1.1.

Phonetics & Phonology

Among linguistic levels under study, we have morphology, syntax, semantics and
phonology. Each level of analysis shows a façade of the language under study and its role in
knowing the constituant properties of that language linguistically speaking.

One of the pre-requisites for any language learner is to learn about the phonological
aspects of the target language. However, in the case of the English language, phonology
represents the grey side of the learning process of the language be it learnt as a second
language or as a foreign one. The case really matters because of the notorious aspect of the
English language in terms of correspondence between spelling and pronunciation.
As a matter of fact, many EFL learners struggle finding their way to give a right
acceptable pronunciation of certain words exposed to for the very first time; i.e., if the word
has not been heard or uttered by another interlocutor, or being considered as a „deja-vu‟ word,
the EFL learner feels as being put in a trap to produce the right sound equivalence of the
written word. The instances are manifold: tomb, comb, shepherd, enough, thorough, ewe,
Leicester, Edinburgh, psychic, lamb, etc.

The present section tries to jointly link the utility of studying phonetics and
phonology; and at the same time reveals some of the aspects of disparity between the two
branches.
- If phonology is the study of the way sounds function in languages, including
phonemes, syllable structure, stress, accent, intonation,
Then, phonetics; on the other hand, is the study of the physical properties of human
-
speech sounds, i.e., it describes the process of their physiological production.

The distinction between phonetics and phonology, however, is clearly stated below in
the following table:
Phonetics
Phonology
- Is a science concerned with the study - Is a description rather interested in the
of the sounds of speech acts and their relationships between the sounds of a
mode of production language and how they form patterns
- Its concern is more general since it - It is rather more specific since it looks
deals with the description of all at the combination of sounds patterns
sounds‟ production of all languages in a given language
and their physical properties

Table 1.1 phonetics and phonology (adapted)

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1.1.1. Phonetics
What is phonetics?

Phonetics is the scientific study of the sound (the phonic medium). Phoneticians are
not interested in all possible sounds but only those produced by human speech organs and
playing a role in human language and used in communication.

The phonic medium (sound) may be studied from three (3) points of view: articulatory,
acoustic and auditory aspects

1.1.1.1. Branches of phonetics

Phonetics describes speech sounds from a three-dimensional aspect; i.e., from the
initial production of sounds by the speaker, the travel of sounds (in the form of) waves, to the
reception of these sounds by (the ears of) the listener. The three branches of phonetics are
explained below as follows:

a. Articulatory Phonetics

This branch investigates and classifies speech sounds. It deals with how sounds are
articulated (produced) by the speech organs. This includes the description of all the process of
sound making from the very beginning of air accumulation in the lungs which constitute the
reservoir of air. Needless to assert that air is the principal source of speech sound‟s
production.

b. Acoustic Phonetics

It is concerned with describing the physical properties of the sound waves created by
the activity of the speech organs. In other terms, the sound travels from the mouth of the
speaker to the ears of the listener and this makes a potential link between production and
perception.

c. Auditory Phonetics

It is concerned with the perception of speech sounds by the ears and the brain. The
process of listening and comprehending a verbal utterance is tightly associated to the above
mentioned branches where production and perception with favorable conditions of sound
travel guarantee a permanent understanding between interlocutors (speakers and listeners).

1.1.1.2. Kinds of transcriptions

In using phonetic symbols, one can transcribe any word of any language. Transcription is
the writing down of a spoken utterance using a suitable set of symbols (IPA). The latter is the
standardized system of phonetic symbols; it stands for “International Phonetics Alphabet.” It
is a system created in 1888 by world phoneticians to ease the burden for language learners
throughout the whole world in their process of learning and/or teaching of a language, be it

11
second or foreign. In its original meaning, the term „transcription‟ implies converting written
representations into phonetic symbols. There are two commonly used kinds of transcription:

