Supraphrasal Unities

1. Supraphrasal Unities

Larchikova Alexandra
A-32

2. The view of a text as «built up» by utterances – the minimal self-contained units of communication – has been enriched in

modern linguistics by
introducing a «hierarchy» of text constituents which
embraces a variety of «intermediate» units lying
between an unexpended simple utterance and the
text.

3. The higher units are formed by grouping utterances into complex, or sets, each occupying a certain «slot» in the semantic

structure of the text, reflecting thereby the
subdivision of the overall topic into a number
of subtopics. The unit coming next to an
utterance in the above-mentioned hierarchy
is a supraphrasal unity (SPU)
The individual phrases within
a SPU have specific
language markers of a closer
semantic relationship
between them than
between the initial phrase of
a SPU and the preceding
utterance, on the one hand,
and the final phrase of a SPU
and the following utterance
in the text, on the other.
Because of this «marked»
semantic closeness a
supraphrasal unity is not
unrestricted in its length,
which does not typically
exceed 4 or 5 component
phrases.

4.

The identification of a supraphrasal unity in spoken language
is achieved primarily with the help of prosodic features. This
makes it possible to speak of the prosodic structure of a
supraphrasal unity.

5.

First of all, there are consonant
prosodic markers distinguishing
initial, median, and final phrases
in the unity. These are the features
of pitch, loudness and tempo. It
has been proved, in particular,
that the pitch of the onset syllable
in the initial phrase is noticeably
higher than that in the following
phrases, the decrease of the
pitch-height being gradual in
many cases. The same tendency
is observed for the degree of
loudness. The tempo of speech
tends to be somewhat slower at
the beginning and end of the
supraphrasal unity and faster in
the middle.

6. An important feature marking the boundary of a supraphrasal unity is a pause which is considerably longer than any of the

pauses separating the phrases within the
unity. It is so-called three-unit pause.

7. The degree of semantic completeness of the utterances within a supraphrasal unity is reflected in the degree of finality of its

nuclear tone. The last
utterance in a unity normally has a
falling tone with the lowest ending
point (Mid Wide Fall, Low Narrow Fall)
While the fall in the nonfinal phrases doesn’t
generally reach the
bottom of the voicerange (a falling tone
with a non-low ending,
e.g. the High Narrow
Fall, the Mid Narrow
Fall). There is a rather
higher probability for
non-falling tones ( Low
Rise, Fall-Rise) in the
initial and median
phrases than in the final
phrase of a unity.

8. Due to the specific prosodic markers an utterance isolated from a supraphrasal unity is easily recognized as ‘contextual’.

Besides the features referred to above,
this impression depends on the accentual pattern,
which is very often ‘marked’, characterized by a shift of
prominence from its normal position. The placement of
the nucleus in such a phrase can only be justified by a
larger context.