FILOZOFSKA FAKULTETA
NADSEGMENTNE ZNAČILNOSTI ANGLEŠKEGA GLASOSLOVJA
INTONATION Intonation is the melody of speech. This means that the study of intonation is mainly mainly concerned with the the rising and falling of the pitch of the voice. voice. The prosodic characteristics of speech are:
(height of voice)
Intonation is concerned only with the pitch changes within an utterance and is thus a narrower than prosody or suprasegmentals. Speech without intonation intonation does not exist (language without intonation sound sound literally inhuman – giving a robot-like robot-like effect). Intonation is an integral part of any language therefore part of the linguistic linguistic study. Intonatio Intonationn helps convey linguist linguistic ic and pragmatic pragmatic meaning – it is a bridge between between grammar and meaning. It is important important in communication communication because it provides additional additional meaning to what is supplied by the words themselves ( It wasn’t so much what they said, but how they said it’’ ). Intonation varies considerably from one language to another. Intonation roughly performs 4 functions (has 4 different meanings): Emotional Emotional colouring, colouring, attitude attitude (pragmati (pragmatic) c) - tone Conveys grammatical/syntactic structure of an utterance (e.g. statements vs. questions) Textual function / discourse function (how text, either written or spoken, are structured coherence, cohesion. In speech (especially spontaneous speech) intonation adds to the
Milk comes from cows. || Wool comes from sheep. Milk comes from cows, | and wool comes from sheep.
two pieces of information = two IP’s
When
, or the division of clauses):
(division into IP’s does not follow
Milk | comes from cows. Delicious, | cool | milk.
I don't | like it. Abso | lutely | de | licious!
Bor | ing!
Marked tonality requires some sort of context.
In certain cases the division into IP’s can disambiguate the grammatical structure (the presence or absence of intonation breaks signals the syntactic structure of a sentence).
Help keep the dog off! Help! | Keep the dog off! What's that in the road ahead? What's that in the road? || A head? Do you like paw paw? -I'm sorry, || I don't know. I'm sorry, || I don't, || no. You can have cheese, | salad | or quiche. You can have cheese salad | or quiche.
Tonality varies considerably according to the style of speech. Speakers can insert intonation breaks almost anywhere they want in order to make their message as clear as possible. However, there are some strong tendencies exerted by the grammar over tonality. Some components of syntactic structure are more likely than others to be made into separate IP’s, set off by intonation breaks. : intonation break after each
|
When I cough, | it hurts my throat. First take the lid off, | and then unscrew the base. I'll tell you, | but you must keep it a secret. : intonation break
|| or
to make the
He was looking up the street. ( possibly ambiguous ) He was looking | up the street. (direction) He was looking up | the street. (searching )
Vocatives are not an essential part of the clause structure (the clause would be grammatically complete even without them). This explains why under some circumstances they are given their own IP. Vocatives
Under the circumstances | we've got no choice. Technically | we have to reject it.
In the
of a clause:
have their own
Well we could | this year | do something different. The rest of us, | unfortunately, | will have to accept it.
At the
of a clause:
: integrated into the clause structure She dances beautifully. I just can't take him seriously. I'll pay you back soon. that modify the whole clause or sentence: their own IP Apparently, | she's getting divorced. I'm rather disappointed, | frankly.
She talked to me honestly. (honestly modifying talked = How did she talk to me?) She talked to me, | honestly. (honestly modifying She talked to me = She DID talk to me, I assure you)
With parallel words or phrases, there is likely to be an intonation break after each component if there are more than two components or if the components are heavy. The decision whether to treat each enumerated item on a list as a separate IP is to a large extent left to the speaker’s perception of the context of interaction. If the parallel words or phrases are placed in contrast by the speaker, then they too are likely to be separated by an intonation break. Parallel words and phrases: I come on Mondays, | Wednesdays | and Fridays. (emphasis) I want to buy some fruit | some milk | and some bread. (emphasis) I can see a sort of tree | and the outline of a person. (emphasis) I’m not going to repeat the mistake I made last time | this time. (contrast)
Ambiguous; some coordinated structures are potentially ambiguous, and can optionally be disambiguated by the insertion of an intonation break: old men and women (ambiguous: who is old?) old | men and women (= both are old) old men | and women (= men are old)
Strings of or A: How do you spell to seize ? B: S, E, I, Z, E. A: What was that again?