 Broad phonemic transcription puts forward the phonemic representations of vowel and
consonant sounds usually using slashes/ /
 Narrow phonetic transcription refers to the allophonic transcription usually including
the four details so far known as: aspiration, devoicing, velarisation and syllabic
function of some consonants and typically used between square brackets  .
1.1.2.Phonology
Phonology is the other face of the same coin covering the overall representation of
speech sounds. Clearly stated, phonology searches the possible combinations of
phonemes sounds in a given language. It (phonology) looks at the possible
distributions of (certain) sounds in different languages where some sounds cannot be
found in certain positions as compared to other languages. A very simple example can
be seen through the sound // in the
beginning of English words, oppositely, the same sound is largely used in other
languages like
Importance
French or Arabic. of Studying Phonetics and Phonology
If a mere immigrant lives in England for a period of time, he will speak the language
of that country; if a professional football player signs his contract with a club there, he will be
able to use the language at least for acceptable communication. So, why should other people
(EFL students and teachers) bother studying phonetics and phonology? The reason behind is
simple: to understand the way we write words with the sounds they represent. What is quickly
apparent are a host of orthographic inconsistencies. This fact makes the English language
being known by its „notorious aspect‟ where spelling forms very often differ from the
intended pronunciation. Examples are:

1. Sometimes different letters stand for the same sound

see, sea, scene, receive, thief amoeba, machine → /i:/

king, queen, car, pick, character, school → /k/

2. Sometimes the same letters can stand for different sounds, like:

sign, pleasure, resign

charter, character, machine

father, all, apple, about

any, age

3. Sometimes a single sound is spelled by a combination of letters, for instance:

Lock, that, book, boast, bee, shop, shepherd.

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 4. Sometimes a single letter stands for more than one sound, for example:

Exit, use

5. Sometimes letters stand for no sound, some illustrations are as follows:

Know, doubt, though, island, psychology, psychic, handsome

Below are very significant examples showing what really means to know about a
language phonetically and phonologically. Some illustrations are as follows:

- Tone use

In Chinese language, for instance, the same word with in spelling may diverge in
meaning according to the tone used.

‟ma‟→ with rising tone (pitch) ma → means „mother‟ 

„ma‟→ with falling tone (pitch) ma → means „home‟  tone in

Chinese is distinctive, however, in English is redundant

- Phonetic features

English Vs Arabic
/b/ is a plosive, labial, voiced consonant /b/ is a plosive, labial consonant
/b/ has three features /b/ has only two features
The words: „pin‟ and „bin‟ the‫اللهاللهاللهالله‬
allocution: ‫‟سبحان‬
e.g., pn & bn e.g., sp
In English, this is distinctive In Arabic, it is redundant
Meaning changes from voiceless p Meaning does not change from devoiced
or voiced b b or voicelessp

- Elision: slurred or mute sounds

English Arabic French

. /p’li:s/→ „police‟ ‫اهبطوا‬
" ‫"قلنا‬ . /p’t t/→ „petit‟
. /k’ner/→ „canary‟ . /kln’hbitu: / . / ’ve/→ „je vais‟

- words ending and sound changes

1. Words ending in // or / i:/ tend to change into / /

In English: /si: t/ & /e:l/→ („see it & „they all‟)
In French: / ssie m s:/ & /ilun/ → („ceci est ma sœur‟& „il y‟a une‟)

13
 2. Words ending in // or /u:/ tend to change into / w/

In English: /g w‟t/ & /tu: w’i:z/ → („go out‟ & „too easy‟)

In French: /u: w‟e/ → („ou est‟)

- Assimilation and sounds influence

English French Arabic (Algerian)

e.g., „dogs‟ e.g., „sage femme‟ ‫„ نتعها‬it‟s hers‟
e.g.,
/nth/
/dgz/ /sfm/

1.1.3. Phonetics vs. Phonology

The present section seeks to catch some of the discrepancies between the speech
sounds as provided through the two phone mediums, namely: phonetics and phonology. In
simple terms, the contrastive study between phonetics and phonology leads to acknowledge a
down-to-earth reality where the same speech sound is analysed differently via the two studies.

In brief, the present section puts the two phonic studies in the following sphere of
definitions:

- Phonetics is concerned with speech and its physical properties

- Phonology is concerned with the structure and function of these sounds in conveying
meaning
Trubetzkoy, one of the founders of the Prague School of Linguistics, wrote (1930:10):

“It is the task of phonology to study which differences in sound are related to
differences in meaning in a given language, in which way the discriminative elements are
related to each other, and the rules according to which they may be combined into words and
sentences”

Thus, “A phonetic study tells how the sounds of a language are made and what their
acoustic properties are. A phonological study tells how these sounds are used to convey
meaning”

