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COMPLAINTS IN ITALIAN AS A SECOND LANGUAGE:
A STUDY ON (SOCIO)PRAGMATIC STRATEGIES AND PROSODIC
VARIATIONS
Anna De Marco
1
, Patrizia Sorianello
2
1. COMPLAINTS: (SOCIO)PRAGMATIC CHARACTERISTICS
Complaining as a linguistic act can be traced back to the expressive act by which the
speaker expresses a judgement about a previous event or situation, expressing his
disapproval, negative feelings, anger, etc., towards a certain state of affairs described in
the proposition (what they are complaining about) and for which the listener (the person
whom the complaint is made) is considered directly or indirectly responsible. The
complainer believes that a behavior, an action, or even an opinion is, from their point of
view, unacceptable or not in accordance with certain social rules (Nuzzo, 2007).
According to the politeness model (Brown, Levinson 1987), complaining is a
communicative act that threatens the positive and negative face of the recipient: it
undermines their public image and limits their freedom of action by forcing them to make
amends. At the same time, it endangers the positive face of the complainer, who shows
little or no sensitivity towards the interlocutor.
The core of the communicative act can include both the expression of negative
judgment and the directive component. According to George (1990), the purpose of an
expressive complaint would be essentially therapeutic and would be exhausted in its
formulation (Nuzzo, 2007). To perform an act of complaint, speakers can formulate the
act explicitly by expressing both the judgement and the request for remedy, or they can
express only one of the two components explicitly. In addition, they can vary the number
of sub-acts that make up each of the two components and decide to use a certain number
of supportive acts. The expression of judgment includes two groups of complaints
depending on whether the speaker explicitly attributes responsibility for the situation they
perceive as negative to the interlocutor. In the case of judgment expression without
explicit attribution of responsibility, the speaker may use different strategies. Disapproval
(Nuzzo, 2007: 113) occurs when the speaker protests without mentioning the addressee,
but implicitly implying that they are responsible for the unpleasant event: “When I left
this morning, the kitchen was a mirror!”. Another strategy is referring to a violated norm,
where the speaker points out a social rule that the interlocutor has failed to observe
through their behavior: “There’s a line; I would be next” (Nuzzo, 2007, ibid., see also De
Marco, 2022). The request for an explanation also falls under the strategies of judgment
expression without explicit attribution of responsibility(see Nuzzo, 2007, ibid.).
1
University of Calabria.
2
University of Bari.
This work represents a collaborative effort between the two authors; however, Anna De Marco is
responsible for paragraphs 1., 1.1, 4, 4.1, and 4.2, while Patrizia Sorianello is the author of paragraphs 2, 5,
5.1, 5.2. Paragraphs 3 and 6 were jointly written by both authors.
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
A study on (socio)pragmatic strategies and prosodic variations
105
When the speaker expresses judgment with explicit attribution of responsibility, he or
she may opt for an accusation, describing the interlocutor’s blameworthy behavior.
According to Trosborg (1995: 319), the accusation can be either indirect or direct, as in:
“You’re the one who used my car yesterday, right?” or “Did you happen to bump into my
car?”. Trosborg makes a distinction between explicit blame directed at the interlocutor’s
behavior or towards the person themselves: “How on earth did you manage to be so
stupid” vs. “Bloody fool! You’ve done it again!”. Other examples of strategies included
in the categories just discussed are in Trosborg (1995) and Nuzzo (2007).
The request for repair includes several sub-acts which Nuzzo (2007) identifies as:
Confirmation, Hypothesis, Necessity, Obligation/Prohibition, Order, Performative, and
Verification of Preparatory Conditions.
In order to anticipate undesirable social consequences, complainants should first adjust
the level of directness in their complaints. The act of complaining requires a number of
supportive acts, or mitigating devices to reduce its threat level and ensure peaceful
interaction.
The act of complaining can vary in intensity depending on the harm suffered (whether
it is considered more or less serious) and the relationship between the people involved,
i.e., their social distance and power relations (for example, it is not the same complaint to
your boss as to a friend: the intensity is usually greater in the second case). The tone and
volume of the voice are also important in identifying an act of complaining: a faster rhytm
and a higher tone of voice often characterise the emotional involvement (anger, wrath) of
the complainer. The frequency, sequence and content of strategies are not universal, but
vary according to linguistic and cultural factors (Trosborg, 1995).
Actions that serve to mitigate, prepare or support complaints are Supportive Acts.
These can, for example, help the complainer to justify his act of reproach, to appear
convincing or to risk losing face. Justification, for example, provides a reason why the
request for repair might somehow seem justified, so that the speaker tends to present it
as arising from his own need rather than the negative behaviour of the recipient.
Another Supportive Act is the Preparator, in which the speaker warns the interlocutor
that a complaint is about to begin, as in the following example: “Hi, I’d like to talk for a
moment about what happened yesterday”. The disarmer on the other hand, emphasises
the speaker’s awareness of the imposing nature of the complaint and shows an avoiding
of an act that is too face threatening with a benevolent attitude towards the interlocutor
(Trosborg, 1995; Nuzzo, 2007: 120).
