UNIVERZITET U BEOGRADU FILOLOKI FAKULTET

Jelena (Tot) Petrovi

THE ATTITUDINAL FUNCTION OF ENGLISH INTONATION: ANALYSIS OF SPOKEN MATERIAL

Diplomski-master rad

Mentor: doc. dr Biljana ubrovi

Beograd, 2009.

FUNKCIJA IZRAAVANJA STAVOV A I EMOCIJA INTONACIJE ENGLESKOG JEZIKA: ANALIZA GOVORNOG MATERIJALA

Apstrakt:
Predmet ovog diplomskog-master rada je analiza snimljenog materijala sa ciljem da se ispita funkcija izraavanja stavova i emocija (the attitudinal function) intonacije engleskog jezika u prirodnom govoru u naelu, kao i da se proveri da li je intonacija sama po sebi dovoljna za njihovo izraavanje. Za ovu analizu odabran je snimljeni materijal reenice i delovi dijaloga iz filma Hari Poter i kamen mudrosti, na osnovu pretpostavke da bi ovaj film mogao obilovati primerima verbalnog izraavanja stavova i emocija svih vrsta zbog iroke lepeze ivopisnih likova i prie pune emotivnog naboja. Svi analizirani primeri, izuzev onih kod kojih se nije moglo doi do validnih zakljuaka, ocenjeni su kao oni koji izraavaju PA (pozitivan stav ili emociju), ili, u odsustvu elemenata koji prethode nukleusu, kao oni koji imaju HT ili LT (visoku ili nisku temperaturu). Takoe, svi su oznaeni sa C kada postoji kongruencija gore navedenih ocena sa teoretskim postulatima, odnosno sa D u sluaju odstupanja od istih. Rezultati ove analize rezimirani su u zakljuku. Oni pokazuju da izmeu izolovanih nuklearnih tonova u materijalu koji je bio predmet analize i znaenja koja su im dodeljena u teoriji postoji stoprocentna kongruencija, dok razliiti intonacijski modeli odstupaju od teoretskih tumaenja u 20 odsto sluajeva.

Kljune rei:
Intonacija engleskog jezika, funkcija izraavanja stavova i emocija, analiza snimljenog materijala, funkcija izraavanja stavova i emocija intonacije engleskog jezika

THE

ATTITUDINAL

FUNCTION

OF

ENGLISH

INTONATION: ANALYSIS OF SPOKEN MATERIAL

Abstract:
The subject of this thesis is an analysis of recorded material with the aim to examine the attitudinal function of English intonation in natural speech in general and to check if intonation itself is enough to convey an attitude or emotion. The material chosen for the analysis are the sentences and parts of dialogues appearing in the film Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. This film was chosen on the basis of the presumption that, with its broad spectrum of vivid characters and a highly emotional story, it could abound in verbal displays of emotions and attitudes of all kinds. All analysed examples, except for the ones with inconclusive results, were assessed as conveying PA (positive attitude or emotion), or, in the absence of prenuclear material, as having HT or LT (high or low temperature), followed by C where there is congruence of the above with the theoretical postulates, or D where the above assessment deviates from them. The results of the analysis are summarized in the concluding section, and they show that isolated nuclear tones in the analysed material are 100 percent congruent with the meanings assigned to them in theory, whereas different intonation patterns deviate from theoretical interpretations in 20 percent of the cases.

Key words:
English intonation, attitudinal function, analysis of recorded material, attitudinal function of English intonation

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................1 1.1 Intonation .........................................................................................................................1 1.2 The functions of English intonation .................................................................................1 1.3 English linguistic intonation system ................................................................................3 1.3.1 Tonality .........................................................................................................................3 1.3.2 Tonicity .........................................................................................................................3 1.3.3 Tone ..............................................................................................................................3 1.3.4 Temperature and emotions ............................................................................................4 1.3.5 Stylization .....................................................................................................................5 1.4 Method of selection and analysis of recorded material ....................................................5 2. ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................7 2.1 SEQUENCE 1: Albus Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid meet in front of the Dursleys' house to leave baby Harry on their doorstep .......................................7 2.1.1 Conversation between Professor McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore .......................7 2.2 SEQUENCE 2: At the Dursleys....................................................................................10 2.2.1 Aunt Petunia is waking Harry up: ..............................................................................10 2.2.2 Immediate contrast (to her son Dudley): ....................................................................11 2.2.3 Uncle Vernon to Harry:..............................................................................................11 2.3 SEQUENCE 3: In the Zoo ............................................................................................12 2.3.1 Harry, to the boa..........................................................................................................12 2.4 SEQUENCE 4: Back at the Dursleys............................................................................12 2.5 SEQUENCE 5: In the shack, Hagrids appearance ......................................................15 2.6 SEQUENCE 6: With Hagrid in London - In Leaky Cauldron......................................16 2.7 SEQUENCE 7: With Hagrid in London - At Ollivanders ...........................................17 2.8 SEQUENCE 8: With Hagrid in London in the Inn ....................................................18 2.9 SEQUENCE 9: With Hagrid in London at the train station ......................................18

2.10 SEQUENCE 10: On the train to Hogwarts .................................................................19 2.11 SEQUENCE 11: At Hogwarts ....................................................................................19 2.12 SEQUENCE 12: At Hogwarts the Sorting Hat ........................................................20 2.13 SEQUENCE 13: At Hogwarts the Banquet .............................................................21 2.14 SEQUENCE 14: At Hogwarts Professor McGonagalls class ................................21 2.15 SEQUENCE 15: At Hogwarts Professor Snapes class ...........................................22 3. CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................23 3.1 Incidence of isolated nuclear tones in analyzed material and their congruence with theoretical postulates ............................................................................................................23 3.2 Incidence of combinations of heads and nuclear tones in analyzed material and their congruence with theoretical postulates ........................................................................24 3.3 Cases of congruence of isolated nuclear tones ..............................................................24 3.4 Cases of incongruence (deviations) ..............................................................................25 3.5 Difficulties in analysing spoken material ......................................................................26 References ...........................................................................................................................29 Appendices ..........................................................................................................................30

1. Introduction
1.1 Intonation Intonation is an inseparable component of vocal communication. It is a nongrammatical and non-lexical component of communication and it refers to pitch variations in speech. Together with other non-grammatical and non-lexical components of communication, such as tempo, rhythm, loudness, sound colour, etc., it belongs to a distinct language system which is called the vocal code. The elements of the vocal code very rarely occur independently of the elements of the verbal code, called segments, and they almost always occur simultaneously with them. Therefore units of the vocal code are called suprasegmental. (Hlebec 2004: 83). Intonation is a very important suprasegmental element because speech would sound robotic without it. Recent studies have shown that hearers pay particular attention to intonation when they are trying to understand a sentence. It is, therefore, essential both for native speakers, who acquired intonation together with their native tongue, and for non-native speakers, who have to learn intonation patterns of a foreign language together with learning that foreign language on the level of segments, to use intonation correctly if they want to be understood. It is equally important to be aware of existence of different intonation patterns and their meanings if a hearer wants to understand parts of communication properly (Al-Sibai 2004: 21-22).

