Intonation, its role and functions.

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 768.

Intonation is a language is language universal. Thereare no languages which are spoken as a monotone, without any change of prosodic parameters. But it functions in various languages in a different way. On perception level intonation is a complex formed by significant variations of pitch, loudness, tempo closely related. There is another term prosodywhich embraces the three prosodic components and substitutes the term `intonation`. When the question of intonational meaning is raised it is clearly not possible to restrict the term `intonation` by the pitch parameters only because generally all the three prosodic parameters function as a whole though in many cases the priority to pitch parameter is quite evident. On the acoustic level pitch correlates with the fundamental frequency of the vibration of the vocal cords; loudness correlates with the amplitude of vibrations; tempo – time during which a speech unit lasts. 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 inseparably connected with loudness. Together with the tempo of speech they form an intonation pattern which is the basic unit of intonation. Intonation patterns serve to actualize syntagms(group of words semantically and syntactically complete) in oral speech. In phonetics actualized syntagms are called intonation groups. The intonation group is a stretch of speech which may have more then one intonation group. The number of intonation groups depends on the length of the phrase and the degree ofsemantic importance or emphasis given to various parts of it.

In any language intonation plays a great role. Super segmental phonetics deals with the intonation and word stress. The thing which unites the intonation in different languages is that there is rising and falling intonation. Intonation is a complex unity of communicatively relative variations in voice pitch. Intonation possesses some functions:

n it expresses peoples emotions, feelings, attitudes—attitudinally distinctive function

n 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.

n Intonation arranges words into utterances. It forms utterance shapes.(constitutive, organizing function)

n In the process of communication intonation differentiates meaning. It indicates the semantic centre of a sense-group( semantically distinctive fun)

n Intonation can perform its syntactically distinctive function. Depending on what we want to single out we change our intonation. `Do not for`get your`self. `Do not for`get yourself.