Intonation.definition and functions
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Intonation refers to the pitch of the voice. In tonal languages like Chinese, changing the tone can completely alter the meaning of a word, whereas in intonational languages substituting tones does not change dictionary meanings. Intonation serves several functions, including expressing emotions and attitudes, producing prominence in syllables, helping listeners recognize grammar and syntax, and signaling new versus given information for the listener in discourse.
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Intonation.definition and functions
- 1. Intonation: Definition and Functions Roach, P. Chapter 15
- 2. Intonation The pitch of voice plays the most important part. Utterance Continuous piece of speech beginning and ending with a clear pause
- 3. Tone Language The tone can determine the meaning of a word, changing one tone to another can completely change the meaning (eg. Chinese) Intonational Languages Substituting one tone for another does not cause a change in the dictionary meaning, tones have other purposes and functions.
- 4. Functions of Intonation Attitudinal function: intonation enables us to express emotions and attitudes as we speak. (O’Connor and Arnold) Accentual function: Intonation helps to produce the effect of prominence in syllables Grammatical function: The listener is better able to recogniz the grammar and syntactic structure of what is being said by using the information contained in the intonation (yes/no questions, wh questions, etc)
- 5. Discourse function: Looking at the act of speaking in a broader way, we can see that intonation can signal for the listener what is to be taken as ‘new’ information and what is already ‘given’