The structure of the act of protesting varies depending on the reaction of the recipient
of the act, as well as on the intentions and personality of the protester. The latter might
abandon the protest or adopt different strategies. The analyses presented here refer solely
to the turn containing the illocutionary act of protesting spanish.
Complaints in Italian tend to be realised mostly through the expression of a negative
judgement, sometimes followed by a request for redress, as can be seen in examples 1-2:
1. Eh scusa ascolta, ti sembra giusto quello che hai fatto? (componente espressiva)
‘Hey sorry listen, do you think what have done is fair?’ (expressive
component)
2. Bruno! Buongiorno ma i piatti lavandino sei stato tu a lasciarli sporchi?
Comunque io non li lavo svegliati, sciacquati, pulisciti e lava i piatti
(componente
direttiva)
‘Bruno! Good morning but the dirty dishes in the sink, was it you who left
them there?
Anyway, I won’t wash them, wake up, freshen up, tidy up and wash the dishes’
(directive component)
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
A study on (socio)pragmatic strategies and prosodic variations
106
In 1., the speaker only expresses a negative judgement about the interlocutor, whereas
in 2. the act of requesting redress is aimed at influencing the interlocutor’s future
behaviour according to the speaker’s wishes.
When a complaint is made, a directive act may be implied or added, and in addition
the request for remedy may contain a threatening act, as in the following case:
3. Abbassa questa musica altrimenti chiamo i carabinieri!
‘Turn down that music down, or I’ll call the police!’
The internal modifiers of complaints are divided into different types: morphosyntactic
(4-6), lexical (7-9), and discursive (10). Among the lexical ones, some end to weaken the
act, while others strengthen the illocutionary force (Trosborg, 1995; Nuzzo, 2007).
4. Mi scusi signore sarebbe opportuno che rispettasse la fila (condizionale)
‘Excuse me sir, it would be appropriate if you respected the queue’
(conditional)
5. Mi sono resa conto che meritavo un voto in più / sì ma giusto se potevi fare qualcosa
(imperfetto)
‘I realised that I deserved a higher grade / yes but only if you could do
something’ (imperfect)
6. Dovrebbe pulire (modale epistemico)
‘You should clean up’ (epistemic modal)
7. Sì ma giusto potevi fare qualcosa (minimizzatore)
‘Yes, but you could just do something’ (minimiser)
8. Guarda ma io non sono proprio d’accordo non accetto per me non va bene (rafforzatore)
‘Look, but I don’t fully agree, I don’t accept that it’s not OK for me”
(reinforcer)
9. Penso che sia una valutazione più alta (soggettivizzatore)
‘I think it’s a higher evaluation’ (subjectiviser)
10. Alessandro oh guarda io sto cercando di dormire (focalizzatore dell’attenzione)
‘Alessandro oh look, I’m trying to sleep’ (attention focuser)
1.1. Pragmatic characteristics of complaints in non-native speakers
The act of complaining has not been the subject of significant cross-linguistic research.
The literature on non-native speakers reveals a tendency to complain in a more aggressive
and less effective manner (Murphy, Nereu, 1996; Trosborg, 1995) and to be more explicit
and direct (Kraft, Geluykens, 2002). Learners are typified as “weak complainers”,
exhibiting a deficiency in persuasive abilities relative to native speakers. This is attributed
to their inability to utilise the requisite degree of tact and subtlety, which would facilitate
the attainment of their communicative objectives.
However, Olshtain and Weinbach (1993) reach different conclusions, with
intermediate and advanced learners showing a preference for milder complaints, while
native speakers express themselves more harshly. Beginners tend to be less aggressive and
more concerned with saving face, attempting to compensate for what they perceive as a
lack of effectiveness by increasing the length and number of words.
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
A study on (socio)pragmatic strategies and prosodic variations
107
2. PROSODIC MANIFESTATIONS OF COMPLAINTS
Defining the prosodic aspects of complaints is not without its challenges, as it is not
possible to associate them with a single macro-speech act. First, it is necessary to
distinguish acts of complaints from expressions of dissatisfaction or impolite requests
3
.
As Mauchand and Pell (2021) posit, it is essential to differentiate between the expressions
of complaint caused by a situation that evokes negative emotions such as anger,
disapproval and distress, and those conveying expressions of pain and suffering. Both
types of complaint are characterised by the presence of an emotional component.
Consequently, they have been the subject of studies in the field of emotions and in
psychology. Moreover, in these domains of inquiry, it is also customary to distinguish
between direct and indirect complaints. The former are directed towards the source of
the distress with the intention of resolving the issue (Could you be a little quieter? I’m trying
to sleep!), whereas the latter are addressed to third parties and serve primarily to establish
social bonds and promote empathy (He always makes a lot of noise when I’m trying to sleep!),
(Boxer, 1993).
