C. Intonation Differences

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 511.

B. Stress Differences

Non-systematic Differences between General American and Received Pronunciation

A.1. Many differences involve the pronunciation of individu­al words or groups of words. Here are some of these:

2. Words apparatus, data, status can be pronounced with ei­ther [æ] or [ei] in GA, but only with [ei] in RP.

3. Words like hostile, missile, reptile have final [ail] in RP. In GA they may have [əi].

1. In words of French origin GA tends to have stress on the final syllable, while RP has it on the initial one:

2. Some words have first-syllable stress in GA whereas in RP the stress may be elsewhere.

3. Some compound words have stress on the first element in GA and in RP they retain it on the second element: weekend, ice cream, hotdog, New Year.

4. Polysyllabic words ending in -ory, -ary, -mony have secondary stress in GA, often called "tertiary": laboratory [^‘læbrə,tori], dic­tionary ['dikfa.nen], secretary ['sekra.ten], testimony ['testi,.mouni].

GA intonation on the whole is similar to that of RP. But there are, of course, some differences that should be mentioned here.

1. In sentences where the most common pre-nuclear contour in RP is a gradually descending sequence, the counterpart GA contour is a medium Level Head:

I don't want to go to the theatre.

Its emphatic variant in Mid-wavy-level Head:

2. The usual Medium or Low Fall in RP has its rising-falling counterpart in GA:

Come and see me tomorrow.

3. The rising terminal tone in RP in GA has a mid-rising con­tour:

Do you like it?

4. The Fall-Rise nuclear tone is different in RP and GA: Really?

These comparisons show that the main differences in intona­tion concern the direction of the voice pitch and the realization of the terminal tones. In GA the voice doesn't fall to the bottom mostly. This explains the fact that the English speech for Ameri­cans sounds "affected" and "pretentious" or "sophisticated". And for the English, Americans sound "dull", "monotonous", "indiffer­ent".

It should also be mentioned that the distribution of terminal tones in sentence types is also different in both variants of English.

1. GA "Yes, No" questions commonly have a falling terminal tone; the counterpart RP tone would be a rising one:

Shall we stay here?

2. Requests in RP are usually pronounced with a Rise, where­as in GA they may take a Fall-Rise:

Open the door.

3. Leave-takings are often pronounced with a high-pitched Fall-Rise in GA:

In conclusion we would like to say that American phoneti­cians use a pitch contour system to mark intonation in the text:

It is certain that we have not covered here all the cases of dif­ferent intonation structures used in RP and GA. Recently there have appeared in this country several papers and books on the subject, so for further information see those books.

3. Phoneme Theory. Three aspects of the phoneme. Functions of the phoneme. Methods of phonological analysis.

To know how sounds are produced by speech organs it is not enough to describe and classify them as language units. …To avoid this ambiguity, the linguist uses two separate terms: “phoneme” is used to mean “sound” in its contrastive sense, and “allophone” is used for sounds which are variants of a phoneme: they usually occur in different positions in the word (i. e. in different environments) and hence cannot contrast with each other, nor be used to make meaningful distinctions.

The most comprehensive definition of the phoneme was first introduced by the Russian linguist L. V. Shcherba. The concise form of this definition could be: The phoneme is a minimal abstract linguistic unit realized in speech in the form of speech sounds opposable to other phonemes of the same language to distinguish the meaning of morphemes and words. According to this definition the phoneme is a unity of three aspects: material, abstractand functional.

MA is realized in speech in the form of speech sounds. In other words, each phoneme is realized in a set of predictable speech sounds which are called allophones: allophones of the phoneme [t]: in the combination «not there» - dental, in the word «try» - post-alveolar, in the word «stay» not aspirated.

AA is reflected in the language unit. The phoneme belongs to the language while the allophone belongs to the speech. Language is an abstract category, it is an abstraction form speech. Thus the phoneme as a language unit is materialized in the form of speech sounds. Distinctive features of the phoneme (relevant): these are features that can't be changed without the change of meaning.

[t] – 1. Occlusive

2. forelingual

3. fortis: forelingual → backlingual → [k] (tom-com), occlusive → constructive → [s] (tin-sin), fortis →lenis → [d] (ton-don). A bundle of distinctive features is called invariant.

FA is the main aspect of the phoneme. Phonemes are capable of differentiating the meaning of morphemes (seems-seemed), of words (spot - sport), of sentences (He was heard badly – He was hurt badly, There is no room for you in my hut - … in my heart).

Functions of the phoneme:

Distinctive (word distinctive, morpheme d-ve, sentence d-ve)

Constitutive (word constitutive, morpheme c-ve, sentence c-ve)

Recognitive (word recognitive, morpheme rec., sentence rec. )

Methods of phonological analysis

The aim of this analysis is the identification of the phonemes and their classification. There are 2 approaches to the phonological analysis:

1. Distributional approach was practiced by an American linguist and focuses on the position of the sound in the word or its distribution.

2. Semantic method attaches special importance to meaning. It's widely used in Russia. The semantic analysis is performed through the system of phonological oppositions. It's based on the following fundamental phonological rule: phonemes can distinguish the meaning when opposed to one another in the same phonetic context.

