Towards a strategy for ToBI labelling varieties of Italian

In this chapter we examine the intonation of a number of varieties of Italian. Since there is no agreement as to what constitutes "Standard Italian intonation" (see Galli de' Paratesi 1985; Lepschy & Lepschy 1977), we shall not make it an aim of this paper to define such a standard. Instead, we take four geographically defined varieties: from the South, those spoken in Naples, Bari and Palermo; from Central Italy, the variety spoken in Florence, with a view to establishing a common framework for annotating the phenomena which have so far been studied in these varieties. Although they have all been analysed in an autosegmental-metrical framework, we shall see that there are considerable differences in how this framework is used, and, as might be expected, differences in the phenomena selected for detailed study. Part of our task will be to attempt to piece together this fragmentary picture. A common annotation will facilitate the exchange of data in both variety-specific and in cross-variety studies. It will make it more straightforward to evaluate how far evidence from one variety can be used in support of a phonological analysis of other varieties. It will also enable us to analyse a more diverse set of speech styles than is possible within a smaller more restricted study. In fact, the speech data referred to in the different accounts in this paper range from spontaneous or semi-spontaneous dialogues to specially produced read or scripted speech in the laboratory.