Despite the fundamental role that prosodic features (both linguistic and paralinguistic
aspects) play in the production of complaints, studies focusing on the prosody of direct
complaints are scarce. Indeed, the available research mainly concerns indirect complaints
and their correlation with certain emotional indices, such as distress, pain and boredom,
as well as the empathic involvement they arouse in the listeners (Mauchand, Pell, 2021,
2022).
From a prosodic perspective, the findings reported by Acuña-Ferreira (2002), Ogden
(2010), Selting (2010) and Mauchand, Pell (2021) for indirect expressions indicate that
complaints are characterised by a higher fundamental frequency, syllable lengthening,
emphatic accentuations and soft voice. The aforementioned prosodic behaviors cannot
be assumed for direct complaints, as they convey different emotional nuances and varying
degrees of involvement. It seems reasonable to posit that the voice quality patterns
associated with direct complaints also diverge, tending towards a harsh and noisy voice
rather than a soft one. It is regrettable that there have been no experimental studies of
the prosodic cues associated with direct complaints, nor any comparative studies between
direct and indirect complaints.
Nevertheless, several insights can be drawn from a larger body of research devoted to
the prosody of directive utterances, in particular orders, which represent one of the most
common structures in complaint acts that function as a form of reparative act. From a
cross-linguistic perspective, the prosody of the order is characterised by an abrupt fall in
intonation contour, marked by a high prenuclear onset, an increased speech rate and voice
volume, as well as an altered voice quality that is consistent with the emotional component
of disappointment or anger (cf. Ogden, 2010; Robles-Puente, 2011; Frota, Prieto, 2015).
With specific reference to complaints, these aspects, although influenced by cross-
linguistic and cultural indices, indicate the presence of a dominant and emotionally
involved speaker expressing disapproval of something or someone that has violated their
expectations and therefore requires redress or resolution.
3
Furthermore, it is important to differentiate between expressions of dissatisfaction and complaints. In the
former, the focus is on the individual and his/her subjective experience and perception of a particular
everyday situation that has given rise to disapproval, indignation or other kinds of negativ e feelings. In
contrast, complaints are often collective actions in which a group of people oppose a situation or practice
that is perceived as socially unacceptable.
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
A study on (socio)pragmatic strategies and prosodic variations
108
From this premise, it is evident that the number of studies investigating the prosody
of complaints in a second language is limited; some observations can be found in
Trosborg’s book (1995) on interlanguage pragmatic strategies.
3. MATERIALS, METHODS AND PARTICIPANTS
The objective of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship
between prosodic cues and the socio-pragmatic strategies employed by native and non-
native speakers of Italian when engaged in the act of complaint. The study was conducted
with three groups: two experimental and one control. The initial experimental cohort
comprised four male Arabic-speaking learners from Egypt, aged between 24 and 28. The
second experimental group comprised four Spanish-speaking learners (three male, one
female), two from Cuba and two from Venezuela, aged between 19 and 34. The learners
demonstrated an Italian language level between B1 and B2 and were enrolled as
undergraduate students at the University of Calabria. The control group consisted of four
Italian native speakers (three men, one woman), aged between 20 and 30, living in
Cosenza and enrolled at the same university. All participants provided written consent to
participate in the research.
The learners were audio-recorded during the simulation of contextual dialogue
situations designed to elicit the production of acts of complaint. Each recording session
involved two participants from the same language background who performed four
different oral role-plays in Italian and then in their native language. In each instance, the
participants assumed the roles of both the complainer and the complainee.
The data were collected using four scenarios which were designed to evoke a complaint
which included a range of social distance and power relations parameters. A total of 128
role-plays were conducted, comprising 64 in Italian as a second language (It-L2), 64 in the
learners’ first language (Spanish and Arabic) and 32 in Italian as a first language (It-L1).
The audio recordings were made at the University of Calabria using a digital audio device
with a directional microphone (wave format, sampling frequency of 44,100 Hz, 16 bit,
mono). Each role-play lasted from 1 to 5 minutes. The corpus is not yet available for
online consultation but will be shortly. Interactions are transcribed following the
Conversational Analysis annotation.
In examining the socio-pragmatic elements, the communicative acts were identified,
labelled and analysed, in accordance with the classification system proposed by Trosborg
(1995) and Nuzzo (2007). This approach considered the internal modifiers of complaints,
supporting acts and sociolinguistic variables, including factors such as distance and power
between interlocutors (Brown, Levinson, 1987; Scollon, Scollon, 2001). The role-plays
simulate a range of social distances, with the expectation that a greater distance will
correlate with a higher degree of modification of the request in terms of politeness. As
far as the degree of asymmetry or differentiation on the hierarchical level is concerned,
the realisation of the complaint is expected to be much more mitigated than in a situation
of symmetry. At this stage of the research, our attention was directed exclusively towards
the production of Italian in its native form, and in the context of second language
acquisition. Consequently, the analysis of Arabic and Spanish recordings was not
included. The linguistic materials were orthographically transcribed, classified, and
analysed from a socio-pragmatic, pragmalinguistic, and prosodic perspective.