1.2 The functions of English intonation Basic functions of English intonation are the following (Wells 2006: 11-12): Attitudinal serving to express our attitudes and emotions; Grammatical - serving to identify grammatical structures in speech; Focusing or informational serving to show what information in an utterance is new and what is already known; Discourse or cohesive serving to signal how sequences of clauses and sentences go together in spoken discourse, to contrast or cohere; Psychological serving to organize speech into units easy to perceive, memorize or perform; Indexical serving as a marker of personal or social identity.

While it is obvious that the great majority of these functions are self-evident, and that we may reasonably expect them to overlap in speech, one of them the attitudinal function was found disputable to a certain extent, with the following argumentation: The notion of expressing an emotion or attitude is itself a more complex one than is generally realized. ... However, one point is much more important and fundamental than all the problems discussed above. To understand this point you should imagine (or even actually perform) your pronunciation of a sentence in a number of different ways: for example, if the sentence was I want to buy a new car and you were to say it in the following ways: pleading, angry, sad, happy, proud, it is certain that at least some of your performances will be different from some others, but it is also certain that the technique for analysing and transcribing intonation introduced earlier in the course will be found inadequate to represent the different things you do. You will have used variations in loudness and speed, for example; almost certainly, you will have used different voice qualities for different attitudes. ... It is very likely that you will have used different facial expressions and even gestures and body movements. These factors are all of great importance in conveying attitudes and emotions, yet the traditional handbooks on English pronunciation have almost completely ignored them. (Roach 1991: 165-166). To test this notion, rather than asking a lot of speakers to say a list of sentences in different ways according to labels provided by the analyst, and see what intonational features are found in common (for example, one might count how many speakers used a low head in saying something in a hostile way), Roach proposes (1991: 165): A much more useful and realistic approach is to study recordings of different speakers natural, spontaneous speech and try to make generalizations about attitudes and intonation on this basis. To this end, the subject of this thesis is an analysis of recorded material with the aim to examine the attitudinal function of English intonation in natural speech in general and to check validity of the above notions on the basis of the results thus obtained. The material chosen for the analysis are the sentences and parts of dialogues appearing in the film Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. This film was chosen on the basis of the presumption that, with its broad spectrum of vivid characters and a highly emotional story, it could abound in verbal displays of emotions and attitudes of 2

all kinds. The analysis includes 40 examples: 57 sentences (statements, wh questions, yes/no questions, commands, exclamations), totalling 3 minutes and 21 seconds in duration and appearing in 15 prominent sequences in the first 50 minutes of the film. The theoretical descriptions, interpretations and tone classifications used for the purposes of this analysis are given in the following sections.

1.3 English linguistic intonation system English linguistic intonation systems are known as tonality, tonicity and tone (Wells 2006: 6).

1.3.1 Tonality Tonality involves division of the spoken material into chucks (Wells 2006: 6). Each chunk has its own intonation pattern (tune), for which reason chunks are known as intonation phrases, or IPs. Depending on how many pieces of information a speaker wants to emphasise, i.e. to make them the focus of a hearers attention, one sentence can have a single IP, or multiple IPs.

1.3.2 Tonicity Tonicity involves accenting the words that speakers consider important and, therefore, to which they wish to focus the hearers attention on. It is very important to emphasise that not the whole words are accented, but their stressed, lexical syllables. By accenting we mean that we add the pitch prominence to the rhythmic prominence of the stressed syllable (Wells 2006: 7). Such accented syllable is called the nucleus, and it is the most prominent accent in an IP. Furthermore, there can be only one nucleus in one IP.

1.3.3 Tone The tone is a pitch movement associated with the nucleus. The following nuclear tones are identified (Wells 2006: 216-222), and, alone or in combination with different prenuclear material, each one conveys a different meaning:

Falls High fall a falling pitch movement from a relatively high pitch to a low pitch, denoting higher degree of emotional involvement;

Low fall a falling pitch movement from a mid pitch to a low pitch, denoting a lesser degree of emotional involvement; Rise-fall complex pitch movement, starting with a rise from a mid pitch to a high pitch and then a fall from high to low, finishing on a low pitch, denoting either that the speaker is impressed, or that he wants to impress someone; the other meaning of this tone is that of challenge or disapproval.

Fall-rises Mid fall-rise - a pitch movement that first falls from a high pitch to a low pitch and then rises, ending on a mid pitch, denoting, as fall-rises in general do, non-finality, implying something left unsaid, or denoting reservation; Rise-fall-rise - a pitch movement starting with a rise from a mid pitch to a high pitch, then falling from high to low pitch, after which it rises back to a mid pitch; High fall-rise a pitch movement that falls from a mid pitch to a low pitch and than rises to a high pitch.

Rises High rise a pitch movement from a mid pitch to a high pitch, associated with checking, pardon questions and echo questions; Low rise a pitch movement from a low pitch to a mid pitch, associated with showing interest or routinely encouraging further conversation; Wide rise a pitch movement from a low pitch to a high pitch, associated with nonsolidarity, or surprise in yes-no questions and greetings; Mid level a pitch neither rises, nor falls; it is generally associated with non-finality and has no special tone meaning except non-finality (Wells 2006: 224) although in the analytical part of this thesis we will see that certain meaning can be associated with mid level tones, i.e. a flat emotion (indifference, lack of interest or weariness) on the part of the speaker (Hlebec 2004: 86).

1.3.4 Temperature and emotions ...the pitch of the nuclear tone tells of the speakers emotions, higher tones express those emotions which associate with higher temperature, such as excitement, while lower tones convey emotions which associate with lower temperature, such as, for

example, caution. (Hlebec 2004: 86) This observation will be used to test the attitudinal function of English intonation in the absence of prenuclear material (cf. 1.4).

