Intonation

What is it? Intonation is the melody of speech, that is, the way in which the voice rises or falls as we speak.
e.g.

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away, the King and Queen were blessed with a beautiful baby girl.
(Taken from the film Shrek)

Intonation
Elements involved in the production of intonation
Pitch movement. Some words emphasized over the rest. Pauses. Rate of delivery (fast-slow). Intensity (loud soft).

What is its function in spoken language? Does intonation have meaning?

Intonation does not happen at random. It has definite patterns. It is used to carry information over and above that which is expressed by the words in the sentence.
(Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics)

Intonation
Intonation is the melody of speech, that is, the continuous changing of the pitch of a speakers voice to express meaning.

How can we describe intonation?

DISCOURSE DESCRIPTION of INTONATION David Brazil The communicative Value of Intonation in English (1985) Systematic treatment to intonation

David Brazils intonation system

Descriptive categories and transcription conventions

The Tone Unit

The information is packed into discrete units called TONE UNITS. One chunk = one piece of information. Building blocks of spoken language. The sounds that make up a tone unit are usually run together.

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away, the King and Queen were blessed with a beautiful baby girl.
//once upon a time // in a kingdom far far away // the king and queen were blessed// with a beautiful baby girl .//

Each of these tone units presents one piece of information as the narrator perceived them. Different renderings are possible.

General rules for tonality

From a grammatical point of view:
Normally an intonation break at every sentence boundary. Different clauses tend to be said as separate tone units . We may place intonation breaks between successive phrases and occasionally between successive words. No reliable relationship between tone units on the one hand and sentences or clauses on the other.

From an auditory point of view:

Pause. Change in pitch. Change in pace.

From a communicative point of view:

Tone units reflect the speakers decisions about focus. Each tone unit covers a single focus domain.

Prominence
Highlighted words : important for the meaning a speaker wishes to convey. These are the words on which the speaker focuses the hearers attention. To highlight an important word we : add pitch prominence (=a change in pitch or the beginning of a pitch movement) to the stressed syllable of the word. Increased volume and longer duration are also features of prominent syllables. One tone unit one or two prominent syllables,(less commonly three)

Tonic syllable:

The last prominent syllable in the tone unit. The place where the pitch movement for the nuclear tone begins (but it continues to the end of the tone unit). The most important syllable in the tone unit: it forms the focus of information, it expresses what the speaker decides to make the main point of the message.

//once upon //ONCE uponaatime TIME //// // in a KINGdom kingdom far FAR far far away aWAY // // // the KING king and andqueen QUEEN were were blessed// BLESSED// // with a BEAUTiful beautiful baby babygirl GIRL .//.//

Assignment of prominence is not automatic: it is both variable and meaningful, it depends on the context.

Tone
The change in the direction in the pitch movement of a speakers voice. Starts at the tonic syllable. There are five tones: o the falling o the rising o the rise-fall o fall-rise o and level A speaker chooses a particular tone according to the way he/she wishes to present his/her message.

Tone meanings
The fall and rise-fall : 'proclaiming' tones The rise and fall-rise : 'referring' tones experience'. 'I am telling you this 'I assume that this is part of our shared

The COMMON GROUND shared by speaker and listener is dynamic: it tends to increase as the conversation progresses.

The level tone: opts out of the proclaiming/referring choice wording, rather than on interpersonal interactivity ROLES - DOMINANCE The choice of tone also reflects the roles of the speakers. A rise to refer to something

focus on the

dominance in the conversation.

Be careful with the rise! you may sound self-assertive or even aggressive, e.g.

Cinderella: //

i WISH // I could go to the ball // you WILL go to the ball //

Fairy godmother: // Cinderella: //

HOW? // i DONT have any CLOTHES to wear //

// // // // // // // //

ONCE ONCEupon uponaaTIME TIME// // in a KINGdom FAR far aWAY // the KING and QUEEN were BLESSED// with a BEAUTiful baby GIRL .//

Summary of transcription conventions

// to mark the pauses or boundaries between chunks of speech. CAPITAL LETTERS to point out prominent syllables, those syllables which are emphasized by the speaker. Underlining of the tonic syllable, that is the syllable at which the movement of the voice (tone) begins. Arrows at the beginning of each tone unit to indicate the TONE used:

The letters p, p+, r, r+ and 0 can also be used to indicate the tones in each tone unit instead of the arrows.

One more element: Key

Another set of meaningful choices. A meaningful pitch-level choice is made at each prominent syllable. The pitch level of the first prominent syllable (onset) determines the KEY of the tone unit. It may be HIGH, MID or LOW. LOW // and LOST // // he GAMBled //

//

he GAMBled //

and LOST //

//

he GAMBled // // and LOST //

HIGH KEY A contrast to the listeners expectations. Strong agreement. Surprise.

//

he GAMBled // and

LOST //

MID KEY Signals addition of information. Nothing contrastive or equative.

//

he GAMBled // and LOST //

LOW KEY Something is parenthetical. Equative meaning.

//

he GAMBled // and

LOST //

Remember: Remember :
Speaker-listener & the COMMON GROUND

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Speakers face decisions about tone units, prominence, tone and key in a particular CONTEXT:
Place and time Roles of the speakers, their relationship Shared knowledge and experience What has already been said

TONE -Am I saying something new? Am I adding something to the common ground? -Am I referring to something which is already part of the common ground?

PROMINENCE - Which is the focus of information in this tone unit? - Which words are the most important for my message to be understood?

KEY - Am I contradicting something previously said? - Am I just adding information? - Am I saying an aside?