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
A study on (socio)pragmatic strategies and prosodic variations
109
The scenarios, adapted from the works of Nuzzo (2007) and Paone (2020; 2021), are
as follows
4
:
S1. Dirty dishes between roommates. The complaint act is directed at a roommate for leaving the
kitchen in a state of disarray. The relationship between the interlocutors is characterised by a lower
level of social distance and a symmetrical dynamic [Equal – Intimate interlocutor].
S2. Dispute between neighbours over the playing of music at night. The complaint entails
requesting that a neighbour desist from making noise at night, citing the disruption to sleep as the
reason. This scenario also features a symmetrical relationship with lower social distance [Equal –
Intimate interlocutor].
S3. Line cutting (between strangers). The complaint is directed at an individual who is not
respecting their place in line. The relationship between the two individuals is characterised by a
higher degree of social distance yet is symmetrical [Equal – Distant interlocutor].
S4. Incorrect evaluation (between student and professor). The student lodges a complaint with
the professor about an injustice regarding a perceived injustice in the evaluation of a classroom
assignment. In this case, the social distance is at its maximum, and the relationship is asymmetrical
[Superior – Intimate interlocutor].
4. SOCIO-PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF COMPLAINTS IN THE CORPUS
4.1. Natives
In our corpus, the complaints by native Italians are predominantly expressed through
the articulation of negative judgement, which is sometimes followed by a request for
redress.
11. Ti sembra modo di lasciare la cucina i piatti dopo la festa che hai fatto ieri? Mo, secondo
te devo pulire io lo schifo che hai fatto tu e i tuoi amici? Vai immediatamente a fare quelle
cose
‘Is this how you’re leaving the kitchen, with the dishes from yesterday’s party
still there? Should I clean up the mess you and your friends made? Go take
care of it’
It is common for individuals to express their negative judgements without explicitly
attributing responsibility.
12. Signore //signore mi scusi | c’ero prima io di lei
‘Excuse me, sir. I was present at this location prior to your arrival’
It is also noteworthy that there is a considerable prevalence of lexical modifiers. Italian
is replete with polite expressions, including: gentilmente (‘kindly’), ti prego (‘I beg you’), magari
(‘perhaps’), and giusto (‘only, just’). Moreover, the Italian language makes use of the term
“penso” (‘I think’), which is employed to express a personal opinion or belief. Support
acts are integral to the successful execution of a complaint, providing a crucial framework
4
By equal-intimate, we mean a symmetrical relationship (equal) in which the interlocutors already know
each other (see also Gesuato, 2015). Within this label we include different degrees of knowledge ranging
from a minimal level, such as between student and professor, to a high level of familiarity such as between
brothers/sisters. By equal-distant, we intend instead a symmetrical relationship in which, however, the
interlocutor is a stranger; by superior-intimate, that is an asymmetrical relationship in which, however, there
is a minimum level of knowledge between the interlocutors.
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
A study on (socio)pragmatic strategies and prosodic variations
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upon which the act itself is built (Nuzzo, 2007: 119). In the corpus of native speakers,
these are present in the form of preparatory acts (13) and justificatory acts (14). This
phenomenon is more prevalent in scenarios where the relationship between interlocutors
is asymmetrical (Scenario 4). To illustrate, in example 14, a rationale for the redress is
presented.
13. Professore Falcone possiamo parlare per favore?
‘Professor Falcone, may I request a brief conversation with you?
14. Quindi per favore se puoi abbassare la musica perché domani mattina ci dobbiamo
svegliare presto
‘If it is not an inconvenience, could you kindly lower the volume of the
music? We have an early start tomorrow morning’
With regard to sociopragmatic norms, greater distance between participants or an
asymmetrical relationship is associated with a higher frequency of strategies that avoid
attributing responsibility for negative events to interlocutors. In the first case, the
complaint involves a deplorable situation in which the speaker describes the state of
affairs he or she perceives as negative. The protester implies that the interlocutor is
responsible but avoids mentioning it explicitly. In the second case, the speaker refers to a
violated norm, that is, he or she invokes a social rule (this is not the appropriate place to
behave that way) that the interlocutor fails to observe.
15. Ma ma non mi sembra proprio corretto// penso che sia una valutazione più alta (S.4)
‘I don’t think that’s quite right. I think the evaluation should be higher’
vs
16. Tu fai i festini la sera, ma qua dove siamo? Al circo, al mercato… (S.1)
‘You have parties at night, but where do you think we are? At the circus, in
the market…’
A reduction in the use of discursive mitigators is observed alongside an increase in the
use of lexical and morphosyntactic mitigators when the distance between participants is
greater. A comparable pattern is observable in the utilisation of preparatory acts, which
are more frequent in interactions with unfamiliar individuals. Directive acts are deployed
when participants perceive an elevated threat to their autonomy, thereby articulating the
strength of their objection in a more explicit manner. In the context of Scenario 3, the
speaker experiences a sense of injustice or transgression of norms due to the lack of
respect for the queue. In other scenarios, directive acts are eschewed.