1.3.5 Stylization In addition to ordinary intonation patterns, English also has a few stylized patterns, used only rarely, and having their pitch and rhythmic characteristic different from ordinary ones. Unlike an ordinary falling tone, the stylized high-mid has an abrupt step down between two level syllables. (Wells 2006: 240) For the purposes of this analysis, the symbols were used for stylized patterns, according to Wells. In addition, for those readers who might prefer such kind of interpretation, the term semitone was used as a measure of difference in pitch between two syllables, in those sentences that contain some form of stylized patterns, as well as in some of those which proved to be the cases difficult for analysis. Semitone is a term used in music science to denote one of 12 equal tone intervals that a tempered scale consists of (such as, for example, the one that we all must have heard of C major, or DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, TI, DO; one semitone is the interval between MI and FA and TI and DO; intervals between all other pairs of tones in this scale are the intervals of two semitones). According to a more technical definition (Pravica, Drincic 2006: 27), intervals between semitones are equal on a logarithmic scale, and the difference between them in frequency is 122 1.06, which means that each tone (in the scale of 12 semitones within an octave) is higher than the preceding one by 6%.

1.4 Method of selection and analysis of recorded material In addition to the above theoretical descriptions, interpretations and tone classifications used for the purposes of this analysis, it is important to mention that the sentences and parts of dialogues were chosen randomly. It was done in order to obtain objective results relevant to the attitudinal function in general; intentional selection and analysis of only those sentences that are lexically neutral from the emotional point of view (Roach 1991: 165) would not give us objective results regarding the attitudinal function in general, but it would lead us only in direction of affirmation or refutation of the theoretical propositions of this particular author. Furthermore, no paralinguistic properties such as facial expressions and even gestures and body movements (cf. 1.2)

were taken into account, for three reasons: 1) facial expressions and gesticulation can be present during speech, but they can also occur independently and convey meaning on their own; 2) these paralinguistic properties are highly individual, and may be present in some people (intentionally or unintentionally, consciously or unconsciously) and totally absent in others; 3) taking into account such paralinguistic phenomena would, on the one hand, make this task only too easy and, on the other hand, it might lead this analysis in a wrong direction. Therefore, only those phenomena which can be heard were taken into account, analysed and commented, while the other ones were neglected. No examples were avoided, not even the ones spoken in SSE or WCA, under the assumption that they, too, can be valid for this analysis and that the language of the speakers of these and all other varieties approximates RP when they are eager to be understood (by another RP speaker). An attempt was made to analyse at least some SSE nuclear tones, and this was done by referring to the parts pertaining to accent and intonation from two sources: Mayo (1996) and Scobbie/ Gordeeva/ Matthews (2006). As one such endeavour - analysis of spoken material - is everything but easy, some software support was necessary. The following software was used for this analysis: 1) Praat; 2) Sound Forge 7.0; 3) Sound Forge 9.0. Actually, the analysis of spoken material is so difficult, and auditory perception so blurred on so many occasions, that I would not have been able to identify some tones and patterns without the Praat software readings and without stretching time of the recordings and shifting their pitch in the software Sound Forge. Finally, all analysed examples (all IPs), except for the ones with inconclusive results and those SSE examples that do not approximate to RP, were assessed as conveying PA (positive attitude or emotion), or, in the absence of prenuclear material (i.e. heads), as having HT or LT (high or low temperature), followed by C where there is congruence of the above with the theoretical postulates, or D where the above assessment deviates from the theoretical postulates. Notwithstanding the grammatical function of some isolated nuclear level tones and fall-rises (which also applies to rising tones in general), these tones, together with rise-falls, were also assigned HT or LT according to their pitch, as they participate in the general atmosphere of an utterance. The results of the analysis are summarized in the concluding section.

2. Analysis
2.1 SEQUENCE 1: Albus Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid meet in front of the Dursleys' house to leave baby Harry on their doorstep

2.1.1 Conversation between Professor McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore A1 Are the rumours true, Albus? IP1: Are the 'rumours /true, | IP2: \Albus? || 1

IP1: Onset on ru(mours), mid-pitched, with the pitch falling as it approaches the rising nucleus; the distinguished characteristic of the rising nuclear tone is its prolonged duration, wherefore it, to some extent, resembles BE wide-rise nuclear tone; the nuclear tone (SSE) is rising and reaching higher pitch (around 200 Hz) than that at which the onset starts (180 Hz), yet it remains somewhere around the mid-range pitch (the higher frequency sound /around 250 Hz/ shown in the spectrogram2 below for this waveform is the sound of Professor McGonagalls heels); Professor McGonagall shows her surprise, anxiety and interest; IP2: final vocative bears slightly falling nuclear accent (SSE), which also remains slightly above the mid range, thus forming a separate IP intended, actually, to introduce Albus Dumbledore to the audience.

Professor McGonagall speaks Scottish Standard English; therefore, only nuclear tones and some onsets in some phrases have been taken into account for the purpose of the present analysis; some phrases and all nuclear tones are marked as SSE /Scottish Standard English/, in or outside the brackets.
2

All spectrograms and waveforms are given in Appendix 1; Appendix 1 is provided on a CD, together with Appendix 2.

A2 Im afraid so, Professor. The good and the bad. IP1: 'Im a'fraid 'so, Pro'fessor. || IP2: The /good | IP3: ()and the bad. || IP1: Some kind of stylized speech the phrase sounds as if it were chanted; there is a noticeable rise of about five semitones between the first and the penultimate accented syllable (slightly rising), followed by a fall of about one semitone between the last accented and the last unaccented syllable. Special attention in this thesis is paid to this particular IP, as it represents a very difficult example of tonicity and tonality, and as it is extremely difficult to locate the nucleus in this phrase. All the efforts to provide plausible analysis results in search for any standard intonation pattern remained fruitless for the following reasons: - the only syllables which are somewhat more prominent than the others are so and (pro)fess(or); so is normally not accented when it is used as a pro-form and, as concerns -fess-, there is no good reason here for the final vocative to bear the nuclear accent; furthermore, the time distances between all accented syllables are almost equal, except for the distance between so and (pro)fess(or), which is a little longer, and even the greater problem poses the fact that even if (pro)fess(or) does not bear a nuclear accent, it still appears as bearing at least a secondary accent, which would not be plausible if the syllable so bore a nuclear accent. Further possibilities have been considered: IP1: 'Im a'fraid /\so, Professor.
_

1)

IP1: Complex rising head (climbing head), rise-fall nuclear tone, spreading over the tail however, the accented syllables, even if secondary, in so proposed head are too near each other to make this head sound like a climbing head; in addition, this rise-fall does not fall from high to low pitch, as it should, therefore we can not attach the attribute rise-fall to this tone. IP1: 'Im a'fraid /so, IP2: Pro\fessor.

2)

IP1: Complex rising head (climbing head), high-rise nuclear tone (which is very rare head-nucleus combination in practice); IP2: high-fall nuclear tone however, this high fall does not sound as a high fall, and, as a matter of fact, it is not.

