Phonologie de l’Acadien by Vincent Lucci, and: Interrogation et intonation by Allan Grundstrom, Pierre Léon (review)

HUMANITIES 427 supererogation in the distinguished but unhappy career of Toronto's eighth president. (DAVID M. HAYNE) Vincent Lucci, Phonologie de l'Acadien, vol. VII, Studia Phonetica, 1973, viii, 1.50; Allan Grundstrom and Pierre Leon, editors, Interrogation et intonation, vol. VIII, Studia Phonetica, 1.973, xii, 167 The title of Lucci's work and its subtitle, Parler de la region de Moncton, Nouveau Brunswick, Canada, are somewhat misleading, as the study is based on the dialect of some half-dozen informants from villages near Moncton, whose average age at the time of the investigation was over 75 and who were all of rural background with little formal education. Although the author's intention is to present a picture of Acadian speech that is as little influenced as possible by contact with English or educated French, he may have given a description of a speech no longer current for the region. Lucci begins with a brief historical survey of French in Acadia, population tables (based on the 1961 census) and a critical review of earlier studies, particularly those of J.E. Garner (1952) and G. Massignon (1962). Then follows the phonological study proper, a functional analysis of the sound system of Acadian following the methodology used by Andre Martinet in his investigation of the Franco-proven~al dialect of Hauteville in Savoie (1956). The method consists essentially of comparing sounds in minimal pairs with a view to establishing an inventory of the phonemes of the dialect. Here Mr Lucci follows faithfully and competently the Martinet method, though some of his interpretations of the data might be questioned. For example IE/ is classed as a separate phoneme, distinct from lei; [fl in [pitre] piquet is made an allophone of I!I while [f] in [pit! e] pitie is treated as an allophone of Iif, a decision surely made on historical evidence. One might argue that the method of 'commutation' is not as well suited to the task of describing a dialect like Acadian, which is closer to standard French than is Franco-proven~al, for, although Lucci is careful to give full descriptions of the distribution of the phonemes and their allophonic variants, the overall effect is to minimize rather than emphasize the peculiarly Acadian features of the phonology compared to standard French or Quebecois. The study could also have benefited from the inclusion of a complete phonetic analysis. Is there, for example, a phonetic difference between 131 and la/, which are said to neutralize in free final stressed syllables? Indeed, Mr Lucci's study is best when he uses supportive phonetic evidence, as is the case in his examination of vowel length (pp 29-32, 71-<}), where he demonstrates very convincingly the correlation of length and timbre as distinctive features. However, for the one vowel for which length alone is the feature used to class it separately, 428 LETTERS IN CANADA Ie!, some notions of the measures for French or Quebecois would have been of great value. A list of phonemes (pp HO-17), brief sections on prosody, the conclusions drawn from the study, appendices of sample transcriptions, and a select bibliography complete the volume. This is the first substantial work that has been published on Acadian for over ten years and it is to be hoped that its appearance will stimulate further studies in that dialect region. The volume entitled Interrogation et intonation contains five essays devoted to the study of the intonation patterns of interrogative sentences . It follows Prolegomenes aI'etude des structures intonatives published in 1970 as Volume II of the Studia Phonetica series. Interrogative structures in French are of particular interest to the phonetician and the linguist because a question may be asked simply by using an intonation pattern which the hearer recognizes as interrogative and which does not rely on any syntactical or lexical mark to perform its interrogative function . All but one of the studies in this volume examine this kind of interrogative pattern; a fifth examines the intonation patterns of sentences which use lexical marks like qui, aquai, comment, etc. The most frequent interrogative intonation feature is a rise in pitch on the last syllable, but this higher pitch is far from being the sole indication of a question and the intonation curve of the last syllable of some interrogative sentences may fall; indeed, a multitude of complexities make up the intonation patterns of interrogation. The two essays in this volume which best demonstrate the nature of these complexities are Allan Grundstrom's 'L'lntonation des questions en fran~ais standard' and 'Questions totales simples et implicatives en fran~ais parisien' by Ivan Fonagy and Eva Berard. Grundstrom's study shows that while 69 per cent of the sentences measured spectographically had a final rising intonation curve, only 59 per cent of the sentences recorded were interpreted as interrogative by a group of French speakers participating in a correlated auditive test. Although the final rising curve pattern and a variant pattern termed 'hautestatique ' are clearly the most frequent in interrogative sentences, they are not the only ones used, nor are they always a sign of interrogation. Even after analysis of his data with a speech synthesizer, Grundstrom concludes that although a hierarchy of interrogative intonation patterns can be established, there is no distinctive intonation pattern whose occurrence necessarily implies the posing of a question. While Grundstrom's study concentrates on the pattern of the final syllable, Fonagy and Berard examine the structure of the whole interrogative sentence, including the final syllable, taking into account the height of the penultimate syllable, the problem of two rising curves in animated questions, the intensity curve, and comparing 'total' questions (those expecting the answer 'yes' or 'no') with non-interrogative patterns and implicative questions (where the answer is implied in the question itself). The importance of context is LES ETUDES SOCIALES 429 clearly demonstrated by an experiment where questions with a falling final syllable were identified out of context as declarative, but which in context were classed as interrogative. In 'La Description phonologique des systemes prosodiques: Georges Faure identifies, by segmenting the curve of the last syllable, a threshold where interrogation is clearly perceived by the listener (approximately at the fifth of six segments), confirming a correlation of pitch and length, and he claims that the intonation levels of interrogative and non-interrogative structures function in a manner similar to the commutation of phonemes in the phonemic system . Nicole Maury and Phyllis Wrenn in 'L'Interrogation melodique en fran~ais canadien de l'Ontario' reveal greater varieties of pitch in female voices and clear differences between read and spoken questions. Renee Baligand and Eric James analyse 'Les Structures melodiques de la phrase interrogative lexicale en franco-ontarien' and find that whatever the nature or position in the sentence of the lexical marker, its pitch is always higher than the basic pitch level of the sentence. All the studies in this volume raise new questions about the nature of interrogative intonation and we can expect future volumes of Studia Phonetica to contain reports of research developments in this area. (BRIAN s. MERRILEES) LES ETUDES SOCIALES Louise Dechene a publie un des meilleurs ouvrages historiques canadiens de ces dernieres annees, Habitants et marchands de Montreal au XVIIe sieele (Pion, 588, $15.00). 11 est difficile d'en parler honnetement en quelques lignes. Abondamment documente par des recherches de plusieurs annees dans les archives, l'ouvrage tient compte aussi de tout ce qui a ete publie. Comme I'auteur Ie dit au debut de son introduction, 'Ie probleme ala base de cette etude est celui de la transformation d'une societe coloniale issue du transfert d'une population europeenne et soumise aux influences conjuguees de la tradition et de la nouvelle experience en Amerique: Dans une premiere partie, on trouve I'etude de la population, la population indigene et celie du peuplement fran~ais. Puis ce sont les parties consacrees au commerce, a l'agriculture, a la societe. Bien des sujets sont renouveles au mieux synthetises, comme les derniers, par exemple, Ies categories 50ciales , la famille et Ie milieu religieux. En conclusion, I'auteur dresse rapidement un bilan. Ce sont les habitants qui atravers divers regimes politiques continuent d'occuper l'avant-scene avec en face d'eux une autre categorie durable, celie des marchands. 'L'opposition fondamentale entre ces deux societes, ecrit l'historien, deja apparente au XVIIe siecle, domine la suite de I'evolution historique: L'ouvrage depasse Ie pays, car il est en quelque sorte I'etude de la 'formation d'une micro-societe coloniale.' ...