Geoprosody: quantitative approaches of prosodic variation across dialects
Résumé
This chapter aims at summarizing approaches to dialectometry proposed in the literature since Seguy and Goebl pioneering works, as well as on the basis of metrics used in sociolinguistics. Based on the literature review, it discusses these different metrics under a still under studied angle: their application to prosodic variation, especially for studying dialectological changes. Possible objective measures are regrouped in two broad categories, depending on whether they uses descriptions based on melodic contours or on feature sets. Proposals for use of such metrics are made, in relation to existing phonological and phonetic approaches to prosody description. Examples of application of these metrics are then given on a small subset, and their output discussed and reconciled. It shows several approaches are available, that basically gives convergent objective information, and can be applied to studies based on different theoretical backgrounds.