Both phonetic and phonological studies refer to the inventory of segments in a language; but
as pointed out by Edward Sapir (1925: 16-18) “two languages can have the same inventory of
phonetic segments but have very different phonologies”

e.g. German English

„salz‟ / zalts / „salts‟ / s:lts /

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→The two words in both languages end with equivalent sound sequences / t s /;
but. their consideration differs from one language to another one because of some
phonological or distributional aspects of certain sounds. As a matter of fact, the two
sequences are contrastively viewed as follows:

a. In English

The sequence„t s‟ of the word „salts‟ is considered as two independent consonant

sounds by English speakers for two reasons:
1- The singular form is known as „salt‟→‟s‟is an additional segment ( linguistically
defined as: inflectional bound morpheme)
2- The sequence „t s‟ is not found in initial position in English words, unlike: / d ,t/
⇒So, „t s‟ as „t‟+‟s‟ fits the pattern or structure of the (English) language

b. In German

The sequence„t s‟ in the German language can be found in initial position and it is
spelt as „z‟ as it can be found also at final position. So, the German speakers analyse
(mentally) the sequence„t s‟ as one segment ts as opposed to the instance mentioned above
in the English language as two separate segments or allophonest and s

Likely, the two pronunciations of „ts‟ – in English and in German- are identical
phonetically. Thus, a purely phonetic study would miss distinction, i.e., it is in a phonological
study that the difference between t s and ʦ is captured. In other terms, in English, we
have two phonological segments /t/ and /s/ occurring in sequence; however, in German- in
addition to /t/ and /s/- there is a phonological segment /ʦ/

1.2. Double Articulation & Co-articulation

In the present section, we will shed some of the light on the possible interferences that
may occur when certain sounds are produced in a particular sequence with parallel or
simultaneous articulation belonging to the same rank (whereby, double articulation);
otherwise, we will be dealing with another type of articulation, namely: subordinary or
secondary articulation which induces automatically that another primary articulation
has already been performed.

In specifying vowel sounds, we need to mention two places of interference, namely:

the tongue and the lips; since for every tongue position, we may have two or more lip
positions, e.g., iand 

15
In consonants too, we may have to specify two places of interference. These two places
will identify a sequence of articulation relevant to either a double of sounds sharing the
same rank (both plosives and both fricatives) or secondary articulation where a primary
articulation is felt first to be followed simultaneously by another articulation, hence,
secondary articulation. They are exposed clearly below as follows:

1.3.1. Double Articulation

In P^K →two places at which the air stream is blocked (lips and velum
when both stops (plosives) are realized simultaneously, the resulting sound is different in
Pand K separately: e.g., the sequence PK→ in „upkeep‟ meaning “maintenance”

Sounds, such as: k^p g^b→ occur in ‘Igbo l

This double articulation is a labio-velar one with an equal interference (bilabial/ velar)
going on the same time. Such sounds are not commonly found in English or in French and in
Arabic either.
One double articulation we may hear in English is a glottal stop with the fortis stops
p,t,k in words, like: „super- letter- lucky‟ or in French: „maintenant‟
To resume, double articulation requires that two structures shall be of equal rank, e.g.,
“stop+stop” or “fricative+fricative”; otherwise, we will be dealing with subordinary
articulation, i.e., one primary, the other secondary

1.3.2. Secondary Articulation

An obvious example of primary/secondary articulation is the production of the sound /s/

with close lip sounding  this includes an alveolar stricture as primary step and a lip stricture
as a secondary action. That peculiar simultaneous stricture provides:

a labialized-alveolar fricative sound  s in the word „swim‟ →swm

a labialized- alveolar plosive  t in the word „twin‟ → twn

Also in the so-called „dark „l‟ as in „feel‟ or „bottle‟ or „cold‟ the tongue tip forms a
complete closure at the alveolar ridge and at the same time, the back of the tongue is raised
high towards the soft palate, we get ᛅ

Here, the alveolar closure is primary and the open velar articulation is secondary

‫ص‬,‫ ظ‬,‫ ط‬,‫ ض‬/ are said to be velarized

In Arabic, four sounds represented by the letters/
as the back of the tongue is raised back high towards the velum (secondary articulation)

16
 These sounds are represented as followsː

Arabic sounds Phonetic symbols

‫ص‬

đ
‫ض‬ T
‫ط‬
‫ظ‬ 
͙͙
They can represent minimal pairs when identified as allophones in Arabic specifically or
phonologically. E.g. ,‫بصمة̠ بسمة‬ b s m v sm
 . b

Examples of minimal pairs Transcriptions

‫ سم‬s 
n 
‫ صم‬ n

‫ دل‬ d l  
‫ضل‬
 đ  l 

‫ طل‬ t  ’ l.  

