Lecture Overview

the perceived height of the human voice depending on the length of the vocal cords and the rapidity of their vibrations (male: longer-slower-lower; female: shorter-faster-higher)
Intonation – the pitch variations and patterns in a spoken language
tonality (chunking)
= the division of speech into intonation phrases
tonicity (nucleus placement)
=highlighting certain words in an utterance as important to the meaning
tone (also tune)
= distinctive pitch movement/pitch pattern heard over a whole unit
Rhythm – the characteristic movement or ‘timing’ of connected speech
(stress-timed vs. syllable-timed languages)

1. Prosodic features

Functions of Intonation

as a response to the listener’s statement.
= we do this by TONE. The choice of tone is context-dependent.
1) Rising tones: low rise, high rise, fall-rise
2) Falling tones: low fall, high fall, rise-fall

2.1 Attitudinal function

function
We use TONALITY to mark the beginning or end of utterances (grammatically referred to as clause and/or sentences)
Syntactic function
We use TONE to distinguish between clause types or disambiguate grammatically ambiguous sentences
e.g.
(1) These are ˋready ‖
These are ˊready ‖
(2) My ˋdaughter who lives in ˅Oxford | is a ˋdoctor‖
My ˅daughter | who lives in ˅Oxford | is a ˋdoctor ‖

2.2 Grammatical function

directs the listener’s attention to the salient points of the massage.
= we do this by TONICITY. The exact speaker’s meaning is achieved by appropriate nucleus placement and choice of tone.
(a) ˈMeet me by the ˚clock in the ˚station at ˋsix ‖
S S S S
A A
N
Message: meet six
(b) A: OK, so we’ll be in the station by six, but where precisely do you want to meet?
B: ˈMeet me by the ˋclock in the ₀station at ₀six ‖
S S S S
A A
N
Message: meet clock

2.3 Focusing (accentual) function

in a spoken discourse (resembles the division of written text into sentences and paragraphs)
= keep-talking vs. turn-taking

2.4 Discourse (cohesive) function

perceive, process and understand.
= we do this by TONALITY or we divide the continuous speech signal into smaller logical sense units

2.5 Psychological function

personal or social identity
e.g. Queen Elizabeth

2.6 Indexical function

high fall, low fall, high rise, low rise, rise-fall,
fall-rise, mid level
TAIL (optional)
HEAD (optional)
Types: high head, low head, falling head, rising head
PRE-HEAD (optional)
Types: low pre-head, high pre-head

3. Elements of English intonation

the most important information for the listener.
=from this syllable on there is a noticeable pitch movement over several syllables i.e. the nuclear tone begins
= the type of tone used is chosen by the speaker to convey his/her attitude
=in English the nucleus is usually placed towards the end of the IP especially if new information is introduced. When the speaker makes a deliberate decision in the speaking process to focus on certain information mentioned earlier, that is usually shared information known to both speakers.
Tail
= any syllable(s) of the IP that follow the nuclues
= the tail may contain other stressed syllables but never an accented syllable

Nuclear elements: Nucleus + (Tail)

and only accented syllable) and other unstressed and stressed syllables (if any) before the nucleus in an IP.
= the onset is accented because there is a pitch change making the syllable stand out
Pre-head
= the unstressed syllables before the onset, or before the nucleus if there isn’t a head

Pre-nuclear elements: (Pre-head)+(Head)

+ Nucleus
Head + Nucleus + Tail
Pre-head + Head + Nucleus
Pre-head + Head+ Nucleus + Tail

Intonation Phrase (IP) Structure

= high head + high fall
The Take-Off = low head + low rise
The Low Bounce = high head + low rise
The Switchback = falling head + fall-rise
The Long Jump = rising head + high fall
The High Bounce = high head + high rise
The Jackknife = high head + fall-rise
The High Dive = (high fall + low rise)
The Terrace = high head + mid level

Tone Groups (pitch pattern combinations)

reassuring)
❖ A: Do you need any help? B: No.
(fall-rise – friendly/OK)
(low rise – rude)
❖ I’ve already explained the procedure twice.
(high head + low rise – neutral, positive)
(low head + low rise – grumpy, cross)
❖ A: I’ve done all the cleaning for you.
B: Thank you.
(high rise – ungrateful, insincere)
(high fall – grateful, sincere)
❖ A: What do you think of his new film?
B: Well, the story was interesting.
(fall-rise – implies that the speaker actually thinks it’s terrible but avoids being rude or unpleasant)
❖ A: Shall we meet at the restaurant then?
B: Fine. Sounds good.
(high fall – enthusiastic; low fall - reluctant)
❖ A: How do you find his girlfriend?
B: Lovely.
(rise-fall+mid key – genuine, sincere, truthful)
(rise-fall+low key – sarcastic, implying the opposite)

Tone and meaning = expressing the attitude