1. THEORETICAL PHONETICS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Южный федеральный университет
THEORETICAL PHONETICS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Склярова Наталья Геннадиевна доктор филологических наук, профессор кафедры теории и практики английского языка
Ростов-на-Дону
2008

2. SUPRASEGMENTAL PHONETICS
Unit 3
SUPRASEGMENTAL PHONETICS

3. Unit 3
Topic 3
ENGLISH INTONATION

4. 3. The components of intonation. 4. Functions of intonation.
Questions
1. The definitions of intonation and the syntagm and their interconnection.
2. Elements of a syntagm
3. The components of intonation.
4. Functions of intonation.

5. The definitions of intonation and the syntagm and their interconnection.
Intonation is a complex unity of communicatively relevant variations of non-segmental, or prosodic features of speech which include melody, sentence stress, tamber and temporal characteristics such as tempo, rhythm, duration and pausation.
Each component of intonation has its own peculiarities, but in spoken language they cannot be separated from one another and function as a whole.

6. tone (intonation) groups syntactic approach semantic approach
The definitions of intonation and the syntagm and their interconnection.
syntagms
sense-groups
breath-groups
tone (intonation) groups
syntactic approach
semantic approach
extra-linguistic approach
phonological approach
A syntagm is the shortest possible unit of speech from the point of view of meaning, grammatical structure and intonation.

7. subject group predicate group (sentences with object clauses)
The definitions of intonation and the syntagm and their interconnection.
syntagm
word
sentence
number of words
simple sentence
subject group predicate group
subordinate clause
principal clause
homogeneous members
two clauses
(sentences with object clauses)
member of a sentence

8. The elements of a syntagm
1. Pre-head
2. Head (body, or scale)
3. Nucleus
4. Tail

9. The components of intonation.
The pre-head forms the initial part of the intonation pattern consisting of unstressed syllables preceding the first stressed one.
high
emphatic
low
unemphatic
rising

10. stressed syllables of a syntagm without the first and the last
The components of intonation.
The head (body, or scale) is the part of the intonation pattern including all the stressed and unstressed syllables up to the last stressed one
R. Kingdon
the body
stressed syllables of a syntagm without the first and the last
the head
the first stressed syllable in a syntagm
scale
descending
ascending
stepping
scandent
falling
rising
sliding

11. level (static, tones of unchanging pitch)
The components of intonation.
Nucleus (focal point of a syntagm) is an obligatory component of a syntagm which is the last stressed syllable carrying the basic tone.
Nuclear tone is the change of pitch within the last stressed syllable of the syntagm.
level (static, tones of unchanging pitch)
moving (kinetic, tones of changing pitch)
high level
simple (changing in one direction)
complex (changing in more than one direction)
mid level
low level
high fall
high rise
fall-rise
rise-fall
low fall
low rise

12. nuclear tone + tail = terminal tone
The components of intonation.
The tail is the final part of the intonation pattern which includes all unstressed syllables following the nucleus.
rising (ascending)
occurs after the even low-pitched nuclear tone or after a rising nuclear tone
level
occurs when the preceding fall is complete, or when the nuclear tone is even but on a mid level
falling (descending)
occurs when the fall of the nuclear tone does not reach the lowest level
nuclear tone + tail = terminal tone

13. The components of intonation
1. Sentence stress
2. Melody
3. Rhythm
4. Tempo
5. Tambre
6. Pause

14. ' ' This is a very important idea
The components of intonation.
Sentence stress is the greater prominence of some words among other words of the utterance ' '
This is a very important idea
syntactic (subsidiary) stress
syntagm stress (unemphatic, normal sentence-stress)
syntagmatic (primary) stress
unmarked (normal) position
marked (special) position (logical sentence-stress)
emphatic sentence-stress

15. extra high, extra low pitch levels
The components of intonation.
Melody is the distinct variations in the following parameters: direction of pitch, pitch level, pitch range, pitch angle
Pitch range is the interval between the highest-pitched and the lowest-pitched syllables.
emphatic speech
wide, narrow
unemphatic speech
normal
extra high, extra low pitch levels
three pitch levels
low, mid, high
Change in pitch direction takes place in the nucleus where the pitch goes distinctly up or down.

16. Rhythm is the regular occurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables
The components of intonation.
Rhythm is the regular occurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables
basic unit of the rhythmical structure
stress group (accentual group, pause group, breath group, rhythmic group)
The whole phrase or just one word
prosodic nucleus (peak of prominence, nucleus of the rhythmic group)
proclitics - unstressed syllables preceding the nucleus
enclitics unstressed syllables following the nucleus (typical of English)
2-4 syllables
1 stressed
others unstressed

17. Tempo is the relative speed of pronunciation
The components of intonation.
Tempo is the relative speed of pronunciation
normal
slow
fast
Important parts of the utterance are pronounced slower. Unimportant parts are pronounced faster.
Tambre is the special colouring of the voice
quality:
whisper, breathy, creak, husky, falsetto, resonant
qualification:
laugh, giggle, sob, cry, tremulousness

18. filled (voice) [ə, з:, m, з:m]
The components of intonation.
Pause is a stop of pronunciation for a short period of time before starting again.
breathing pauses
syntactic (temporal) pauses
hesitation pauses
emphatic pauses
unfilled (silent)
filled (voice) [ə, з:, m, з:m]
short optional pauses separate syntagms within a phrase
longer obligatory pauses manifest the end of the phrase
very long pauses, separate phonetic wholes

19. Unemphatic and emphatic intonation
English unemphatic speech
sentence-stress is distributed equally among the notional words in a syntagm; the stressed syllables occur at more or less regular intervals of time;
a pitch distribution in a syntagm forms a regular descending scale;
the pitch of the initial unstressed syllables is lower than that of the first stressed syllable;
the last stressed syllable (and the unstressed ones that follow it) have one of the two principal intonation contours (low-rising or low falling).
English emphatic speech
the descending scale may be either completely absent or it may be partially destroyed;
the characteristic tones are not necessarily confined to the end of the syntagm;
the tones display a greater variety of pitch variations;
the range of intonation in a syntagm may be widened or narrowed.