Therefore, the analysis results concerning the nucleus location in IP1 would have to remain inconclusive if we were to look for some standard pattern. The remaining option is to take into consideration the chanting, i.e. the stylization element in this phrase, which is much more obvious when listening to it after the time stretch option is used in the sound processing software. Furthermore, as already mentioned above, the time distances between all accented syllables are almost equal, forming a kind of series of mini IPs. Hence, the following chunking, focuses of information and tones are proposed as the most plausible solution (mIP mini IP; the attribute mini is used because of very short duration of all IPs):

IP1: (mIP1): Im | (mIP2): afraid | (mIP3):

so, (mIP4): Pro fessor. ||

Much more obvious example of stylized speech will be presented later in this thesis (A7).

IP2: High-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; HT: C

IP3: Again, some form of stylised speech. IP3 also sounds almost as if it were chanted (some tone on and, which can not be the nucleus, is perceivable), and chanted in a priest-like manner indeed, such type of tune might be just appropriate for Albus Dumbledore, a great wizard. A3 And the boy? IP: And the /boy?

IP: Nuclear tone resembling BE fall-rise (SSE: low rise), rising to mid-range pitch and remaining there declarative question. The low rise sounds neither distinctively as a BE fall rise, nor as a BE low rise, but as some tone in-between the two. A4 Hagrid is bringing him. IP: \Hagrid is bringing him. IP: Nuclear low fall; here we have an example of (narrow) contrastive focus Albus knows what Professor McGonagall is actually asking who is bringing the boy, who is in charge of the boy and, replying to her question, he chooses to accent the word Hagrid, the name of the person who is bringing the boy. LT: C 9

A5 Albus, do you really think it safe leaving him with these people Ive watched them all day, theyre the worst sort of Muggles imaginable! They really are! IP1: 'Albus, | IP2: do you really think it /safe | IP3: (leaving him with these people) | IP4: (Ive watched them all day), | IP5: theyre the 'worst sort of # \Muggles | IP6: i\\maginable! || IP7 They 'really \are! || IP1: Vocative nuclear tone, slight rise (SSE), nonfinal; IP2: series of tertiary accents preceding the rising nuclear tone (SSE), nonfinal; IP3: SSE; IP4: SSE; IP5: highpitched onset (SSE - vowel shortening of /:/, pronounced almost as //), falling nuclear accent, approximate to a low fall and emphasised by a preceding pause; IP6: high falling nuclear tone (SSE), starting at a very high pitch and obviously emphasising Professor McGonagalls negative attitude towards these people and her being shocked by what she saw while she was monitoring them; IP7: high-pitched onset prenuclear falling tone is noticeable, falling nuclear accent (SSE), rising before the fall, this fall being very difficult to hear because it overlaps with Dumbledores replica.

2.2 SEQUENCE 2: At the Dursleys

2.2.1 Aunt Petunia is waking Harry up: A6 Up! Get up! Now! IP1: >Up! || IP2: 'Get >up! || IP3: \Now! ||

IP1: Mid-level nuclear tone (slightly above the mid-pitch range /around 280 Hz/ and slightly rising) - Aunt Petunia shows indifference, or, rather, hostile emotions towards Harry; LT: C IP2: high head, almost level with much higher-pitched level nuclear tone than that in IP1 (the head is lower than the nucleus by around one semitone) she is still showing the same emotions, but in a more aggressive way; NA: D IP3: high-fall nuclear tone, starting at the pitch pretty much higher than that at which IP2 finishes utterly unfriendly, authoritative, aggressive. HT: C

10

2.2.2 Immediate contrast (to her son Dudley): A7 Here you come, the birthday boy. IP1: Here you | IP2: /come, | IP3: the
birthday

| IP4: \boy.

All IPs: Swooping changes in pitch /baby talk/; IP1: something like stylized high-mid ( ) pattern; IP2: high rise nuclear tone, non-final; HT: C IP3: again, stylized high-mid pattern, but starting at a somewhat lower pitch than the nucleus in IP1, because it approaches the closing in IP4 /the same display of emotions as in IP1/; IP4: some form of a high-fall nuclear tone, but it does not fall from a high to a low pitch; it falls from a high to somewhere around the mid pitch in this set of phrases (from more than 400 Hz to around 270 Hz); it is cheerfully concluding the baby talk in the previous IPs. HT: C

2.2.3 Uncle Vernon to Harry: A8 Hurry up! Bring my coffee, boy! IP1: Hurry >up! || IP2: 'Bring my \coffee, boy!||

IP1: Falling head, followed by a mid-level nuclear tone (accented adverbial particle in the phrasal verb) that sounds as if slightly rising; the head starts at a very high pitch combined with rapid tempo, Uncle Vernons command sounds impatient, unfriendly, authoritative and aggressive; NA: D IP2: high level head, high-fall nuclear tone in a command; the high-fall nuclear tone is spreading over the tail (a final vocative) and ending at a very low pitch the attitude remains the same; this phrase, uttered in a very loud, almost squeaky voice falling from a very high to a very low pitch, sounds very unfriendly and derogative, so, out of the three other people in the room, it is quite clear to whom Uncle Vernons command is addressed. NA: D

11

2.3 SEQUENCE 3: In the Zoo

2.3.1 Harry, to the boa A9 Can you hear me? IP: Can you \hear me?! IP: Rising head, high-fall nuclear tone as opposed to the default tone in yes-no questions, the yes-no rise, in this case we have an insistent fall in a yes-no question, making it a sort of both interrogative and exclamatory statement in which Harry shows his disbelief and astonishment. PA: D A10: Do you talk to people often? IP: Do you 'talk to people \often?

IP: High level head, nuclear tone falling from the pitch slightly above the mid-range pitch of Harrys voice in this phrase (around 250 Hz) to the pitch slightly below it from around 300 Hz to around 200 Hz; in this particular phrase, it can be considered a high-fall, as it can not be considered a low fall; here again, we have an insistent fall in a yes-no question, showing Harrys astonishment concerning the boas ability to speak. PA: C

2.4 SEQUENCE 4: Back at the Dursleys A11: What happened? IP1: 'What \happened?

IP1: High head, high-fall nuclear tone. Although a fall is the default tone for wh questions, Uncle Vernon is yelling here, and the loudness and quality of his voice, as well as the tempo of the utterance, are the suprasegmentals that determine the attitude that he wants to convey. NA: D A12: Theres no such thing as magic! IP1: |Theres /no | IP2: such \/thing | IP3: |as
\

magic! ||

IP1: Low head, low-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; NA: C IP2: mid fall-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; LT: C IP3: low head, high-fall nuclear tone, final. Uncle Vernon is speaking 12

almost in undertones and through clenched teeth, therefore all heads appear low. In combination with slow tempo, his statement, spread over so many phrases, sounds utterly categorical. NA: C A13: Yours? Who would be writing to you? IP1: writing to /\you?|| IP1: Nuclear mid fall-rise, making Uncle Vernons comment (to Harrys claim that the letter is his) a declarative question; this is an implicational fall rise, showing Uncle Vernons sardonic attitude towards the notion that Harry might have got a letter; HT: C IP2: falling head + rise-fall nuclear tone - uncle Vernon is cruelly derisive and implies that there is no one who would write to Harry. NA: C A14: Fine day is Sunday. In my opinion, best day of the week. Why is that, Dudley? IP1: 'Fine \day, | IP2: is Sunday. || IP3: In \/my opinion, | IP4: best day of the \week. || IP5: Why is that, /Dudley? || || IP2: Whod be

\/Yours?

