Imitating intonation in a non-native variety: the influence of the native repertoire

Previous investigations have shown that speakers of one language variety are able to imitate (or approximate) the F0 contour of another variety, if the two contours share the same phonological function and overall F0 shape but differ in their phonetic implementation. In the current study, we asked speakers of Bari Italian, with a rise-fall(-rise) contour for questions, to imitate the question contour of Lecce Italian, which has a (level-)rise contour. Since the Bari Italian repertoire also has a rise (used to convey non-finality) that has a different phonetic implementation, we tested whether this native rise has an influence on the imitation of the Lecce Italian question rise. Results show that Bari Italian speakers can produce a question rise when asked to imitate the Lecce contour, although they are not able to imitate the whole F0 shape, possibly because of the interference of their native non-final rise. Imitators are more successful in reproducing the contour on the final syllable than on the preceding (level) part, possibly because of the perceptual salience of the rise, combined with its final position triggering a recency effect.