the attitudinal function of english intonation: analysis of spoken material
TRANSCRIPT
UNIVERZITET U BEOGRADU
FILOLOŠKI FAKULTET
Jelena (Tot) Petrović
THE ATTITUDINAL FUNCTION OF ENGLISH
INTONATION: ANALYSIS OF SPOKEN MATERIAL
Diplomski-master rad
Mentor: doc. dr Biljana Čubrović
Beograd, 2009.
FUNKCIJA IZRAŽAVANJA STAVOV
A I EMOCIJA INTONACIJE ENGLESKOG JEZIKA: ANALIZA
GOVORNOG MATERIJALA
Apstrakt:
Predmet ovog diplomskog-master rada je analiza snimljenog materijala sa ciljem da se
ispita funkcija izražavanja stavova i emocija („the attitudinal function“) intonacije
engleskog jezika u „prirodnom govoru“ u načelu, kao i da se proveri da li je intonacija
sama po sebi dovoljna za njihovo izražavanje. Za ovu analizu odabran je snimljeni
materijal – rečenice i delovi dijaloga – iz filma „Hari Poter i kamen mudrosti“, na
osnovu pretpostavke da bi ovaj film mogao obilovati primerima verbalnog izražavanja
stavova i emocija svih vrsta zbog široke lepeze živopisnih likova i priče pune
emotivnog naboja. Svi analizirani primeri, izuzev onih kod kojih se nije moglo doći do
validnih zaključaka, ocenjeni su kao oni koji izražavaju PA (pozitivan stav ili emociju),
ili, u odsustvu elemenata koji prethode nukleusu, kao oni koji imaju HT ili LT (visoku
ili nisku temperaturu). Takođe, svi su označeni sa C kada postoji kongruencija gore
navedenih ocena sa teoretskim postulatima, odnosno sa D u slučaju odstupanja od istih.
Rezultati ove analize rezimirani su u zaključku. Oni pokazuju da između izolovanih
nuklearnih tonova u materijalu koji je bio predmet analize i značenja koja su im
dodeljena u teoriji postoji stoprocentna kongruencija, dok različiti intonacijski modeli
odstupaju od teoretskih tumačenja u 20 odsto slučajeva.
Ključne reči:
Intonacija engleskog jezika, funkcija izražavanja stavova i emocija, analiza snimljenog
materijala, funkcija izražavanja stavova i emocija intonacije engleskog jezika
THE ATTITUDINAL FUNCTION OF ENGLISH
INTONATION: ANALYSIS OF SPOKEN MATERIAL
Abstract:
The subject of this thesis is an analysis of recorded material with the aim to examine
the attitudinal function of English intonation in “natural speech” in general and to
check if intonation itself is enough to convey an attitude or emotion. The material
chosen for the analysis are the sentences and parts of dialogues appearing in the film
“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”. This film was chosen on the basis of the
presumption that, with its broad spectrum of vivid characters and a highly emotional
story, it could abound in verbal displays of emotions and attitudes of all kinds. All
analysed examples, except for the ones with inconclusive results, were assessed as
conveying PA (positive attitude or emotion), or, in the absence of prenuclear material,
as having HT or LT (high or low temperature), followed by C where there is
congruence of the above with the theoretical postulates, or D where the above
assessment deviates from them. The results of the analysis are summarized in the
concluding section, and they show that isolated nuclear tones in the analysed material
are 100 percent congruent with the meanings assigned to them in theory, whereas
different intonation patterns deviate from theoretical interpretations in 20 percent of the
cases.
