Теоретическая фонетика английского языка (803492), страница 17
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Rhetorical function4.6. Rhythm4.6.1. Speech rhythm. Definition. Typology4.6.2. Rhythmic group as the basic unit ofrhythm4.6.3. Rhythm in different types of discourse4.6.4. Functions of rhythm4. 1. Definition of IntonationIn this chapter we shall focus on intonation, the topic ofparticular theoretical and practical interest. It is the sphere of suprasegmental phonetics.The flow ofspeech does not consist only ofsegmental units (speech sounds),there are also other phonetiC means that characterize a sequence of speechsounds.
They are called suprasegmental or prosodic means.Intonation is a language universal. There are no languages which arespoken as a monotone, i. e. without any change of prosodic parameters. Butintonation functions in various languages in different ways.4.1. Definition of Intonation69What is the role intonation plays in the language? Intonation is indispensable in communication, because it is instrumental in conveying meaning.
No sentence can exist without a particular intonation. No meaning canbe expressed without it.Intonation can be described on the acoustic level (in terms of its acouslie characteristics), on the perception level (in terms of the characteristicsperceived by human ear) and on the linguistic level (in terms of meaningsexpressed by intonation). We would like to start with the description of inlonation on the perception and acoustic levels and then pass over to its linguistic function.What is intonation? It is quite impossible to describe intonation in aword or two. Sometimes the ups and downs of pitch and loudness are compared to the waves of the ocean. "The surface of the ocean responds to theforces that act upon it in movements resembling the ups and downs of thehuman voice" (Bolinger, 1972).There exist various approaches to the description of intonation and different definitions of this phenomenon.
This polyphony of views can be accounted for by the complex nature of intonation itself.According to most Russian linguists on the perception level intonationis defined as a complex, a whole, formed by significant variations of pitch,loudness and tempo (the rate ofspeech and pausation) closely related. Somedefinitions also include timbre (voice quality), which is sometimes regardedas the fourth component of intonation. In our opinion timbre should not bepart of the definition, because it has not been sufficiently described yet.Neither its material form nor its linguistic function has been objectively investigated.
Though speech timbre can definitely convey certain shades ofattitudinal or emotional meaning there is no good reason to consider italongside with the three basic components of intonation, 1. e. pitch, loudness and tempo.In the British and American tradition intonation is restricted to thepitch (tone) changes only. Intonation is identified with pitch movements(or melody), because pitch has the greatest linguistic value.
This approachto intonation goes back to the definitions given by the prominent Britishphoneticians in the first halfof the XX century. "Intonation may be defmedas the variations which take place in the pitch of the voice in connectedspeech" (D. Jones, 1976). This point of view is shared by contemporarylinguists. "Intonation involves the occurrence of recurring pitch patterns,each of which is used with a set of relatively consistent meanings, either onsingle words or on groups ofwords ofvarying length" (A. Cruttenden, 1986).70IV. Intonation"Intonation is the use of pitch variation to convey meaning" (P.
Roach,200l).It can be seen that Russian scholars have a broader view of intonation.We are convinced that it is impossible to restrict intonation to pitch parameters only because generally all the three prosodic paramelers function as awhole. Giving priority to the pitch variations, we will adopt a broader definition, which will allow us to consider the semantic value of all the threecomponents ofintonation.There is another term "prosody", which is used in slIprasegmental phoalongside with the term "intonation".
The term "prosody" refers tothe variations of the same parameters (pitch, loud ness, li.lIlll)(») and is widely used in linguistic literature.It should be noted that British phoneticians view prosody us a broadernotion than intonation and single out such prosodic fcnturcs as pitch, loudness, tempo and rhythm (D. Crystal, 1. Wells and olh(]l's).
According to1. Wells "the prosodic (or suprasegmental) charactcrisliGs of speech arethose of pitch, loudness and speed (or tempo, or speech rate). They combine together to make up the rhythm of speech... " (J. Wells, 2006).We are not going to dwell here on differentiation ofllle !lotions "intonation" and "prosody". \\e shall use the term "intonation" because it is generally used in teaching practice, however reference willlliso bll Inade to prosodic features.4.2.
Components of IntonationAs we have already said, the components of in tonal ion, or supraseg..:mental features that form intonation can be viewed 011 I.Iw IWollstic level.Each of them has its own acoustic correlate and can Ill' Ol*lctively measured. The acoustic correlate ofpitch is fundamental frC(llI(lllcy ofthe vibrations of the vocal cords; loudness correlates with intensity.
(l'll II)() correlateswith time (duration) during which a speech unit lasts.Acoustic analysis ofintonation is used in experinlclllnlll'Hcnrch. Hereintonation will be described in terms of perception , which is 1II000e acceptable for the aims ofteaching.It is generally acknowledged that each componentguistically relevant and can be described as a system.system oftones (fall, rise, fall-rise and so on), pitch levolsbe high, medium and low, and pitch ranges (wide, medilllll illlilllurrow).4.2. Components of Intonation71\ariations in voice pitch occur within the normal range of the humanvoice, 1. e. within the interval between its upper and lower limits. Three pitchlevels (keys, registers) are generally distinguished: high.
medium and low.high - - - - - - - - - - medium - - - - - - - - - - lowThe pitch range is the interval between two pitch levels. When we speakabout the pitch range of the whole intonation unit we mean the interval between the highest-pitched and the lowest-pitched syllables. Pitch rangesmaybe normal, wide and narrow.Iwide Inormal Inarrow Loudness is described as normal, increased (forte) or low (piano). Tempo includes rate of speech and pausation. The rate of speech can be normal, slow and fast.
Generally, the parts of the utterance which are particularly important are pronounced at aslower rate, while in less important parts the rate of speech tends to befaster.Any stretch of speech can be split into smaller segments by means ofpauses. A pause is a complete stop of phonation.
Pauses are classified according to their length, their position in the utterance (final - non-final)and their function.rn teaching English intonation it is sufficient to distinguish the following types ofpauses:l. Short pauses which may be used to separate intonation groups within aphrase.2. Longer pauses which normally manifest the end of the phrase.3.
Very long pauses which are used to separate bigger phonetic units (phonopassages).Functionally, there may be distinguished syntactic, emphatic and hesitation pauses.Syntactic pauses separate phonopassages, phrases, intonation groups.Emphatic pauses serve to make some parts of the utterance especiallyprominent.72Chapter IV. IntonationShe is the most I charming girll've ever seen.The subject ofthis talk is I intonation. IIHesitation pauses are mainly used in spontaneous speech to gain sometime to think over what to say next. They may be silent (unfilled) or fIlled.She is rather a Igood student.Where does she live? - Um, notfar from here.4.3. Intonation Pattern as the Basic Unit ofIntonationA phrase (a sentence actualized in oral speech) may contain one or several intonation groups.
The number of intonation groups depends on thelength of the phrase and the semantic importance given to various parts ofthe phrase:This v bed 'was 'not 'slept .in.IIt is clear that pauses can perfonn various functions. Besides the segmentation ofthe speech continuum, pauses contribute to the temporal andrhythmical organization of speech.As it was already said pauses are easily perceived when there is a stop ofphonation. However there are cases when we perceive a pause when there isno stop ofphonation. It happens because a stop ofphonation is not anfactor indicating an intonation group boundary.
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