Prosodic Patterns and Interpersonal Relationships in the Italian Greeting Buongiorno

Abstract

This paper examined how interpersonal relationships can be expressed prosodically in the Italian greeting "Buongiorno". A factor analysis of the perceptual ratings of natural utterances yielded two factors: (1) psychological distance based on intimacy, and (2) power relationship. Correlation analyses showed that the level of intimacy can be reflected in the rise of F0 in the first syllable and/or in the fall of F0 in the final syllable. Moreover, not only the direction of F0 movement but also its range and the syllable duration seemed to reflect psychological and power relationships.