Intonation and meaning.

General.

It has often been pointed out, and rightly, that no tone group is used exclusively with this or that sentence type – question, statement and the like – and also that no sentence type always requires the use of one and only one tone group. As a concrete example it would be quite untrue to say that sentences having the form of a question are always said with Tone Group VII. Certainly the learning of English intonation would be a great deal easier than it is if this were the case, but the fact is that intonation is too complex and too flexible to be confined within such narrow rules.

Broadly speaking, any sentence type can be linked with any tone group, and in this chapter we shall consider the effect of our ten tone groups in association with each of four main sentence types, statement, question, command and interjection, and we shall try to explain at every step the contribution which the tone group makes to the total meaning of the sense group. The four sentence types are, and are meant to be, very wide and at times overlapping categories, and we shall not try to define or limit them. They will simply provide examples of the working of intonation in very different sentence structures.

This implied separation of intonation and sentence structure is an analytical procedure which is thoroughly justifiable as an aid to teaching and learning, but it should be remembered that in reality that part of the speaker’s meaning which is assumed to be carried by the structure of the sentence – words and word order – and that part attributed to intonation are welded together to form the total meaning of the utterance at a particular time and in a particular context. However, the student using this book undoubtedly understands the basic meaning of English words, though not the role of intonation; so the separation can and does exist for him, and it is convenient to make use of this in what follows.

So this chapter provides a description of the attitudes conveyed by the different tone groups in association with the various sentence types. This description is a difficult business because it involves using words to suggest effects which are usually achieved by intonation. This means that words alone do not always give a very accurate impression of the attitude conveyed, yet enough can be done to produce a basis for the further development of the student’s comprehension.

Tone Group I.

TUNES:

1. Low Fall Only.

2. Low Fall + Tail.

3. Low Pre-head + Low Fall (+ Tail).

4. (Low Pre-head +) Low Head + Low Fall (+ Tail).

STATEMENTS.

All statements associated with tone groups containing falling nuclear tones (Tone Groups I – V) sound definite and complete in the sense that the speaker wishes them to be regarded as separate items of interest. In addition Tone Group I is characteristically used to convey a cool, calm, phlegmatic, detached, reserved, dispassionate, dull, possibly grim or surly attitude on the part of the speaker.

Examples:

Answers to questions:

Announcements:

Comments:

This tone group is often used to denote the final item in the list, the other items having rising tones:

Example: You can have ^/tea, | or ^/coffee, | or _\milk.

The use of the final falling tone here implies that the list is complete: there are no other drinks available.

QUESTIONS.

1. Special Questions, i.e. those which contain an interrogative word such as What, How, Why, etc. and which cannot be answered by simply saying Yes or No.

As with statements the tone of such questions is detached and reserved; they sound rather flat and unsympathetic, quite often even hostile, and are consequently less commonly heard than such questions with other tone groups.

Examples:

2. General Questions, i.e. those which can be answered by saying Yes or No.

The main uses for Tone Group I with these questions are:

· To put the question forward as a suggestion or a subject for discussion rather than as a request for immediate information. Again the general attitude is detached, phlegmatic and reserved.

Examples:

When the fall is on the special finite verb, the speaker is querying an assumption on the part of the listener.

Example:

What is in appearance a negative question of this kind may in effect be an exclamation.

Example:

The maximum effect is achieved by placing the nuclear tone on the special finite verb, otherwise the impression is dry and perfunctory.

Example:

· In a series of short questions where there is only a small change in the form of the question each time.

Example:

Is it _\red? Is it _\blue? Is it _\black?

· Perhaps the most important use of Tone Group I with general questions is for question tags when they follow statements containing the low-falling nuclear tone. In such cases the speaker expects his statement to be confirmed by the listener, indeed he does not consider any answer except a confirmatory one to be possible.

Examples:

This type of phrase is also used independently as a comment upon a statement made by someone else. When the Low Fall is used the comment is apt to convey a total lack of interest, or else a mood of grim hostility.

Examples:

· This tone group is used in alternative questions to mark the last of the alternatives.

