Lithuanian language intonation: history of research, in the context of language ‘intonology’

Abstract

The linguists Jablonskis (1911) and Durys (1927) were the first to study Lithuanian language intonation. Research on intonation in other European languages (English, Russian) began earlier, in the 16th and 17th centuries (English: Hart (1551) and Butler (1634); Russian: Lomonosov (1743; 1765)). The beginning and the second half of the 20th century were the most productive research periods on Lithuanian language intonation. Intonation was studied by Lithuanian linguists – syntax specialists and phoneticians. A considerable amount of research, using methods of experimental phonetics, was carried out. The main authors were the syntactician Balkevičius (1963; 1998) and the phoneticians Pukelis (1972) and Bikulčienė (1976), Pakerys (2003), Girdenis (1980; 2003). Variants of the Lithuanian language intonation system inventory are presented in the numerous works of the author.

Keywords

• intonation
• experimental phonetics
• intonation units
• intonation system of the Lithuanian language
• intonation typology