Key words:
English intonation, attitudinal function, analysis of recorded material, attitudinal
function of English intonation
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Intonation ......................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 The functions of English intonation ................................................................................. 1
1.3 English linguistic intonation system ................................................................................ 3
1.3.1 Tonality ......................................................................................................................... 3
1.3.2 Tonicity ......................................................................................................................... 3
1.3.3 Tone .............................................................................................................................. 3
1.3.4 Temperature and emotions ............................................................................................ 4
1.3.5 Stylization ..................................................................................................................... 5
1.4 Method of selection and analysis of recorded material .................................................... 5
2. ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................... 7
2.1 SEQUENCE 1: Albus Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid meet in
front of the Dursleys' house to leave baby Harry on their doorstep ....................................... 7
2.1.1 Conversation between Professor McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore ....................... 7
2.2 SEQUENCE 2: At the Dursleys .................................................................................... 10
2.2.1 Aunt Petunia is waking Harry up: .............................................................................. 10
2.2.2 Immediate contrast (to her son Dudley): .................................................................... 11
2.2.3 Uncle Vernon to Harry: .............................................................................................. 11
2.3 SEQUENCE 3: In the Zoo ............................................................................................ 12
2.3.1 Harry, to the boa .......................................................................................................... 12
2.4 SEQUENCE 4: Back at the Dursleys............................................................................ 12
2.5 SEQUENCE 5: In the shack, Hagrid’s appearance ...................................................... 15
2.6 SEQUENCE 6: With Hagrid in London - In Leaky Cauldron ...................................... 16
2.7 SEQUENCE 7: With Hagrid in London - At Ollivanders’ ........................................... 17
2.8 SEQUENCE 8: With Hagrid in London – in the Inn .................................................... 18
2.9 SEQUENCE 9: With Hagrid in London – at the train station ...................................... 18
2.10 SEQUENCE 10: On the train to Hogwarts ................................................................. 19
2.11 SEQUENCE 11: At Hogwarts .................................................................................... 19
2.12 SEQUENCE 12: At Hogwarts – the Sorting Hat ........................................................ 20
2.13 SEQUENCE 13: At Hogwarts – the Banquet ............................................................. 21
2.14 SEQUENCE 14: At Hogwarts – Professor McGonagall’s class ................................ 21
2.15 SEQUENCE 15: At Hogwarts – Professor Snape’s class ........................................... 22
3. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 23
3.1 Incidence of isolated nuclear tones in analyzed material and their congruence with
theoretical postulates ............................................................................................................ 23
3.2 Incidence of combinations of heads and nuclear tones in analyzed material and
their congruence with theoretical postulates ........................................................................ 24
3.3 Cases of congruence of isolated nuclear tones .............................................................. 24
3.4 Cases of incongruence (deviations) .............................................................................. 25
3.5 Difficulties in analysing spoken material ...................................................................... 26
References ........................................................................................................................... 29
Appendices .......................................................................................................................... 30
1
1. Introduction
1.1 Intonation
Intonation is an inseparable component of vocal communication. It is a non-
grammatical and non-lexical component of communication and it refers to pitch
variations in speech. Together with other non-grammatical and non-lexical components
of communication, such as tempo, rhythm, loudness, sound colour, etc., it belongs to a
distinct language system which is called the vocal code. The elements of the vocal code
very rarely occur independently of the elements of the verbal code, called segments,
and they almost always occur simultaneously with them. “Therefore units of the vocal
code are called suprasegmental”. (Hlebec 2004: 83).
Intonation is a very important suprasegmental element because speech would
sound robotic without it. Recent studies have shown that hearers pay particular
attention to intonation when they are trying to understand a sentence. It is, therefore,
essential both for native speakers, who acquired intonation together with their native
tongue, and for non-native speakers, who have to learn intonation patterns of a foreign
language together with learning that foreign language on the level of segments, to use
intonation correctly if they want to be understood. It is equally important to be aware of
existence of different intonation patterns and their meanings if a hearer wants to
understand parts of communication properly (Al-Sibai 2004: 21-22).
1.2 The functions of English intonation
Basic functions of English intonation are the following (Wells 2006: 11-12):
Attitudinal – serving to express our attitudes and emotions;
Grammatical - serving to identify grammatical structures in speech;
Focusing or informational – serving to show what information in an utterance is new
and what is already known;
Discourse or cohesive – serving to signal how sequences of clauses and sentences go
together in spoken discourse, to contrast or cohere;
Psychological – serving to organize speech into units easy to perceive, memorize or
perform;
Indexical – serving as a marker of personal or social identity.
