ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY 5

INTONATION

ENGLISH PROSODY
Prosody is the various length, pitch and loudness that occur above the level of the segment The length in the utterance refers to : - the relative durations of a number of successive syllables - the duration of a given syllable in one environment relative to the same syllable in a different environment The length assigned to a syllable can be measured by examining the time duration of a particular syllable. Generally the stressed syllables are longer than the unstressed syllables.

The loudness of the syllable can be measured in terms of the decible or the amplitude in real life observe loudness in terms of other syllables. Loudness affects the prosody of the utterance- it is also a means of indicating word stress. Pitch refers to the varying height of the pitch of the voice over one syllable or over a series of syllables. The variation in pitch is created by changes in the rate of vocal fold vibration. Variation in pitch length and loudness contributes to the notion of prosody or the melody which is known as intonation.

INTONATION

Intonation has been variably defined as the variation in pitch. The unit of analysis for intonation begins with the tone group. The tone unit or the intonation group of an utterance vary according to the emphasis of the speaker. It is not fixed in value as segments and stress. Intonation greatly depends on the discourse functions and speakers message. The tone unit vary in size with the smallest being a single syllable. In each tone unit, there must be a syllable that carries the tone- tonic syllable

The tonic syllable is the most prominent within the intonation group containing the syllable which can be recognised by the variation or the change in pitch. The tonic syllable also carries the tonic stress. Speaker 1: Are you Susan? (4 syllables) Speaker 2: Yes (1 syllable) The 1st syllable in Susan is the tonic syllable thus a rising intonation is used. The 2nd utterance has one syllable and is given a falling intonation

How does one analyse these words in terms of tone unit?

Are you Susan? The segment are you has no stress. They are known as pre heads (made up of all unstressed syllables preceding the first stressed syllable-Roach,P.(2000:165) go home now In this utterance, go is stressed before the tonic syllable now. Thus go home is known as the head of the tone unit.

The head of the tone unit is identified as the 1st stressed syllable and all subsequent syllables before the tonic syllable. Thus the head can be made up of many syllables including subsequently stressed syllables that do not carry the tonic syllable

go home to your mother now The entire go home to your mother is regarded as the head of the tone unit. you will go home to mother now I say In the above, you will is not stressed- pre head of the tone unit, go home to your mother- head of the tone unit, I say forms the tail of tone unit

PATTERNS OF ENGLISH INTONATION

Fall intonation- say something affirmatively or declaratively or state a proposition Richard is a student Yes No Q answered, finality Rise intonation- used when you ask a question Why are you here? you are hungry you are hungry? Yes No something is expected to come

Fall rise intonation Can occur on a single syllable or stretches across several syllables Indicates limited agreement /response with reservations/given/conceded A: Ive heard that its a good school. B: Yes Rise fall intonation Can occur on a single syllable or stretches across several syllables Indicates strong feelings of approval/ disapproval/ surprise Level intonation Saying something routine, boring or uninteresting

FUNCTIONS OF INTONATION
Roach (1991) proposes 4 types- attitudinal, accentual, grammatical, discourse. However, he also states that accentual can be placed under discourse as well. Crystal(1995) proposes 6 major functionsemotional/attitudinal, grammatical, informational, textual, psychological, and indexical. The difficulty in categorising functions arise due to the fact at times gestures or facial expression play a role in deciphering the meaning of an intonation choice.

ATTITUDINAL FUNCTIONS

Expressess emotions and attitudes of the speaker. A neutral sentence can be uttered using different intonation to convey different emotional meaning.
Functions/ Attitudes Definiteness, assured, confidence Unsure, encouraging Are you going? Have a go Example

Form Fall

He is Yusof? (I am sure of it)

Rise

Fall rise

Uncertain, doubt Perhaps (but I dont know)

Rise fall

Surprised, impressed

GRAMMATICAL FUNCTIONS

Form

Functions

Example

Fall

To state or to assert
He is Yusof

Rise

To question- wh questions to seek confirmation Question tag, contrast and comparison

Where are you going?

Fall rise

He is a teacher, isnt he? He is angry but he is not upset

DISCOURSE FUNCTIONS

Examines the role of intonation within a larger context of utterance Intonation plays an important role in social interaction and the act of communication
Functions/ Attitudes Example

Form Fall

Turn taking-completion of turn to talk. She is arriving on thursday Information giving-new and unknown Turn taking: speaker has not finished Yes(spkr has something to add/wants to continue speaking) Are you going?

Rise

Form Fallrise

Functions/ Attitudes Turn taking: speaker has not finished

Example

No(spkr has something to add/wants to continue speaking) The agency (as you know) belongs to Mr Simon.

Focusing attention on shared information (what is known or what is being talked about)

The discourse function of intonation also shows emphasis, by placing the tonic syllable on the word that is emphasised and moving it can change the dicourse meaning of the utterance The students wanted to walk to the library in the rain.

Attitudinal
The main function is to convey sarcasm, surprise, boredom, etc. It relates to the speakers attitudes as well, such as the speakers assertiveness, politeness, indifference, lack of interest

Grammatical
It identifies the grammatical structure in speech. It also reveals the mood and modality of the utterance. Ie shows contrast between statement and question, indicates degree of possibility and validity according to the belief of the speaker.

Discourse
Provides informal meaning to the utterance. It draws attention to what meaning is given and what is new. i.e. the word carrying the most prominent tone is a contour that signals that the part is new. It also indicates emphasis of a word (accentual) It allows us to know what kind of response is expected,