‫ تل‬ƫ’l t

‫ذل‬    ’ Vs.
l 
 ͙ ͙  ’ l  
‫ظل‬

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 Practice & Testing

 Question One:

Given that a phonetic study tells how the sounds of a language are made and what
their acoustic properties are; and that a phonological one explicates how these sounds are
used to convey meaning; this gives a thorough picture about the concerns of both phonetics
and phonology. However, Sapir‟s view „two languages can have the same inventory of
phonetic segments but have very different phonologies‟ launches the debate otherly.

To what extent is Sapir‟s view significant in the case where two or more languages are
brought to share some of the phonological aspects?

 Question Two:

From your experience learning (acquiring) languages, what types of middle ground
aspects of phonology, like: elision, linking and/or others may these languages have in
common

Using examples mainly from English, French and Arabic, provide a holistic view
about the shared phonological phenomena

 Question Three

Could we do without elision, Intonation, and Weak and strong forms?

 Question Four

From your collected lectures, try to explain the role of studying linguistic levels analysis.

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1.4. Intonation
The section in view looks upon the variations of tones humans use in their habitual
production of speech sounds for communication. As known, the pitch used when
speaking constantly changes to reveal numerous aspects of communicative properties
and playing important roles in displaying messages. The present section is displayed
under three labels: „intonation I‟ which defines the term „intonation‟ and the related
elements as pitch, variation, etc. and also tries to illicit some of types and functions of
commonly used tones. The second label goes under the title of „intonation II‟ which
describes the tone unit and its main components as the tonic syllable, the tonic stress;
the third label is „intonation III‟. It will consider more complicated cases of tone
structures where „the tail‟ (one of the tone units) behaves differently in different
situations
So, what is really a pitch?
st
Pitch: how high or low a sound is, necessarily under a speaker‟s control (1 condition). A
nd
pitch difference must be perceptible (2 condition). Any unit of phonology or grammar
rd
should be contrasted with another item, as with „pin‟ and „bin‟. (3 condition)

So, these three conditions must be gathered for any sound unit analysis, otherwise the
sound produced is of no linguistic significance.

1.4.1. Labels of Intonation

The labels represent a large description of tones and tone uses. They go under three
distinguishing features sketched clearly as follows:

1.4.1.1. Intonation I

The first label attempts to unravel some of the complexities related to analysing a
tone unit in its form and its possible functions. Relatedly to the above information, we need
the answers of two plausible questions about the English language- the language we are
supposed to learn and master for different communicative purposes. The questions are as
follows:

-What can we observe when we study pitch variations?

-What is the linguistic importance of the phenomena we observe?

Simply put, these two questions provide much of the data in relation to i) form of
intonation and ii) function of intonation. The answer to these two questions is exclusively
reliant on the shortest piece of speech which is the „syllable‟. In return, a syllable constitutes
what we call „utterance‟

e.g., two common one-syllable utterances are: „yes‟ and „no‟

The overall behaviour of the pitch in these examples (yes-no) is tone. These
answers can have different types of tones:

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1-movingfalling
 tonedescending
 from higher to lower pitch

tone rising tonea

 movement from lower to higher pitch

2-level a steady, unnatural soundingnative speakers do not use
tone

To represent tones, we use marks before the syllables:

Level (_yes) (_no)

Falling (yes) (no)
Rising (yes) (no)
N.b: there is no difference between high or low level that is why this „level‟ tone is
not used by native speakers and for other languages tone change is discriminative
In here, we deal with what we call „tone languages‟ which is the case of many
languages where the tone affects meaning, like: “Kono” (West Africa), “Chinese” (Peking
District). However, the English language is not a tone language because meaning of
utterances does not change by tone change, but it can provide functions to the message as
signs of refusal, deny, and complete acceptance or invitation to carry discussion or the reverse
yet. Hence, this peculiarity of tone use in English makes it difficult defining intonation
In English, we can distinguish two types of tones in use:

-Simple tones (level, fall, and rise)