4. English intonation: structural components, functions, basic intonation patterns.

Intonation is a language universal. There are no languages which are spoken without any change of prosodic parameters but intonation functions in various languages in a different way.

There are 2 main approaches in GB:

1. Contour analysis

2. Grammatical

H. Sweet, O. Jones, G. Palmer. Intonation is the smallest unit to which linguistic meaning can be attached is a tone group (Sense group). 2) the main unit of intonation is a clause. (Hallidey). Intonation is a complex three systemic variables: tonality and tone which are connected with grammatical categories.

D. Crystal distinguishes the following functions of intonation: emotional, grammatical, informatical, textual, psychological, indexical.

• Emotional function's most obvious role is to express attitudinal meaning -sarcasm, surprise, reserve, impatience, delight, shock, anger, interest, and thousands of other semantic nuances.
• Grammatical function helps to identify grammatical structure in speech, performing a role similar to punctuation. Units such as clause and sentence often depend on intonation for their spoken identity, and several specific contrasts, such as question/statement, make systematic use of it.
• Informational function helps draw attention to what meaning is given and what is new in an utterance. The word carrying the most prominent tone in a contour signals the part of an utterance that the speaker is treating as new information.
• Textual function helps larger units of meaning than the sentence to contrast and cohere. In radio news-reading, paragraphs of information can be shaped through the use of pitch. In sports commentary, changes in prosody reflect the progress of the action.
• Psychological function helps us to organize speech into units that are easier to perceive and memorize. Most people would find a sequence of numbers, for example, difficult to recall. The task is made easier by using intonation to chunk the sequence into two units.
• Indexical function, along with other prosodic features, is an important marker of personal or social identity. Lawyers, preachers, newscasters, sports commentators, army sergeants, and several other occupations are readily identified through their distinctive prosody.

We are going to concentrate on the 3 prosodic components of intonation, that is pitch, loudness, tempo and on the way they are realized in speech. Each syllable of the speech chain has a special pitch colouring. Some of the syllables have significant moves of tone up and down. Each syllable bears a definite amount of loudness. Pitch movements are connected with loudness. Together with the tempo of speech they form an intonation pattern which is the basic unit of intonation.

An intonation pattern contains one nucleus and may contain other stressed or unstressed syllables normally preceding or following the nucleus.

Among the pitch parameters we shall concentrate on the three of them i. e. the distinct variations in direction of pitch, pitch level and pitch range. Though pitch changes are of primary linguistic significance they should be viewed together with the variations of loudness, the second component of intonation, since, it is clearly not possible to separate pitch and loudness in creating the effect of accentuation.

One of the syllables has the greater prominence than the others and forms the nucleus of an intonation pattern. Formally the nucleus may be described as a strongly stressed syllable. The nuclear tone is the most important part of the intonation pattern without which the latter cannot exist at all. On the other hand an intonation pattern may consist of one syllable which is its nucleus.

According to R. Kingdon the most important nuclear tones in English and the only ones we need to distinguish in teaching are: Low Fall, High Fall, Low Rise, High Rise, and Fall-Rise.

The meanings of the nuclear tones are difficult to specify in general terms. Roughly speaking the falling tone of any level and range expresses certainty, completeness, and independence.

A rising tone on the contrary expresses uncertainty, incompleteness or dependence. A general question for instance, has a rising tone. A falling-rising tone may combine the falling tone's meaning of assertion, certainty with the rising tone's meaning of dependence, incompleteness. At the end of a phrase it often conveys a feeling of reservation; that is, it asserts something and at the same time suggests that there is something else to be said, f.e. «Do you like music? – Someֽ times (but not in general)».

Low Level tone is very characteristic of reading poetry. Though occasionally heard in reading Mid-Level tone is particularly common in spontaneous speech functionally replacing the rising tone.

Two more pitch parameters which can considerably modify the pitch contour of the pitch and stress structure are pitch ranges and pitch levels of the whole intonation pattern or of each of its sections.

Variations in pitch range occur withing the normal range of the human voice, i.e. withing its upper and lower limits. For pedagogical expediency 3 pitch ranges are generally distinguished: normal, wide and narrow.

Loudness is used in a variety of ways. Gross differences of meaning (such as anger, menace, and excitement) can be conveyed by using an overall loudness level.

The tempo of speech is the third component of intonation. The term tempo implies the rate of the utterance and pausation. The rate of speech can be normal, slow and fast. The parts of the utterance which are particularly important sound slower. Unimportant parts are commonly pronounced at a greater speed than normal.

Any stretch of speech can be split into smaller portions, i.e. phonetic wholes, phrases, intonation groups by means of pauses. By 'pause' here we mean a complete stop of phonation. We may distinguish the following three kinds of pauses:

1. Short pauses which 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.

Functionally, there may be distinguished syntactic, emphatic and hesitation pauses. Syntactic pauses separate phonopassages, phrases, and intonation groups. Emphatic pauses serve to make especially prominent certain parts of the utterance. Hesitation pauses are mainly used in spontaneous speech to gain some time to think over what to say next. They may be silent or filled.

