Phonetics and Phonology FF1B Lecture 9 INTONATION I “It’s not what you say, but the way you say it.” · Every language has melody in it; no language is spoken on the same musical note all the time. The voice goes up and down and the different notes of the voice combine to make tunes. · In some languages the tune mainly belongs to the word, being part of its shape, eg the Chinese languages and many others in south-east Asia, --> tone languages. · In many other languages, including English and Czech, the tune belongs not to the word but to the word group. If you say the English “No” with different tunes it is still the same word, but nevertheless tune plays an important part in English – the tune adds the speaker’s feelings at the moment; this way of using tunes = intonation. · Intonation is part of suprasegmental phonology; it is a device by means of which the speakers interpret their own utterances, making them more explicit for the listener by changing the pitch of the voice. · Pitch = the ‘height’ of the voice, change of pitch = change of the speaker’s height of voice = tone Pitch range = the inventory of the individual speaker’s pitch repertoir from the lowest to the highest pitch: - high - low arbitrary choices for end-point of the pitch scale Discovery activity: 1.Give the following sentence as many different meanings as you can. Keep the words the same but find different ways of saying it. You probably need to imagine a context. “It’s eight o’clock!” Now observe the difference between the intonation patterns you have used. 2. Should you find it difficult to imagine any suitable contexts, try to say it with such an intonation that it could mean any of the following: Hurry up! We’ve got plenty of time. I’m hungry You’re late You’re early At last we can start! The bus is late! You didn’t set the alarm clock! Please turn on the TV! We’ve overslept He’ll be here shortly Hurray! · Intonation refers to the patterns of pitch change over an utterance or series of utterances. Such patterns may be partly personal, but they are also conventional, and to that extent they are also systematic. The special problem is, however, to find an adequate and learnable description of these rules that learners can relate directly to their own experience. · It is undisputed that while we can demonstrate a fairly conscious choice over our selection of words, our choice of intonation seems much less conscious. It is as if it comes from deeper within us, from another part of the brain which is less open to our conscious intervention. · Intonation works with tones (some writers refer to tunes instead) Tone is basically a movement from one height of voice to another (one pitch to another) except the so called “level tone”. Examples: ̀yes ́yes ˉyes ˍyes · Although rising and falling tones are basic intonation patterns in most languages, we also work with the so called complex tones, ie rise-fall and fall-rise. Examples: ˄yes ˅yes ˆno ˇno In English we distinguish between 5 basic tones: 1. fall 2. rise 3. fall-rise 4. rise-fall 5. level The use and frequency of occurrence varies for each tone. Here are the basics of basics: 1) The use of fall a) statements – when you want to give some information Examples: I study ˋEnglish. Well-ˋdone! My brother got ˋmarried last week. b) most Wh-questions Examples: Why do you study ˋEnglish? Where are you ˋfrom? What’s theˋ time? Practice 1: NB In the exercises the intonation is indicated by the following typographical devices: ˈhouse stressed syllable ˋhouse significant (final) stress; falling ˏhouse significant (final) stress; rising but he unstressed initial syllables Examples: But he ˈdidn’t ˈsee me ˈleave the ˋhouse. ˈDid you ˈsee me ˈleave the ˏhouse? You should repeat each of the phrases in the following exercises at least three times according to the pattern given! Pattern 1: He’s ˋgone we’reˋ late in ˋtime / they’ve ̀come / at ̀school / it’s ̀true / of ̀̀course / you ̀̀must / down ̀̀town / you’re ̀right / in ̀bed / he’s ̀ill / they’re ̀wrong / you ̀see / in ̀sight / on ̀fire / up ̀there / by ̀now / ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pattern 2: ˈWhere did you ˈput my ̀hat? ˈwhat’s the ̀time? / ˈwhere have you ̀put it? / ˈwho would ˈlike some ̀chocolate? / ˈwhich do you ˈlike ̀best? / ˈwhich is the ̀way? / ˈwhat have you ̀got? / ˈwhat ̀day is it ? / ˈwhy ̀can’t you? / ˈwhat’s on at the ̀cinema? / ˈwhat’s the ̀matter? / ˈwhen do you have ̀dinner? / ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revision: 1. ˈGeorge plays ˈfootball every ˈSaturday after ̀noon. 2. ˈWhat ˈtime does the ˈnight-train for ̀Glasgow leave? 3. ˈHow ˈfar is it from ˈhere to ̀London? 4. ˈWhere did you ˈsay you had ˈput my ̀glasses? 5. It’s been a ˈvery enˈjoyable ˈevening for ̀all of us. 2) The use of rise a) most Yes-No questions eg Do you study ˊEnglish? Have you done the washing ˊup? b) conveying an impression that something more is to follow eg. i) A: (wishing to attract B’s attention): Excuse me B: ˊyes ii) A: You start off on the ring road ... B: ˊyes A: Turn left at the first roundabout B: ˊyes A: and ours is the third house on the left B: ˋOK Practice 2: Pattern 1: ̗You? ̗ Now? me? / him? / them? / all? / these? / mine? / yours? / whose? / who? / when? / where? / four? / ten? / ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pattern 2: ̗May we? ̗Couldn’t he? ̗must you? / ̗shall I? / ̗does he? / ̗should we? / ̗wasn’t he? / ̗can’t we? / ̗was it? / ̗doesn’t she ? / ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pattern 3: ˈCan you ̗hear? ˈhave they ̗gone? / ˈmay I ̗come in? / ˈis it ̗yours ? / ˈhave you heard the ̗news ? / ˈare you on the ̗phone? / ˈhave you got e̗ nough? / ˈcan you ̗see? / ˈwill you be ̗there? / ˈdoes it ̗work? / ˈmay I ̗try? Revision: 1. ˈDid you ˈhave a ˈgood ̗holiday? 2. ˈHave you ˈheard the ˈlatest ̗news? 3. ˈWere you ̗out all day? 4. ˈShall I ˈbring some ˈsandwiches for ˈyou ̗too? 5. Will ˈsomeone ˈmeet you at the ̗station? 3) The use of fall-rise a) limited agreement or ‘response with reservations’ eg i) A: I’ve heard that it’s a good school B: ˇyes ii) A: It’s not really an expensive watch, is it? B: ˇno b) reassurances (comforting) eg It ˋwon’t ˏhurt It’s ˋonly a ̗ ̗pound Practice 3: 1. I ˈdon’t want to be ˅late. 2. I ˈhope you’re not ˅bored. 3. That’s ˈnot quite the ˅same. 4. Yours are ˈlarger than ˅mine. 5. She looks ˈvery ˅tired. 6. I’d ˈrather go by ˅train. 7. I exˈpect he’ll be ˅late. 8. I ˈdon’t know ˈwhat to ˅choose. 9. We ˈcan’t ask ˅them. 10. This ˈbread seems ˈvery ˅stale. 4) The use of rise-fall Expresses strong feelings of - approval - disapproval - surprise, etc. eg A: You wouldn’t do a thing like that, would you? B: ̂ no A: Isn’t the view lovely! B: ̂ yes 5) The use of level Expresses usually a feeling of saying something routine, uninteresting or boring eg i) a teacher calling the names of pupils from a register ii) replies to questions when applying eg for an insurance policy A: Do you suffer from any serious illness? B: _no A: Do you ...? B: _ no/ _yes iii) listing (members of a group, things to buy/take, ingredients, etc.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bibliography: Brazil, D. and Coulthard, M. and Johns, C. 1980. Discourse Intonation and Language Teaching. New York: Longman Group Ltd. Wong, R. 1987. Teaching Pronunciation. Focus on English Rhythm and Intonation. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.