: With a string of letters or numbers there are equally two possibilities. If we think they will be familiar with the hearer, or if there is no need to be particularly explicit, we run them together in the same IP. If we think they may be unfamiliar to the hearer or need to be made especially clear, we can make the message easier for the hearer to process by placing an intonation break
London and the southeast | will have showers. || The rest of the country | will be dry.
English has a fixed SVO (subject, verb, object) order of sentence elements. In this sequence the subject is the topic or theme, while the rest of the clause is the comment or rheme. Sometimes the context of interaction requires topicalization of other sentence elements, such as objects ot complements, which means that they occur in the initial position of the clause preceding the grammatical subject. All such instances require their own IP. In other words, a marked theme is always followed by an intonation break. Topical status of the subject & other sentence elements is signalled:
In various syntactic ways By choosing an appropriate tone By giving it a separate IP Cleft & pseudo cleft structures
As for Jeremy, | he can do what he likes. (subject) Martha | will have to wait. (subject) His rudeness | I shall ignore. || But his actions | I cannot forgive. (objects) More important | is the question of what we do next. (complement) I chose Veronica. (not cleft) It was Veronica that I chose. (cleft) It Veronica | tha I cho
Within each intonation break, we select one word as particularly important for the meaning. This is where we place the (or nuclear accent), the syllable that is more prominent than others and bear the nuclear . The syllable is made prominent though pitch change, extra length and loudness . The nucleus is the syllable where one of five English tones is realized. The most important decision the speaker makes in selecting an intonation pattern is to decide where the nucleus goes: which is the word to be accented. In doing this the speaker chooses the tonicity of the intonation phrase. In an IP there may be other accents besides the nuclear accent. If so, the nucleus is the accent in the IP. Any other accents come earlier in the IP and are called prenuclear. Tonicity can be either: tonicity means that the nucleus is places within the last lexical item in an intonation unit. This also implies, that the information of the whole intonation unit is in focus (=broad focus) tonicity means that the nucleus is not placed within the last lexical item but within an item which comes earlier in the intonation focus. In this case, only the section up to the nucleus is in focus (=narrow focus).
In order for an IP to be neutral in tonicity, the nucleus should occur on the last lexical item. : adjectives, lexical verbs, nouns, adverbs
I’m very annoyed with her. Ask her what that noise is. : no N (=generally speaking, we accent content words but not function words) Function words are words whose meaning may need to be explained in a grammar rather than a dictionary, and which may not have exact equivalents in other languages: pronouns, prepositions, articles, auxiliary verbs, modal verbs
compounds: N on the Most compounds in English are single-stressed (=front-stressed), i.e. the main lexical stress goes on the first element. It’s well past your bedtime. Put the grass in the wheelbarrow. Where’s your grandmother?
(two-word compounds) Is that my library book? They were playing video games. I’ve lost my credit cards. I need some new running shoes. Are you still at high school? At ten we have a physics class. (one of the elements of the compound may itself consist of more than one
The location of the nucleus is strongly affected by whether the words in the utterance contain old or new information. Information status is the status of how we want to express our ideas, pieces of information. In addition to syntax, it represents additional help in conveying the information structure. The nucleus is always located on information, the N is on the last lexical item: Yes madam? -I’d like a gin and tonic.
When all pieces of information are new
If the last lexical item contains , the N moves to the left and is placed on the first lexical item which does contain new information How about a gin and tonic? -I’d prefer a vodka and tonic.
, even if they contain new information, do not become N. A green chair and a blue curtain. BUT: A green chair and a blue chair. Tina Rodman and Jane Stuart. BUT: Tina Rodman and Jane Rodman.
The nucleus shows where the focus domain ends. In bellow examples the focus domain is just the item Mary , and the intonation indicated that we are concentrating attention on the relevant part ( Mary ): Who brought the wine? - Mary. -Mary did. -Mary brought the wine. -I think it was Mary that brought the wine.