IP1: High head, law-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP2: something like stylized pattern, involving mid-to-low pitch, short syllables, almost sung, with a slight fall between the nucleus and the following unaccented syllable Uncle Vernon is in a good mood; IP3: mid fall-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; LT: C IP4: law-fall nuclear tone, final; LT: C IP5: high-rise nuclear tone - encouraging rise in wh question, but Uncle Vernon is not really asking a question, he is actually expecting confirmation of his previous statement and citation of the well known reasons for that. HT: C A15: Cause theres no post on Sundays? IP1: Cause theres |no \post | IP2: on
/

Sundays?

IP1: Low head, low-fall nuclear tone negative attitude + low temperature Harry replies instead of Dudley and sounds ironical, saying the words which Uncle Vernon wants to hear; NA: C IP2: high-rise nuclear tone declarative question and final adverbial of time typically making with the preceding IP a fall-plus-rise pattern. HT: C

13

The above analysis is plausible both from the perspective of standard intonation patterns and the meaning that this particular pattern should convey as for the meaning, it almost perfectly fits the intended one. Yet, we must not neglect that, perhaps owing to the fact that Harry (i.e. the actor playing Harry) is just a boy, before the word Sundays we can distinctly hear (and see in the spectrogram below) three falling tones (one of which on the above proposed nucleus in IP1) of almost equal duration and moving within almost equal pitch range. The word post sounds more prominent owing to greater intensity (also clearly shown in the spectrogram), which helped in identifying the nucleus here (although it is the tone we should be searching for, not intensity). These successive tones of similar pitch (no, post, on), together with the two preceding ones, but unaccented and shorter in duration (cause, theres), give this sentence an atmosphere of boredom and apathy, which is not to be neglected - regardless of the fact that this is a childs voice - because its just the way it seems that Harry feels at this point.

A16: Right you are, Harry! IP1: 'Right you \are, | IP2: /Harry!

IP1: High head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP2: high-rise nuclear tone; very emphatic exclamation Uncle Vernon sounds complacent. HT: C A17: No blasted letters today! IP: No blasted letters to\\day!

14

IP: High prehead, complex falling head (sliding head), followed by the extra high, falling nuclear tone a rare combination of head and nuclear tone, as sliding head is most usually followed by a fall-rise or mid-level nuclear tone; this is an emphasised exclamation, showing Uncle Vernons great complacency. PA: C A18: Daddys gone mad, hasnt he? IP1: Daddys gone \/mad, | IP2: \hasnt he? ||

IP1: Falling head, mid fall-rise nuclear tone; NA: D IP2: As opposed to the default tone in tag questions, the yes-no rise, here we have an insistent (high) fall, characteristic of exclamations, showing us Dudleys shock and fear. HT: C

2.5 SEQUENCE 5: In the shack, Hagrids appearance A19: Make a wish, Harry. IP1: Make a /wish, | IP2: /Harry. || IP1: Rising nuclear tone in a command Harry is encouraging himself to make a wish for his eleventh birthday; the rise spreads around the mid pitch range, ending at the pitch slightly above it therefore, we shall consider it a high rise; HT: C IP2: final vocative bears a rising nuclear tone, which shall be considered high and interpreted in the same way as the nuclear tone in IP1; in addition, final vocative bears a nuclear tone here to emphasise that Harry is talking to himself. HT: C A20: Youre a wizard, Harry. IP1: |Youre a /wizard, IP2 (?):(whisp.)Harry. 3

IP1: Low head, low-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; PA: D IP2: The word Harry is said in a low, husky voice, almost whispered. It is quite possible that we have a separate intonation phrase here, which would reflect the grammatical function of English intonation, in this case the syntactic function.

Hagrid speaks with a West Country accent.

15

A21: Im a what? IP: Im a /what?

IP: High-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal, declarative question; it is obvious that Harry is very surprised. Here we have a classic example of a please-repeat wh question, where the focused element (wizard) is changed into a question word (what), uttered with a rise. HT: C

2.6 SEQUENCE 6: With Hagrid in London - In Leaky Cauldron A22: Bless my soul its Harry Potter! IP: (Bless my soul) its Harry \Potter! IP: Low prehead (following the low pitch and low intensity in interjection bless my soul), rising head, high-fall nuclear tone, high temperature expression of the bartenders great excitement and joy upon meeting Harry, as opposed to indifferent (and hostile) mid-level nuclear tone used by Aunt Petunia at the beginning of the story. PA: D A23: Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, I cant believe Im meeting you at last. IP1: 'Doris \Crockford, | IP2: Mr. \Potter, | IP3: I 'cant be\lieve | IP4: Im 'meeting you at \last. IP1: Very high-pitched head, emphatic and falling towards the lower-pitched high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP2: law-fall nuclear tone, not indicative of lower emotional involvement, but simply pronounced in lower key, to separate the name of the person she is introducing herself to from her own name (in a similar way as it should be the case in A20, IP2) LT: C; IP3: high head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP4: high head, low-fall nuclear accent, final. PA: C

16

2.7 SEQUENCE 7: With Hagrid in London - At Ollivanders A24: I wondered when Id be seeing you, Mr. Potter. IP1: 'I \wondered | IP2:
when Id

be seeing \you, IP3: Mr. \Potter.