Examples:

^Would you like _/tea | or _\coffee?

^Can I ^·get you a _/gin, | or a _/whisky, | or a _\beer?

The final fall implies that these are the only choices and that the list is complete.

COMMANDS.

Tone Group I is used for unemotional, calm, controlled, often cold commands.

Examples:

_\Don’t. _\Take it. _\Sit, Fido. _\Gently, you _ıclumsy _ıman.

Notice that this tone group is rarely used if there are two prominent words in the command; it is therefore uncommon to hear such things as _ııDon’t be _\silly or _ıısit _\down, in where a Low Head precedes the fall.

INTERJECTIONS.

Interjections with Tone Group I sound calm, unsurprised, self-possessed, reserved. They are generally short phrases.

Examples:

_\Good. _\Right. _\Oh. _\Nonsense. _ııVery _\nice. Good _\morning.

Notice in particular _\Thank you, and _\Thanks, to express genuine, though unexcited gratitude.

Assignments:

1. Listen to the recording of the “Low Drop I” on the tape. Put down the script and intonation marks of the mini dialogues you hear. Figure out what types of sentences the recorded drills are and what attitude do they convey according to the tune they are pronounced with. Prepare test reading of these mini dialogues in pairs.

2. Read the following drills in pairs. Follow the intonation marked in the text. Analyse them from the point of view of their connotations.

Intonation Drills:

STATEMENTS.

QUESTIONS.

COMMANDS.

INTERJECTIONS.

Tone Group II.

TUNES:

1. Stepping Head + Low Fall (+ Tail).

2. Low Pre-head + Stepping Head + Low Fall (+ Tail).

3. High Pre-head + Low Fall (+ Tail).

STATEMENTS.

In addition to the definiteness and completeness associated with all tone groups containing the falling nuclear tone, Tone Group II is used to give categoric, considered, weighty, judicial, dispassionate character to statements. Such pronouncements are more emphatic and often more ponderous-sounding than with Tone Group I.

Examples:

Answers to questions:

Announcements:

He’s the ^stupidest ^man I _\know.

I en^tirely a_\gree with you.

I ^hope it’ll be a _\lesson _to you.

¯You _\are _lucky!

The dispassionateness often shades into withdrawal and impatience.

Examples:

On the other hand, this tone group adds weight to expressions of enthusiasm as well as of disapproval, and is very commonly used in such sentences as:

It was ^perfectly _\wonderful.

It was ^simply _\terrible.

¯It was _\heavenly.

¯She looked _\ghastly.

SPECIAL QUESTIONS.

Such questions are searching, serious, intense, responsible, and are often used to suggest impatience or irritability, though not necessarily.

Examples:

^Why not ^come and have _\dinner _with us?

Now ^where did I ^put my _\pipe?

^How on ^earth did you _\manage it?

^Why did you _\do such a _stupid _thing?

^What’s the _\matter with the _wretched _car?

^Why don’t you ^look where you’re _\going?

Extra emphasis can be given to these questions by making the special finite prominent.

Examples:

What ^are you _\doing?

How ^could you be so _\stupid?

GENERAL QUESTIONS.

Like Tone Group I, this tone group puts forward the question as a suggestion or as a subject for discussion, but more insistently, more ponderously, often impatiently, so that it is often used in an effort to keep the listener to the point, to make him give a straight answer to a straight question.

Examples:

Well ^couldn’t we _\borrow some _money?

But ^can I be_\lieve you when you _say _that?

^Would you pre˙fer _\this _chair?

Questions beginning with “Will you…” are in reality imperatives when said with Tone Group II.

Examples:

^Will you be _\quiet?

^Will you ^stop _\pestering me?

The negative form of these general questions is used simply as an exclamatory device, to turn what seems to be question into an exclamation.

Examples:

^Isn’t it _\wonderful!

^Haven’t they ˙made a _\mess of it!

^Wouldn’t you ˙think they’d _\do something a_bout it!

Notice also: ^Would you be_\lieve it! which is purely exclamatory.

