Prosody. General character of english intonation. (Lecture 7) презентация

in the use of pitch
The form of English intonation
Structure of intonation group: nuclear stress, terminal tone and pauses
Weak forms of auxilliary words
Functions of intonation
Schools of prosody (approaches to studies of prosodic phenomena)

formed by significant variations of pitch, loudness, tempo (rate of speech and pausation forming its rhythm)
On the acoustic level
pitch correlates with the fundamental frequency of the vibration of the vocal cords;
loudness correlates with the amplitude of vibrations;
tempo is a correlate of time during which a speech unit lasts

relevant variations in: 1) voice pitch, or speech melody;
2) the prominence of words, or their accent;
3) the tempo as rhythm and pausation of the utterance;
4) voice-tamber (quality of voice)
Intonation pattern (pitch movements, loudness changes, tempo changes) is a basic unit of intonation

Definition

and how these features contribute to meaning.
Prosody and intonation relate as general notion and its part.
A phonetic study of prosody is a study of the suprasegmental features of speech.
Prosodic features: vocal pitch, loudness and rhythm.

categories: normal, wide, narrow;
Accent: primary and secondary; tempo can be normal, fast and slow;
Pauses are unit, short, long and extra-long;
Voice quality (tambre) features are modal, creaky, breathy, husky, resonant, falsetto, tremulous, and harsh;
Rhythm: clipped or slurred, constant or variable, glissando or staccato.

phone you | when | all | the children are back. ||
Ph H Ts T
key: Ph = pre-head ; H = head; Ts = tonic syllable;
T = tail

word
Terminal tone is formed by the nucleus and the tail:
Tom saw it (statement) - Tom saw it? (general question)
Didn't you enjoy it? (general question) - Didn't you enjoy it! (exclamation)
Will you be quiet? (request) - Will you be quiet? (command).
The opposition of terminal tones in a language is phonologically relevant.

in English (-/+)

speech, normal educated speech in formal environments and slow tempo in class-environment, specific rhetorical effects.

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.

pauses: make prominent certain parts of the utterance
e.g. She is the most ⌇charming girl I've ever seen
Hesitation pauses: used in spontaneous speech
e.g. She is rather a ... good student.
– Where does she live? – Um, not very far from here.

(stepping down or up)
Presence of junctural features (pauses, segmental phonetic variations in tempo, aspiration etc.)
Changes are formalized (standardized) as patterns.

alternation of:
acceleration // slowing down
relaxation // intensification
length // brevity
similar // dissimilar elements

System of similar adequate elements.

preceding or/and following unstressed syllables attached to it;
one or more words closely connected by sense and grammar, but containing only one strongly stressed syllable and being pronounced in one breath.

intonation group [4 rhythmic groups]
ðə 'dɔ ktə 'sez its 'nɔ t kwait \siə.ri. əs

| colony | of coloured people. (Semantic viewpoint)

2) Negro Harlem | became the | largest | colony of | coloured people. (enclitic tendency)

is applied to content words only.

Arriving Kennedy airport Tues 03.45 p.m.

I am ARRIVING at KENNEDY AIRPORT on TUESDAY 03.45.

the sentence,
e.g. What are you looking at?
Where are you from?
I’d love to.
2. used for emphasis,
e.g. Do you want this one? - No.
Well, which one do you want? - That one.
3. used for contrast,
e.g. He is working so hard. - She is but not he.

internal vowel to [ə], e.g must [məst].
2. the reduction of a short vowel + consonant sequence to a syllabic consonant [ænd] – [n], fall out of unstressed internal vowel e.g. bread and butter, fish and chips, etc.; from [frəm] - [frm], [fm]
3. loss of an initial consonant sound, e.g. them [ðəm] - [əm], his [hiz] - [iz];
4. loss of a final consonant,
e.g. and [ənd] - [ən], of [ɔ v] - [ə].

function
Informational function
Textual function
Psychological function
Indexical function

children are in the playground.

Contrastive (emphatic) stress:

She travelled from London.
She travelled from London.
She travelled to London.
She travelled to London

[young men and women] were arrested,
(b) They are [cooking apples].
They [are cooking] apples.

‘George is a `lawyer, /isn't he?

VOICE QUALITY (tamber)
PITCH RANGE:
(a) I am so glad to see you.
(b) Hello!

tripe?
Mary: I ' loathe tripe, (or / ' loathe it)
Not * I 'loathe `tripe
Turn-taking in a dialogue

2. To determine the speech function of a phrase.
3. To convey connotational meanings of "attitude" such as surprise, annoyance, enthusiasm, involvement, etc.
4. To structure a text.
5. To differentiate the meaning of textual units.
6. To characterize a particular style or variety of oral speech which may be called the stylistic function.

approach


M. Halliday: five simple and two compound primary tones in English

of a statement" (also a question with known polarity)
Tone 2: rising tone - "polarity unknown ... the unmarked realisation of a yes-no question"
Tone 3: low rising - "not yet decided whether know or unknown... dependent on something else"
Tone 4: falling-rising - "seems certain, but turns out not to be. It is associated with reservations and conditions"
Tone 5: rising-falling - "seems uncertain, but turns out to be certain. It is used on strong, especially contradicting assertions ... It often carries an implication of 'you ought to know that"

"Is Fido a dog?" - question with known polarity
Tone 2 (rising) "Are you coming?" - I don't know if you are coming but want to know. cf. Tone 1 (falling) "Are you coming?" - this is a bit more like a command.
Tone 3 (low-rising) "I think I'll come tomorrow." - but not really sure.
Tone 4 (falling-rising) "Bill is coming if he's allowed." - conditional statement.
Tone 5 (rising-falling) "You ought to know that."

low.
Difference of pitch are treated as secondary phonemes.
Pike (1945):
pitch heights are used to characterise intonation contours (contours are sequences of pitch height);
a systematic approach to speaker attitude;
the interdependence of intonation, stress, quantity, tempo, rhythm and voice quality.8