This project will be the first systematic examination of a phenomenon located squarely, and fortuitously, at the intersection of music and language: so-called 'stylized intonation', that is, playful or attention-seeking speech intoned in deliberate, discrete dyads. This linguistic mannerism is chiefly used in infant-directed speech ("Yoo- hoo", "Bye-bye") but is regularly recruited in adult-directed speech for endearing (or mock-endearing) effect; it is also used in long- distance calls ("Din-ner!"), taunts ("Nya-nya!"), and ad hoc group chants ("Air-ball!"). Linguists have described the phenomenon variously, as 'stylized intonation', the 'calling contour', 'vocative chanting', and 'stereotyped language' and have, moreover, noted its use in several linguistic cultures. It has also been cited (albeit only casually) by many musicologists, who concur with vague claims of universality. Importantly, observers (whether linguist or musicologist) inevitably cite a specific musical interval in connection with this linguistic formula: the minor third.
Despite the widespread acknowledgement of stylized intonation and the provocative suggestion of a musical universal (the minor third), however, scholars have never studied this phenomenon systematically but have contented themselves with largely anecdotal evidence. The lack of serious literature on the topic can perhaps be explained by its precarious location at the intersection of disparate disciplines. The lack is deeply regrettable, however, as careful investigation would bear important implications for more fundamental questions in ethnomusicology and evolutionary psychology, such as the apparent existence of similarities among the musical scales of the world (albeit very rough similarities), and indeed, speculations about the origins of human language and music-making. This question intersects with my prior research on the pentatonic scale (a scale that prominently features the minor third) in a straightforward way: the possibility that the minor third contains some special linguistic significance could help to explain the impressive ubiquity (some would say, universality) of the pentatonic scale within an otherwise astoundingly diverse world of musical languages.
This project, then, will produce a more complete description of stylized intonation, adequate to clarify these anthropological implications.