Intonation is a language universal. There are no languages which are spoken without any change of prosodic parameters but intonation functions in various languages in a different way.

There are 2 main approaches in GB:

3. Contour analysis

4. Grammatical

H. Sweet, O. Jones, G. Palmer. Intonation is the smallest unit to which linguistic meaning can be attached is a tone group (Sense group). 2) the main unit of intonation is a clause. (Hallidey). Intonation is a complex three systemic variables: tonality and tone which are connected with grammatical categories.

D. Crystal distinguishes the following functions of intonation: emotional, grammatical, informatical, textual, psychological, indexical.

• Emotional function's most obvious role is to express attitudinal meaning -sarcasm, surprise, reserve, impatience, delight, shock, anger, interest, and thousands of other semantic nuances.
• Grammatical function helps to identify grammatical structure in speech, performing a role similar to punctuation. Units such as clause and sentence often depend on intonation for their spoken identity, and several specific contrasts, such as question/statement, make systematic use of it.
• Informational function helps draw attention to what meaning is given and what is new in an utterance. The word carrying the most prominent tone in a contour signals the part of an utterance that the speaker is treating as new information.
• Textual function helps larger units of meaning than the sentence to contrast and cohere. In radio news-reading, paragraphs of information can be shaped through the use of pitch. In sports commentary, changes in prosody reflect the progress of the action.
• Psychological function helps us to organize speech into units that are easier to perceive and memorize. Most people would find a sequence of numbers, for example, difficult to recall. The task is made easier by using intonation to chunk the sequence into two units.
• Indexical function, along with other prosodic features, is an important marker of personal or social identity. Lawyers, preachers, newscasters, sports commentators, army sergeants, and several other occupations are readily identified through their distinctive prosody.

We are going to concentrate on the 3 prosodic components of intonation, that is pitch, loudness, tempo and on the way they are realized in speech. Each syllable of the speech chain has a special pitch colouring. Some of the syllables have significant moves of tone up and down. Each syllable bears a definite amount of loudness. Pitch movements are connected with loudness. Together with the tempo of speech they form an intonation pattern which is the basic unit of intonation.

An intonation pattern contains one nucleus and may contain other stressed or unstressed syllables normally preceding or following the nucleus.

Among the pitch parameters we shall concentrate on the three of them i. e. the distinct variations in direction of pitch, pitch level and pitch range. Though pitch changes are of primary linguistic significance they should be viewed together with the variations of loudness, the second component of intonation, since, it is clearly not possible to separate pitch and loudness in creating the effect of accentuation.

One of the syllables has the greater prominence than the others and forms the nucleus of an intonation pattern. Formally the nucleus may be described as a strongly stressed syllable. The nuclear tone is the most important part of the intonation pattern without which the latter cannot exist at all. On the other hand an intonation pattern may consist of one syllable which is its nucleus.

According to R. Kingdon the most important nuclear tones in English and the only ones we need to distinguish in teaching are: Low Fall, High Fall, Low Rise, High Rise, and Fall-Rise.

The meanings of the nuclear tones are difficult to specify in general terms. Roughly speaking the falling tone of any level and range expresses certainty, completeness, and independence.

A rising tone on the contrary expresses uncertainty, incompleteness or dependence. A general question for instance, has a rising tone. A falling-rising tone may combine the falling tone's meaning of assertion, certainty with the rising tone's meaning of dependence, incompleteness. At the end of a phrase it often conveys a feeling of reservation; that is, it asserts something and at the same time suggests that there is something else to be said, f.e. «Do you like music? – Someֽ times (but not in general)».

Low Level tone is very characteristic of reading poetry. Though occasionally heard in reading Mid-Level tone is particularly common in spontaneous speech functionally replacing the rising tone.

Two more pitch parameters which can considerably modify the pitch contour of the pitch and stress structure are pitch ranges and pitch levels of the whole intonation pattern or of each of its sections.

Variations in pitch range occur withing the normal range of the human voice, i.e. withing its upper and lower limits. For pedagogical expediency 3 pitch ranges are generally distinguished: normal, wide and narrow.

Loudness is used in a variety of ways. Gross differences of meaning (such as anger, menace, and excitement) can be conveyed by using an overall loudness level.

The tempo of speech is the third component of intonation. The term tempo implies the rate of the utterance and pausation. The rate of speech can be normal, slow and fast. The parts of the utterance which are particularly important sound slower. Unimportant parts are commonly pronounced at a greater speed than normal.

Any stretch of speech can be split into smaller portions, i.e. phonetic wholes, phrases, intonation groups by means of pauses. By 'pause' here we mean a complete stop of phonation. We may distinguish the following three kinds of pauses:

1. Short pauses which 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.

Functionally, there may be distinguished syntactic, emphatic and hesitation pauses. Syntactic pauses separate phonopassages, phrases, and intonation groups. Emphatic pauses serve to make especially prominent certain parts of the utterance. Hesitation pauses are mainly used in spontaneous speech to gain some time to think over what to say next. They may be silent or filled.