Stylistic Use of Intonation

       The speakers have different emotional and attitudinal purposes. They also have some volitional purposes. The choice of style of intonation is determined by the purpose of communication, by some extralinguistic and social factors. The distribution of intonation patterns shapes the particular style of intonation and distinguishes one from another.

       A style of intonation can be defined as a system of interrelated intonational means which is used in a social sphere and serves as a definite aim of communication.

       There are the following styles of intonation:

1) informational;

2) scientific, or academic;

3) publicistic;

4) declamatory;

5) conversational.

Informational style seems to be the most neutral, as its main purpose is to convey information without expressing any emotions or attitudes. This kind of style is used mostly in press reports, oral representation of any information or a written text, in formal business conversation, in legal intercourse.

It has the following features:

1) low fall or rise with descending heads;

2) stable and normal loudness;

3) normal or relatively slow speed;

4) mostly syntactic pauses;

5) systematic and properly organized rhythm.

Academic style is used in lectures, scientific discussions, conferences. Its purpose is to inform, to win the attention and interest of the public, to establish a contact with the audience. It’s an intellectual and volitional type of speech, as the speaker appeals to the intellect and will of the listener. This style requires some emotional coloring. It can be achieved by various features:

1) by alternation of pauses;

2) types of heads and terminal tones;

3) by using tempo contrasts.

Concrete features of academic style are:

1) high and low falls;

2) fall-rises with stepping heads;

3) the loudness is rather high;

4) there is a large number of pauses that serve to show semantic centers;

5) normal or relatively slow speed;

6) systematic and organized rhythm.

Publicistic style is a style of public discussions on political, economic topics, style of parliamentary debates and discussions. Its aim is to persuade, to influence, to involve the audience into the talk, to make the listeners take the speaker’s point of view. It’s never spontaneous. It’s often rehearsed. This style is extremely emotional, mimics and gestures are widely used.

The prosodic features of publicistic style are:

1) a lot of high falls and fall-rises with different types of heads;

2) changes of loudness from very high to whispering;

3) rather slow speed;

4) intonation groups are not very short, they can be separated with rather long both syntactical and emphatic pauses;

5) properly organized rhythm.

Declamatory style is used on stage, TV screen or in reading aloud prose or poetry. Its aim is to appeal simultaneously to the mind and emotions of the listener. This style is highly emotional and expressive. It requires special training.

The following features of this style are common:

1) falling level of nuclear tones with low or high, sometimes stepping, heads;

2) loudness can be different;

3) the speed is rather slow;

4) the rhythm is properly organized.

Conversational style is the style of everyday communication between relatives, friends or well acquaintedpeople. It is relaxed, characterized by the lack of planning. It is unpredictable. There may appear a lot of errors, elliptical constructions, hesitations.

It has the following features:

1) falling or rising tones with level or falling heads;

2) normal loudness;

3) varied speed;

4) intonation groups are rather short, they are separated by different pauses, mostly hesitation pauses. They can be both silent and filled;

5) the rhythm is irregular.

Each style can be realized in different forms (monolog, dialog, polylog) in speaking and reading. Many authors say that a polylog is a type of dialog in which more than two people take part. Each style is seldom realized in its pure form. It usually includes phonetic characteristics of different styles. There is the so-called fusion of styles.

Unstressed syllables are represented by dots. Stressed syllables are marked by slashes, or curves. A level tone is represented by a dash. The final fall is represented by a downfall curve. The final rise is represented by the upward curve. Two parallel lines represent the upper and the lower limits if human voice, or its range. Two vertical bars denote a long pause which usually occurs at the end of the sentence. A single vertical bar denotes a short pause inside the sentence.