INTONATION IN ENGLISH
Lecture No 6-7
PLAN
1. Intonation: basic problems of its definition.
2. Intonation group as a meaningful linguistic unit in speech communication. Types of nuclear tones in English.
3. The temporal component and its function.
4. The tembral component and its function.
5. The functional nature of the English intonation.
Literature recommended:
1. Соколова М.А., Гинтовт К.П. и др. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. - М.: Гуманит. Изд. Центр ВЛАДОС, 1996. - с. 135-183.
2. Соколова М.А., Гинтовт К.П. и др. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. - М.: Высш. школа, 1991. - с. 113-152.
3. Леонтьева С.Ф. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. - М.: Высш. школа, 1980. - с. 190-205.
4. Панасенко Н.І., Самофалова Н.Г., Гриценко О.І. Методичні рекомендації з практичної фонетики англійської мови. Частина друга. Інтонація. - Черкаси, 1991.
5. Цеплитис Л.К. Анализ речевой интонации. - Рига: Зинатне, 1974.
6. Миндрул О.С. Метасемиотика тембра II // Диалектика единичного, особенного и всеобщего в науке о языке. - Изд-во Моск. Ун-та, 1980. - с.113-123.
7. Дикушина О.И. Фонетика английского языка. Теоретический курс. - М.-Л., 1965. - стр. 131-164.
8. Vassilyev V.A. English phonetics. A theoretical course. - M.: Higher School Publishing House, 1970. - p. 286-321.
9. D. Crystal Prosodic system and intonation in English. - Cambridge: Cambridge Un-ty Press, 1969.
10. D. O'Connor and G.F. Arnold Intonation of Colloquial English. - London: Longman, 1973.
11. G. Brown Listening to spoken English. - M.: Prosveshcheniye, 1984.
12. P. Roach English phonetics and phonology. - Cambridge: Cambridge Un-ty Press, 1991.
1. Intonation: basic problems of its definition
The difficulties in analyses of intonation begin already with the definition of the object (disagreement in terminology) and the location of its place in the system of a language and extend to the choice of theories and methods of analyses, the exposure of its units and the entire intonation system, the consideration of the number and acoustic characteristics of revealed units and the structure of intonation system itself, etc.
Synonyms:
DEFINITIONS OF INTONATION:
1. It is the way
2. It is the
3. It is
4. It means
Peter Roach: “There is no completely satisfactory definition of intonation, but any attempt at a definition must recognise that the pitch of the voice plays the most important part.“
Problems in description of intonation are caused by its definition (disagreement in terminology) and further, by more precise definition of its functions and acoustic compounds, by marking its units and the entire intonational system.
There are different treatments of intonation in foreign and home phonetics. These differences comprise definition of intonation and the number of its components and functions. It has been a favourable object of investigation since time immemorial. In ancient Greek and Rome with the help of different tunes (that is intonations) they treated various diseases, headache, insomnia and the like. Later such a treatment was called musicotherapy which is still very popular nowadays. It is very effective thanks to every component of intonation (musical or speech) which performs its very specific function.
One of the most popular definitions of intonation is that by prof. D. Jones who writes:
L.E. Armstrong and I.C. Ward
Most books on phonetics either give similar definitions of intonation, or give no definition at all. However, all the authors point out the importance of a number of other factors, such as sentence stress, rhythm, pauses, etc., which they do not include into the notion of intonation.
D. Crystal in his book "Prosodic system and intonation in English" writes:
In prof. V. Vassiliev's mind, a complete definition of sentence intonation must include reference to: 1.
2.
3.
4.
On the perceptual level, sentence intonation is a complex unity of 4 components, formed by communicatively relevant variations in: 1. Voice pitch, or speech melody; 2. The prominence of words, or their accent; 3. Tempo (rate), rhythm and pausation of the utterance; 4. Voice-timber. This complex unity serves to express adequately, on the basis of the proper grammatical structure and lexical composition, emotions, feelings and attitudes towards reality and the context of the sentence.
Although the 4 components of intonation function all together, and none of them can be isolated or separated from the others in actual speech, it is possible to single out each component for purposes of analysis. Then it will be seen that an individual component of intonation, though inseparable from the others, performs a special function and thus is crucial in implementing this or that function of intonation as a hole, while the other of its components play a subordinate and auxiliary part in complementing this particular function (V.A. Vassiliev).