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Intonation (linguistics)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In linguistics, intonation is variation of pitch while speaking which is not

used to distinguish words. It contrasts with tone, in which pitch variation

does distinguish words. Intonation, rhythm, and stress are the three main

elements of linguistic prosody. Intonation patterns in some languages, such

as Swedish and Swiss German, can lead to conspicuous fluctuations inpitch, giving speech a sing-song quality.[1] Fluctuations in pitch either

involve a rising pitch or a falling pitch. Intonation is found in every language

and even in tonal languages, but the realisation and function are seemingly

different. It is used in non-tonal languages to add attitudes to words

(attitudinal function) and to differentiate between wh-questions, yes-no

questions, declarative statements, commands, requests, etc. Intonation can

also be used for discourse analysis where new information is realised by

means of intonation. It can also be used for emphatic/contrastive purposes.

All languages use pitch pragmatically as intonation for instance foremphasis, to convey surprise or irony, or to pose a question. Tonal

languages such as Chinese and Hausa use pitch for distinguishing words in

addition to providing intonation.

Generally speaking, the following intonations are distinguished:

Rising Intonationmeans the pitch of the voice increases over

time [];

Falling Intonation means that the pitch decreases with time [];

Dipping Intonation falls and then rises [];Peaking Intonationrises and then falls [].

Those with congenital amusia show impaired ability to discriminate, identify and imitate the intonation of the final

words in sentences.[2]

Contents

1 Transcription2 Uses of intonation

3 Intonation in English

3.1 Summary

3.2 Detail

4 Intonation in French

4.1 Summary

4.2 Detail

4.2.1 Continuation pattern

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4.2.2 Finality pattern

4.2.3 Yes/no pattern

4.2.4 Information question pattern

5 See also

6 References

Transcription

In the International Phonetic Alphabet,globalrising and falling intonation are marked with a diagonal arrow rising

left-to-right [] and falling left-to-right [], respectively. These may be written as part of a syllable, or separated

with a space when they have a broader scope:

He found it on the street?

[ hi fand t | n stit ]

Here the rising pitch onstreetindicates that the question hinges on that word, on where he found it, not whether he

found it.

Yes, he found it on the street.

[js hi fand t | n stit ]

How did you ever escape?

[ha ddju | v | skep ]

Here, as is common with wh- questions, there is a rising intonation on the question word, and a falling intonation at

the end of the question.

More detailed transcription systems for intonation have also been developed, such as ToBI (Tones and Break

Indices), RaP (Rhythm and Pitch), and INTSINT [3].

Uses of intonation

The uses of intonation can be divided into six categories:[4]:ch.6

informational: for example, in EnglishI saw a man in the garden answers "Who did you see?" or

"What happened?", whileIsawa man in the garden answers "Did you hear a man in the garden?"

grammatical: for example, in English a rising pitch turns a statement into a yes-no question, as inHe's

goinghome? This use of intonation to express grammatical mood is its primary grammatical use

(though whether this grammatical function actually exists is controversial).[4]:pp.140, 151 Some languages,

like Chickasaw and Kalaallisut, have the opposite pattern from English: rising for statements and falling

with questions.

illocution: the intentional force is signaled in, for example, English Why don'tyou move to

California? (a question) versus Why don't youmove to California? (a suggestion).




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attitudinal: high declining pitch signals more excitement than does low declining pitch, as in English

Goodmorningversus Good morning.

textual: linguistic organization beyond the sentence is signaled by the absence of a statement-ending

decline in pitch, as in English The lecture was canceled[high pitch on both syllables of "canceled",

indicating continuation]; the speaker was ill. versus The lecture was canceled. [high pitch on first

syllable of "canceled", but declining pitch on the second syllable, indicating the end of the first thought]

The speaker was ill.

indexical: group membership can be indicated by the use of intonation patterns adopted specifically by

that group, such as street vendors, preachers, and possibly women in some cases (see high rising

terminal.)

Intonation in English

Summary

American English pitch has four levels: low (1), middle (2), high (3), and very high (4). Normal conversation isusually at middle or high pitch; low pitch occurs at the end of utterances other than yes-no questions, while high

pitch occurs at the end of yes-no questions. Very high pitch is for strong emotion or emphasis. [1]:p.184 Pitch can

indicate attitude: for example, Greatuttered in isolation can indicate weak emotion (with pitch starting medium and

dropping to low), enthusiasm (with pitch starting very high and ending low), or sarcasm (with pitch starting and

remaining low).

