Pausation and tempo in the structure of English intonation. Their functions

Pausation is closely connected with the other components of intonation. The most detailed analysis of pauses belongs to Tseplitis. He says that a pause is necessary in a sentence consisting of 9 and more words. His subdivision of pauses is as following:

-Asemantic:

constitutive:

rhythmical

articulatory

intensity

situational

individual

physiological

-Sematic

Asemantic pauses are called non-intonational. Constitutive pauses belong to the acoustic system of speech signal. Rhythmical pauses create a certain rhythm. Articulatory pauses occur in some plosive consonants, in pronunciation of some kinds of syllabic stress, sometimes between words. Intensity pauses take place before or after a word carrying a logical stress, they are one of the acoustic means of increasing intensity of a logical stress.

Situational pauses are the pauses used with the purpose of slowing the speech in order to give the listener an opportunity to put sth down, to make the listeners ready to perform a command.

Individual pauses are connected with different habits.

Physiological pauses are evoked for the lack of air in the lungs or for the detention in the processes of the central nervous system.

Semantic (intonational) pauses are those which help us to indicate the boundaries of groups of words or to indicate the emotional state of the speaker. Pauses perform constitutive (delimitative) function when they occur between sense groups where they are obligatory. Their distinctive function is an open question, requiring a special instrumental investigation.

Tempo of speech is the speed with which sentences or their parts are pronounced. According to Tseplitis tempo may be constitutive, situational and individual. Constitutive tempo is that which is inherent to the l-ge and its forms and to definite segments of an utterance. We may come across some examples of constitutive tempo in cases of acceleration of segments of speech (interjections, particles).

Situational tempo depends upon elements of special situation, e.g. on number of listeners, on their ability to apprehend the context, on acoustic properties of the apartment.

Individual is a tempo which the speaker is accustomed to and which is normal, convenient to him. It is connected with psychophysical properties of a person, with his temperament and so on.

Quick tempo means joy, gaiety, enthusiasm. Slow tempo means depression, inertia and meditations. Very slow tempo is a characteristic feature of a hampered speech, official solemn speech; it is used in a delivery of solemn promise, oath, in reading out the judicial sentence.

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