Notation

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 443.

Are there any ways to represent intonation in the text? In fact, there are a variety of methods for recording intonation patterns in writing. They are not perfect and they have some advantages and disadvantages. First, methods which reflect variations in pitch only. 1. The method introduced by Ch. Fries involves drawing a line around the sentence to show relative pitch heights: e.g. He's gone to the office. 2. According to the second method the syllables are written at different heights acrossthe page. This method is especially favoured by D.Bolinger:

ab ny

I solutely de it.

This method is quite inconvenient as its application wants a special model of print. 3. According to the third method, which is called “levels” method, a number of discrete levels of pitch are recognized, and the utterance is marked accordingly. This method was favoured by some American linguists such as K.Pike and those who recognized four levels of pitch (low, normal, high and extra-high):

2 3 1

e.g. He's gone to the office.

The fourth method is favoured by most of the British phoneticians such as D.Jones, R. Kingdon, J.D. O'Connor and G.A.Arnold, M.Halliday, D.Crystal. This method has a number of advantages. Firstly, not only variations of pitch but also stressed syllables are marked. Secondly, distinct modifications of pitch in the nuclear syllable are indicated by special symbols, i.e. by a downward and an upward arrow or a slantwise stress mark. Pitch movements in the pre-nuclear part are also indicated. Thirdly, it is very convenient for marking intonation in texts.

One of the disadvantages of this method is that there has been no general agreement about the number of terminal tones and pre-nuclear parts in order to provide an adequate description. So according to D.Jones there are only two tones, a fall and a rise – easy to distinguish, but not sufficient for the phonological analysis. According to J.D. O'Connor and G.A.Arnold there are no fewer than ten different nuclear tones.

Functional level of intonation. The study of intonation is traditionally based on its two functions: the constitutive function and the distinctive function. Due to the constitutive function intonation forms sentences and each sentence consists of one or more intonation groups. The distinctive function of intonation is revealed in its role to distinguish communicative types of sentences, the actual meaning of the sentence, the speaker's emotions or attitudes to the contents of the sentence, to the listener or to the topic of conversation. One and the same word sequence may express different meaning when pronounced with a different intonation pattern. Intonation is also a powerful means of differentiating functional styles. So one can say that the distinctive function of intonation is realised in the opposition of the same word sequences which differ in certain parameters of the intonation pattern. Intonation patterns make their distinctive contribution at intonation group, phrase and text levels.

Any section of the intonation pattern, any of its three constituents can perform the dictinctive function thus being phonological unit. These units form a complex system of intonemes, tonemes, accentemes, chronemes. These phonological units like phonemes consist of a number of variants. The terminal tonemes consist of a number of allotones, which are mutually non-distinctive. The principle allotone is realised in the nucleus alone. The subsidiary allotones are realised not only in the nucleus, but also in the pre-head and in the tail. The most powerful phonological unit is the terminal tone. The number of terminal tones indicates the number of intonation groups. Sometimes the number of intonation groups we choose to use may be important for meaning. The opposition of terminal tones distinguishes different types of sentence. The same sequence of words may be interpreted as a different syntactical type.

Being a powerful means of human intercommunication, intonation has the communicative function. The goal of communication is the exchange of information between people. The information of the utterance derives not only from the grammatical structure, the lexical composition and the sound pattern. It also derives from variations of intonation, or may say its prosodic parameters. The communicative function of intonation is realized in various ways. Thus intonation serves:

1. To structure the intonation content of a textual unit so as to show which information is new or cannot be taken for granted, as against information which the listener is assumed to possess.

2. To determine the speech function of a phrase: to indicate whether it is intended as a statement, question, command and others.

3. to convey connotational meanings of “attitude” such as surprise, annoyance, enthusiasm, involvement, etc. This concerns the situations when the utterance conveys some additional meaning above those of the lexical items and that of the grammatical structure. The difference between a sincere intention and a sarcastic one would be conveyed by intonation. In the written form we are given only the lexics and the grammar.

4. To structure a text. Intonation is an organizing mechanism. On the one hand, it delimitates text into smaller units as phonetic passages, phrases and intonation groups, on the other hand, it integrates these smaller constituents forming a complete text.

5. To differentiate the meaning of textual units of the same grammatical structure and the same lexical composition, which is the distinctive or phonological function of intonation.

6. To characterize a particular style or variety of oral speech which may be called the stylistic function.

There is no general agreement about the exact number of the functions of intonation. Thus according to T.M.Nikolayeva there are three functions of intonations: delimitating, integrating and semantic functions. N.V.Cheremisina singles out the following functions of intonation: communicative, distinctive (phonological), delimitating, expressive, appellative, aesthetic and integrating. In fact, no matter how many functions are named, all of them may be summed up under a more general heading, that is the function of communication. All the functions mentioned by different authors serve the purpose of communication. The authors don't come to the conclusion concernig the major function of the intonation. J.D.O'Connor and G.F.Arnold assert that a major function of intonation is to express the speaker's attitude to the situation. They attach the meanings to to each of ten “tone-unit types”. M.Halliday supposes that English intonation contrasts are grammatical. He attributes separate significance to the pre-nuclear choices.

As a means of communication intonation structures the information content of an intonation group or a phrase so as to show which information is new, as against information which the listener is assumed to possess or to acquire from the context. In oral English the smallest piece of information is associated with an intonation group. The retrievable information or the theme does not recieve the focus whereas new information or the rheme does recieve the information focus.

There is no exact match between punctuation in writing and intonation groups in speech. Speech is more variable in its structuring of information than writing. Cutting up speech into intonation groups depends on such things as the speed at which you are speaking, the emphasis you want to give to the parts of the message, and the length of grammatical units. The nucleus marks the focus of information or the part of the pattern to which the speaker especially draws the hearer's attention. The nucleus in an unmarked position occurs on the last lexical item of the intonation group and is called the end-focus. While all the other positions give a special effect and hence called marked ones. In a marked position, the nuclei may be on any word in an intonation group or a phrase. Even words like personal pronouns, prepositions and auxiliaries, which are not normally stressed at all, can receive nuclear stress for special contrastive purposes.

The retrieved information is given in the context. “Context” is to be taken in a broad sense: it may include something that has already been said and it may refer to some aspect of shared knowledge which the addressee is thought to be aware of. Still the English language is not only a means of giving and receiving information. It commonly expresses the attitudes and emotions of the speaker and he often uses it to influence the hearer. So another use of intonation is that of transmitting feelings and modality. Thus it would not be wise to associate a particular intonation pattern with a particular grammatical construction.

The most important grammatical function of intonation is that of tying the major parts together within the phrase and tying phrases together within the text, showing where the divisions come, what is subordinate to what, and whether one is telling, asking, commanding or exclaiming. The integrating function fulfils the connection of meanings in an oral discourse. The organization of connections between phrases reveals the ways one idea leads on from another. Not only the use of particular pitch changes is an important means of tying intonation groups or phrases together. We tend to favour the two extremes of the phrase, the beginning and the end. The same tendency is observed in the arrangment of complete parts of the text when the opening and the closing phonetic passages are more prominent than the intermediate ones thus integrating parts into a whole text.

LECTURE IX