Discourse analysis , intonation

1. Department of English Language and Literature
Major: English Language and Literature
Discourse Analysis
Session 14: Intonation in discourse
Dr. Badriya Al Mamari
Academic year 2021/2022

2. WHAT IS “INTONATION” ?
Intonation can be described as the movements or
variation in pitch to which we attach familiar labels
describing levels (ex. High/low) and tones
(falling/rising), etc.
(The way voice goes up and down in pitch.)
*Intonation is about how we say things, rather than
what we say.
*Without intonation, it's impossible to understand the
expressions and thoughts that go with words.

3. PITCH
is the
degree of
height of
our voice
in speech
SENTENCE
STRESS
makes the utterance
understandable to
the listener
RHYTHM
Sentence
stress
Provides
rhythm in
Connected
speech.
Key components of intonation

4. Accentual
Attitudinal
Functions
of
Intonation
Grammatical
Discourse

5. ATTITUDINAL
FUNCTION
To express emotions and attitudes which
adds a special kind of meaning to spoken
language as a difference from its written
counterpart.
Ex. finality, confidence, interest, surprise, doubt,
joy, pain, irony, anger, boredom, gratefulness,
and so on.

6. ATTITUDINAL
FUNCTION
How to express a certain attitude:
+ Different voice qualities for different
attitudes.
+ Different pitch range in different ways
+ Different keys: high key, mid key or low key
+ One may use different facial expressions,
gestures and body movements

7. ATTITUDINAL
FUNCTION
PRACTICE
Say “HELLO! IT’S NICE TO MEET YOU” to:
A friend you meet regularly;
A friend you haven’t seen for a long time;
A neighbor you don’t like;
A 6 month old baby;
A to know if someone is listening;

8. ACCENTUAL
FUNCTION
Accentual function derived from the word
“accent” = stress
To produce the effect of prominence on syllables
that should be perceived as stressed while tonic
stress on a particular syllable marks the word as the
most important in the tone-unit.
In this case, intonation works to focus attention on a
particular lexical item or syllable.
The most common position for the placement of tonic
syllable is the last lexical word (nouns, adjectives,
words, adverbs) and not the functional words.

9. ACCENTUAL
FUNCTION
Ex1:
- She was wearing a red dress (Normal placement)
- She was wearing a red dress
The writer wants to emphasize that she was not
wearing a green dress
Ex2:
- Where he is I want to know traveling to.
The word “to” is a preposition and is not a lexical
word and it is not stressed
- I want to now where he is traveling to.
The writer doesn’t want to know where he’s
traveling from so the word “to” here is stressed.

10. ACCENTUAL
FUNCTION
Functions of Accentual Intonation similarly for the
purpose of emphasis the tonic stress can be placed
in other positions.
a- |The movie was very boring |
b- |The movie was very boring|
a- |You shouldn’t talk so loudly |
b- |You shouldn’t talk so loudly|

11. ACCENTUAL
FUNCTION
Intonation is used to clear out the ambiguities.
- I have plans to leave.
(I am planning to leave)
- I have plans to leave.
(I have some plans/diagrams/drawings
that I have to leave)

12. ACCENTUAL
FUNCTION
PRACTICE
Take a single sentence, try stressing each word in turn,
and see the totally different meanings that come out.
1. I didn’t say he stole the money.
2. I didn’t say he stole the money.
3. I didn’t say he stole the money.
4. I didn’t say he stole the money.
5. I didn’t say he stole the money.
6. I didn’t say he stole the money.
7. I didn’t say he stole the money.

13. GRAMMATICAL
FUNCTION
To recognize the grammar and syntax structure
of what is being said by using the information
contained in the intonation.
For example such things as :
1. The placement of boundaries between
phrases, clauses and sentences.
2. The choice of falling and rising tones

14. GRAMMATICAL
FUNCTION
Grammar function performed by tone boundaries
→ remove ambiguity
Ex:
- |Those who sold quickly | made a profit |
(a profit was made by those who sold quickly)
- |Those who sold | quickly made a profit |
(a profit was quickly made by those who sold)

15. GRAMMATICAL
FUNCTION
2. The choice between the falling and raising tone
* To distinguish sentence types

16. GRAMMATICAL
FUNCTION
WH
Questions
Yes/No
Questions
Statements
Imperatives
Lists
- Falling intonation
Ex. Where are you from?
- Rising intonation
Ex. Have you finished?
- Falling intonation
Ex. She lives in a house in a small village.
- Falling intonation
Ex. Sit down, put it on the table
- Rising, rising,… and falling at the end.
Ex. I need a pen, a pencil, and some paper.

17. GRAMMATICAL
FUNCTION
2. The choice between the falling and raising tone
* Cause different meanings
Ex: Question tags:
They’re coming tomorrow, ↘ aren’t they?
→ request for confirmation.
They’re coming tomorrow, ↗ aren’t they?
→ request for information.

18. DISCOURSAL
FUNCTION
Intonation can signal to the listener what is to be taken as
“new” information and what is already “given”.
It can indicate when the speaker is indicating some sort
of contrast or link with material in another tone unit.
Mark prominence.
Indicate expectation of speakers from listeners
respone.
Faciculate cooperation between speaker.

19. DISCOURSAL
FUNCTION
1. Attention focusing
In case of attention focusing, tonic stress is
placed on the appropriate syllable of one particular
word in the tone unit. The tonic stress is placed on
the word that is the most important.
Ex.
a. She went to Scotland.
b. He went to the drawing-room.

20. DISCOURSAL
FUNCTION
2. Information content
Sometimes the stress is placed on syllable in term
of “information content”. The more predictable a
word occurrence in a given sentence, the lower its
information will be. The tonic stress will be placed on
words with high information content.
Ex.
a. I have to take a dog for a walk.
b. I have to take a dog to the vet.

21. Reference
• Levis, J. (2004). Intonation and discourse: Three
approaches. TESOL Quarterly, 38(2), 353-357.