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1. Intonation. Its functions.
Much has been said about the importance of paying due attention to intonation when studying a foreign language. The process of communication cannot be performed without intonation as it has its own functions in a sentence. These functions are:
1. The constitutive
2. The distinctive
(1) Intonation forms sentences. Each sentence consists of one or more intonation groups.
An intonation group is a word or a group of words characterized by a certain intonation pattern and is generally complete from the point of view of meaning.
E. g. You’ll come early | and stay as long as you can | won’t you ||
Sentences are separated from each other by pauses. The end of a sentence is always recognized by a long pause; the end of a non-final intonation group is usually characterized by a shorter pause.
E. g. He’s passed his exam || He is a student now || Like most old people | he was fond of talking about old days ||
(2) Intonation also serves to distinguish the communicative types of sentences, the actual meaning of a sentence, the speaker’s emotions or attitudes to the contents of the sentence, to the listener or to the topic of conversation.
E. g. He’s passed his exam ||
Low-Fall - a statement of fact
High-Rise - a question
Low-Rise – a question with surprise
High-Fall – an exclamation
One and the same sentence pronounced with different intonation can express different emotions.
Intonation is also a powerful means of differentiating the functional styles.
2. The components of the intonation
1) Speech melody or the pitch.
The sentence possesses definite phonetic features: variations of pitch or speech melody, pauses, sentence stress, rhythm, tempo and timbre. Each feature performs a definite task and all of them work simultaneously. It is generally acknowledged that the pitch of the voice or speech melody, sentence stress and rhythm are the three main components of intonation, whilst pauses, tempo and
Much has been said about the importance of paying due attention to intonation when studying a foreign language. The process of communication cannot be performed without intonation as it has its own functions in a sentence. These functions are:
1. The constitutive
2. The distinctive
(1) Intonation forms sentences. Each sentence consists of one or more intonation groups.
An intonation group is a word or a group of words characterized by a certain intonation pattern and is generally complete from the point of view of meaning.
E. g. You’ll come early | and stay as long as you can | won’t you ||
Sentences are separated from each other by pauses. The end of a sentence is always recognized by a long pause; the end of a non-final intonation group is usually characterized by a shorter pause.
E. g. He’s passed his exam || He is a student now || Like most old people | he was fond of talking about old days ||
(2) Intonation also serves to distinguish the communicative types of sentences, the actual meaning of a sentence, the speaker’s emotions or attitudes to the contents of the sentence, to the listener or to the topic of conversation.
E. g. He’s passed his exam ||
Low-Fall - a statement of fact
High-Rise - a question
Low-Rise – a question with surprise
High-Fall – an exclamation
One and the same sentence pronounced with different intonation can express different emotions.
Intonation is also a powerful means of differentiating the functional styles.
2. The components of the intonation
1) Speech melody or the pitch.
The sentence possesses definite phonetic features: variations of pitch or speech melody, pauses, sentence stress, rhythm, tempo and timbre. Each feature performs a definite task and all of them work simultaneously. It is generally acknowledged that the pitch of the voice or speech melody, sentence stress and rhythm are the three main components of intonation, whilst pauses, tempo and