The Intonation Systems of English


Book Description

The main objective of this book is to convince the reader that the forms and meanings of English intonation can be described with considerable precision, despite the common opinion that intonation is highly subjective. Intended not only for students of linguistics and English language, the book also contains information ideal for consideration by language teachers, speech therapists, drama students and other professions that rely heavily upon the spoken word.




The Oxford Handbook of Language Prosody


Book Description

This handbook presents detailed accounts of current research in all aspects of language prosody, written by leading experts from different disciplines. The volume's comprehensive coverage and multidisciplinary approach will make it an invaluable resource for all researchers, students, and practitioners interested in prosody.




The Intonation Systems of English


Book Description

Tench provides an introduction to the current state of functional linguistics studies in the intonation of English. Intended not only for students of linguistics and English language, the book also contains information ideal for consideration by language teachers, speech therapists, drama students and other professions that rely heavily upon the spoken word.




Intonation in the Grammar of English


Book Description

Summary: "Intonation in the Grammar of English is written for scholars who are interested in language, but not necessarily linguists or phoneticians. The introduction covers speech sound, locating it in relation to other phenomena and disciplines, discusses its representation and interpretation, and introduces the systems and strata which frame its analysis in terms of systemic functional linguistics. The three kinds of meaning - textual meaning (relating language to its ever changing context), interpersonal meaning (allowing us to enact our social exchanges with others) and ideational meaning (construing the logic through which we represent the world we live in) - are each achieved in part through intonation. We make these meanings through choices: in terms of locating the main rise or fall in an intonation contour; in terms of fitting an intonation contour to part of a clause, to a whole clause, or to more than a clause; and in terms of the shape of the intonation contour. A CD-ROM integrated with the book provides examples as the systems of intonational choices are presented, and also gives examples of these systems being drawn on in different dialects of English, and in the many different exchange situations in which speakers find themselves in the course of a day."--Publisher description.




The Communicative Value of Intonation in English Book


Book Description

The revised edition of David Brazil's seminal work The Communicative Value of Intonation in English.




Intonation and Its Parts


Book Description

"It's not what she said, it's the way that she said it," is a complaint we have all heard (or made) some time or another. What does it refer to? It obviously relates to the various forms of wordless communication, but especially to the speaker's use of intonation—the rise and fall of the pitch of the voice—to convey sarcasm or resignation, anger or apprehension, or any of scores of other moods. In this summation of over forty years of investigation and reflection, the author analyzes the nature, variety and utility of intonation, using some 700 examples from everyday English speech. The work looks at both accent (pitch shift that points up individual words) and overall configurations (melodies that shape the meaning of whole sentences). It shows that most easily understood utterances employ one or another of a surprisingly small stock of basic melodies, and it shows both intonation and visible gesture to be parts of a larger complex that conveys grammatical as well as emotional information. Though it is one of the major divisions of the science of linguistics, intonation is of great interest to others outside of linguistics—to actors and lawyers who must use the voice to assert, to downplay, or to emote; to English teachers as an essential ingredient of idiomatic speech; to musicians for its many common elements in music theory; and to psychologists and anthropologists as a gauge of emotional tension and a clue to behavior.




Intonation and Prosodic Structure


Book Description

This book provides a state-of-the-art survey of intonation and prosody from a phonological perspective, for advanced students and researchers in phonology.




English Intonation PB and Audio CD


Book Description

Intonation - the rise and fall of pitch in our voices - plays a crucial role in how we express meaning. This accessible introduction shows students how to recognize and reproduce the intonation patterns of English, providing clear explanations of what they mean and how they are used. It looks in particular at three key functions of intonation - to express our attitude, to structure our messages to one another, and to focus attention on particular parts of what we are saying. An invaluable guide to how English intonation works, it is complete with extensive exercises, drills and practice material, encouraging students to produce and understand the intonation patterns for themselves. The accompanying CD contains a wealth of spoken examples, clearly demonstrating English intonation in context. Drawing on the perspectives of both language teaching and linguistics, this textbook will be welcomed by both learners of English, and beginning undergraduates in phonetics and linguistics.




Phonology in Systemic Functional Linguistics


Book Description

Language is a stratified system, and phonology belongs in the stratum of expression, where language physically manifests as phonic substance. It is the most unconscious of all the language systems, the one we usually refer to when we say "it is not what s/he said, but the way s/he said it". Although the term "expression" might be misleading, the stratum of expression is an integral part of language. Sounds are not the expression of something else which exists independently from them; they are the form and essence of language and have a function in its meaning potential. Intonation features constitute a set of resources available in speakers' voices which, in many languages such as English or Spanish, signal textual and interpersonal meanings in discourse. Phonological features do not project specific meanings by themselves but rather situationally, at a certain stage in the discourse, and in combination with choices at other strata of the language system. Intonation patterns constitute a meaning-making prosody, which quite often accompanies and reinforces similar meanings realised in other strata. There are instances, however, in which the different grammars come into tension and the intonational choices become the carriers of interpersonal and textual meanings in discourse. Phonology in Systemic Functional Linguistics provides an account of the intonation systems in SFL and their meaning-making functions in oral discourse. It proposes a way of interpreting phonological choices as integral to language in context and discourse meanings. In addition, the book puts SFL in dialogue with other approaches that also consider the role of phonology in discourse.




Prosodic Systems and Intonation in English


Book Description

This book was first published in 1969. Its author, David Crystal OBE, has since written some of the most important books on language and linguistics, including the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (1987) and the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (1995, 2003). Here, he provides the reader with a thorough and fascinating analysis of the patterns of intonation and prosody found within the English language. Crystal begins by contextualising his work on prosody within existing studies, before going on to discuss voice quality and sound attributes in prosodic systems. There are also comprehensive studies of the grammar, semantics and intonation of the spoken English language. This book provides a useful theoretical base for the study of language, prosody and intonation, and will be enjoyed by all with an interest in linguistics and speech patterns in general, and in the academic works of David Crystal more specifically.