A particular kind of narrow focus. It is used to put two items in contrast; these two items can be either grammatical or lexical. Any following material within the same IP is unaccented: You may have started your essay, | but have you finished your essay? (contrast between started and finished) Philip | can run faster than Jim can. I know what Peter wants, | but what do you want? I can send a fax to him, | but I can’t receive one from him. The speaker can make an explicit or implicit contrast between two pieces of information. The above examples are all examples of contrast; they presuppose a previous context in which these sentences are uttered. If the contrast is , the hearer is left to infer the other term in the contrast: I don’t know what you’re complaining about. (implicit contrast between the addressee ( you) and some other possible complainant who may have better grounds for complaint than the addressee).
I’ll write to him myself. She’s not very enthusiastic herself.
I think we all ought to help one another. At least Phil and Sue are talking to each other.
Can you see anyone? Can I get you anything? I’ve just read something really funny.
In some cases the nucleus always falls on a function word even when the focus is broad.
A: Have you finished? B: Yes. / Definitely. / Oh sure. / No. / Not really.
That’s Mary. Who’s she with? A: You know my essay? B: Yes, what about it?
How are you? Tell me how you are. Who is it? Tell me who it is. How would it be if we met for lunch? The man over there who is he? When was it that you came back from Canada ?
A: I’m going to the library. B: Oh, I’ll come, too. We’re going to the beach. Why don’t you come along as well? I don’t like Jim, and I don’t like Tammy, either. This idea may not work, but let’s try it anyway. Anyway, why were you looking at my letters?
“I don’t believe it,” she explained.
I had an unexpected visitor yesterday. Does a Mr. Pomfrey live here? Did you see Big Brother on television last night? There’s a fly in my soup.
Put it on the table. Write the details in the book.
Phrasal verb: verb + particle (adverb or preposition) = primary stress on the particle How are you getting on ? The prisoner broke down. The next month she passed away. I’ll leave you to carry on, then.
Phrasal verb: verb + adverb + preposition →
on the
→
on the
Various intonation models of the English language recognize different number of nuclear tones. However, regardless of the intonation model, it seems that the English language uses five different pitch movements or tones. Anything else is just a variation of these tones 1: (low/high) (low/high)
() () () ()
() The high/low fall, the high/low rise and the level tone are all simple tones (include one pitch movement). The fall rise and rise-fall tones are complex tones (include two pitch movements). wonderful pitch range
wonderful
wonderful?
wonderful?
ˇwonderful
^wonderful
>wonderful
For the simple rise ( ) the pitch of the voice starts relatively low, i.e. between the low and the mid part of the pitch range, and then moves upwards to the mid to high part of the pitch range. The difference between the fall and the rise is that the latter has a rising tail, the former a low level one. ( 7 ) The voice rises during the word from a low to a medium pitch or a little above. EXAMPLE:
7Chicken?
7 All of us?
( ' ) The voice rises during the word from a medium to a high pitch. EXAMPLE:
'Chicken?
' All of us?
EXAMPLE:
^ Wonderful.
^Take physics then.
7. (>) The voice maintains a pitch between high and low, neither rising nor falling. EXAMPLE:
>Actually.
Intonation is multi-functional. It is difficult to discuss the grammatical meanings of tones separately from
When the is used in statements it means that the IP which bears this tone is part of a larger syntactic structure. In addition to this non-finality, the fall-rise often expresses semantic non-finality where the remaining part of the message is implied in the context of interaction. The implication is usually a contract or a reservation. Sometimes the implied message is explicitly pronounced in the following IP: No matter "what you say, | I’m "going to buy it. Well I "like his acting. (But not his singing) (But Mummy may not agree.) Daddy thinks | it’s " too expensive. We "could meet on Monday | but "later I’m a way. The default tones used in various questions are different.
WH-QUESTIONS default: " Which way is the Covent Garden?
YES-NO QUESTIONS default: Have you "ever been to Slovenia?
TAG QUESTIONS
"Stop that noise! "Come to Daddy! "Don’t worry. "Blow your nose, dear.
INTERJECTIONS default: marked: (encouraging) Thank you.
My goodness! A: Oh mary! B: Yes?
GREETINGS (formal, businesslike) default: (personal, encouraging)
Good morning. Good morning.
