The effect of early exposure in the production of Salerno Italian question intonation

The study explores the effect of early language exposure in the production of question intonation in Salerno Italian. In particular, we tested the hypothesis that exposure to other languages or dialects represents a possible source of variability in nuclear tune choice. Ten speakers from Salerno were selected and divided into two groups according to whether or not they had at least a non-native parent. Information-seeking yes-no questions and information-seeking wh-questions were elicited using a Reading Task. Results show that part of the variability found in the use of intonation can be attributed to the presence vs absence of early exposure. Specifically, such results concern the use of boundary tones, with exposed speakers making a greater use of L%, as an outcome of experienced dialect contact. Finally, the study highlights the need of taking into account different sources of variation when investigating a language’s intonational grammar.