4.2. Non-Natives
In examining the corpus, it can be observed that complaints among Spanish-speaking
learners are predominantly expressed through negative judgement, with a lesser tendency
towards request for redress. In contrast, Arabic speakers demonstrate a comparable
proclivity for articulating requests for redress, alongside expressive acts. The expression
of judgement is structured as follows:
1. Preference for attributing responsibility to the interlocutor:
Mamma mia // guarda che ↑casino//Che ↑hai fatto ieri sera
‘Oh my! // Look at this mess // What did you do yesterday?’
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
A study on (socio)pragmatic strategies and prosodic variations
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2. Overuse of the vocative pronoun that accentuates the accusatory tone:
Oh signore, ma non può passare così, io sono qua
‘Hey, Mister, but you can’t just cut in line like that, I’m here’
3. Accusatory Strategy:
Non credo proprio perché io sono nella coda e tu sei venuto davanti a me; ma sempre tu fai
festa tardi
‘I don’t think so, because I’m line and you cut in front of me’; ‘but you always
have parties until late at night’
With regard to head acts, Arabic speakers employ both expressive and directive acts
with equal frequency. In contrast, Spanish speakers predominantly utilise expressive acts,
a tendency that is comparable to that observed in Italian speakers (see Figure 1).
The Arabic-speaking group displays a greater proclivity for supportive acts, as
evidenced by the greater frequency of such acts observed in their discourse (see Figure
2). The function of the disarmer is to provide reassurance and comfort: vabbé hai fatto la
festa ok ci sta eri con i tuoi amici, S2 (‘You had a party, fine, it’s understandable, you were with
your friends’). Justification: Siamo un po’ stanchi del giorno prima no, non siamo a festa come te per
dirlo, S2 (‘We’re a bit tired from the day before, you know; we’re not out partying like you
are’); Non riuscivo a studiare per la musica alta che avete, S2 (‘I couldn’t study because of the
loud music you have’); Sono qui da due ore, S3 (‘I’ve been here for two hours’). Preparatory
statement: Buongiorno, per caso hai un minuto che dobbiamo parlare; Volevo chiedere una domanda,
S4 (‘Good morning, do you happen to have a minute? We need to talk’), Apologies:
scusa
se ti disturbo, S2 (‘I apologise for disturbing you’).
Additionally, modifiers are more prevalent among Arabic speakers (see Figure 3).
Lexical modifiers are the most prevalent among these, occurring more frequently than
other types of modifiers in both groups.
Arabic speakers also demonstrate the use of morphosyntactic modifiers, such as the
imperfect tense, as evidenced by the following example: ‘I wanted to ask a question’.
Additionally, they employ lexical modifiers to soften judgment, as in the following
examples: practically, nothing, I think, only, maybe, and just. Conversely, they utilize lexical
modifiers to reinforce their statements, as in the following examples: very high, not even, and
so on.
Figure 1. Native and non-native head acts
0
10
20
30
40
Arabic
speakers
Spanish
speakers
Italianians
Head acts
expressives directives
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
A study on (socio)pragmatic strategies and prosodic variations
112
Figure 2. Native and non-native supportive acts
Figure 3. Native and non-native modifiers
Regarding directive acts, the speaker focuses on the possibilities of obtaining the
desired repair from the interlocutor, including their ability, willingness, or the absence of
obstacles.
In the following examples, learners (Arabic, EGI) and (Spanish, SPA) express a
complaint as a conventional request for repair (17, 18), as an order (19, 20), or as a threat
(21):
17. Ciao Ranier puoi bassare un po’ la musica per favore? Perché è troppo alta (SPA)
‘Hi Ranier, can you turn down the music a bit, please? Because it’s too loud’
18. Perciò potete abbassare un pelino la musica per piacere (EGI)
‘So, could you lower the music a little bit, please?’
19. Debe pulire subito per favore (SPA)
‘You must clean up immediately, please’
20. Io sono nella fila tu devi rispettare la fila (EGI)
‘I’m in the line, you have to respect the line’
21. Altrimenti sarò costretto anche io a chiamare la vigilanza! (EGI)
‘Otherwise, I’ll be forced to call security as well!’
From a socio-pragmatic perspective, social distance and power do not always play a
role for Spanish-speaking learners. This is evidenced by the use of mitigators, direct
accusation strategies, and requests for repair.
0
5
10
Arabic
speakers
Spanish
speakers
Italianians
Supportive acts
0
20
40
60
Arabic
speakers
Spanish
speakers
Italianians
Modifiers
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
A study on (socio)pragmatic strategies and prosodic variations
113
22. Salve professore io ho bisogno che value il mio voto di nuovo perché credo che meresco
(merito) de più per altri studenti hanno preso più che io
‘Hello, Professor. I need you to reconsider my grade because I believe I
deserve more, as other students received higher grades than I did’
It would appear that Arabic-speaking learners are more attentive to the role of the
interlocutor although they can on occasion display excessive aggression when the
social distance is smaller (24).
