Южный федеральный университет THEORETICAL PHONETICS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Склярова Наталья Геннадиевна доктор филологических наук, профессор кафедры теории и практики английского языка panochka@bk.ru Ростов-на-Дону 2008 Unit 3 SUPRASEGMENTAL PHONETICS Unit 3 Topic 3 ENGLISH INTONATION Questions 1. The definitions of intonation and the syntagm and their interconnection. 2. Elements of a syntagm 3. The components of intonation. 4. Functions of intonation. The definitions of intonation and the syntagm and their interconnection. Intonation is a complex unity of communicatively relevant variations of non-segmental, or prosodic features of speech which include melody, sentence stress, tamber and temporal characteristics such as tempo, rhythm, duration and pausation. Each component of intonation has its own peculiarities, but in spoken language they cannot be separated from one another and function as a whole. The definitions of intonation and the syntagm and their interconnection. syntagms sense-groups breath-groups tone (intonation) groups syntactic approach semantic approach extra-linguistic approach phonological approach A syntagm is the shortest possible unit of speech from the point of view of meaning, grammatical structure and intonation. The definitions of intonation and the syntagm and their interconnection. syntagm word number of words subject group predicate group homogeneous members member of a sentence sentence simple sentence subordinate clause principal clause two clauses (sentences with object clauses) THE ELEMENTS OF A SYNTAGM 1. Pre-head 2. Head (body, or scale) 3. Nucleus 4. Tail The components of intonation. The pre-head forms the initial part of the intonation pattern consisting of unstressed syllables preceding the first stressed one. low unemphatic rising high emphatic The components of intonation. The head (body, or scale) is the part of the intonation pattern including all the stressed and unstressed syllables up to the last stressed one the head the first stressed syllable in a syntagm R. Kingdon the body stressed syllables of a syntagm without the first and the last scale descending ascending stepping scandent falling sliding rising The components of intonation. Nucleus (focal point of a syntagm) is an obligatory component of a syntagm which is the last stressed syllable carrying the basic tone. Nuclear tone is the change of pitch within the last stressed syllable of the syntagm. level (static, tones of unchanging pitch) high level mid level moving (kinetic, tones of changing pitch) simple (changing complex (changing in in one direction) more than one direction) low level high fall high rise fall-rise low fall low rise rise-fall The components of intonation. The tail is the final part of the intonation pattern which includes all unstressed syllables following the nucleus. rising level falling (ascending) occurs when the (descending) occurs after the preceding fall is occurs when the even low-pitched complete, or fall of the nuclear nuclear tone or when the nuclear tone does not after a rising tone is even but reach the lowest nuclear tone on a mid level level nuclear tone + tail = terminal tone THE COMPONENTS OF INTONATION 1. Sentence stress 2. Melody 3. Rhythm 4. Tempo 5. Tambre 6. Pause The components of intonation. Sentence stress is the greater prominence of some words among other words of the utterance ' ' This is a very important syntagm stress (unemphatic, normal sentence-stress) emphatic sentence-stress idea syntactic (subsidiary) stress syntagmatic (primary) stress marked (special) position (logical sentence-stress) unmarked (normal) position The components of intonation. Melody is the distinct variations in the following parameters: direction of pitch, pitch level, pitch range, pitch angle Pitch range is the interval between the highestpitched and the lowest-pitched syllables. unemphatic speech normal emphatic speech wide, narrow three pitch levels low, mid, high extra high, extra low pitch levels Change in pitch direction takes place in the nucleus where the pitch goes distinctly up or down. The components of intonation. Rhythm is the regular occurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables basic unit of the rhythmical structure stress group (accentual group, pause group, breath group, rhythmic group) The whole phrase or just one word prosodic nucleus (peak of prominence, nucleus of the rhythmic group) proclitics - unstressed syllables 2-4 syllables preceding the nucleus 1 stressed enclitics unstressed syllables others following the nucleus (typical of unstressed English) The components of intonation. Tempo is the relative speed of pronunciation normal slow fast Important parts of the utterance are pronounced slower. Unimportant parts are pronounced faster. Tambre is the special colouring of the voice quality: whisper, breathy, creak, husky, falsetto, resonant qualification: laugh, giggle, sob, cry, tremulousness The components of intonation. Pause is a stop of pronunciation for a short period of time before starting again. breathing pauses syntactic (temporal) pauses hesitation pauses unfilled (silent) emphatic pauses filled (voice) [ə, з:, m, з:m] short optional pauses separate syntagms within a phrase longer obligatory pauses manifest the end of the phrase very long pauses, separate phonetic wholes Unemphatic and emphatic intonation English unemphatic speech sentence-stress is distributed equally among the notional words in a syntagm; the stressed syllables occur at more or less regular intervals of time; a pitch distribution in a syntagm forms a regular descending scale; the