Phonostylistics

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 695.

Phonostylistics is a quickly developing branch of Phonetics. Its aim is to study various phonetic means and how they are used in this or that particular situation. A concrete situation is determined by various extra-linguistic factors. Human speech is characterized by a certain norm and in fact the speech behavior of a person is his adaptation to social circumstances (eg a lawyer: acting in court; every day communication; ordering a dinner in a restaurant; telling a joke to a familiar company). This adaptation can be natural or purposeful. Each native speaker uses several varieties of the language (at home, at work, addressing audience).Each of these varieties may differ in the use of vocabulary, grammatical structure, but the most striking distinction are phonetical (We can trust him to do it well). The main extra-linguistic factors that cause speech modifications are as follows: 1)the aim or purpose of speech: to instruct, to persuade, to analyse, to narrate, to chat. The aim of the utterance greatly influences pronunciation. The speaker chooses a certain strategy and according to it he selects a member of functional phonetic means which make the realization of his purpose more effective; 2)the speaker's attitude to the situation and to what he is saying. His speech behavior in this case may reveal his personal interest and participation in what he is talking about (These things may (dis)satisfy him). They may please him or not, he can express his emotions through speech. In this case different intonation varieties will give subjective coloring of oral speech; 3)The nature of interchange of the form of communication. It means that our speech may suggest only listening or listening and exchanging remarks. The form can be: a lecture, a discussion, a conversation. Some linguists consider that this factor influences the division of the language into 2 varieties: a monolog; a dialogue. This forms differ on lexical, grammatical, phonetic levels; 4)The degree of spontaneity or preparedness we distinguish between prepared and unprepared speech (Prepared: delivering a lecture, report that was rehearsed at home, rehearsing a poem. Unprepared: short commentaries, class speech). This factor has a decisive influence on the phonetic organization of a test and most phoneticians for the aim of their analyses distinguish between speaking and reading. Reading is characterized by a very high degree of regularity. As a result, the text sounds distinct and loud. 5)A number of social phonological factors which determine the degree of formality and the attitude of the speaker as well. Formality reflects how the speaker interacts with the listener (whether hi is formal, casual, familiar). The degree of formality is reflected in the use of segmental and suprasegmental units. This group of social factor may include age, sex, speaker's individuality, his social background etc.