23. Buongiorno prof eh, scusi le volevo chiedere una domanda non capisco perché ho preso 27
all’esame ho risposto a tutte le domande e aspettavo sinceramente avere 30 come voto non
27
‘Good morning, Professor, um, excuse me, I wanted to ask a question. I
don’t understand why I got a 27 on the exam. I answered all the questions
and honestly expected to receive a 30, not a 27’
24. Mi sa che mi devo lamentare con qualcuno del centro residenziale così risolvono il problema
loro!
‘I think I need to complain to someone at the residential center so they can
solve the problem themselves!’
In Example 23, we observe the utilisation of a preparatory statement, which serves to
notify the interlocutor that the speaker is about to present an observation. The use of the
subjectivizer honestly indicates that the statement represents a personal opinion regarding
the proposition itself. In example 24, the learner employs a threat without any request for
repair.
In Scenario 4, the turns taken by both native and non-native speakers are longer than
in other scenarios. This is likely due to the difficulty the speaker has in interacting with
both the type of request and with a person in a position of power.
A comparison of the two groups reveals that Arabic speakers employ a greater number
of modifiers and engage in more complaint acts than Spanish speakers. This may be a
compensatory strategy to offset their perception of ineffective communication. In
contrast, Spanish speakers utilise fewer internal modifiers and employ a minimal number
of supportive acts. With regard to the parameters of variation (distance and power), they
demonstrate contrasting behaviours. Despite their limited communicative competence,
they are still able to achieve a level of appropriateness in accordance with the enunciative
context.
5. THE PROSODIC ANALYSIS
The prosodic analysis made it possible to identify the intonation features that
characterise the complaint acts performed in Italian as a second language (L2). In this
initial phase of the research, the focus was on the behaviour of the pitch range and the
nuclear intonation contour. The research hypothesis is that the complaint acts produced
by L2 learners show a relevant change in both local and global prosodic traits, thereby
substantiating the presence of a reduced illocutionary force. In order to carry out the
prosodic analysis, a methodological decision had to be made regarding the speech act
containing the complaints to be analysed. This choice was made on the grounds that the
participants, in identifying with the situational context proposed in the role-plays,
produced their utterances in a spontaneous manner. Consequently, each subject produced
sentences that varied in length and syntactic structure. As a result, the complaints present
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
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in the speech sample were produced by exploiting the expressive and often joint action
of several speech acts, including directives, questions or negative assertions.
At this stage of the research, we decided to focus our attention on the directing act of
the order. This decision was driven by two main considerations: the need to standardise
the data and the observation that the directing act was more prevalent within the sample
5
.
The subset under analysis comprises 37 orders produced by native participants (It-L1)
and 35 orders produced by learners (It-L2). Given the limited size of the sample, this test
is exploratory in nature.
Acoustic analysis was performed using the PRAAT software (Boersma, Weenink,
2016). For each directive act, the mean and standard deviation of the following parameters
were measured: speech rate, defined as the number of syllables produced per second,
values of f0x, f0mx, f0min, onset, offset (in Hz), pitch range (in semitones), and duration of
the nuclear stressed vowels (NV, ms). Furthermore, the analysis has been extended by
calculating the parameters of ∆F and f0 slope (∆F/∆T)
6
. These are two partially distinct
indices: the former quantifies the variation of bitonal pitch accents between targets,
whereas the latter determines the magnitude of the slope with respect to the duration of
the nuclear vowel. A t-test was employed to analyse the statistical differences between the
groups (p = 0.05); the limited sample size precludes a more detailed analysis.
Special attention was also paid to the analysis of the nuclear intonation configurations
of the imperatives. To this end, each order was annotated using the standardised ToBI
protocol developed within the autosegmental and metrical approach (Beckman, Ayers
Elam, 1997); the study focused on the identification of the nuclear pitch accents and
boundary tones.
5.1. Results: the intonation patterns
Broadly speaking, the analysis showed that native and non-native subjects differed in
both the form and frequency of pitch accents. The orders within the complaint acts show
several aspects of differentiation, encompassing both the phonological form of the
nuclear contour and its phonetic realisation. Table 1 illustrates the range of all nuclear
pitch accents, together with their respective percentages. A comparison of the data reveals
that the number of nuclear pitch accents is more varied in It-L2 group than in the native
speaker group. Both groups show a predominant falling pattern, characterised by a high
tonal target aligned with the nuclear stressed syllable and a low target occurring on the
subsequent unstressed syllable (H*+L). However, the representativeness of this nuclear
accent differs between the two experimental groups. The pitch accent is more prevalent
among native speakers (82.6%), while it is present in a much lower percentage rate among
learners (41.2%), with no significant differences between Spanish and Arabic speakers. In
Italian native speakers, we also found the pitch accent ¡H*+L, this is a more emphatic
variant characterised by a relevant scaling within the nuclear syllable, since the f0 peak of
the target H is particularly high
7
.