IP1: Prolonged monosyllabic head, rising slightly above the mid pitch of the actors voice in this phrase as it approaches the law-fall nuclear tone solemnly intoned words by Mr. Ollivander; PA: C IP2: as there is no head to support the nucleus, but only a series of the low-pitched tertiary accents (rhythmic stresses), and taking into account the general atmosphere of this utterance, the nuclear high tone (high fall) in this case conveys a positive attitude Mr. Ollivander does not show surprise for seeing Harry, as he obviously indicates that it was just a matter of time. He implies, though, that Harry Potter is a person of great prominence and importance, which is another great contrast, and a direct one, with the way this boy was being addressed by his uncle and with the low-to-zero importance his uncle was assigning to him; HT: C, PA: C IP3: low-fall nuclear tone Harrys surname is emphasised in a solemn way LT: C. A25: Give it a wave! IP: 'Give it a //wave! IP: High head, wide-rise nuclear tone in a command, suggesting Mr. Ollivanders impatience following Harrys hesitation to try the wand, as if wanting to say: Do it, already, what are you waiting for? At the same time, he is encouraging Harry to use it. PA: C A26: (I remember every wand Ive ever sold, Mr. Potter). It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather resides in your wand, gave another feather just one other. It is curious that you should be destined for this wand, when its brother gave you that scar. IP1: It 'so \happens | IP2: that the \phoenix | IP3: whose tail feather resides in your
\/wand,

| IP4: /gave | IP5: a'nother \feather | IP6: /just | IP7: \one | IP8: \other. || IP9: It is

'curious that \/you | IP10: should be destined for 'this \/wand, | IP11: when its /\brother | IP12: gave you that \scar. ||

17

IP1: High head, law fall positive attitude, low temperature Mr. Ollivander adds weight to what he is about to say; PA: C IP2: no head, high fall the importance of this particular phoenix is emphasized; HT: C IP3: complex falling head (sliding head) increased emphasis, mid fall-rise nuclear tone (nonfinal); PA: C IP4: high-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; HT: C IP5: high head, low-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP6: low-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal, LT: C IP7: low-fall nuclear tone, final, LT: C IP8: low-fall nuclear tone, final, same as in IP7, but starting and ending at even lower pitch the series IP7 and IP8 sounds weighty Mr. Ollivander places great emphasises on the fact that the phoenix gave just one other feather; LT: C IP9: high head, mid fall-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal, emphasising Harry; PA: C IP10: high head, mid fall-rise, nonfinal; PA: C IP11: rise-fall nuclear tone, emphasising the brother-feather; HT: C IP12: series of low pitched tones, tertiary accented, said in a very slow tempo and emphasising the weighty law-fall nuclear tone that follows. LT: C

2.8 SEQUENCE 8: With Hagrid in London in the Inn A27: Something about you stumped him that night. IP1: /\Something about you | IP2: \stumped him that night. ||

IP1: Rise-fall nuclear tone, spreading over the tail; LT: C IP2: low-fall nuclear tone, low-level tail. LT: C

2.9 SEQUENCE 9: With Hagrid in London at the train station A28: But Hagrid! There must be a mistake! This is platform nine and three-quarters. Theres no such thing is there? IP1: But \Hagrid! || IP2: There 'must be a mis\take! || IP3: /\This is platform | IP4: nine and three-\quarters. || IP5: Theres 'no such \thing | IP6: /is there? ||

18

IP1: High-fall nuclear tone; HT: C IP2: high head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP3: rise-fall nuclear tone, spreading over the tail; HT: C IP4: two tertiary accented syllables, followed by a high-fall nuclear tone; HT: C IP5: high head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP6: high-rise nuclear tone yes-no rise, tag question. HT: C

2.10 SEQUENCE 10: On the train to Hogwarts A29: These arent real frogs, are they? IP1: 'These arent \real frogs, | IP2: /are they? IP1: High head, low-fall nuclear tone positive attitude, final; PA: C IP2: low-rise nuclear tone, tag question. LT: C A30: Has anyone seen a toad? The boy named Nevilles lost one. IP1: Has 'anyone seen a \toad? | IP2: The 'boy named \Nevilles | IP3: \lost one. || IP1: High head, low-fall nuclear tone insistent fall in a yes-no question Hermione sounds businesslike and serious; PA: C IP2: high head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP3: low-fall nuclear tone, low temperature. LT: C A31: Youve got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know? IP1: Youve 'got
\dirt

on your nose, | IP2: by the /way | IP3: 'did you \know? ||

IP1: High head, low-fall nuclear tone, positive attitude + low temperature; PA: C IP2: low-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; LT: C IP3: high head, low-fall nuclear tone, final, positive attitude + low temperature Hermione still sounds businesslike and serious, which is a feature of her character. PA: C

2.11 SEQUENCE 11: At Hogwarts A32: Its true, then what theyre saying on the train Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts. 19

 IP1: Its \true, then | IP2: what theyre 'saying on the \train | IP3: 'Harry \Potter | IP4: 'has come to \Hogwarts.

IP1: High-fall nuclear tone, very high-pitched; HT: C IP2: high head, high-fall nuclear tone, lower pitched than the one in IP1; PA: C IP3: high head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP4: high head, high-fall nuclear tone, lower-pitched than the one in IP3. This is a very good example of the high degree of relativity of the high fall pitch range. PA: C

2.12 SEQUENCE 12: At Hogwarts the Sorting Hat A33: Ha! Another Weasley I know just what to do with you! Gryffindor! IP1: /Ha! | IP2: A'nother \Weasley | IP3: I know 'just what to do with /\/you! || IP4:
\\

Gryffindor! ||

IP1: High-rise nuclear tone exclamation, not with the most usual exclamatory fall, but with a rise; HT: C IP2: high head + prolonged, low-fall nuclear tone such Hats utterance adds to the tension of the moment; PA: C IP3: high head, rise-fall-rise nuclear tone further adding to tension; PA: C IP4: high fall, exclamation if there was a tone that could be called a wide fall, then this would be the one, falling from around 360 Hz to only around 95 Hz! HT: C A34: Hmm, difficult, very difficult. (Hmm), | IP1: \difficult, | IP2: \very | IP3:
\difficult.

||

IP1: High-fall nuclear tone; HT: C IP2: high-fall nuclear tone, higher pitched that the one in IP1, and very prolonged, rising before the fall, with the duration of rising almost the same as that of falling; HT: C IP3: low-fall nuclear tone, very low-pitched. LT: C All phrases are uttered very slowly, all tones are prolonged, thus producing a dramatic effect.

20

A35: Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. Theres talent, oh yes -- and a thirst to prove yourself... IP1: 'Plenty of \courage, | IP2: I see, | IP3: 'not a bad /mind | IP4: \either. || IP5: 'Theres \talent, | IP6: oh \yes | -- IP7: and a \thirst | IP8: to \prove yourself... ||

IP1: High head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP2: low key, showing that this particular piece of information is not important; the tone of the nucleus can not be identified, owing to very low pitch of the voice; IP3: high head, low-rise nuclear tone; PA: C IP4: function word that attracts the nucleus, law fall nuclear tone; LT: C IP5: high head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP6: low key, irrelevant comment, law-fall nuclear tone; LT: C IP7: law-fall nuclear tone; LT: C IP8: high-fall nuclear tone. HT: C

2.13 SEQUENCE 13: At Hogwarts the Banquet A36: I know you -- you're Nearly Headless Nick! IP1: \/I know you | IP2: -youre

