔美国人英语、阿巴拉契亚英语和犹太英语。对来自三个变体的 30 位说话者的生产数据进行定量分析的结果发现，H* 和 L+H* 音高重音的使用率以及这些音高重音的语音实现存在重大差异，这可能无法单独使用MAE-ToBI 约定。这些差异不仅出现在 MAE-ToBI 和其他三个品种之间，而且还以独特的方式在变体本身之间揭示了语调水平上社会语言变异的性质，以及 H* 与 L+H* 区别作为语音或语音区别的争论状态。这些发现为开发和使用明确考虑社会语言变化和语音参数的注释系统提供了进一步的动力。随着社会语言学家和语音学家将语调分析扩展到所谓的“标准变体”之外，以便更丰富、更准确地了解美国英语的语调系统，这样的系统将变得更加重要。L+H* 作为语音或语音的区别。这些发现为开发和使用明确考虑社会语言变化和语音参数的注释系统提供了进一步的动力。随着社会语言学家和语音学家将语调分析扩展到所谓的“标准变体”之外，以便更丰富、更准确地了解美国英语的语调系统，这样的系统将变得更加重要。L+H* 作为语音或语音的区别。这些发现为开发和使用明确考虑社会语言变化和语音参数的注释系统提供了进一步的动力。随着社会语言学家和语音学家将语调分析扩展到所谓的“标准变体”之外，以便更丰富、更准确地了解美国英语的语调系统，这样的系统将变得更加重要。