-Complex tones fall-rise & rise-fall

The „fall-rise tone is quite frequently used and the „rise-fall is less used among
speakers of the English language. Nonetheless, circumstances where different tones are used
within the very limited context of words „yes‟ and „no‟ said in isolation are not really
exhaustive illustrations, but can provide a full branch of data clearing up the different uses
and functions of the tones; be it simple or complex. Nonetheless, these (yes-no) examples will
suffice in showing the grouping of functions as follows:
Fall yes no
This tone is usually regarded as neutral. Answering with such a tone means that there
is nothing to be said and or the fall tone gives an impression of „finality‟
1) - A: do you know Jones Smith?
B: yes
....this kind of answer (tone) gives rather a feeling of finality and makes it difficult for
A to continue. In here, B has shown a complete lack of interest to A‟s questioning and
that „there is no need to carry on speaking about the matter‟ even though the answer is
positive (yes).

2) – A: Do you know that the exams are postponed?

B: no

20
 ....this kind of negative answer (no) shows another time that there is no interest
in wondering about the reason „why‟ or about the next date „when‟. So, the fall
tone carries a typical function of disinterest and/ or indifference to such matters
and brings the idea of closing the communication

Rise yes no

Contrastively, this „rising tone‟ conveys an impression that something more is to
follow. Otherly, there is need to know more about the matter because the tone reveals a big
interest to what a says and B‟s answer invites for continuing communication
– A: Excuse me?
B: yes
....the „yes‟ answer with rising tone gives rather an invitation to continue the
conversation. It is a kind of readiness to and willingness to adhere to the conversation
initiated by A.

– A: do you know that the exams are postponed?

B: no
....oppositely to the above answer for the same question, the interlocutor „B‟ responds
vividly to A‟s question giving a serene sign of wonder about the fact raised through
A‟s questioning. So, there is interest in wondering why, when......

Fall-rise ˅yes ˅no

The fall-rise tone is used a lot in English with various functions. A fairy simple one is
„response with reservations‟ or as described as „limited agreement‟
– A: I have heard that it is a good school?
B: ˅yes
....The answer to the question here provides certainly an agreement with certain
reservations. In other terms, B‟s answer is a kind half-agreement giving an
impression that B, though adhering to the view or fact, will go on explaining why
he was reluctant to (completely) agree

– A: It is really an expensive record, is it?

B: ˅no
....Almost in this context, at the same time, there is something conceded with
reservation or hesitation. Though B is accepting the fact, but he is, in a way, not
completely agreeing since he tries to continue his explanation with certain
reservations later on.

Rise- fall ˄yes ˄no

The rise-fall tone expresses strong feelings of approval, disapproval or surprise. In
here, it is important to distinguish from other tones because each context reveals a different
feeling regardless to „yes‟ or „no‟ answer either

– A: you would not do an awful thing like hat, would you?

21
 B: ˄no
....such negative answer with that typical „rise-fall‟ tone gives a hard
disapproval and/ or tough surprise on the fact (rather accusation). So,
there is a strong refusal of the claim showing surprise, refusal and
complete
– A: Isn‟t shock
the view charming?
B: ˄yes
....this positive „rise-fall‟ tone confirms the state that the view is lovely. This
kind of answer with that tone shows a complete approval of the claim

– A: I think you said it was the best so far

B: ˄yes
....Another time the tone used here reveals complete acceptance of the claim or
rather the conclusion. So, both interlocutors agree on the pledge

Level _--yes --no

This type of tone is used in rather restricted context. It is used generally with one-
single syllable utterance conveying the idea of something uninteresting or as a routine. In
other terms, the speaker, using such a (neutral) tone, does not (is not requested to) express
feeling when responding

- calling names on a list on the behalf of a teacher

-pupils responding to the call of names by the teacher
- Insurance questions
-yes/no answers to fill in the form

1.4.1.2. Intonation II A vivid example is in the word „ma‟ in the Chinese language
where the tone used can decide on the meaning:
ma......... meaning “forest”
ma......... meaning “split”

However, English is one of the languages that do not use tone in this way but
other purposes. Such languages (English included) are called „intonation languages‟.
a. Tone-unit

A tone unit is greater in size than a syllable. However, in its smallest unit
can/may consist of a/one syllable or pore since we look at continuous speech in English
utterances. Because if English was spoken in isolated monosyllables, it will be similar to
those tone languages
e.g.,1. One-syllable utterance

you (we underline the syllable that carries a tone)

22
e.g.,2. A three-syllable utterance

Is it you the
( 3rdsyllable is more prominent: it carries a rising tone)