2
While it is obvious that the great majority of these functions are self-evident,
and that we may reasonably expect them to overlap in speech, one of them – the
attitudinal function – was found disputable to a certain extent, with the following
argumentation:
“The notion of “expressing an emotion or attitude” is itself a more complex one
than is generally realized.” ... “However, one point is much more important and
fundamental than all the problems discussed above. To understand this point you
should imagine (or even actually perform) your pronunciation of a sentence in a
number of different ways: for example, if the sentence was ‘I want to buy a new car’
and you were to say it in the following ways: “pleading”, “angry”, “sad”, “happy”,
“proud”, it is certain that at least some of your performances will be different from
some others, but it is also certain that the technique for analysing and transcribing
intonation introduced earlier in the course will be found inadequate to represent the
different things you do. You will have used variations in loudness and speed, for
example; almost certainly, you will have used different voice qualities for different
attitudes.” ... “It is very likely that you will have used different facial expressions and
even gestures and body movements. These factors are all of great importance in
conveying attitudes and emotions, yet the traditional handbooks on English
pronunciation have almost completely ignored them.” (Roach 1991: 165-166).
To test this notion, rather than asking “a lot of speakers to say a list of sentences
in different ways according to labels provided by the analyst, and see what intonational
features are found in common (for example, one might count how many speakers used
a low head in saying something in a “hostile” way)”, Roach proposes (1991: 165): “A
much more useful and realistic approach is to study recordings of different speakers’
natural, spontaneous speech and try to make generalizations about attitudes and
intonation on this basis.”
To this end, the subject of this thesis is an analysis of recorded material with the
aim to examine the attitudinal function of English intonation in “natural speech” in
general and to check validity of the above notions on the basis of the results thus
obtained.
The material chosen for the analysis are the sentences and parts of dialogues
appearing in the film “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”. This film was chosen
on the basis of the presumption that, with its broad spectrum of vivid characters and a
highly emotional story, it could abound in verbal displays of emotions and attitudes of
3
all kinds. The analysis includes 40 examples: 57 sentences (statements, wh questions,
yes/no questions, commands, exclamations), totalling 3 minutes and 21 seconds in
duration and appearing in 15 prominent sequences in the first 50 minutes of the film.
The theoretical descriptions, interpretations and tone classifications used for the
purposes of this analysis are given in the following sections.
1.3 English linguistic intonation system
English linguistic intonation systems are known as tonality, tonicity and tone (Wells
2006: 6).
1.3.1 Tonality
Tonality involves division of the spoken material into chucks (Wells 2006: 6). Each
chunk has its own intonation pattern (tune), for which reason chunks are known as
intonation phrases, or IPs. Depending on how many pieces of information a speaker
wants to emphasise, i.e. to make them the focus of a hearer’s attention, one sentence
can have a single IP, or multiple IPs.
1.3.2 Tonicity
Tonicity involves accenting the words that speakers consider important and, therefore,
to which they wish to focus the hearer’s attention on. It is very important to emphasise
that not the whole words are accented, but their stressed, lexical syllables. By accenting
we mean that we add the pitch prominence to the rhythmic prominence of the stressed
syllable (Wells 2006: 7). Such accented syllable is called the nucleus, and it is the most
prominent accent in an IP. Furthermore, there can be only one nucleus in one IP.
1.3.3 Tone
The tone is a pitch movement associated with the nucleus. The following nuclear tones
are identified (Wells 2006: 216-222), and, alone or in combination with different
prenuclear material, each one conveys a different meaning:
Falls
High fall – a falling pitch movement from a relatively high pitch to a low pitch,
denoting higher degree of emotional involvement;
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Low fall – a falling pitch movement from a mid pitch to a low pitch, denoting a lesser
degree of emotional involvement;
Rise-fall – complex pitch movement, starting with a rise from a mid pitch to a high
pitch and then a fall from high to low, finishing on a low pitch, denoting either that the
speaker is impressed, or that he wants to impress someone; the other meaning of this
tone is that of challenge or disapproval.
