Rising? Intonation?

[stoutfellow]

Apparently there's been quite a bit of discussion in the linguistic community of the tendency of some speakers to use rising intonation in declarative statements. (Rising intonation is most often used, in English, to mark questions.) Some hold that it is a mark of uncertainty, or of a reluctance to make strong affirmations, but others (as here) suggest that it's actually an instrument for asserting dominance.

I'm a bit puzzled by both stances. I use rising intonation quite a bit, but I see it as an invitation to comment: do you understand? Do you agree or disagree? The source I linked to in the last paragraph seems to claim that this is, in fact, an assertion of dominance, as it demands a response. Maybe it is; I frequently use it while lecturing and in one-on-one discussions with students. But that's not what it feels like to me. One early lesson in linguistics is that introspection is not to be relied on, so I don't know how much I can trust that feeling, but there it is.

I'm going to have to think about this. If it is received as being aggressive, I may need to quit doing it in class, or at least cut back. Is a puzzlement...

Comments

Re: re rising intonation

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Huh. It's stereotypically associated with "Valley Girls", but I don't associate it at all with Southerners.