LH%
LH% is manifested phonetically as a dip and then a rise to a high F0 value.
It is found in anti-expectative and invitation questions.
L!H%
L!H% is manifested phonetically as a dip and then a rise to a mid F0 value.
It is found in obviousness statements.
Example LH%: Anti-expectational question
Example L!H%: Obviousness statement
¿Bárbara?
[(Did you say) Bàrbara?]
¡Bárbara!
[Barbara (obviously)!]
Explanations
These are two similar sentences, in which the contour is nearly the same: the nuclear pitch accent is a low plateau (L*), which continues on the first postaccented syllable, and finally there is a rise on the last syllable. The difference between these two sentences is the height of the peak at the end of last syllable: in the first one, it is much higher and the sentence is interpreted as an anti-expectative question (LH%), whereas in the second one, the peak is less high and is thus interpreted as an obviousness statement instead (L!H%).