Fall-rises
Mid fall-rise - a pitch movement that first falls from a high pitch to a low pitch and then
rises, ending on a mid pitch, denoting, as fall-rises in general do, non-finality, implying
something left unsaid, or denoting reservation;
Rise-fall-rise - a pitch movement starting with a rise from a mid pitch to a high pitch,
then falling from high to low pitch, after which it rises back to a mid pitch;
High fall-rise – a pitch movement that falls from a mid pitch to a low pitch and than
rises to a high pitch.
Rises
High rise – a pitch movement from a mid pitch to a high pitch, associated with
checking, pardon questions and echo questions;
Low rise – a pitch movement from a low pitch to a mid pitch, associated with showing
interest or routinely encouraging further conversation;
Wide rise – a pitch movement from a low pitch to a high pitch, associated with non-
solidarity, or surprise in yes-no questions and greetings;
Mid level – a pitch neither rises, nor falls; it is generally associated with non-finality
and “has no special tone meaning except non-finality” (Wells 2006: 224) – although in
the analytical part of this thesis we will see that certain meaning can be associated with
mid level tones, i.e. “a ‘flat’ emotion (indifference, lack of interest or weariness) on the
part of the speaker” (Hlebec 2004: 86).
1.3.4 Temperature and emotions
“...the pitch of the nuclear tone tells of the speaker’s emotions, higher tones express
those emotions which associate with higher temperature, such as excitement, while
lower tones convey emotions which associate with lower temperature, such as, for
5
example, caution.” (Hlebec 2004: 86) This observation will be used to test the
attitudinal function of English intonation in the absence of prenuclear material (cf. 1.4).
1.3.5 Stylization
In addition to ordinary intonation patterns, English also has a few stylized patterns,
used only rarely, and having their pitch and rhythmic characteristic different from
ordinary ones. “Unlike an ordinary falling tone, the stylized high-mid has an abrupt
step down between two level syllables.” (Wells 2006: 240)
For the purposes of this analysis, the symbols “– –” were used for stylized
patterns, according to Wells. In addition, for those readers who might prefer such kind
of interpretation, the term semitone was used as a measure of difference in pitch
between two syllables, in those sentences that contain some form of stylized patterns,
as well as in some of those which proved to be the cases difficult for analysis.
“Semitone” is a term used in music science to denote one of 12 equal tone intervals that
a tempered scale consists of (such as, for example, the one that we all must have heard
of – C major, or DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, TI, DO; one semitone is the interval
between MI and FA and TI and DO; intervals between all other pairs of tones in this
scale are the intervals of two semitones). According to a more technical definition
(Pravica, Drincic 2006: 27), intervals between semitones are equal on a logarithmic
scale, and the difference between them in frequency is 12√¯2 ≈ 1.06, which means that
each tone (in the scale of 12 semitones within an octave) is higher than the preceding
one by 6%.
1.4 Method of selection and analysis of recorded material
In addition to the above theoretical descriptions, interpretations and tone classifications
used for the purposes of this analysis, it is important to mention that the sentences and
parts of dialogues were chosen randomly. It was done in order to obtain objective
results relevant to the attitudinal function in general; intentional selection and analysis
of only those sentences that are lexically neutral from the emotional point of view
(Roach 1991: 165) would not give us objective results regarding the attitudinal function
in general, but it would lead us only in direction of affirmation or refutation of the
theoretical propositions of this particular author. Furthermore, no paralinguistic
properties such as “facial expressions and even gestures and body movements” (cf. 1.2)
6
were taken into account, for three reasons: 1) facial expressions and gesticulation can
be present during speech, but they can also occur independently and convey meaning
on their own; 2) these paralinguistic properties are highly individual, and may be
present in some people (intentionally or unintentionally, consciously or unconsciously)
and totally absent in others; 3) taking into account such paralinguistic phenomena
would, on the one hand, make this task only too easy and, on the other hand, it might
lead this analysis in a wrong direction. Therefore, only those phenomena which can be
heard were taken into account, analysed and commented, while the other ones were
neglected.