In the Italian L2 data set, a comparable bitonal sequence was identified, namely H+L*,
albeit with a low recurrence rate (23.5%). However, there is a discrepancy in the alignment
of the two tonal targets with respect to the nuclear syllable. This is a pitch accent that was
5
Complaints have both an expressive and a directive component (Searle, 1976). The recurrence of
imperative sentences functions as a kind of request of reparation for something that has been evaluated as
negative by the individual.
6
The f0 slope (semitones per second, st/s) was calculated by applying the following formula from Peters,
Pfitzinger (2008: 66); f0 slope= 12/log 2[(log F0100%logF00%)/(time100%time0%)
7
The symbol (¡) indicates an upstep, i.e. a nuclear peak higher than the previous one.
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
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not found in the orders of the Italian native speakers. Similarly, the pitch accent L* was
only identified in It-L2 group, whereas the tone H* was equally represented in both the
It-L1 and It-L2 groups. It is important to highlight that some of the pitch accents
exhibited by the learners do not align with any of the patterns found in the It-L1. These
novel f0 patterns could be interpreted as a transfer of intonation from the learners’ native
languages (Spanish and Arabic). Nevertheless, the speech samples of the learners’ native
languages have yet to be analysed in order to confirm this assumption.
With regard to the edge tones
8
, it can be observed that the intonation configuration of
the complaints in both groups displays a significant final fall. For further details, see Table
2. It is noteworthy however, that in It-L1 the orders were not consistently characterised
by the presence of a low edge tone. In 26.6% of instances, the fall in pitch, that had already
started over the nuclear stressed syllable, undergoes a form of interruption. In such cases,
the intonation curve remains at a mid f0 value, without reaching a minimum value. In
order to differentiate this pattern from low and high edge tones, we have decided to label
them as !H%
9
. This contour may be interpreted as a form of maintenance of the dialogic
turn, potentially influenced by the presence of additional sentences produced after the
order. It is noteworthy that a considerable number of complaints elicited during the
speech task were notably lengthy and encompassed a variety of diverse dialogic turns.
High edge tones (H%) were observed in 17.7% of the cases
10
. These orders are hardly
effective because the illocutionary force conveyed by the intonation fall is attenuated.
Table 1. Percentage of nuclear pitch accents in the It-L1 and It-L2 groups
Pitch accents
It-L1
It-L2
H*
17.4%
17.6%
L*
--
11.8%
H*+L
82.6 %
41.2%
H+L*
23.5%
L+H*
--
5.9%
Table 2. Percentage of edge tones in the It-L1 and It-L2 groups
Edge tones
It-L1
It-L2
L%
69.6%
82.3%
H%
4.4%
17.7%
!H%
26%
--
The nuclear configuration H*+L L% is the typical contour already observed in
commands and requests in numerous varieties of Italian, including Cosenza (Gili Fivela
et al., 2015: 181), and in several Romance languages (Frota, Prieto, 2015). The
phonological configuration gives rise to a specific phonetic realisation, which is
8
The phrase accent was only annotated if it differed from the following boundary tones.
9
This final pattern is not common in commands, typically characterised by final falling patterns. However,
it is one of the nuclear configurations of imperatives in Castilian Spanish (L+H*M%), (Estebas-Vilaplana,
Prieto, 2010).
10
The presence of high boundary tones was identified as a defining feature of imperative sentences in
Canarian Spanish.
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
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responsible for the abrupt fall. This specific feature incorporates the directive force of
order, which is perceived as more abrupt the more peremptory the order is.
5.2. Results: phonetic aspects
The preliminary analysis indicates a notable disparity between the two groups under
investigation. Notwithstanding its prevalence, the nuclear configuration H*+L L% has a
different percentage weight. Moreover, a comparison between It-L1 and It-L2 reveals that
the phonetic realisation is not comparable. This discrepancy can be attributed to the
different durational patterns associated with the final fall, which contribute to a perceptual
rendering that differs from that of native speakers.
More specifically, the first differentiating element is of a temporal order. For It-L2
learners, the falling movement occurs within a reduced segmental portion. The average
duration of the nuclear vowel does not reach the same length as in native speakers,
indicating a temporal reduction of approximately 40%. This difference is statistically
significant (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Mean duration of NV (in ms)
This aspect, which is perceptibly discernible, assumes a certain importance, especially
in view of the fact that the speech rate calculated for the orders does not show any
significant variations between the two groups, as can be seen by comparing the averaged
data (It-L1 = 6 syll/sec, sd: 1.2; It-L2 = 6.1 syll/sec, sd = 1.3).
