A Corpus-Based Study of Yes-No Question Intonation in Persian Language and Persian Classical Music

The present study investigated whether the intonation of yes-no questions in Persian songs corresponds to their speech counterparts. To do so, two experiments were conducted. Using the Polytonia pitch annotation system in Prosogram, the first experiment studied the production of pitch movements in the final syllables of 42 Persian yes-no questions in speech and the song versions of the same sentences. The second experiment focused on the perception of intonation in Persian speech and song yes-no questions by native Persian speakers. The first experiment showed rising intonation for the majority of the final syllables of Persian speech, whereas no evidence of F0 rising movement within the final syllable of Persian songs was found. Additionally, the perception experiment demonstrated that native speakers consistently perceived all the yes-no questions used in speech as interrogative. However, they perceived the yes-no questions in songs as declarative unless the question particle /ʔɒjɒ/ was present. On the other hand, all the yes-no questions containing the question particle /ʔɒjɒ/ were universally perceived as interrogative. This highlights a linguistic distinction across different modes of expression.