No examples were avoided, not even the ones spoken in SSE or WCA, under
the assumption that they, too, can be valid for this analysis and that the language of the
speakers of these and all other varieties approximates RP when they are eager to be
understood (by another RP speaker). An attempt was made to analyse at least some
SSE nuclear tones, and this was done by referring to the parts pertaining to accent and
intonation from two sources: Mayo (1996) and Scobbie/ Gordeeva/ Matthews (2006).
As one such endeavour - analysis of spoken material - is everything but easy,
some software support was necessary. The following software was used for this
analysis: 1) Praat; 2) Sound Forge 7.0; 3) Sound Forge 9.0. Actually, the analysis of
spoken material is so difficult, and auditory perception so blurred on so many occasions,
that I would not have been able to identify some tones and patterns without the Praat
software readings and without stretching time of the recordings and shifting their pitch
in the software Sound Forge.
Finally, all analysed examples (all IPs), except for the ones with inconclusive
results and those SSE examples that do not approximate to RP, were assessed as
conveying PA (positive attitude or emotion), or, in the absence of prenuclear material
(i.e. heads), as having HT or LT (high or low temperature), followed by C where there
is congruence of the above with the theoretical postulates, or D where the above
assessment deviates from the theoretical postulates. Notwithstanding the grammatical
function of some isolated nuclear level tones and fall-rises (which also applies to rising
tones in general), these tones, together with rise-falls, were also assigned HT or LT
according to their pitch, as they participate in the general atmosphere of an utterance.
The results of the analysis are summarized in the concluding section.
7
2. Analysis
2.1 SEQUENCE 1: Albus Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid meet
in front of the Dursleys' house to leave baby Harry on their doorstep
2.1.1 Conversation between Professor McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore
A1 “Are the rumours true, Albus?” → IP1: Are the 'rumours /true, | IP2: \Albus? || 1
IP1: Onset on ru(mours), mid-pitched, with the pitch falling as it approaches the rising
nucleus; the distinguished characteristic of the rising nuclear tone is its prolonged
duration, wherefore it, to some extent, resembles BE wide-rise nuclear tone; the nuclear
tone (SSE) is rising and reaching higher pitch (around 200 Hz) than that at which the
onset starts (180 Hz), yet it remains somewhere around the mid-range pitch (the higher
frequency sound /around 250 Hz/ shown in the spectrogram2 below for this waveform
is the sound of Professor McGonagall’s heels); Professor McGonagall shows her
surprise, anxiety and interest; IP2: final vocative bears slightly falling nuclear accent
(SSE), which also remains slightly above the mid range, thus forming a separate IP –
intended, actually, to introduce Albus Dumbledore to the audience.
1 Professor McGonagall speaks Scottish Standard English; therefore, only nuclear tones and some onsets in some
phrases have been taken into account for the purpose of the present analysis; some phrases and all nuclear tones are
marked as SSE /Scottish Standard English/, in or outside the brackets.
2 All spectrograms and waveforms are given in Appendix 1; Appendix 1 is provided on a CD, together with
Appendix 2.
8
A2 “I’m afraid so, Professor. The good… and the bad.” → IP1: 'I’m a'fraid 'so,
Pro'fessor. || IP2: The /good… | IP3: (–
–)and _the –bad. ||
IP1: Some kind of stylized speech – the phrase sounds as if it were chanted; there is a
noticeable rise of about five semitones between the first and the penultimate accented
syllable (slightly rising), followed by a fall of about one semitone between the last
accented and the last unaccented syllable. Special attention in this thesis is paid to this
particular IP, as it represents a very difficult example of tonicity and tonality, and as it
is extremely difficult to locate the nucleus in this phrase. All the efforts to provide
plausible analysis results in search for any standard intonation pattern remained
fruitless for the following reasons: - the only syllables which are somewhat more
prominent than the others are so and (pro)fess(or); “so” is normally not accented when
it is used as a pro-form and, as concerns -fess-, there is no good reason here for the final
vocative to bear the nuclear accent; furthermore, the time distances between all
accented syllables are almost equal, except for the distance between so and
(pro)fess(or), which is a little longer, and even the greater problem poses the fact that
even if (pro)fess(or) does not bear a nuclear accent, it still appears as bearing at least a
secondary accent, which would not be plausible if the syllable so bore a nuclear accent.