Nearly Headless \Nick! ||

IP1: Mid fall-rise nuclear tone, spreading over the tail; HT: C IP2: high prehead, climbing head, high-fall nuclear tone emphatic exclamation. PA: C

2.14 SEQUENCE 14: At Hogwarts Professor McGonagalls class A37: That was bloody brilliant. IP1: 'That was \bloody | IP2: \brilliant. ||

IP1: High head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP2: high-fall nuclear tone. HT: C

21

2.15 SEQUENCE 15: At Hogwarts Professor Snapes class

A38: Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in a possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention! IP1: Then a\/gain, | IP2: \maybe | IP3: \some of you | IP4: have come to >Hogwarts | IP5: in pos\/session | IP6: of a'bilities so
/\/formidable

| IP7: that you feel \/confident

enough| IP8: to /not | IP9: >pay | IP10: at\tention! ||

IP1: Mid fall-rise nuclear tone; LT: C IP2: low-fall nuclear tone; LT: C IP3: high-fall nuclear tone; HT: C IP4: mid-level nuclear tone; LT: C IP5: mid fall-rise nuclear tone; LT: C IP6: high head, rise-fall-rise nuclear tone; NA: D IP7: mid fall-rise nuclear tone, spreading over the tail; LT: C IP8: low-rise nuclear tone; LT: C IP9: mid-level nuclear tone, slightly rising, nonfinal; LT: C IP10: high-fall nuclear tone, final. HT: C A39: Mister Potter. IP: Mister \Potter.

IP: Rising head, high-fall nuclear tone, negative attitude + high temperature, final. NA: C A40: Our new celebrity. IP1: \/Our | IP2: >new | IP3: ce\lebrity. ||

IP1: Mid fall-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; LT: C IP2: mid-level nuclear tone, slightly rising, nonfinal; LT: C IP3: high-fall nuclear tone, final. HT: C IP1 and IP2 are uttered rather slowly, and the tones are prolonged and soft. Professor Snipes words are intoned in such way that it is clear that he does not approve of celebrities and that Harry will have to show what he is capable of.

22

3. CONCLUSION
3.1 Incidence of isolated nuclear tones in analyzed material and their congruence with theoretical postulates The following results have been obtained in the present analysis of spoken material: Out of 122 total analyzed IPs, isolated nuclear tones have been found in 52 IPs SSE and inconclusive results are not included. 28 isolated falling nuclear tones have been identified, out of which 9 are low falls, 16 high falls and 3 rise-falls; there is a 100% congruence of these tones with theoretical postulates. 12 isolated rising nuclear tones have been identified, out of which 4 are low rises, 8 high rises, and 0 wide rises; there is a 100% congruence of these tones with theoretical postulates. 8 isolated fallrise nuclear tones have been identified, out of which 8 are mid fall-rises, 0 high fallrises and 0 rise-fall-rises; there is a 100% congruence of these tones with theoretical postulates. Finally, 4 isolated level tones have been identified, out of which all 4 are mid-level tones; there is a 100% congruence of these tones with theoretical postulates. The results are summarized in the following table:
Tones Falls Low falls High falls Rise-falls Rises Low rises High rises Wide rises Fall-rises Mid fall-rises High fall-rises Rise-fall-rises Level tones Mid level tones Total isolated nuclear tones Incidence 28 9 16 3 12 4 8 0 8 8 0 0 4 4 52 Congruence Congruence %

9 16 3

100% 100% 100%

4 8 0

100% 100% /

8 0 0

100% / /

4 52

100% 100%

Table 1: Incidence of isolated nuclear tones in the analyzed material and congruence

23

3.2 Incidence of combinations of heads and nuclear tones in analyzed material and their congruence with theoretical postulates

The results pertaining to identification of combinations of simple/complex heads and nuclear tones and their congruence with theoretical postulates are summarized in the following table (falling and rising simple heads are included in high heads and low heads, respectively):
Heads+nuclear tones Simple HH+HF HH+LF HH+FR HH+LR HH+WR HH+RFR HH+LT HH+RF LH+LF LH+LR LH+HF Complex Climbing+HF Sliding+HF Sliding+FR
Incidence Congruence Congruence %

42 15 10 3 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 4 3 1 1 1

33 13 10 2 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 1

78.57% 86.67% 100% 66.67% 100% 100% 50% 0% 100% 100% 50% 50% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Total heads+nuclear tones

45

36

80.00%

Table 2: Incidence of combinations of heads and nuclear tones and congruence

The results presented above show that, out of total 45 cases, there are 9 cases where deviations from the meanings described in theory are present.

3.3 Cases of congruence of isolated nuclear tones

As described in theory, level tones in the analyzed material convey the meaning of indifference and hostility (A6), or coldness (A40, IP2), high tones give high temperature and denote higher emotional involvement, and low tones produce low temperature and denote lesser emotional involvement. Fall-rises, apart from meaning of non-finality, tend to be either implicational or to express reservations. Rise-fall-rises were used either to express derision (A13, IP2), irony (A38, IP6), or for additional

24

emphasis and to produce an effect of tension (A33, IP3). Rise-falls were used for additional emphasis and to show that the speaker is impressed (A27, IP1) or wants to impress the hearer (A26, IP11), as well as for expression of amazement (A28, IP3). Finally, stylized tones were used for baby talk or to express satisfaction and complacency (A14, IP2). According to the results of this analysis, isolated nuclear tones sometimes do not convey a positive attitude when they are high or a negative attitude when they are low. For example, the low nuclear tone in A4 conveys a positive attitude, and its low temperature reflects the seriousness of the moment. Likewise, the high tone in A6 IP3 conveys a negative attitude, and its high temperature reflects Aunt Petunias hostility and impatience.

3.4 Cases of incongruence (deviations)

Cases of incongruence have been found in A6 IP2, A8 IP1 and IP2, A9, A11, A18 IP1, A20 IP1, A22 and A38 IP6. In A6 IP2 the combination high head + level nuclear tone has been identified, which should convey the meaning introducing more (Hlebec 2004: 87); this incongruence should be, thus, taken conditionally, because introducing more does not exclusively imply either positive or negative attitude. The same applies to A8 IP1. A8 IP2 and A11 are the cases where the combination high head + high falling tone has been identified. These are clear cases of incongruence as, contrary to expectations, the attitude that they convey is extremely negative. So, what happened with the phrase 'What \happened? This is the sentence which we can hear almost every day in spoken language, and, most usually, it can be marked with exactly the same intonation symbols to denote a positive attitude and a genuine interest or concern. Intonation-wise, it is uttered in a very high-pitched (male) voice. Higher pitch usually accompanies a higher degree of one other suprasegmental, voice loudness, and this voice loudness also plays a significant role here, because Uncle Vernon is yelling. Nevertheless, contrary to what Roach proposes (cf. 1.2), we can imagine this sentence being uttered with all the above suprasegmental elements (for example in some urgent situation when one wants to be heard by someone standing at a distance), yet without conveying a negative attitude. What seems to play a decisive role in negative attitude of