20. 4. Intonation serves to perform neutralizing or compensative function.
Functions intonation
1. Intonation serves to organize connected speech phonetically, thus making it intelligible. It is achieved through breaking speech continuum into smaller constituents (delimiting function), uniting them into a complete text (integrating function), establishing relations between them and distinguishing them from each other.
2. Intonation serves to determine the communicative types of sentences, which are differentiated in speech according to the aim of utterance from the point of view of communication.
3. Intonation serves to structure the content information of a textual unit into new and given.
4. Intonation serves to perform neutralizing or compensative function.

21. Functions intonation
5. Intonation serves to differentiate the meaning of syntagms and sentences of the same grammatical structure and/or the same lexical composition (distinctive function)
6. Intonation serves to convey the speaker’s feelings, emotions and attitude to the situation he is placed in and he often uses it to influence the attitudes and behaviour of the listener.
7. Intonation serves to characterize a particular style or variety of oral speech which may be called the stylistic function.

22. Conclusion
Intonation as a phonetic phenomenon and a syntagm as a phonetic unit of speech are closely connected as components of intonation are realized within the elements of a syntagm thus performing various communicative functions.

23. COMPULSORY LITERATURE
Бурая, Е.А., Галочкина, И.Е., Шевченко, Т.И. Фонетика современного английского языка. Теоретический курс. – 2-е изд. испр. – М.: Академия, 2008.
Леонтьева, С.Ф. Теоретическая фонетика современного английского языка. – М.: Менеджер, 2011.
Склярова, Н.Г. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка: Учебное пособие для самостоятельной работы студентов 3 курса. - 4-е изд. - Ростов н/Д: ИПО ПИ ЮФУ, 2011.
Теоретическая фонетика английского языка / Под ред. М.А. Соколовой. – М.: Владос, 2004.

24. SUPPLEMENTARY LITERATURE
Dickushina, O.J. English Phonetics. – М. – Л.: Просвещение, 1965.
Vassilyev, V.A. English Phonetics. A Theoretical Course. – М.: Высшая школа, 1970.
Евстифеева, М.В. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. Лекции, семинары, упражнения. – М.: Флинта, Наука, 2011.
Первезенцева, О.А. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. – М.: Прометей
Соколова, М.А., Тихонова, И.С., Тихонова, Р.М., Фрейдина, Е.Л. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. – М.: Феникс, 2010.
Торсуев, Г.П. Проблемы теоретической фонетики и фонологии. – М.: Изд-во ЛКИ, 2008.
Шевченко, Т.И. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. – М.: Юрайт

25. Internet Resources
Красса С.И. Полный курс лекций по теоретической фонетике английского языка на английском языке //
Теоретическая фонетика английского языка //
Первезенцева О.А., Фрейдина Е.Л., Ковпак Н.А., Козачук О.Г., Нестерова Т.Д., Сейранян М.Ю. Теоретическая фонетика английского языка. Практикум //

26. REFERENCE LITERATURE
Ахманова О.С. Словарь лингвистических терминов. – М.: Советская энциклопедия, 1966.
Баранов А.Н., Добровольский Д.О., Михайлов М.Н., Паршин П.Б., Романова О.И. Англо-русский словарь по лингвистике и семиотике. – 2-е изд., испр. и доп. – М.: Азбуковник, 2001.
Трахтеров А.Л. Английская фонетическая терминология. – М.: Изд-во литературы на иностранных языках, 1962.
Языкознание. Большой энциклопедический словарь / Гл. ред. В.Н. Ярцева. – 2-е изд. – М.: Большая Российская энциклопедия, 1998.

27. Basic notions
Intonation, pitch (speech melody), pitch direction, pitch level, pitch range, pitch angle (rate), sentence stress, syntagm stress (unemphatic stress, normal sentence-stress); syntagmatic stress (primary sentence-stress), syntactic stress (subsidiary sentence-stress), logical stress, emphatic stress, unmarked (normal) position of syntagmatic stress, marked (special) position of syntagmatic stress, the end-focused nucleus, the contrastive-focused nucleus, full stress, partial stress, tambre, tempo, rhythm, stress group (accentual group, pause group, breath group, rhythmic group), prosodic nucleus, proclitics, enclitics, pausation, syntactic (temporal) pauses, emphatic pauses, hesitation pauses, breathing pauses, unfilled pauses, filled pauses.
Syntagm (intonation group, sense-group, breath-group), intonation pattern, pre-head, low pre-head, high pre-head, rising pre-head, head (body, scale), ascending scale, descending scale, level head, stepping head, falling head, sliding head, scandent head, rising head, special (accidental) Rise, Upbroken Descending Head, nucleus, focal point of a syntagm, communicative center, level tone, moving tone, simple tone, complex tone, Low-Fall, Low-Rise, High-Fall, High-Rise, Fall-Rise, Rise-Fall, High-Level, Mid-Level, Low-Level, tail, level tail, rising (ascending), falling (descending) tail, terminal tone.

28. Благодарю за внимание