Detail

Declarative sentences show a 2-3-1 pitch pattern. If the last syllable is prominent the final decline in pitch is a glide

For example, in This isfun, this is is at pitch 2, andfun starts at level 3 and glides down to level 1. But if the lastprominent syllable is not the last syllable of the utterance, the pitch fall-off is a step. For example, in That can be

rustrating, That can be has pitch 2,frus- has level 3, and both syllables of-tratinghave pitch 1.[1]:p.185 Wh-

questions work the same way, as in Who (2) will (2) help (31)? and Who (2) did(3) it (1)?

But if something is left unsaid, the final pitch level 1 is replaced by pitch 2. Thus inJohn's (2) sick(32) ..., with

the speaker indicating more to come,John's has pitch 2 while sickstarts at pitch 3 and drops only to pitch 2.

Yes-no questions with a 23 intonation pattern[3] usually have subject-verb inversion, as inHave (2) you (2) got

(2) a (2) minute (3, 3)? (Here a 24 contour would show more emotion, while a 12 contour would show

uncertainly.) Another example isHas (2) the (2)plane (3) left (3) already (3, 3, 3)?, which, depending on theword to be emphasized, could move the location of the rise, as inHas (2) the (2) plane (2) left(3) already (3, 3

3)? orHas (2) the (2) plane (2) left (2) already (2, 3, 3)? And for example the latter question could also be

framed without subject-verb inversion but with the same pitch contour: The (2) plane (2) has (2) left (2) already

(2, 3, 3)?

Tag questions with declarative intent at the end of a declarative statement follow a 31 contour rather than a rising

contour, since they are not actually intended as yes-no questions, as in We (2) should (2) visit(3, 1) him (1),

houldn't (3, 1) we (1)? But tag questions exhibiting uncertainty, which are interrogatory in nature, have the usual

23 contour, as in We (2) should (2) visit(3, 1) him (1), shouldn't (3, 3) we (3)?




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Questions with orcan be ambiguous in English writing with regard to whether they are either-or questions or yes-n

questions. But intonation in speech eliminates the ambiguity. For example, Would (2) you (2) like (2) juice (3) or

(2) soda (3, 1)? emphasizesjuice andsoda separately and equally and ends with a decline in pitch, thus indicating

that this is not a yes-no question but rather a choice question equivalent to Which would you like: juice or soda?

In contrast, Would (2) you (2) like (2) juice (3) or (3) soda (3, 3)? has yes-no intonation and thus is equivalent to

Would you like something to drink (such as juice or soda)?

Thus the two basic sentence pitch contours are rising-falling and rising. However, other within-sentence rises and

falls result from the placement of prominence on the stressed syllables of certain words.

Note that for declaratives or wh-questions with a final decline, the decline is located as a step-down to the syllable

after the last prominently stressed syllable, or as a down-glide on the last syllable itself if it is prominently stressed.

But for final rising pitch on yes-no questions, the rise always occurs as an upward step to the last stressed syllable,

and the high (3) pitch is retained through the rest of the sentence.

Pitch also plays a role in distinguishing acronyms that might otherwise be mistaken for common words. For

example, in the phrase "Nike asks that you PLAYParticipate in the Lives of America's Youth",[5] the acronym

PLAY may be pronounced with a high tone to distinguish it from the verb 'play', which would also make sense in thi

context. Alternatively, each letter could be said individually, so PLAY might become "P-L-A-Y" or "P.L.A.Y.".However, the high tone is only employed for disambiguation and is therefore contrastive intonation rather than true

lexical tone.

Dialects of British and Irish English vary substantially,[6] with rises on many statements in urban Belfast, and falls on

most questions in urban Leeds. [3]

Intonation in French

Summary

French intonation differs substantially from that of English.[7] There are four primary patterns.

The continuation pattern is a rise in pitch occurring in the last syllable of a rhythm group (typically a

phrase).

The finality pattern is a sharp fall in pitch occurring in the last syllable of a declarative statement.

The yes/no intonation is a sharp rise in pitch occurring in the last syllable of a yes/no question.

The information question intonation is a rapid fall-off from high pitch on the first word of a non-yes/no

question, often followed by a small rise in pitch on the last syllable of the question.