pitch of the initial unstressed syllables is lower than that of the first stressed syllable; the last stressed syllable (and the unstressed ones that follow it) have one of the two principal intonation contours (low-rising or low falling). English emphatic speech the descending scale may be either completely absent or it may be partially destroyed; the characteristic tones are not necessarily confined to the end of the syntagm; the tones display a greater variety of pitch variations; the range of intonation in a syntagm may be widened or narrowed. Functions intonation 1. Intonation serves to organize connected speech phonetically, thus making it intelligible. It is achieved through breaking speech continuum into smaller constituents (delimiting function), uniting them into a complete text (integrating function), establishing relations between them and distinguishing them from each other. 2. Intonation serves to determine the communicative types of sentences, which are differentiated in speech according to the aim of utterance from the point of view of communication. 3. Intonation serves to structure the content information of a textual unit into new and given. 4. Intonation serves to perform neutralizing or compensative function. Functions intonation 5. Intonation serves to differentiate the meaning of syntagms and sentences of the same grammatical structure and/or the same lexical composition (distinctive function) 6. Intonation serves to convey the speaker’s feelings, emotions and attitude to the situation he is placed in and he often uses it to influence the attitudes and behaviour of the listener. 7. Intonation serves to characterize a particular style or variety of oral speech which may be called the stylistic function. Conclusion Intonation as a phonetic phenomenon and a syntagm as a phonetic unit of speech are closely connected as components of intonation are realized within the elements of a syntagm thus performing various communicative functions. COMPULSORY LITERATURE Бурая, Е.А., Галочкина, И.Е., Шевченко, Т.И. Фонетика современного английского языка. Теоретический курс. – 2-е изд. испр. – М.: Академия, 2008. Леонтьева, С.Ф. Теоретическая фонетика современного английского языка. – М.: Менеджер, 2011. Склярова, Н.Г. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка: Учебное пособие для самостоятельной работы студентов 3 курса. - 4-е изд. - Ростов н/Д: ИПО ПИ ЮФУ, 2011. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка / Под ред. М.А. Соколовой. – М.: Владос, 2004. SUPPLEMENTARY LITERATURE Dickushina, O.J. English Phonetics. – М. – Л.: Просвещение, 1965. Vassilyev, V.A. English Phonetics. A Theoretical Course. – М.: Высшая школа, 1970. Евстифеева, М.В. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. Лекции, семинары, упражнения. – М.: Флинта, Наука, 2011. Первезенцева, О.А. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. – М.: Прометей. 2006. Соколова, М.А., Тихонова, И.С., Тихонова, Р.М., Фрейдина, Е.Л. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. – М.: Феникс, 2010. Торсуев, Г.П. Проблемы теоретической фонетики и фонологии. – М.: Изд-во ЛКИ, 2008. Шевченко, Т.И. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. – М.: Юрайт. 2012. INTERNET RESOURCES Красса С.И. Полный курс лекций по теоретической фонетике английского языка на английском языке // http://www.durov.com/study/1119378694-206.html Теоретическая фонетика английского языка // http://www.comenglish.ru/foneticheskiyangliyskiy/teoreticheskaya-fonetika-angliyskogoyazyka Первезенцева О.А., Фрейдина Е.Л., Ковпак Н.А., Козачук О.Г., Нестерова Т.Д., Сейранян М.Ю. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. Практикум // http://phoenix.dubna.ru/ph-books/bsoderz/s-teor-pr.pdf REFERENCE LITERATURE 1. Ахманова О.С. Словарь лингвистических терминов. – М.: Советская энциклопедия, 1966. 2. Баранов А.Н., Добровольский Д.О., Михайлов М.Н., Паршин П.Б., Романова О.И. Англорусский словарь по лингвистике и семиотике. – 2-е изд., испр. и доп. – М.: Азбуковник, 2001. 3. Трахтеров А.Л. Английская фонетическая терминология. – М.: Изд-во литературы на иностранных языках, 1962. 4. Языкознание. Большой энциклопедический словарь / Гл. ред. В.Н. Ярцева. – 2-е изд. – М.: Большая Российская энциклопедия, 1998. Intonation, pitch (speech melody), pitch direction, pitch level,notions pitch Basic range, pitch angle (rate), sentence stress, syntagm stress (unemphatic stress, normal sentence-stress); syntagmatic stress (primary sentencestress), syntactic stress (subsidiary sentence-stress), logical stress, emphatic stress, unmarked (normal) position of syntagmatic stress, marked (special) position of syntagmatic stress, the end-focused nucleus, the contrastive-focused nucleus, full stress, partial stress, tambre, tempo, rhythm, stress group (accentual group, pause group, breath group, rhythmic group), prosodic nucleus, proclitics, enclitics, pausation, syntactic (temporal) pauses, emphatic pauses, hesitation pauses, breathing pauses, unfilled pauses, filled pauses. Syntagm (intonation group, sense-group, breath-group), intonation pattern, pre-head, low pre-head, high pre-head, rising pre-head, head (body, scale), ascending scale, descending scale, level head, stepping head, falling head, sliding head, scandent head, rising head, special (accidental) Rise, Upbroken Descending Head, nucleus, focal point of a syntagm, communicative center, level tone, moving tone, simple tone, complex tone, Low-Fall, Low-Rise, High-Fall, High-Rise, FallRise, Rise-Fall, High-Level, Mid-Level, Low-Level, tail, level tail, rising (ascending), falling (descending) tail, terminal tone. Благодарю за внимание