Prosody
We enclose spoken utterances in double quotation marks to distinguish them from sentences, which we print in italics. However, a spoken utterance consists of more than words. In speech meanings are communicated not merely by what is said but also by the way it is
said.
A: Has the Winston Street bus come yet?
B: Sorry. I didn’t understand. What did you say?
C: I’m afraid Fred didn’t like the remark I made.
D: Oh? What did you say?
E: Some of my partners said they wouldn’t accept these terms.
F: And you? What did you say?
G: You’re misquoting me. I didn’t say anything like that.
H: Oh? What did you say?
The sequence of words “What did you say?” occurs in all four dialogues but it is pronounced differently in each. Individual speakers may vary somewhat in just what they pronounce, but the four renditions can be represented as follows, where the most prominent syllable is indicated with capital letters and the rising or falling of the voice is indicated by letters going up or down.
We produce all our spoken utterances with a melody, or intonation: by changing the speed with which the vocal bands in the throat vibrate we produce rising or falling pitch or combinations of rise and fall.
By making one syllable in a sense-group especially loud and long, usually where the change of pitch occurs, we endow that word with a special prominence called accent. Intonation and accent together constitute prosody, the meaningful elements of speech apart from
the words that are uttered. Within each sense-group one word (more accurately, the stressed syllable of one word) is more prominent than the rest of the group, giving special attention or focus to that word. Thus, the more numerous the divisions made, the more points of emphasis there are. Compare “I’d never say THAT” with one focus and “I/would NEVer/say
THAT” with three.
Typically, when speech is represented in print, italics are sometimes used to indicate the accent, but this is done only sporadically and unevenly; our writing system largely neglects this important element of spoken communication. A written transcript of a speech can be highly misleading because it is only a partial rendition of that speech. In speech there is always an accent in some part of an utterance, and placement of accent in different parts of an utterance creates differences of meaning.
In the English language accent is mobile, enabling us to communicate different meanings by putting the emphasis in different places. The usual place is on the last important word, for instance:
My cousin is an ARchitect.
If the utterance is broken into two or more sense groups, each group has its own accent. The last accent is ordinarily the most prominent of all because the pitch changes on that syllable.
My COUsin is an ARchitect.
My cousin EDWard, who lives in FULton, is an ARchitect.
Thus the speaker can highlight one word or several words in an utterance and give special focus to that word or those words. The placement of accent on different words ties the utterance to what has been said previously.
One might then volunteer this information:
My cousin EDward’s an architect.
Here my cousin Edward is new information and the stressed syllable of the name Edward is accented. The phrase an architect now represents given information and is de-accented. Accent, by giving special focus to one word, can create contrast with other words that might have been used in the same place. Moving the accent to different words creates different meanings in what would otherwise be a single utterance.
said.
A: Has the Winston Street bus come yet?
B: Sorry. I didn’t understand. What did you say?
C: I’m afraid Fred didn’t like the remark I made.
D: Oh? What did you say?
E: Some of my partners said they wouldn’t accept these terms.
F: And you? What did you say?
G: You’re misquoting me. I didn’t say anything like that.
H: Oh? What did you say?
The sequence of words “What did you say?” occurs in all four dialogues but it is pronounced differently in each. Individual speakers may vary somewhat in just what they pronounce, but the four renditions can be represented as follows, where the most prominent syllable is indicated with capital letters and the rising or falling of the voice is indicated by letters going up or down.
We produce all our spoken utterances with a melody, or intonation: by changing the speed with which the vocal bands in the throat vibrate we produce rising or falling pitch or combinations of rise and fall.
By making one syllable in a sense-group especially loud and long, usually where the change of pitch occurs, we endow that word with a special prominence called accent. Intonation and accent together constitute prosody, the meaningful elements of speech apart from
the words that are uttered. Within each sense-group one word (more accurately, the stressed syllable of one word) is more prominent than the rest of the group, giving special attention or focus to that word. Thus, the more numerous the divisions made, the more points of emphasis there are. Compare “I’d never say THAT” with one focus and “I/would NEVer/say
THAT” with three.
Typically, when speech is represented in print, italics are sometimes used to indicate the accent, but this is done only sporadically and unevenly; our writing system largely neglects this important element of spoken communication. A written transcript of a speech can be highly misleading because it is only a partial rendition of that speech. In speech there is always an accent in some part of an utterance, and placement of accent in different parts of an utterance creates differences of meaning.
In the English language accent is mobile, enabling us to communicate different meanings by putting the emphasis in different places. The usual place is on the last important word, for instance:
My cousin is an ARchitect.
If the utterance is broken into two or more sense groups, each group has its own accent. The last accent is ordinarily the most prominent of all because the pitch changes on that syllable.
My COUsin is an ARchitect.
My cousin EDWard, who lives in FULton, is an ARchitect.
Thus the speaker can highlight one word or several words in an utterance and give special focus to that word or those words. The placement of accent on different words ties the utterance to what has been said previously.
One might then volunteer this information:
My cousin EDward’s an architect.
Here my cousin Edward is new information and the stressed syllable of the name Edward is accented. The phrase an architect now represents given information and is de-accented. Accent, by giving special focus to one word, can create contrast with other words that might have been used in the same place. Moving the accent to different words creates different meanings in what would otherwise be a single utterance.
0 Responses on "Prosody"
Post a Comment