XI Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2019

What is intonation? What are the main characteristics of intonation? How is it connected with suprasegmantal phonetics?

As we all know, the flow of speech consists not only of segmental units or speech sounds but it is also characterized by suprasegmantal or prosodic means. These means characterize the sequence of speech sounds that include a syllable, a word, a word combination, a syntagma, a phrase, a suprasegmantal unit and text. In the article, we will compare intonation with prosody, outlook components of intonation and intonation pattern, learn the graphical representation and functions of intonation.

To begin with, intonation is a language universal and there are no languages that are spoken as a monotone. It means that each language has a change of prosodic parameters. That is why one of the main functions of intonation is distinctive function. Nevertheless, it is difficult to describe this phenomenon because of the complex nature of intonation itself. There is also no agreement about the components of intonation and their number.

There are several approaches to the learning of intonation. Usually we distinguish Russian and British scholars. Russian representatives are Vasiliev, Sokolova and Buraya.

Vasiliev’s point of view is that intonation is a complex unity of 4 components: 1) speech melody 2) sentence stress ( prominence of words); 3)tempo (rate), pauses and rhythm; 4) timbre (voice colour)

According to Sokolova (Moscow Teacher Training University) -Intonation is a complex, a whole, formed by significant variations of pitch, loudness and tempo (rate and pauses) closely related.

As for Buraya (Moscow Linguistic University), Intonation is a complex unity of pitch, tempo, loudness, pause and timbre, capable of differentiating the meaning.

As for British representatives, L. Armstrong and I. Ward identify intonation with melodic pattern. Intonation is the rise and the fall of the pitch of the voice. D. Jones thinks that intonation is variations which take place in the pitch of the voice. According to Gimson, Intonation is variations of pitch, rises and falls in pitch level. For D. Crystal prosodic effects are connected with pitch movement, or melody.

Alongside with the intonation, the term prosody is used. The term prosody embraces the three prosodic components (frequency, intensity and loudness) that can be observed in syllables, words, phrases, syntagmas, etc.

It is widely used in linguistic literature, but it has not been accepted in the teaching process yet. It should be mentioned that British phoneticians view prosody as a broader term than intonation. However, this term cannot be used instead of intonation as it doesn’t include the content aspect that is functions of intonation.

Speaking about the components of intonation, they can be viewed on acoustic level. The acoustic correlate of pitch is fundamental frequency, loudness correlates with intensity, tempo correlates with duration. Pitch is described as a system of tones (F-R,R-F,L-R,etc). Pitch levels may be tree types that are high, medium or low. Pitch range that is the interval between two pitch levels may be normal, wide or narrow. Loudness is described as normal/increased(forte) or low(piano). Tempo consists of rate of speech (normal, slow and fast) and pausation. A pause is a complete stop of phonation. Pauses are classified according to their length, position (non-final-final) and functions.

These three components of intonation form the intonation pattern. Intonation pattern is a basic unit of intonation that has a nucleus and may contain other stressed or unstressed syllables preceding/following the nuclear tone. The components of intonation pattern are pre-head, head, nuclear tone and tail. The pre-head consists of unstressed/half-stressed syllables preceding the head. The head contains the syllables beginning with the first stressed syllable up to the nucleus. The pre-nucleus part can take a variety of pitch patterns and they can be the following types – descending, ascending and level types.

The nucleus is the syllable that has greater prominence. According to A. Cruttenden, the most important nuclear tones in English are L-F, H-F, L-R, H-R, F-R, R-F, Midlevel. The tail is the tone of a nucleus determines the pitch of the rest of the intonation pattern follow it. The nucleus and tail form terminal tone.

As for notation, there are different methods for recording intonation patterns. However, we can divide all the methods in two huge groups – representation in the line of text (H. Palmer, Ch. Fries, D. Bolinger, K. Pike, R. Kingdon )and on the staves. (D. Jones, A. Gimson, J. O’Conner, G.Arnold, R. Kingdon, L. Armstrong and I. Ward). The first method is introduced by Ch Fries. His method involves drawing a line around the sentence to show relative pitch heights. D. Bolinger thinks the syllables should be written at different heights across the page. This method is quite inconvenient as its application wants a special model of print.

According to the third method, “levels” method – a number of discrete levels of pitch are recognized. There are 4 levels: low(1)/normal(2)/high(3)/extra-high(4). It was created by K. Pike. R. Kingdon presented tonetic stress-mark system. Stress marks for static tones and slant marks above and below the line of print before syllabographs for kinetic tones

The representation of the staves is favored by D. Jones, A. Gimson, J. O’Conner, G.Arnold, R. Kingdon, L. Armstrong and I. Ward. More particularly, D. Jones, A. Gimson, J. O’Conner, G.Arnold think we should use large dotes for stressed syllables in a static tone, large dot with a tail-like curve attached to it for kinetic one, and a small dote for unstressed syllable. R Kingdon supposes the use of Wedge-like signs instead of dashes and curves. A dash represents a stressed syllable with a static tone, a curve - a stressed syllable with a kinetic tone and a small dot – an unstressed syllable as maintained by L. Armstrong and I. Ward.

Intonation has several functions that also can be divided according to schools and its representatives. As for T.M. Nikolayeva, there are delimitating, integrating and semantic functions. M.A. Socolova thinks that intonation is used to 1) determine the speech function a phrase; 2) structure the text 3) to show the attitude of the speaker 4) differentiate the meaning of textual units 5) structure the information content of a textual unit. Also, there are some approaches of British phoneticians. D. Crystal distinguishes six main functions that are 1.Emotional function 2. Grammatical function 3.Informational function 4.Textual function 5.Psychological function 6.Indexical function. According to P. Roach we distinguish the following functions: 1.The attitudinal function 2.The accentual function 3.The grammatical function 4.The discourse function.

However, the traditional approach is still used in teaching materials. The functions of intonation according to traditional approach are following: constitutive, recognitive and distinctive. Constitutive means that intonation alongside with lexical organization and grammatical structure is the main  constituent feature of a sentence. It is used to form sentences as well as delimitate them. As for distinctive function, intonation distinguishes communicatively different types of sentences:

E.g. Isn’t she a nice girl(H-F)

E.g.  Isn’t she a nice girl(L-R)

It is also used to expresses the mood of the speaker, his attitude to the situation and to the listener:

What a pretty little house (High Head +HF)

What a pretty little house (Scand. Scale +RF)

Recognitive function is realized in the use of the right toneme in the right place:

Thank you(H-F)

Thank you (L-R)

Finally, the intonation is a language universal that plays a huge role in communication. It is characterized by different parameters and has a number of functions.

Bibliography

Antony Fox. Features and ProsodicStructure: The Phonology of Suprasegmentals. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Dwight Bolinger. Intonation and its parts: melody in spoken English. London,1985.

Jones D. An Outline of English Phonetics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976.

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Соколова М.А.,Теоретическая фонетика английского языка/М.А.Соколова,И.С.Тихонова,Р.М.Тихонова,Е.Л.Фрейдина.-Дубна:Феникс+,2010.-68-95с.

Crystal, D. (1969) Prosodic systems and intonation in English. Cambridge,

Cambridge University Press.

Crystal, D. (1969) Prosodic systems and intonation in English. Cambridge,

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Собачкова Н.М. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка: учебно-методическое пособие/Н. М. Собачкова, Оренгбурский гос. ун-т.-Оренбург:ОГУ,2012. – 85-100 с.

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