Focus and prosody in Tagalog

In this paper, we look into the interaction between focus and prosody in Tagalog. In this
language, for most focus conditions regular correspondences between syntax and informa-
tion structure are observed: canonical constructions are used for sentence focus and pred-
icate focus conditions, while pseudocleft constructions are used for argument focus condi-
tions. However, some wh-questions, in particular targeting non-agent arguments, can be
answered by means of canonical constructions as well as pseudocleft constructions. In this
experimental study, we examine production data in order to test how Tagalog speakers
prosodically distinguish canonical sentences associated with different focus structures. The
results reveal that F0 cues and intensity consistently differentiate focused conditions from
all-old utterances throughout the entire sentence. However, the distinct focus conditions
are not prosodically differentiated. As for the argument focus condition, there may be dura-
tional effects applying to the phrase in narrow focus, but this needs further confirmation.