Further possibilities have been considered:
1) IP1: 'I’m a'fraid /\so, Professor.
IP1: Complex rising head (climbing head), rise-fall nuclear tone, spreading over the tail
– however, the accented syllables, even if secondary, in so proposed head are too near
each other to make this head sound like a climbing head; in addition, this rise-fall does
not fall from high to low pitch, as it should, therefore we can not attach the attribute
rise-fall to this tone.
2) IP1: 'I’m a'fraid /so, IP2: Pro
\fessor.
IP1: Complex rising head (climbing head), high-rise nuclear tone (which is very rare
head-nucleus combination in practice); IP2: high-fall nuclear tone – however, this high
fall does not sound as a high fall, and, as a matter of fact, it is not.
9
Therefore, the analysis results concerning the nucleus location in IP1 would have to
remain inconclusive if we were to look for some standard pattern.
The remaining option is to take into consideration the chanting, i.e. the
stylization element in this phrase, which is much more obvious when listening to it
after the time stretch option is used in the sound processing software. Furthermore, as
already mentioned above, the time distances between all accented syllables are almost
equal, forming a kind of series of mini IPs. Hence, the following “chunking”, focuses
of information and tones are proposed as the most plausible solution (mIP – mini IP;
the attribute “mini” is used because of very short duration of all IPs):
IP1: (mIP1): – I’m | (mIP2): a–fraid | (mIP3): so, (mIP4): Pro fessor. ||
Much more obvious example of stylized speech will be presented later in this thesis
(A7).
IP2: High-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; HT: C
IP3: Again, some form of stylised speech. IP3 also sounds almost as if it were chanted
(some tone on “and”, which can not be the nucleus, is perceivable), and chanted in a
priest-like manner – indeed, such type of tune might be just appropriate for Albus
Dumbledore, a great wizard.
A3 “And the boy?” → IP: And the /boy?
IP: Nuclear tone resembling BE fall-rise (SSE: low rise), rising to mid-range pitch and
remaining there – declarative question. The low rise sounds neither distinctively as a
BE fall rise, nor as a BE low rise, but as some tone in-between the two.
A4 “Hagrid is bringing him.” → IP: \Hagrid is bringing him.
IP: Nuclear low fall; here we have an example of (narrow) contrastive focus – Albus
knows what Professor McGonagall is actually asking – who is bringing the boy, who is
in charge of the boy – and, replying to her question, he chooses to accent the word
Hagrid, the name of the person who is bringing the boy. LT: C
10
A5 “Albus, do you really think it safe leaving him with these people – I’ve watched
them all day, they’re the worst sort of Muggles imaginable! …They really are!”
→
IP1: 'Albus, | IP2: ◦do you ◦really ◦think it /safe | IP3: (leaving him with these people) |
– IP4: (I’ve watched them all day), | IP5: they’re the 'worst sort of # \Muggles | IP6:
i\\maginable! || IP7 …They 'really \are! ||
IP1: Vocative – nuclear tone, slight rise (SSE), nonfinal; IP2: series of tertiary accents
preceding the rising nuclear tone (SSE), nonfinal; IP3: SSE; IP4: SSE; IP5: high-
pitched onset (SSE - vowel shortening of /ɜ:/, pronounced almost as /ә/), falling nuclear
accent, approximate to a low fall and emphasised by a preceding pause; IP6: high
falling nuclear tone (SSE), starting at a very high pitch and obviously emphasising
Professor McGonagall’s negative attitude towards these people and her being shocked
by what she saw while she was monitoring them; IP7: high-pitched onset – prenuclear
falling tone is noticeable, falling nuclear accent (SSE), rising before the fall, this fall
being very difficult to hear because it overlaps with Dumbledore’s replica.
