A Study of Intonation Patterns in Khasi: Labeling and Analysis

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the intonation patterns found in Khasi, an Austroasiatic language spoken in north-eastern India. The study focuses on the use of pitch and how it correlates with meaning. The main objective of this paper is to use a Rhythm and Pitch labeling (RaP) system to annotate the data collected from native speakers of Khasi, identify pitch contours, and assign labels based on the overall shape of the pitch curve. The annotated data will be analyzed to identify specific patterns and trends in the intonation of Khasi. The research examines the intonation patterns that highlight stressed syllables and that delineate the boundaries of syntactic units. Despite the potential significance of this topic, there has been limited research conducted in this area. This research contributes to our understanding of the intonation patterns of Khasi and will be useful for linguists, phoneticians, and language teachers.