Functions

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 550.

Intonation bases on several key components: pitch, sentence stress, rhythm.

Pitch is the degree of height of our voice in speech. (Normal speaking pitch is at midlevel).

Sentence stress makes the utterance understandable to the listener by making the important words in the sentence stressed, clear and higher in pitch and by shortening and obscuring the unstressed words. (Sentence stress provides rhythm in connected speech).

Rhythm. An important feature of English intonation – is the use of an intonation accent to mark the focus of a sentence. Normally this focus accent goes on the last major word of the sentence.

Attitudinal : allow us to express emotions: finality, confidence, interest, surprise, doubt, joy, pain, irony, etc.

Accentual : When it is said that intonation has accentual function, it implies that the placement if stress is somewhat determined by intonation.

Grammatical : The listener is better able to recognize the grammar and syntax structure of what is being said by using the information contained in the intonation. For example such things as: A- The placement of boundaries between phrases, clauses and sentences. B- The difference between questions and statements.

Discourse : Intonation can signal to the listener what is to be taken as “new” information and what is already “given”. It can indicate when the speaker is indicating some sort of contrast or link with material in another tone unit. In conversation it can convey to the listener what kind of response is being expected from him.

Main types of English intonation:

1) Falling

2) Rising

Other main types of intonation include: high fall, low fall, fall-rise, high rise, midlevel rise, low rise.

Falling intonation is the most common type of standard unemphatic intonation of English.

- It is used for asking and giving information in normal, quiet, unemphatic style.

- Sound more categorical, confident and convincing than rising intonation.

Falling intonation is used on the last stressed syllable of the sentence in:

1) Statements (declarative sentence)^ We live in \MOScow. He doesn't have a \CAR.

2) Special questions: Where do you \LIVE?

3) Commands (imperative sentences): \STOP it. Sit \DOWN.

4) Exclamatory sentences: What a wonderful sur\PRISE!

5) The last part of alternative questions (after “or”): Do you want /TEA or\COFfee?

6) Tag questions (When the speaker is sure that the answer will be “yes”): You \LIVE here, \DON”T you? (The speaker is sure and expects the answer “yes”).

Rising intonationin English is a pretty complicated phenomenon.

- It can express a number of various emotions, such as: non-finality, surprise, doubt, interest, politeness, lack of confidence.

Rising intonation is used in:

1) General questions: Was she glad to /SEE him?

2) Dependent or introductory parts of sentences: If he /CALLS, ask him to \COME.

3) The first part of alternative questions (before “or”): Would you like an /Apple or a \PEAR?

4) Direct address: /SIR, you dropped your \NOTEbook.

5) Enumerating items in a list: She bought / bread, /cheese and to\MAtoes.

6) Tag questions (When the speaker in not sure that the answer will be “yes” or wants your opinion): It's a beautiful \TOWN, /ISN”T it? (The speaker thinks that the town is beautiful but asks for your opinion and confirmation).

5) Phoneme- the object of study of phonology.

Phoneme (Greek - "sound") - the minimum unit of the sound structure of language. Phoneme has no independent lexical or grammatical meaning, but is useful for distinguishing and identifying meaningful units of language (morphemes and words):

- the replacement of one phoneme to another get a different word (ten-pen);

- when you change the order of phonemes also get a different word (pit-tip);

- deleting phonemes also get a different word (p<l>ay- pay).

In most English accents there are about 24 consonantal phonemes and 20 vowel phonemes in the language, but only 26 letters.

6) Vowels - are speech sounds produced without obstracting the flow of air from the lungs, so that the breath stream passes freely through the mouth. Vowels are always voiced.

Anyway, we can state that there are 12 pure vowels in Standard English, those exemplified by the unique or first vowel sound in the following words

Sea, feet, field i:

Big, village, women I

Get, fetch, head e

Sat, hand, ban æ

Sun, blood, does ʌ

Calm, father, car a:

Dog, lock, cough ɒ

All, saw, cord Ɔ:

Put, wolf, good ʊ

Soon, soup, shoe u:

Bird, turn, learn ɜ:

And the weak form called schwa /ə/pronounced in most of the non-stressed syllables like in the, butter, sofa, about.

All vowels have certain properties in common, which distinguish them from consonants:

• From a phonetic point of view, vowels are articulated with a relatively opened configuration of the vocal tract: no part of the mouth is closed, and none of the vocal organs come so close together that we can hear the sound of the air passing between them.

• From a phonological point of view, vowels are units of the sound system which typically occupy the middle of a syllable, as in cat and big.

• Vowels typically involve the vibration of the vocal cords (voicing), and their distinctive resonances are made by varying the shape of the mouth, using the tongue and the lips.

7) Organs of speech: glottis, pharynx, uvula, soft palate, hard palate, alveolar ridge, lips, teeth, tongue (tip, blade, front, back). Nasal sounds (m, n, n long)

Active:

1) Vocal cords (produce voice)

2) Tongue (the most flexible and moveble organ)

3) Lips

4) Soft palate with the uvula (directing the stream of air either to the mouth or to the nasal cavity)

5) Back wall of the pharynx

6) Lower jaw (controls the gat between the teeth and lips)

7) Lungs (providing air for sounds)

Passive:

1) Teeth

2) Teeth ridge

3) Hard palate

4) Walls of the resonators