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2 Intonation and its functions.
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2 Intonation and its functions.
Intonation in English is very important.
Intonation in phonetics is the melodic variation of pitch when speaking. Intonation is the change in pitch of a voice, that is, tone, stress, and rhythm. Intonation conveys differences in expressive meaning (For ex, surprise, anger, joy)
Functions of intonation:
1) the Attitudinal f.
Allow us to express emotions and attitudes to show shock or surprise, pleasure or anger finality, confidence, interest, surprise, joy, pain and many others. We do this by tone.
2) the Accentual f.
Intonation helps to show what information in an utterance is new and what is already known. We highlight certain parts of the proposal and focus on them.
3) the Grammatical f.
Intonation helps to identify grammatical structures in speech. We use intonation to indicate the beginning and end of grammatical units such as clause and sentence, for example. We do it by tonality. We also use intonation to distinguish clause types of sentences, such as question and statement. We do this mainly by tone.
4) the Discourse f.
This intonation function is responsible for dividing text into paragraphs and sentences, linking words and sentences into a thought. This allows us to signal whether our companion has finished his statement, whether he wants to continue the conversation or is ready to listen to his companion.
5) the psychological f.
Through intonation, we can identify, perceive and process speech.
6) the indexical f.
Most likely, you have noticed differences in the characteristic intonation of mothers, priests, officials, children. Intonation can indicate a personal or social identity due to the peculiarities of intonation
3 Irregular preheads. Stress reduction. Nuclear tone shift.
Irregular Prehead is a displacement in pitch from the normal position in the lower half or near the middle of the voice-range.
The displacement can be made both upward and downward - High Irregular and Low Irregular Preheads.
• In the High Irregular Prehead all the syllables are said on a very high pitch.
• In the Low Irregular Prehead all the syllables are said on a very low pitch.
There's no need to do it today. / It was amazing
The exact emotional meaning of an utterance with the High Irregular Prehead depends on the nuclear tone.
In tunes with the nuclear Emphatic Mid/Low Fall the High Irregular Prehead is used to express disapproval, indignation or insistence.
In tunes with the emphatic Low Rise nuclear tone the High Irregular Prehead after adds a feeling of disagreement and impatience.
When followed by the emphatic High Rise the High Irregular Prehead gives a feeling of extreme surprise.
When you desire to reinforce the semantic weight of the nuclear word it can be done
a) by reducing or eliminating the stresses
b) by using the so-called nuclear tone-shift, which means displacing the nuclear tone from its normal position - on the last notional word in an utterance - to a word at the beginning or in the middle of it.
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I simply can't manage it. Then let's all get down to it.
Nuclear shifts are often combined with emphasis which naturally increases the prominence of the word:
It's only three weeks to the New Year.
4 Prosodic peculiarities of formal and informal speech.
It is common knowledge that the type of language we use depends on the situation in which the communication takes place. A certain social situation forces a native speaker to respond appropriately. He speaks one language at home, another with friends, a third at work, and so on.
An important role is played by the social status of the speakers and their relationship to each other, the place of communication and the topic of conversation.
English speech is divided into formal and informal
The formal style of the language is typical for lecturers, orators, scientists, etc. It is used for public speaking, official negotiations, scientific presentations, lectures.
The formal style of speech is characterized by more monotonous, slower and louder speech, with tense articulation. Much attention is paid to stress in words, semantic and grammatical pauses in sentences, so that the meaning of what is said is clear and unambiguous.
The informal style is used in everyday personal communication. It is a spoken language that is used in conversation on the train, shop, at home, with friends and family.
The informal style is characterized by a more fluent and emotional intonation. Stress in informal speech is not as frequent as in formal. Articulation is also more relaxed. Grammatically simpler expressions and slang are used, which simplifies articulation and, as it were, removes the complexity of pronunciation and intonation.
5 Static and kinetic tones. Their functions.
The tоne - the basic element of English intonation, which is associated with a pitch change, increased force of articulation, loudness and duration and which makes some elements of the sentence prominent.
Simply put, Tone is a variation in the pitch of the voice while speaking.
Tones are divided into two classes: kinetic and static.
The kinetic tone is characterized by a change in the pitch of the voice on the stressed syllable of the most important word in meaning, usually pronounced at the end of the phrase.
* it may be produced by varying the tension of the vocal cords thus producing a tone of varying pitch
ı ts ə `pen ı ts ə 'leı zı `kæ t, hi· ı z ˎ leı t
Kinetic tones are generally classified according to the following criteria:
1) direction of the pitch change (fall. rise. fall-rise)
2) width of the pitch change, or its interval (wide. narrow)
3) relative position of the pitch change within the speaker's voice range (high. mid. low)
A static tone is characterized by no change in the pitch of the voice on stressed syllables, usually pronounced at the beginning and in the middle of a phrase.
* it may be produced by keeping the vocal cords at a constant tension thus producing a tone of unvarying pitch
today I bought chocolate (ровный голос)
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Functions:
Static tone make words stand out; the more a word is underlined, the more important it is in the sentence.
Kinetic tone is more important to speech, highlighting important words in a sentence and performing other functions:
a) show the mood of the speaker
b) express the speaker's opinion about the subject, listener and situation
c) designate the most important part in the statement
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