Chapter Four: Pragmatics of English intonation

General study items

The word ‘pragmatics’ applied to intonation, is used in this work to denote contextual interrelations between stretches of utterances as signalled out by the speaker. The main aim of the speaker is to get over to the listeners his own message, and he uses all possible clues in intonation system of a given language to make the listeners interpret his ideas and perceive the information.

Cutting up long utterances into tone groups depends on many things: the speed with which it is pronounced, the degree of prominence given to some parts of the message, the grammatical structure, etc. All stressed and unstressed syllables group around the tonic syllable. Tone groups are separated by pauses. The first most likely break is between the subject phrase and the predicate phrase. The second possible pause comes within a long subject phrase and within a long predicate phrase. Cf.:

(a) Both the vicar and his WIFE + were distinct persoNAlities.

(b) The DIstance + they had to CROSS + was not more than a quarter

of a MILE.

The extension (subsidiary part) within a subject or predicate usually contain additional information and as a rule have low stresses and a low tonic which makes the main part of the predicate or subject stand out more prominently.

(c) The PAssage, + in which they now FOUND themselves, + was narrow, dirty and SHORT.

Adverbial phrases of time, place, etc., used at the beginning of the utterances, form a separate tone unit because they serve as pragmatic markers which indicate the changing of the aspect. Cf.:

(d) Presently, + at the far end of the PAssage + Bennet aPPEARED.

(e) A minute LAter + they had LEFT the passage + and found themselves in

a vaulted ROOM.

Parenthetical phrases and linking adverbs, which function as cohesion markers of the text form separate tone units, since they help divide the whole textual information into clear and precise parts constituting it.Cf:

(f) However, + if you LIKE, + let us visit the Other posts.

(g) But all the SAME, + I’m aFRAID, + these things can be DANgerous.

Parenthesis, used at the end of the utterance, may join the preceding tone unit unless it has special prominence. At the same time parenthesis at the beginning of an utterance may join the following tone unit when it is semantically closely connected with it.

Pauses in speech actually reflect the syntactic-semantic and pragmatic structure of complex utterances; and they serve as ‘punctuation’ marks to help speaker divide his stream of speech into stretches which can be properly interpreted by his listeners.

Complex and compound utterances/sentences may have as many tone units as their syntactic structure can suggest. Clauses of a compound unit are less closely connected semantically than clauses of a complex unit. In the latter, in non-final tone units any tonic stress can occur including final falling tonic. Long subordinate clauses can be easily split into tone units in accordance with their syntactic-semantic structure. Cf.:

(h) When he reached the first HOUSE, + he was met only by a few FIGHters, +

who fled beFORE him.

(i) After having ridden a hundred places in the towns, + Dick touched the

duke's ARM. The duke in answer + put the trumpet to his mouth + and

blowing it,+ suddenly turned to the RIGHT.

Actual and reported forms of the speech are presented in complex sentences with a specific structure. Author’s words may occur initially, in the mid and in final position of an utterance/sentence. In final and mid position they are joined to the preceding tone unit forming its post tonic part, with low half stressed syllables only, except for rather a long author’s phrase, containing fully low stressed syllables. Nevertheless, these words form a sort of a certain background for characters’ words. Initial author’s words form a separate tone unit with low rising or level tonic.

“That’s FUnny” – my mother→ SAID, + “I wonder why they DON’T?”

I said → QUIETly, + “So you think she is making her PLANS?”

“Why, what’s wrong?” she asked.

Spontaneous speech differs from carefully prepared one, as it may contain unnecessary pauses, repetition, false starts, fillers, etc. Thus, intonation structure of such utterances is far from being ‘ideal’. Fluent speakers try to avoid all such things which hinder the proper interpretation of the speaker’s message. On the whole spontaneous speech is less structured. A tape script of spontaneous speech of a not very fluent speaker is very hard to read. Cf.:

“I→ MEAN, + can you, - er – can you→ SHOW me a + multi-storied→ CAR park which + – well, that is architecturally BEAUtiful? Er, - I’m sure, you

CAN’T.”

Giving information

Tone units are the basic building blocks of spoken English. Written language, or printed, appears in words and sentences; certain punctuation marks are used to show the beginning and the end of them. When the language is heard pauses show the beginning and the end of every meaningful ‘building block’, every bit of related information.

Tone unit contains at least one prominent syllable which is more noticeable than the others. If there are two, or more prominent syllables they are not made prominent in the same way. As a rule the last one is pronounced with the changing of the pitch and thus is called a tonic syllable.

Tone unit is pronounced without any breaks in the continuity, so one should plan the whole unit, one wants to get to the listeners, completely before one begins to speak. The longer the tone unit is, the more one has to plan ahead.

Breaking up the stream of speech into tone units helps the listener in two ways: segregating the spoken continuum into smaller parts, and at the same time grouping these smaller parts into a longer message, which is otherwise called an utterance.

To help the listener know which words he should pay particular attention to, one may vary the way they attach prominence to words in a tone unit, shifting a tonic stress from the last onto the preceding stressed syllable, thus making it more important for the listener.

The purpose of prominence is to direct listeners to the part of the utterance which is important for interpreting the message.

Tone units are the basic building blocks of spoken English. Written language, or printed, appears in words and sentences; certain punctuation marks are used to show the beginning and the end of them. When the language is heard pauses show the beginning and the end of every meaningful ‘building block’, every bit of related information.

Tone unit contains at least one prominent syllable which is more noticeable than the others. If there are two, or more prominent syllables they are not made prominent in the same way. As a rule the last one is pronounced with the changing of the pitch and thus is called a tonic syllable.

Tone unit is pronounced without any breaks in the continuity, so one should plan the whole unit, one wants to get to the listeners, completely before one begins to speak. The longer the tone unit is, the more one has to plan ahead.

Breaking up the stream of speech into tone units helps the listener in two ways: segregating the spoken continuum into smaller parts, and at the same time grouping these smaller parts into a longer message, which is otherwise called an utterance.

To help the listener know which words he should pay particular attention to, one may vary the way they attach prominence to words in a tone unit, shifting a tonic stress from the last onto the preceding stressed syllable, thus making it more important for the listener.

The purpose of prominence is to direct listeners to the part of the utterance which is important for interpreting the message.

The shift of tonic stress might be due to the fact that some bit of information was already mentioned and need not be emphasised. Cf.:

(a) She thought there was a PUB

(b) ... and FOUND the pub

Division into tone units depends much on how the speaker identifies separate bits of information. He may, for example, say:

… fashionable DREsses + VIdios + and FRIdges …

or

… fashionable DREsses + videos and FRIdges …

In the second version the speaker treats two last prominent words as a single category, whereas in the first he takes them as separate purchase items.

Another example is:

(c) They didn’t Open + till SEven .

(d ) They didn’t open till SEven.

Pronouncing this phrase with two tonic centres ‘open’ and ‘seven’, the speaker expresses the regret that ‘it was really too late for him‘(c), whereas quite another pragmatic version (d) sounds as a statement.

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