Functions of intonation

All the phonetic featuresof the sentence mentioned above (pauses, speech melody, sentence stress, rhythm, tempo, timbre) form a complex unity calledintonation.

1. Sentence forming.
2. Sentence delimiting.
3. Distinctive.
4. Attitudinal.

1. Intonation serves to form sentences and intonation groups, organizes words into groups.
2. The end of the sentence is always recognized by a pause of different length combined with a moving, delimits one group from another.
3. To define the communicative type of sentences or intonation groups. Communicatively different types of sentences are distinguished by intonation alone.
4. To express the speaker’s thoughts, to convey attitudinal meaning.

One and the same grammatical structure and lexical composition of the sentence may express different meaning when pronounced with different intonation.

Eg. →Isn’t it riˊdiculous? (general question)

®Isn’t it riˋdiculous! (exclamation)

Long sentences, simple, extended, compound and complex are subdivided into intonation groups. Intonation group division depends on he meaning of the sentence, the grammatical structure of the utterance and the style of speech. Each intonation group is characterized by a definite intonation pattern. The number of intonation groups in the sentence may be different. Each syllable of an intonation group has a certain pitch and bears a larger or smaller degree of prominence. Consequently, pitch levels are inseparably connected with stress. Intonation patterns consist of one or more syllables. Intonation pattern consisting a number of syllables consists of the following parts.

It was a 'very 'sunny ˋday yesterday.

│ ¾ ½ ½ ½½

│ · ¾ │ ö ç ½½

· · · │ · │ ½ ç · · · ½½

pre-head head (scale) nucleus tail

terminal tone

· - unstressed syllable

¾ - stressed syllable

ö - syllable pronounced with a fall in pitch within that syllable

õ - final rise

¾¾

¾¾ - parallel lines represent the upper and lower limits of human voice or the range of the

voice

¾¾

½½ - two vertical bars denote long pauses which usually occur at the end of a sentence

¾¾

¾¾

½ - single vertical bar denotes a short pause inside a sentence (punctuation marks)

¾¾ delimiting one sense group from another

­ - special rise

Ú - Fall-Rise

Ù - Rise - Fall

¾¾¾¾

·

¾ - rising intonation with unstressed syllables

¾¾¾¾

¾¾¾¾

ö - High Fall

ö - Mid Fall

ö - Low Fall

¾¾¾¾

¾¾¾¾

õ - High Rise

õ - Mid Rise

õ - Low Rise

¾¾¾¾

¾¾¾¾

- Vertical wavy bar, very short optional (facultative) pause. Shows hesitation

when the speaker searches his memory for an apropiate words.

¾¾¾¾

- Two vertical wavy bars within a sense group. Is used for emphasis (to create

¾¾¾¾ suspense). Such pause is called a caesure / si:ˈzju:ərə/

Pre-head includes unstressed and half stressed syllables before the first stressed syllable.

1. Low pre-head (emotionally neutral or normal) – unstressed syllables are pronounced at a low pitch or gradually ascending in pitch towards the head (unemphatic speech).

¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾

½ ·

½ ·

· · · ½ ·

¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾

1. High pre-head (emotional) – unstressed syllables are pronounced with high pitch in emphatic speech.

¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾

· · · ½

½

¾¾¾¾¾¾¾¾

Head (scale) -stressed syllables and unstressed syllables beginning with the first stressed syllable.

Types of heads (scales)

Head patterns are classified into three major groups: level, descending and ascending.

Level (normal speech)

I 'don’t 'want to 'go to the ˋcinema.

High

Mid

Law

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