The first pitch-prominent pre-nuclear segment is called the head = the head begins with the stressed syllable of the first accented word (before the nucleus). Where’s John? head nucleus
The pre-head and head may occur together or separately, or they may not be present at all if the nucleus is the first syllable of a word group. There are four different types of head: 1. THE HIGH HEAD All syllables are said on the same rather high pitch. The high head is always level (the high level head). It was" easier than I ex `pected.
The high head is symbolized by placing the mark [ "] before it. If there are other accented words in the head they have [º] before their stressed syllables:
Everyone’s º bound to ºsee it ˇsometime.
Don’t ˇfall.
4. THE RISING HEAD Its first syllable is low in pitch and any following syllables gradually carry the pitch higher. It only occurs before the high-fall tone. It’s absolutely in`tolerable.
The symbol for the rising head [] is placed before the stressed syllable of the first accented word in the head. The stressed syllable of any other accented word in the head is marked with [ º]: How did you º manage to do `that?
Don’t `pay him.
All syllables following the nucleus are called the tail. The seven nuclear tones correspond to the seven tune endings: high fall ending rise-fall ending low rise ending high rise ending
THE
THE
THE
THE
THE
THE
THE
THE
THE
THE
(low)
(low)
(low)
(low) / (high)
(low)
(low)
(low)
(low)
(low)
(low)
(high) low fall
(high) high fall
(low) low rise
(high) low rise
(falling) fall-rise
(rising) high fall
(high) high rise
(high) rise-fall
(high) high fall + low rise
(high) mid-level
: detached, cool, reserved, full, grim : categoric, weighty, judicial
conveying a sense of involvement, light, airy
encouraging further conversation, guarded, reserving judgement, deprecatory
soothing, reassuring, hint of great selfconfidence; in : questioning
grudgingly, admitting, reluctantly or defensively dissenting, concerned, reproachful, hurt, reserved; : astonished
protesting, as if suffering under a sense of injustice
impressed, awed, complacent, selfsatisfied, challenging, censorious, disclaiming responsibility
: detached, flat, unsympathetic : searching, serious, intense, urgent
brisk, businesslike, considerate, not unfriendly, lively, interested
on the interrogative word: wondering, puzzled : very calm but resentful
on the interrogative word: puzzled; : disapproving; : sympathetically interested
: greatly astonished; interested and concerned as well as surprised
protesting, somewhat unpleasantly surprised
questioning, trying to elicit a repetition, but lacking any suggestion of disapproval or puzzlement; : casual on the interrogative word: calling for a repetition; on the following int. word: echoing;
appealing to the listener to continue with the topic of conversation; expressing gladness regret, surprise very emotive, expressing plaintiveness, despair, gushing warmth
in non final word groups: marking non-finality, without conveying any impression of expectancy; calling out to someone as from a distance in non final word groups: marking non-finality, without conveying any impression of expectancy
impressed, challenging, antagonistic
very emotive, expressing plaintiveness, despair, gushing warmth
disclaiming responsibility, sometimes hostile
pleasing, persuading
in non final word groups: marking non-finality, without conveying any impression of expectancy in non final word groups: marking non-finality, without conveying any impression of expectancy
impressed, sometimes a hint of accusation
intensely encouraging, protesting
: uninterested, hostile : serious, urgent
willing to discuss but not urgently, sometimes sceptical
: unemotional, calm, controlled : very serious, very strong
suggesting a course of action and not worrying about being obeyed
: calm, unsurprised, reserved : very strong
mildly surprised, not so reserved or self-possessed as with the low-drop
disapproving, sceptical
genuinely interested
beginning with don’t : appealing to
the listener to change his mind; calmly warning, exhortative sometimes reserving judgement, sometimes calm
: greatly astonished; interested and concerned as well as surprised
willing to discuss but protesting the need for settling a crucialpoint
soothing, encouraging, calmly patronising
urgently warning with a note of reproach or concern
recommending a course of action but with a note of critical surprise
airy, causal, yet encouraging, often friendly, brighter than when said with the take-off
scornful
protesting, surprised
22
questions: tentative, casual either echoing the listener’s question or light and casual
querying all or part of the listener’s command or interjection, but with no critical intention querying all or part of the listener’s command or interjection, but with no critical intention
challenging, antagonistic, disclaiming responsibility
in non final word groups: marking non-finality, without conveying any impression of expectancy; calling out to someone as from a distance
