Intonation in English

1. Intonation in English

Outline
1. Definition and functions.
2. Components of intonation
and the structure of English
tone-group.

2. 1. Definition and functions

Most foreign authors consider intonation as pitch
variations only. Russian phoneticians (V. A.
Vassilyev, G. T. Torsuyev, E.Y. Antipova and
others) state, that intonation is a complex unity
of
speech melody (pitch of the voice)
sentence stress
rhythm
voice timbre
pausation and tempo (rate)

3. Intonation on perception level is:

a complex, a whole, formed by significant
variations of pitch, loudness and tempo.
Some Russian linguists regard speech timbre as
the fourth component of intonation.
Though speech timbre definitely conveys certain
shades of attitudinal or emotional meaning
there is no reason to consider it alongside with
the three prosodic components of intonation,
i.e. pitch, loudness and tempo.
M. Sokolova and others write that the term
prosody embraces the three prosodic
components and substitutes the term
intonation.

4. The main functions of intonation

the
constitutive – intonation
forms sentences
the distinctive – intonation
serves to distinguish the
communicative types of
sentences, the actual meaning
of a sentence, the speaker’s
emotions and attitudes.

5. Functions of intonation (according to D. Crystal )

1.
2.
3.
• Emotional - expresses attitudinal
meaning -sarcasm, surprise, reserve,
impatience, delight, shock, anger,
interest, and thousands of other
semantic nuances.
• Grammatical - helps to identify
grammatical structure in speech,
performing a role similar to punctuation.
• Informational - helps draw attention
to what meaning is given and what is
new in an utterance (the word carrying
the most prominent tone presents new
information).

6.

4. • Textual - helps larger units than the sentence to contrast
and cohere. In radio news-reading, paragraphs of
information can be shaped through the use of pitch. In
sports commentary, changes in prosody reflect the
progress of the action.
5. • Psychological - helps us to organize speech into units
that are easier to perceive and memorize. Most people
would find a sequence of numbers, for example, difficult
to recall. The task is made easier by using intonation to
chunk the sequence into two units.
6. • Indexical - an important marker of personal or social
identity. Lawyers, preachers, newscasters, sports
commentators, army sergeants, and several other
occupations are readily identified through their distinctive
prosody.
No matter how many functions are named, all of them
perform the function of communication.

7. 2. Components of intonation and the structure of English tone-group

8. Pitch level and pitch range

Each intonation group has its own pitch and
stress pattern. Variations in voice pitch
occur within the normal range of the
speaking voice within the interval between
its lower and upper limits.
Three pitch levels are generally
distinguished:
high, medium, low.
Pitch range is an interval between two pitch
levels.
It can be: normal, wide or narrow.

9. An intonation pattern is the basic unit of intonation

It can consist of the following parts:
the pre-head (unstressed and halfstressed syllables preceding the head)
the head (the syllables beginning with
the first stressed syllable up to the last
stressed syllable)
the nucleus (the last stressed syllable)
the tail (the unstressed and half stressed
syllables that follow the nucleus)

10.

Pre-heads can be: rising, mid and low
Scales can be: descending, ascending and
level.
Descending and ascending heads can be:
stepping, sliding and scandent.

11.

The change of pitch within the last
stressed syllable of the tone-group
is called a nuclear tone.
The number of tonal types given by
different scholars is different.
According to R. Kingdon the most
important nuclear tones in English
are: Low Fall, High Fall, Low
Rise, High Rise, and Fall-Rise.

12. The meanings of the nuclear tones

The falling tone of any level and range
expresses certainty, completeness, and
independence.
A rising tone expresses uncertainty,
incompleteness or dependence.
A falling-rising tone may combine the
falling tone's meaning of assertion,
certainty with the rising tone's meaning of
dependence, incompleteness. At the end
of a phrase it often conveys a feeling of
reservation, i.e. it asserts something and
at the same time suggests that there is
something else to be said.

13. Sentence Stress

is a special prominence given to
one or more words according to
their importance in the
sentence. The main function of
sentence stress is to single out
the communicative centre of
the sentence which introduces
new information.

14. Types of sentence stress

1.
2.
3.
Normal (syntactical) - is used to arrange
words into sentences or intonation groups
phonetically; it expresses the general idea of
the sentence and indicates its communicative
centre; it is related to rhythm.
Logical - special prominence is given to a new
element in a sentence or an intonation group.
Emphatic – increases the effort of expression;
both normal and logical stresses can be
emphatic, it is the highest degree of logical
and emotional prominence of words in a
phrase.

15. Rhythm

is the regular alternation of stressed and
unstressed syllables.
Unstressed syllables have a tendency to cling to
the preceding stressed syllables – enclitics,
or to the following stressed syllables –
proclitics.
In English, as a rule, only initial unstressed
syllables cling to the following stressed
syllables, non-initial stressed syllables are
usually enclitics. Proclitics are pronounced
faster than enclitics.

16.

Loudness is used in a variety of ways.
Gross differences of meaning (such as
anger, menace, and excitement) can be
conveyed by using an overall loudness
level.
The tempo of speech is the third
component of intonation. The term tempo
implies the rate of the utterance and
pausation. The rate of speech can be
normal, slow and fast. The parts of the
utterance which are particularly important
sound slower. Unimportant parts are
commonly pronounced at a greater speed
than normal.

17. Pausation

Any stretch of speech can be split into smaller
portions, i.e. phonetic wholes, phrases,
intonation groups by means of pauses. By
'pause' here we mean a complete stop of
phonation. We may distinguish the following
three kinds of pauses:
1. Short pauses which may be used to
separate intonation groups within a phrase.
2. Longer pauses which normally manifest
the end of the phrase.
3. Very long pauses, which are
approximately twice as long as the first type,
are used to separate phonetic wholes.

18.

Functionally, there may be distinguished
syntactic, emphatic and hesitation
pauses.
Syntactic pauses separate
phonopassages, phrases, and intonation
groups.
Emphatic pauses serve to make especially
prominent certain parts of the utterance.
Hesitation pauses are mainly used in
spontaneous speech to gain some time
to think over what to say next. They may
be silent or filled.

19. Timbre

is special coloring of the speaker’s
voice. It is used to express
various emotions and moods,
such as joy, anger, sadness,
indignation, etc.
It depends on the physiological
properties and psychological
peculiarities of a person. It is little
studied.