The second differentiating element concerns the magnitude and speed of the pitch
falling movement. In the It-L1 and It-L2 groups (Figs. 5-6), the frequency fall involved in
the nuclear accent exhibits a distinct scaling pattern. To be precise, the frequency slope
between the high target (H) and the low target (L) occurring within the nuclear syllable
was found to be 7.9 semitones per second (st/s) in the native sample, whereas in the It-
L2 sample this value was reduced to 3.3 semitones per second (st/s) (Figure 7). There are
notable differences in the behaviour of the scaling and slope of the H*+L pitch accent
between the two groups. In learners, this nuclear pitch accent occurs in a compressed
temporal space, determined by the shorter duration of the nuclear vowel. In addition, the
scaling between the two pitch targets is reduced, resulting in a different rate of change
(∆slope), as shown in Figures 7 and 8 for It-L1 and It-L2 respectively.
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
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Figure 5. It-L1: representation of the ∆F parameter relating to the nuclear pitch accent H*+L, ∆F/∆T= 0.44,
the reported duration for the NV (188 ms) represents the mean value observed for the native group
Figure 6. It-L2: representation of the ∆F parameter relating to the nuclear pitch accent H*+L, ∆F/∆T= 0.33,
the reported duration for the NV (117 ms) represents the mean value observed for the native group
Figure 7. Waveform and pitch curve (f0) of the complaint act L’abbassi ‘sta musica! (Turn this music down!)
produced by an Italian native male speaker (It-L1, A-p-u), global PR: 11.7 st, duration NV 194 ms, f0 slope:
3.7 st/s
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
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Figure 8. Waveform and pitch curve (f0) of the complaint act Deve fare la fila! (Must queue up!) produced by a
Spanish male learner of It-L2 (MR-p-u), PR: 10 st, NV: 130 ms, f0 slope: 209 st/s
In addition to these traits, further differences are observed with respect to other
variables. The first difference concerns the global pitch range of the utterance, that is the
difference in semitones (st) between the maximum pitch value (f0max) and the minimum
pitch value (f0min). The analysis shows that in It-L1 learners, complaints have a wider and
less variable pitch range than in It-L2 learners; the difference is 4.2 st and is statistically
significant (t = 0.05) (Figure 9).
For learners, the intonation curve has a lower amplitude in terms of frequency. This
includes the maximum (f0max) and minimum (f0min) values of the contour, as well as the
relationship between the mean value (f0x) and the onset and offset of the frequency curve,
respectively, which correspond to the start and end points of the f0 curve.
As can be seen in Figure 10, the mean of f0 and the onset shows a smaller discrepancy
in learners’ Italian than in the native language. This indicates that the onset of the f0
contour is lower than that observed in native speakers (t = 0.02).
At the same time, the f0 offset also shows a less pronounced difference compared to
the f0x (t = 0.3); this means that the final frequency value of the intonation curve reaches
a lower frequency than in It-L1.
Figure 9. Mean values (st) of global pitch range
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
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Figure 10. Mean values (st) of the ratio Onset/f0x, Offset/f0x
6. CONCLUSIONS
The results of the socio-pragmatic and prosodic analysis corroborate the hypothesis
that learners tend to be “weak complainers”. It especially highlights the challenge, notably
for Spanish learners, of using modifiers and supportive acts to make the complaint more
appropriate in contexts with greater social distance. Arabic speakers employ a greater
number of modifiers and engage in a higher frequency of complaint acts than Spanish
speakers. This is likely a strategy to counterbalance their perceived communication
challenges. Conversely, Spanish speakers rely on fewer internal modifiers with a minimal
number of supportive acts. With regard to the parameters of variation, such as distance
and power, their behaviours differ markedly. Nevertheless, despite their limited
communicative competence, they are still able to achieve a level of appropriateness that
is suited to the enunciative context.
Compared to non-native speakers, Italians tend to soften the act with a number of
polite expressions and support act such as preparatory and justificatory acts especially
when there is a greater distance between participants or an asymmetrical relationship.
They also tend to avoid attributing responsibility for negative events to interlocutors.
In Italian, native speakers produce imperatives within complaint acts that are
characterised by a high fundamental frequency, a wide tonal range and longer duration of
nuclear vowels. These are specific features that guarantee an adequate realisation of the
illocutionary force. Typically, orders show a strong f0 drop in the nuclear pitch accent.
This specific intonation fall is a crucial element in the production of imperative
commands. In the learners, not only is the f0 fall softer than in the native subjects, as
suggested by the f0 slope and f0 onset/f0x ratio values, but the entire pattern is produced
over a reduced duration of the nuclear vowel. In addition, the It-L2 sample exhibits
notable variability in both in the typology of the pitch accents and the edge tones.
Complaints always express an emotional state, so speakers employ their vocal cues to
convey a subjective feeling, such as disappointment, contrariety, disapproval or even
anger. It seems reasonable to suggest that there is a significant change in voice quality
indices in complaints.
The initial findings from the prosodic and pragmatic verification are promising, yet
further investigation is required. A larger corpus would facilitate a more detailed
Italiano LinguaDue 2. 2024. De Marco A., Sorianello P., Complaints in Italian as a second language:
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examination of the data, enabling a more precise categorisation of acts by degree of
politeness and mitigation, as well as by sociolinguistic context.
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