PLINP202 ENGLISH INTONATION

2 Intonational systems. Tone.

2.01 Intonational systems: Last week we looked at the st!"t!e o# "om$lete
intonation $attens in En%lish. This le"t!e is the #ist o# thee "on"ened with
the systems o# "hoi"es a&aila'le to a s$eake when (de"idin%( on the
intonation o# a 'it o# s$ee"h )a text*. Essentially+ these "hoi"es ae o# thee
kinds. ,ist+ the s$eake m!st de"ide how many "om$lete intonation $attens
to asso"iate with the te-t. This system o# "hoi"es is known as tonality.
Se"ondly+ within ea"h intonation $atten the s$eake m!st de"ide whi"h
sylla'les ae to 'e stessed+ whi"h a""ented and whi"h one is to 'e the
n!"le!s. This system o# "hoi"es is known as tonicity. ,inally+ the s$eake
m!st de"ide how to ealise ea"h a""ent+ that is what sot o# $it"h $atten the
n!"le!s+ the onset and othe a""ents ae to ha&e. This is the system o#
"hoi"es known as tone. .e shall look at tonality and toni"ity in %eate detail
in late le"t!es. ,o the emainde o# this week/s le"t!e we shall
"on"entate on tone. Noti"e that the analysis we shall de&elo$ 'elow is only
one o# a %eat many "om$etin% analyses that ha&e 'een $o$osed #o En%lish
intonational tone. O! analysis is 'ased on that $o$osed 'y O/0onno 1 2 3
Anold G , in the Intonation of Colloquial English )I0E*+ '!t with some mino
sim$li#i"ations. This analysis is widely known and is not too a'sta"t to 'e o#
!se in $a"ti"al intonation notation. Se"tion 2.02 $esents a s!mmay o# the
tone maks !sed 'y I0E. Se"tion 2.04 %i&es intelinea %a$h e-am$les o#
the tonal "ate%oies o# I0E.
2.02 S!mmay o# Intonation 5aks
N60LEA7 TONES
Hi%h ,all
8
No Hi%h $it"h on n!"le!s #allin% to low. All tail
sylla'les low 3 le&el
Low ,all
8
No 5id $it"h on n!"le!s #allin% to low. All tail sylla'les
low and le&el.
Low 7ise
9
No Low $it"h on n!"le!s+ isin% steadily to the end o#
the intonation $atten.
Hi%h 7ise
9
No 5id $it"h o a'o&e on n!"le!s+ isin% steadily to
end o# intonation $atten.
5id Le&el :No 5id $it"h on n!"le!s+ s!stained to end o#
intonation $atten.
,all;7ise No Hi%h $it"h on n!"le!s+ #allin% to low+ le&ellin% o!t
and isin% towads end o# tail.
7ise;,all <No 5id o lowish $it"h on n!"le!s+ isin% to hi%h 'y
end o# n!"le!s o ne-t sylla'le+ #allin% to low and
then le&ellin% o!t to end o# intonation $atten.
2.1
SI5PLE HEA2S
Hi%h No ,ist sylla'le o# head hi%h in $it"h. All s!'se=!ent
sylla'les in in head hi%h and le&el.
,allin% No ,ist sylla'le in head hi%h in $it"h. All s!'se=!ent
sylla'les lowe than $e"edin% sylla'le.
7isin% No ,ist sylla'le in head low in $it"h. All
s!'se=!ent sylla'les hi%he than $e"edin%
sylla'le.
Low No ,ist sylla'le in head low in $it"h. All s!'se=!ent
sylla'les in head low and le&el.
0O5PLE> HEA2S
Ste$$in% I didn/t know ,ist sylla'le in #ist a""ent %o!$ hi%h in
$it"h and #ollowin% !na""ented sylla'les at
same le&el. Ea"h s!'se=!ent a""ent %o!$
'e%ins at sli%htly lowe le&el than end o#
$e"edin%.
Slidin% I didn/t know ,ist sylla'le in #ist a""ent %o!$ hi%h and
#ollowin% !na""ented sylla'les in #allin%
$atten. Ea"h s!'se=!ent a""ent %o!$
'e%ins sli%htly hi%he than end o#
$e"edin%.
0lim'in% I didn/t know ,ist sylla'le in #ist a""ent %o!$ low and
#ollowin% !na""ented sylla'les in isin%
$atten. Ea"h s!'se=!ent a""ent %o!$
'e%ins sli%htly lowe than end o# $e"edin%.
ST7ESS
7hythmi"ally stessed '!t !na""ented sylla'les ae maked with
o
. In I0E
hi%h $it"hed stessed sylla'les ae maked with
o
and low $it"hed ones ae
maked with
o
. As the $it"h o# a stessed sylla'le is "om$letely $edi"ta'le
#om the $e"edin% a""ent mak+ we shall i%noe this distin"tion in this "o!se.
P7EHEA2S
Low Pehead No mak
Hi%h Pehead 5aked with
?O6N2A7@
2.2
Intonation $atten 'o!ndaies ae maked . I0E !ses 'oth this mak and
also . .e shall i%noe the distin"tion and !se the #ist mak only.
2.04 Intelinea %a$h e-am$les:
N60LEA7 TONES
HIGH ,ALL
LO. ,ALL
LO. 7ISE
2.4
HIGH 7ISE
,ALL 7ISE
2.A
N60LEA7 TONES 0ONTIN6E2
7ISE ,ALL
5I2 LEBEL
HEA2S
HIGH
STEPPING
2.C
7ISING
0LI5?ING
,ALLING
SLI2ING
LO.
2.D
2.0A Head and n!"le!s "om'inations: in theoy any head "an "om'ine with
any n!"le!s. In $a"ti"e+ howe&e+ some "om'inations ae moe #e=!ent
than othes. Ta'le 2.1 'elow shows the most "ommonly o""!in%
"om'inations. A ti"k in $aentheses indi"ates a "om'ination whi"h is
somewhat less #e=!ent.
N Tone
Head

Hi%h
,all
Low
,all
Hi%h
7ise
Low
7ise
,all
7ise
7ise
,all
5id
Le&el
Hi%h )*
Ste$$in% )*
7isin% )*
0lim'in% )*
,allin%
Slidin%
Low
Ta'le 2.1 0ommon head9n!"le!s "om'inations
@o! sho!ld now 'e eady to ha&e a ty at the #ollowin% we' $a%e:
htt$:99www.'tintenet."om9Ee$totd9&m9toni9tonimen!.htm