Other used terms are as follows:

-Tonic syllable  nucleus

-Tonic stress  nuclear stress
e.g.,3. ˅Jhon is it you

A tone-unit has a place in a range of phonological units that are in a

hierarchical relationship:

The Hierarchy

Speech utterance + utterance +utterance

Utterance tone-unit+ tone-unit+ tone-unit

Tone-unit foot+ foot+ foot

Foot syllable+ syllable+ syllable

Syllable phoneme+ phoneme+ phoneme

The Structure of Tone-unit

The role of the tonic syllable is outstandingly important in the tone-unit. Each imple tone-unit
has only one and only one tonic syllable. This is to mean that the tonic syllable is an
obligatory component of the tone-unit (as the vowel is for the syllable)

The other components are:

1.The Head:

e.g., 1- those (one-syllable utterance)

Consider e.g., 2- ’give me those (a long utterance) the same tonic syllable

The rest of the tonic syllable (in e.g., 2) is called the „head‟ the first syllable “’give”

Has a stress mark and this is important to explain and define what is a head.

23
A head, then, is all that part of a tone-unit that extends from the first stressed syllable up to
(but not including) the tonic syllable. i.e., if there is no stressed syllable, there cannot be a
head of the tone-unit. So, in e.g., 2 “’give and me” are the head
Look at the following examples:

“’Bill ‟called to ‟give me those the head is the first, first syllables

1 2 3 4 5 6

“in an hour There is no head since (in and an) are unstressed
123 They form the „pre-head‟ another component of the
Tone-unit

2.The Pre-head In contrast to the „head‟, the „pre-head‟ is composed of all the
unstressed syllables in a tone-unit ad preceding the first stressed syllable. Thus, we find the
pre-head in the two following situations:
-When there is no head (no stressed syllable preceding the tonic syllable)
e.g., in an hour
When there is a head
e.g., in a ‘little ‘less than an hour
pre-head head tonic syllable

3. The Tail
Another component of the tone-unit is the „tail‟. By definition, a tail is any syllable(s)
between the tonic syllable and the end of the tone-unit. Look at the examples below:
Look at it
What did you say
Both of them were here
As a conclusion, we may have globally, a tone-unit structure as follows:

Pre-head head tonic syllable tail

PH H TS T

To mark tone-units‟ boundaries in a spontaneous, longer stretch of speech:

a)- double vertical lines ‖ to mark silent pauses (pause-type)
b)- single vertical line  to mark non-pause boundaries

e.g. ‖and then „nearer to the˅ front ‖ on theleft there is a „bit offorest 
„coming „down to the waterside ‖ and then a bit of a bay ‖

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 We can mark their structure as follows:
। then ┋ nearer to the ┋ front ‖ on the┋
‖ and
PH H TS PH
left there is a ┋ ‘bit of ┋ fo ┋ rest
TS PH H TS T
┋ coming down to the ┋ wa ┋ terside ‖ and
H TS T
then a ┋ ‘bit of a ┋ bay ‖
PH H TS

N.b: The above passage contains five tone-units.

When necessary, to mark stress in a tail, we use a special symbol; a raise ٠) dot (
Tone is carried by the tonic syllable: intonation is carried by the tone-unit

The next section will provide a wide range of possibilities of tones or pitches in a
simple tone-unit. Let us consider the matter in what follows.
-In a one-syllable utterance, the single syllable must have one of the five tones (falling, rising,
fall-rise, rise-fall; level)
-In a tone-unit of more than one syllable, the tonic syllable must have of these tones.
- If the tonic syllable is the final syllable will not sound much different from that of a
corresponding one-syllable tone-unit
e.g.,  here shall we sithere

However,

-if there are other syllables following the tonic syllable (i.e., there is a tail), we find that the
pitch movement of the tone is not completed on the tonic syllable.
-If, for example, a tail follows a tonic syllable that has a rising tone, it will always be found
that the syllable or the syllables of the tail will continue to move upwards from the pitch of
the tonic syllable

1. e.g., if the
word “what” is said on a rising tone  what, it might have a pitch movement tha
could be put into a diagram, like this:

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...............

what

..............

..............

what did you say the pitch of the syllables in the tail getting

... ............. progressively higher

2. e.g., if the word “why” is said with a falling tone why , it is diagrammed like this:

.................................

why with a falling tone is diagrammed like this:

.................................