Detail

Continuation pattern

The most distinctive feature of French intonation is the continuation pattern. While many languages, such as English

and Spanish, place stress on a particular syllable of each word, and while many speakers of languages such as

English may accompany this stress with a rising intonation, French has neither stress nor distinctive intonation on a

given syllable. Instead, on the final syllable of every "rhythm group" except the last one in a sentence, there is place

a rising pitch. For example[7]:p.35 (note that as before the pitch change arrows and apply to the syllable




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immediately following the arrow):

Hiersoir, il m'a offert une cigarette. (The English equivalent would be "Last evening, he

offered me a cigarette.")

Le lendemain matin, aprs avoir chang le pansement du malade, l'infirmier est rentr

chezlui.

Adjectives are in the same rhythm group as their noun. Each item in a list forms its own rhythm group:

Chez le fruitier on trouve despommes, des oranges, des bananes, desfraises et des

abricots.

Side comments inserted into the middle of a sentence form their own rhythm group:

La grande guerre, si j'ai bonne mmoire, a dur quatreans.

Finality pattern

As can be seen in the example sentences above, a sharp fall in pitch is placed on the last syllable of a declarativestatement. The preceding syllables of the final rhythm group are at a relatively high pitch.

Yes/no pattern

It is most common in informal speech to indicate a yes/no question with a sharply rising pitch alone, without any

change or rearrangement of words. For example[7]:p.65

Il estriche?

A form found in both spoken and written French is theEst-ce que ... ("Is it that ...") construction, in which thespoken question can end in either a rising or a falling pitch:

Est-ce qu'il estriche? OREst-ce qu'il estriche?

The most formal form for a yes/no question, which is also found in both spoken and written French, inverts the

order of the subject and verb. In this case too the spoken question can end in either a rising or a falling pitch:

Est-ilriche? OREst-ilriche?

Sometimes yes/no questions begin with a topic phrase, specifying the focus of the utterance. In this case the initial

topic phrase follows the intonation pattern of a declarative sentence, and the rest of the question follows the usual

yes/no question pattern:[7]:p.78

Et cette photo, tu l'as prise?

Information question pattern

Information questions begin with a question word such as qui, pourquoi, combien,, etc., often referred to in

linguistics as wh-words because most of them start with those letters in English. The question word is followed in




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French by est-ce que (as in English "(where) is it that ...") orest-ce qui, or by inversion of the subject-verb order

(as in "(where) goes he?"). The sentence starts at a relatively high pitch which falls away rapidly on the last syllable

of the question word, and there may be a small increase in pitch on the final syllable of the question. For

example:[7]:p.88

O part-il? ORO part-il?

O est-ce qu'il part? ORO est-ce qu'ilpart?

In both cases, the question both begins and ends at higher pitches than does a declarative sentence.

In informal speech, the question word is sometimes put at the end of the sentence, in which case the question starts

and ends at a high pitch, often with a slight rise on the high final syllable:[7]:p.90

Il parto?

See also

Prosody (linguistics)

Affect (linguistics)

High rising terminal

Prosodic unit

References

1. ^ abc Celce-Murcia, Marianne; Brinton, Donna M., and Goodwin, Janet M., Teaching Pronunciation: A Referen

for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996: ch. 6.

2. ^ Liu F, Patel AD, Fourcin A, Stewart L. (2010). Intonation processing in congenital amusia: discrimination,

identification and imitation. Brain. 133(Pt 6):1682-93. doi:10.1093/brain/awq089(http://dx.doi.org/10.1093%2Fbrain%2Fawq089) PMID 20418275

3. ^ abc *Hirst, D.J. & Di Cristo, A. (eds) 1998. Intonation Systems. A survey of Twenty Languages. (Cambridge,

Cambridge University Press). [ISBN 0521395135 (Hardback); ISBN 052139550X (Paperback)].

4. ^ ab Cooper-Kuhlen, Elizabeth,Introduction to English Prosody, 1986.

5. ^ Advertisement read on NPR

6. ^ Grabe, E. (2004).Intonational variation in urban dialects of English spoken in the British Isles

(http://kochanski.org/gpk/papers/2004/200405ASA/) In Gilles, P. and Peters, J. (eds.) Regional Variation in

Intonation. Linguistische Arbeiten, Tuebingen, Niemeyer, pp. 9-31.

7. ^ abcdefLian, A-P.Intonation Patterns of French, River Seine Publications, Melbourne, 1980.

http://www.andrewlian.com/andrewlian/prowww/ipf_teacher/ipf_teacher.pdf

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