| Abstract | Intonational typology has only quite recently begun to scrutinize the typology of accent beyond the binary distinction of "stress accent" and "pitch accent" (or "non-stress" accent) established by Beckman (1986). Contributing to this research, this study considers the phonetic correlates of postlexical accent and its patterns of distribution in the Kuninjku dialect of Bininj Gun-wok (BGW), a polysynthetic language spoken in Northern Australia. In BGW, postlexical accents (H*, L+H*) are attracted to metrically strong syllables -- a defining feature of "stress accent" languages. However, contrary to many stress accent languages described in the literature, pitch is the single consistent correlate of accent in the Kuninjku dialect of BGW. Accent type in this dialect may be more accurately described as "metrical accent", a term which captures the attraction of the postlexical accent to metrical strength without the correlative assumption of phonetic stress. Accent in Kuninjku has a clear metrical-prominence-enhancing function, but it may also perform a delimitative function at the level of the phonological word. While more than one accent can associate to a phonological word, in the Kuninjku dialect, a single accent will almost invariably align with the leftmost metrical head in the word. In the Manyallaluk Mayali dialect, however, default accent assignment is somewhat more complex. |