The Functions of Intonation Shane Lee Ward

THE GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION 0 Can mark “grammatical contrasts, such as chunking into clauses and sentences, or contrast between questions and statements” (Dalton, 1994, p. 49). 0 Can be used to “distinguish grammatical groupings with quite different meanings” (Finch, 2005, p. 52). 0 For example, “/i don’t KNOW/” (Finch, 2005, p. 52).

THE GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) 0 Commonly, “yes/no” questions use rising tones, and “wh” questions use falling tones. For example, /will you GO?/ and /where are YOU?/ 0 However, “there is no one-to-one match” (Finch, 2005, p. 52). Some “yes/no” questions can be said “with either a rising or a falling intonation depending on the mutual state of knowledge between speaker and listener” (Finch, 2005, p ). 0 For example, a policeman questions a witness, asking “he had an accomplice, DIDN’T he?”

THE ATTITUDINAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION 0 Can be an “expression of attitudinal meanings such as excitement, surprise, reserve, etc.” (Dalton, 1994, p. 49), where “the tone we select will depend on what we want to express” (Dalton, 1994, p. 44). 0 Tones are linked with “personal emotions or attitudes” (Finch, 2005, p. 51). Falling tones are associated with assertiveness and positivity, such as “that’s MINE” (p. 51), and “it’s here, I’m SURE.” Rising tones are indicative of politeness, diffidence, and are inquiring. Examples are: “LUNCH?”, “no PROblem,” and “I CAN’T.”

THE ATTITUDINAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) 0 A level tone indicates neutrality and disinterest. For example, “it’s FINE” and “eh, WHATEVER.” 0 Falling-rising tones are normally indicative of reservation, doubt, and uncertainty (Finch, 2005, p. 52). For example, “I MIGHT” and “I don’t KNOW.” 0 Rising-falling tones are normally indicative of emphasis, impatience, and sarcasm. Examples include: “it’s YOURS,” “drive FASTER,” and “that’s NICE.”

THE ATTITUDINAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) 0 None of the descriptions that link tones with attitudes can be realized without context. In fact, “in real-life discourse, our interpretation is usually sufficiently constrained by context” (Dalton, 1994, p. 46). 0 A rise-fall indicate agitation: “why ME,” but can also express contentment: “that’s quite ALRIGHT.” 0 Therefore, the grammatical and discoursal functions of intonation play pivotal roles in realizing the attitudinal function of intonation, but it’s the discoursal function that plays a larger role in realizing the attitudinal function.

THE DISCOURSAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION 0 Michael Halliday links intonation “with information structure and sees intonation as a means speakers use to highlight “new” information and background “given.”” (Finch, 2005, p. 53). The information structure marks a distinction between “what is already known and what is new” (Dalton, 1994, p. 49). 0 The “function of intonation is principally interactive” (Finch, 2005, p. 53), and information that is shared or new is highlighted in interactions. 0 All interaction proceeds “on the basis of the existence of a great deal of common ground between the participants” (Coulthard, 1977, p. 105). However, common ground is “not restricted to shared experience of a particular linguistic interaction” (Coulthard, 1977, p. 106).

THE DISCOURSAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) 0 “Spoken discourse is an extremely complex phenomenon whereby meaning is negotiated in the process of interaction” (Dalton, 1994, p. 50). 0 The referring tone is when a speaker marks a part of his/her message “as part of the existing common ground” (Coulthard, 1977, p. 106), whereas the proclaiming tone indicates his/her “expectation that the area of common ground will be enlarged, as a result of the listener being told something he didn’t already know” (Coulthard, 1977, p. 106). 0 When a speaker uses a fall-rise tone, s/he either knows or assumes that the listener shares common ground (the information), and nothing new is considered to be presented. A falling tone, however, “marks the matter as new” (Coulthard, 1977, p. 105).

THE DISCOURSAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) 0 “Falling tones have a proclaiming function, and are used for closed meanings, whilst rising tone have a referring function, and are employed for open meanings” (Finch, 2005, p. 53). 0 For example, //I’m moving to TOKYO// after I’ve completed SCHOOL//

THE DISCOURSAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) 0 Changes in pitch direction can also be referred to as high, mid, or low key, where “an utterance that beings on a high key (ie, it starts high), implies a contrast in attitude with respect to the preceding utterance” (Thornbury, 2006, p. 111). Low key is when a speaker adds something obvious, and mid-key implies “no marked change in attitude” (Thornbury, 2006, p. 111). 0 Basically, high key is seen as contrastive, mid-key is seen as additive, and low key is seen as equative (Coulthard, 1977, p. 111). 0 For example, “she bought a lottery ticket and WON.”

THE DISCOURSAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) 0 Finally, Finch (2005) points out that “in any exchange one speaker will exercise dominance and signal this by the appropriate tone” (p. 53), where “the rise-fall is more dominant than the fall, and the rise is more dominant than the fall-rise” (p. 53). 0 A teacher, for example, exercises his/her dominance by correcting a student on the correct tense, e.g. /it’s RAN/ RAN is the past tense of RUN/. Where the rise-fall (ran) is “closed and dominant” (Finch, 2005, p. 54), while the rise is “open and dominant” (Finch, 2005, p. 54).

FINAL THOUGHTS 0 In summation, Finch (2005) says it best that “using these two parameters, open vs. close, and dominant vs. non-dominant, it is possible to assign intonation patterns more securely to utterances than is the case with grammatical or simple attitudinal approaches” (p ).

REFERENCES 0 Coulthard, M. (1977/1985). An Introduction to Discourse Analysis. London: Longman. 0 Dalton, C., and Seidlhofer, B. (1994). Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 0 Finch, G. (2005). Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics (2nd edn). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 0 Thornbury, S. (2006). An A-Z of ELT. Oxford: Macmillan Education.