.................................

 why did you go the speaker‟s lowest pitch is realized before

........… .......................... the end of the tail, to the bottom level

N.b: In case of a level tone, syllables following in tail will continue at the same level

1.4.1.3. Intonation III

Review:

In what preceded (intonation 1 and 2), different types of tones were displayed; then the
structure of the tone-unit was explained. For the latter, when the tonic syllable is followed by
a tail, that tail continues and completes the tone begun on the tonic syllable with cases of
rising and falling tone

Now, we consider more difficult cases of the following possibilities of pitches (tones)
in complex tone-units. Let us consider what follows:
-Fall-rise and rise-fall tones followed by a tail

The pitch movements of fall-rise and rise-fall tones are characterized by being often broken or
distorted by the structure of the syllables they occur on

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e.g., the pitch movement on ˅some ..............

...............

However,

-If we add a syllable, the „fall‟ part of the „fall-rise‟ is usually carried by the first syllable and
the „rise‟ part by the second
e.g., the pitch movement on ˅some٠ men ........................

......................
But,
-If the continuity of the voicing is broken; however, the pitch pattern might be like this:
.......................

......................
And,
-If there is a tail of two or more syllables, the normal pitch movement is for the pitch to fall on
the tonic syllable and to remain low until the last stressed syllable in the tail. The pitch, then,
rises from that point up to the end of the tone-unit

And,

-If there is no stressed syllable in the tail, the rise happens on the final syllable.
Here are some examples
I ˅might ٠buy it I ˅might have thought of ٠buying it
..................................... ..............................................................

..................................... ..............................................................

Nb. Tonal rhyme: the tone pitch of ˅some ٠chairs is rhyming with ˅some
The same as: „balloon‟ and „moon‟

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a. ˅most of them ˅most of it was for them

________________ ____________________________

_______________ ____________________________

With the rise-fall tone we find a similar situation

b.If the tonic syllable is followed by a single syllable in the tail, the „rise‟ part of the tone
takes place on the first (tonic) syllable and the „fall‟ part is on the second

˄no ˄no one ˄no sir

_____________ _______________ ______________

_____________ _______________ ______________

c.When there are two or more syllables in the tail, the syllable immediately following the
tonic syllable is always higher and any following syllables are low

e.g., ˄ beaut i ful all of them went

____________ ____________________

____________ _____________________

thats a nice way to speak to your mo ther

_____________________________________________

1.4.2.Functions of Intonation

A major question always looms largely among language users about the utility of
intonation in speech delivery, hence comprehension or misunderstanding. The dichotomy in
reverse is established when we acknowledge the plight of using tones in different languages.

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 Surely, the tone difference in a given utterance in certain languages is meaning-
discriminative (e.g., ma and ma); however, in other languages, like: English, the
variation in tone use does not change meaning but cleanly reveals certain functions that
can add more
information to the message. This is why the subsequent question is raised:
-What would be lost if we were to speak without intonation?

In other terms: - each syllable said on the same level pitch,

Speech produced with no pauses,

Articulation done with no changes in speed or loudness!
 This is a mechanical speech (a speech which is not human-related because of the

absence
of feelings, emotions and targeted intentions)
Answer
Intonation makes it easier for a listener to understand what a speaker is trying to
convey. Convergent to the idea of easing the burden of understanding messages, the use of
intonation is meant to help listeners to make fewer efforts to work out what speakers mean by
what they say. These functions are explained through different ways though complex. They
are proposed as follows:

1.4.2.1. Attitudinal Function

It enables us to express emotions and attitudes as we speak, and this adds a special kind
of meaning to spoken language. For example, the same sentence can be said in different ways;
which may be labeled as: „angry‟, „happy‟, „grateful‟, „bored‟, and so on.

Tone types Attitudinal functions Examples

. fall Finality, definiteness „I‟m absolutely certain
. rise - General question „Is it over‟
- Listing „ red, brown, yellow or blue‟
- Invitation to continue „ I don‟t get the idea‟
- Encouraging „you can do it‟
. fall- - uncertainty, doubt „ you may be right‟
- requesting „ would you allow him‟
rise .
- surprise „you were first‟
Recapitulative table eliciting the major attitudinal functions of intonation
rise-fall

1.4.2.2. Accentual Function

It helps to produce the effect of prominence on syllables that need to be perceived as

stressed. Also, it indicates the placing of tonic stress on a particular syllable which marks out
the word to which it belongs as the most important in the tone-unit.