25

this IP is voice quality. This is the notion that requires further investigation, but one thing is certain: in these two cases, other suprasegmentals do not emphasise the general atmosphere and attitude conveyed they change it. In A18 IP1 the combination falling head+mid fall-rise has been identified, which should generally convey positive attitude, i.e. one of the following meanings: contrasting, encouraging, prompting, soothing, gently warning, hesitant (Hlebec 2004: 89). However, none of the above can be applied to this phrase, although, in general, it does not convey a negative attitude, but negative emotions, i.e. shock and fear. Other suprasegmentals play a significant role here: very high pitch and loudness (voice intensity), rapid tempo and voice quality. In A20 IP1 the combination low head+low-rise has been identified, which should convey negative attitude. Actually, Hagrid is gently and cautiously telling Harry that he is a wizard. Maybe we should allow for the possibility that WCA played some role in this particular intonation pattern. The negative attitude (irony) conveyed in A38 IP6, with high head+rise-fallrise, was tentatively marked as deviation, i.e. in case that this intonation pattern is to be interpreted in the same way as the combination high head+fall-rise. Finally, A9 and A22 share the same pattern of incongruence. The combination rising head+high-fall appears in both cases, and both fail to convey negative attitudes (Wells 2006: 225), or the meaning of protest. In A9, Harry shows amazement, and in A22 the bartender expresses great excitement and joy upon meeting Harry. It may be of significance to note that these two examples are not statements, but an exclamation and a yes-no question with an insistent fall (cf. A39). In this context, the combination high prehead+climbing head+high-fall nuclear tone in A36 IP2 can also be identified as incongruence (Wells 2006: 225) as it fails to convey either a negative attitude or an emphasised meaning of protest.

3.5 Difficulties in analysing spoken material When analysing spoken material, one is faced with all kinds of difficulties, first of all those concerning tone, tonicity and tonality. As regards nuclear tones, it was sometimes extremely difficult to identify them. The first difficulty, and the one that accompanied me throughout the present analysis, concerns defining high falls and low falls (the same applies to high rises and especially

26

low rises, as one can be easily mislead and misinterpret the rising part of a fall-rise as a low rise). According to definition, as already mentioned in the introductory part of this thesis (1.3.3), a high fall is a tone involving a falling pitch movement from a relatively high pitch to a low pitch, whereas a low fall is a tone involving a falling pitch movement from a mid pitch to a low pitch (Wells 2006: 216, 217). But, what actually is a mid pitch? The average Fo (fundamental frequency) value for adult male voices is around 125 Hz, for adult female voices around 200 Hz, and for childrens voices around 300 Hz (Pravica, Drincic 2006: 33), or, according to some other findings, approximately 120 Hz for men, 220 Hz for women and 265 Hz for children (Cruttenden 1997: 3). This piece of information, however, is something that will not help us much when analysing spoken material. Although each individual has its own average Fo, which can be measured, this is a very broad term, and in terms of such analysis can be of some help only in conditions of normal speech, where the pitch oscillations are not as prominent as they are in emphatic speech, which is abundant in the material that was the subject of the analysis. Software analysis can be of great help in such cases, but only for checking whether our analysis results are correct; otherwise, just measuring frequencies with software support can not and will not always be reliable. Maybe the best advice for identifying different nuclear tones would be to compare the onset pitch of the nucleus with the pitch at which the head ends, or, in the absence of one, with the pitch of the last accented or unaccented syllable in the previous IP. Also, it can help to read aloud the sentence (phrase) with the intonation symbols that we marked it with, and than compare it to the recorded sound. If something sounds wrong, than, most probably, it is wrong. Finally, it is advisable to try to read the phrase as we imagine it should sound with, e.g., a high fall and a low fall. This will certainly help to make a difference between the meanings that these sounds would convey, and thus to choose the appropriate tone. As regards tonicity, A15 is a very good example of the hardships that one may encounter when analysing the spoken material. There is no need to further elaborate here the problems encountered in analysing this particular example, as the elaborate comment has already been given in the analytical part of the thesis; it can just be noted that nuclei are not always as prominent as we would wish them to be. Although we do not suppose to have any problems with tonality once we have identified the nucleus, it does face us with further problems. A38, IP7, is a very good example: that you feel \/confident enough Are we confident enough to state that this is 27

the only interpretation of tonicity and tonality in this case, or we may also propose the following solution - IP7: that you feel \confident | IP8: /enough? Some other problems were of purely technical nature interference of other sounds in the recorded material (music, various types of noise, etc.), as well as sound effects added to the actors voices. The other ones were related to such variety of pitches and voice colours, childrens voices, female voices, very low-pitched or husky male voices, etc. Such work called for an intensive use of sound processing software (e.g. pitch shifts in both directions as regards the major part of analyzed recordings in order to be able to identify tones and any prenuclear and post-nuclear material), together with constantly referring back to the relevant literature.

28

References

Al-Sibai, D.M. (2004, May). A Suprasegmental Aspect of English Intonation, 21-22. Retrieved [September 12, 2009] from http://reference.ksu.edu.sa/pdf/48724urban%20planning/48825-planning/48775marketing.pdf. Cruttenden, A. (1997). Intonation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Cubrovic, B. (2005). A Workbook of English Phonology. Belgrade: Philologia. Hlebec, B. (2004). A Textbook of English Phonology. Belgrade: igoja. Maidment, J. English Intonation (PLINP202), Int. systems. Retrieved [September 10, 2009] from http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/johnm/plinp202/lp202-2.pdf. Mayo, C. J. (1996). Prosodic transcription of Glasgow English: an evaluation study of GlaToBI. Retrieved [September 7, 2009] from http://www.ling.ohio-

state.edu/~tobi/Glasgow/Mayo1996.pdf. Pravica P., Drincic D. (2006). Elektroakustika. Belgrade: Via elektrotehnika kola Beograd, 26-33. Roach, P. (1991). English Phonetics and Phonology, second Edition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 163-181. Scobbie, J.M., Gordeeva, O.B., Matthews, B. (2006). Acquisition of Scottish English Phonology: An Overview; Working Paper WP-7. Retrieved [September 9, 2009] from http://www.qmu.ac.uk/ssrc/pubs/scobbie_et_al%202006%20wp7.pdf. Wells, J.C. (2006) English Intonation: An Introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: A1-A40 Waveforms and Spectrograms Appendix 2: Audio CD Examples A1-A40

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Appendix 1: A1-A40 Waveforms and Spectrograms

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