As with Tone Group I, this tone group is used to show the final alternative of two or more; it also implies that the choice is restricted to the alternatives named, that there are no other possibilities.

Examples:

^Would you ˙like _/coffee | or ^would you pre˙fer _\tea?

^Shall I ^give you a _/hand | or ^can you _\manage?

^Can you ˙come to_/day | or ^must it be to_\morrow?

COMMANDS.

Such commands are firm, serious, considered, weighty, pressing, dispassionate. Often, though not always, they have a ring of impatience.

Examples:

^Come and ˙have _\dinner _with us.

^Try the _\other _key.

Now ^take it _\slowly.

For ^heaven’s ^sake be _\careful.

^Don’t be ri_\diculous.

This tone group is particularly common with commands containing the emphatic words do or please.

Examples:

^Do stop _\tickling.

^Please be _\quiet.

INTERJECTIONS.

This tone group is very common with interjections and gives great weight and emphasis to them.

Examples:

^Oh _\ good! ^How ri_\diculous! How ^very pe_\culiar! ^What _\nonsense!

What a ^lovely ^day for a _\picnic! You ^lazy ^good for ˙nothing _\wretch!

¯You _\didn’t! ¯The _\brute!

Greetings with this tone group are very intense, particularly if the first word is accented; ^Good _\morning sounds very hearty and backslapping; ¯Good _\morning is rather less so.

Assignments:

1. Listen to the recording of the “Low Drop II” on the tape. Put down the script and intonation marks of the mini dialogues you hear. Figure out what types of sentences the recorded drills are and what attitude do they convey according to the tune they are pronounced with. Prepare test reading of these mini dialogues in pairs.

2. Read the following drills in pairs. Follow the intonation marked in the text. Analyse them from the point of view of their connotations.

Intonation Drills:

STATEMENTS:

QUESTIONS.

COMMANDS.

INTERJECTIONS.

Tone Group III.

TUNES:

1. High Fall (+ Tail).

2. Low Pre-head + High Fall (+Tail).

3. (Low Pre-Head +) Low Head + High Fall (+Tail).

STATEMENTS.

These are just as definite and complete as those with Tone Groups I and II, but they lack the detachment and dispassionateness of the latter, expressing rather a personal concern or involvement in the situation; they sound more lively and interested, sometimes surprised, always more airy and lighter in mood than with Tone Group I or II. Because of this, statements with Tone Group III are particularly common in conversation, where it is so often necessary to show active interest in what is going on.

Examples:

It would be possible to use Tone Group I in all these examples, but the element of liveliness would then be replaced by calm matter-of-factness or grimness. When a Low Head precedes the High-Falling nuclear tone, the attitude expressed is one of querulous or disgruntled protest.

Examples:

SPECIAL QUESTIONS.

These express a lively and interested reaction to the situation.

Examples:

When the interrogative word precedes the nucleus such questions express a reaction to something very unexpected and, for that reason perhaps, not immediately pleasing to the questioner: this is very much the same effect as with statements.

Examples:

_ııWhy did you do ^\that? | It _ııwasn’t ^\necessary.

But _ııwhen did you ^\see him? | I _ııthought he was a^\broad.

_ııHow on _ııearth did they _ıımanage to ^\get _there? | The ^\road’s _flooded.

GENERAL QUESTIONS.

In comments, where the High Fall is on the special finite, the reaction is one of mild surprise but acceptance of the listener’s premises. It is more or less equivalent to a surprised repetition of the listener’s statement.

Examples:

With a dissenting word the question demands special scrutiny of an assumed fact.

Examples:

Question tags have the High Fall on the special finite when the previous statement has a High Fall in it, or when the preceding statement ends in a rise. In any case, as with Tone Group I, it expresses the speaker’s expectation of nothing but a confirmatory answer.

Examples:

It’s _ııabso _ıılutely ri^\diculous, | ^\isn’t it?

You’re _ıınot _/frightened, | ^\are you?

It’s ^all _/right, | ^\isn’t it?

It’s ^ænot im^{\ /}possible, | ^\is it?

