Theories and Methods in Spanish Intonational Studies

The paper demonstrates and evaluates the various approaches used in Spanish intonational research. Dialectal studies, theoretical and methodological approaches, and intonation representational schemata are reviewed in a chronological order and integrated with the main theoretical currents of the field. The authors suggest directions for future research and present a summary of their own investigations into two dialects of Spanish – Castilian and Mexican – using the computerized intonation extractor of the University of Toronto.