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 1.4.2.3. Grammatical Function

The listener is better able to recognize the grammar and syntactic structure of what
is being said by using the information contained in the intonation.
A very good instance is the following sentence:

“Those who sold quickly made a profit” this sentence can be said in at least two different

ways:   Those who sold quickly  made a profit 

Those
 who sold  quickly made profit 

The matter is seen below:

a. A profit was made by those who sold
quickly b. A profit was quickly made by those
who sold
1.4.2.4. Discourse Function

Through the use of this function of intonation, the listener is able to appreciate the
following:
-What is to be taken as „new‟ and what is „already given‟
-Suggestion of contrast or link with material in another tone-unit
-What kind of response is expected?

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 Practice & Testing

Intonation

-Activity one

The following sentences are given with intonation marks. Sketch the pitch within the lises
below, leaving a gap between each syllable
٠Which was the cheap one did you say

______________________________________
___________________________________________________

٠only ٠want to taste it

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

She would have thought it was obvious

________________________________________

________________________________________

There wasn‟t even a piece of bread in the house

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

Now will you be-lieve me

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

Activity two

This exercise is similar, but here you are given polysyllabic words and a tone; you must draw
an appropriate pitch movement between the lines

-(rise) opportunity ____________

____________

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-(fall-rise) actually ____________

____________

-(fall) confidently ____________

____________

(rise-fall) magnificent ____________

____________

-(rise) relationship ____________

____________

-(fall-rise) afternoon ____________

____________

Activity three

In the following pieces of the dialogue you are given an indication in brackets of the
feeling or attitude expressed. Put the appropriate intonation mark

-It looks nice for a \swim. Its rather cold (doubtful)

-Why not get a ∕car. Because I can‟t afford it (impatient)
-Ive lost my \ticket. You‟re silly then (stating the obvious)
-What times are the ∕ buses. Seven o‟ clock seven thirty and eight (listing)
-She got eight „\A‟ levels. Eight (impressed)
-Will the \children g o. Some of them might (uncertain)

Activity four

The following sentences are given without punctuation. Underline the appropriate tonic
syllable places and mark tone-unit boundaries where you think they are appropriate
(He wrote the letter in a sad way) he wrote the letter sadly
A-(it‟s regrettable that he wrote the letter) he wrote the letter sadly
B-Four plus six divided by two equals five
C-Four plus six divided by two equals seven

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1.5.Aspects of Connected Speech

1.5.1. Rhythm

In simple terms, the word „rhythm‟ signifies the regular intervals of time. This may
happen in constant and usual situations, like: heart-beats, flashing-lights, a piece of
music or any other customary (expected) pace of actions occurring with equal lap of
time. Significantly, the English language is said to be rhythmical and that the rhythm
is detectable in the regular occurrence of stressed syllables (and that only the
regularity is relative).
From the above statement, one may assert the theory that English has a stress-timed
rhythm which implies that stressed syllables will tend to occur at relatively regular intervals
whether they are separated by stressed syllables or not; i.e., only stressed syllables are taken
into account to evaluate the interval of time in English speech delivery and that only these
(stressed) syllables constitute the unique parameter to making equal pauses regardless to the
number of interfering unstressed syllables. Below a very good example clarifies the fact:
e.g., ‘walk „down the „path to the „end of the ca‟nal

The stress-timed rhythm theory states that the times from each stressed syllable to the
next („walk to „down; or „down to „path; or „path to „end; or „end to ca‟nal) will tend to be the
same, irrespective of the number of intervening unstressed syllables. From no unstressed
syllable to three intervening unstressed syllables, the interval of time remains the same and
this can be felt exceptionally in oral productions and perceptions.

N.b. So, if English is a “stress-timed” language like Russian and Arabic; other
languages, like: French, Spanish and Yoruba are “syllable-timed” languages where all
syllables have the same interval of time during their production

Back to the „stress-timed‟ theory, we have a very good instance of the use of that assumption
in the “foot”(a unit of rhythm in verse)
e.g., ‘Walk  ‘down the  ‘path to the  ‘end of the ca’nal

The foot does not include all following unstressed syllables (without including any
stressed syllables). The examples below show how the foot is used in different situations:
(S: strong; W: weak)

Twenty places

s↗ ↘w s↗ ↘w

‘Twen ty ‘pla ces

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