When the nucleus follows the special finite, the question is offered as a subject for discussion rather than a request for information, exactly as with Tone Group I. The difference seems to be that with this tone group the speaker sees less chance of his suggestion being accepted as the right solution because it is an unexpected one. There may too be some suggestion of impatience with the listener for not seeng that this is the critical point. In effect the questioner says – “The only question that has to be settled is this and then the whole situation is clear.”

Examples:

COMMANDS.

Commands with Tone Group III show more warmth than with the previous tone groups, often connoting a critical surprise that such an obvious course should not have occurred to the listener.

Examples:

INTERJECTIONS.

Interjections with Tone Group III are more emotional, but also less weighty than those with Tone Group II.

Examples:

When the nucleus is preceded by the Low Head, as in the last two examples, there seems to be almost a sense of affronted surprise that the speaker’s expectations should have been so wildly wrong.

Assignments:

1. Listen to the recording of the “High Drop” on the tape. Put down the script and intonation marks of the mini dialogues you hear. Figure out what types of sentences the recorded drills are and what attitude do they convey according to the tune they are pronounced with. Prepare test reading of these mini dialogues in pairs.

2. Read the following drills in pairs. Follow the intonation marked in the text. Analyse them from the point of view of their connotations.

Intonation Drills:

STATESMENTS.

QUESTIONS.

COMMANDS.

INTERJECTIONS.

Tone Group IV.

TUNES:

1. (Low Pre-head +) Stepping Head + High Fall (+ Tail).

2. (Low Pre-head +) High Fall(s) + High Fall (+ Tail).

3. High Pre-head + High Fall (+ Tail).

STATEMENTS.

Though complete and definite, like all the falling tone groups, these statements avoid both the ponderousness of Tone Group II and the disgruntled effect of Tone Group III, whilst still retaining the lightness, the airiness and the effect of personal participation in the situation, characteristic of the High Falling nuclear tone.

Examples:

As this tone group avoids the massive calmness or detachment of Tone Group II, it is very often used to express warmth, a desire not to appear cool to the listener.

Examples:

It was a very dark night said with Tone Group II would be appropriate as the opening of a story, where the narrator wishes to keep aloof from the proceedings; but in conversation, for instance as an answer to the question How did you manage to loose yourself?, It was an usually dark night, with Tone Group IV, would usually be more suitable, since it is less crushing and lighter in tone.

SPECIAL QUESTIONS.

This way of putting such questions avoids the coldness and possible hostility of Tone Group II and the surprise and displeasure of Tone Group III. It is, on the other hand, perfectly brisk and businesslike and is a very common way of asking these questions.

Examples:
^What’s the ^\time?

^When did you ar^\rive?

^How ^long did it ˙take you to ^\get _here?

^Where on ^earth have you ^\been _all this _time?

GENERAL QUESTIONS.

These questions have very much the same effect as those with Tone Group III, except that the impatience or querulousness is absent. The speaker puts forward his question for discussion, or as the key question in the discussion. Often enough he puts the question so that he may himself answer it negatively, so that it often, though not necessarily, sounds as though he is skeptical about the result.

Examples:

Suggestions are more often made with this tone group than with Tone Group II or III, sounding much less insistent or critical.

Examples:

^Would you prefer ^\this _chair?

^Can I ^\help you at _all?

COMMANDS.

Such commands seem to suggest a course of action to the listener, without the surprise of Tone Group III and without the calm demand for action of Tone Group II.

Examples:

INTERJECTIONS.

Tone Group IV here expresses mild surprise without the affront of Tone Group III and without the massive impact of Tone Group II.

Examples:

Assignments:

1. Listen to the recording of the “High Dive” on the tape. Put down the script and intonation marks of the mini dialogues you hear. Figure out what types of sentences the recorded drills are and what attitude do they convey according to the tune they are pronounced with. Prepare test reading of these mini dialogues in pairs.

2. Read the following drills in pairs. Follow the intonation marked in the text. Analyse them from the point of view of their connotations.

Intonation Drills:

STATESMENTS.