2.2 SEQUENCE 2: At the Dursleys
2.2.1 Aunt Petunia is waking Harry up:
A6 “Up! Get up! Now!” → IP1: >Up! || IP2: 'Get
>up! || IP3:
\Now! ||
IP1: Mid-level nuclear tone (slightly above the mid-pitch range /around 280 Hz/ and
slightly rising) - Aunt Petunia shows indifference, or, rather, hostile emotions towards
Harry; LT: C IP2: high head, almost level with much higher-pitched level nuclear tone
than that in IP1 (the head is lower than the nucleus by around one semitone) – she is
still showing the same emotions, but in a more aggressive way; NA: D IP3: high-fall
nuclear tone, starting at the pitch pretty much higher than that at which IP2 finishes -
utterly unfriendly, authoritative, aggressive. HT: C
11
2.2.2 Immediate contrast (to her son Dudley):
A7 “Here you come, the birthday boy.” → IP1: ¯Here –you | IP2: /come, | IP3: the
¯birth–day | IP4: \boy.
All IPs: Swooping changes in pitch /“baby talk”/; IP1: something like stylized high-mid
(¯ –) pattern; IP2: high rise nuclear tone, non-final; HT: C IP3: again, stylized high-mid
pattern, but starting at a somewhat lower pitch than the nucleus in IP1, because it
approaches the closing in IP4 /the same display of emotions as in IP1/; IP4: some form
of a high-fall nuclear tone, but it does not fall from a high to a low pitch; it falls from a
high to somewhere around the mid pitch in this set of phrases (from more than 400 Hz
to around 270 Hz); it is cheerfully concluding the baby talk in the previous IPs. HT: C
2.2.3 Uncle Vernon to Harry:
A8 “Hurry up! Bring my coffee, boy!” → IP1: ↘Hurry >up! || IP2: 'Bring my \coffee,
boy!||
IP1: Falling head, followed by a mid-level nuclear tone (accented adverbial particle in
the phrasal verb) that sounds as if slightly rising; the head starts at a very high pitch –
combined with rapid tempo, Uncle Vernon’s command sounds impatient, unfriendly,
authoritative and aggressive; NA: D IP2: high level head, high-fall nuclear tone in a
command; the high-fall nuclear tone is spreading over the tail (a final vocative) and
ending at a very low pitch – the attitude remains the same; this phrase, uttered in a very
loud, almost squeaky voice falling from a very high to a very low pitch, sounds very
unfriendly and derogative, so, out of the three other people in the room, it is quite clear
to whom Uncle Vernon’s command is addressed. NA: D
12
2.3 SEQUENCE 3: In the Zoo
2.3.1 Harry, to the boa
A9 “Can you hear me?” → IP: ↗Can you \hear me?!
IP: Rising head, high-fall nuclear tone – as opposed to the default tone in yes-no
questions, the yes-no rise, in this case we have an insistent fall in a yes-no question,
making it a sort of both interrogative and exclamatory statement in which Harry shows
his disbelief and astonishment. PA: D
A10: “Do you talk to people often?” → IP: Do you 'talk to people \often?
IP: High level head, nuclear tone falling from the pitch slightly above the mid-range
pitch of Harry’s voice in this phrase (around 250 Hz) to the pitch slightly below it -
from around 300 Hz to around 200 Hz; in this particular phrase, it can be considered a
high-fall, as it can not be considered a low fall; here again, we have an insistent fall in a
yes-no question, showing Harry’s astonishment concerning the boa’s ability to “speak”.
PA: C
2.4 SEQUENCE 4: Back at the Dursleys
A11: “What happened?” → IP1: 'What \happened?
IP1: High head, high-fall nuclear tone. Although a fall is the default tone for wh
questions, Uncle Vernon is yelling here, and the loudness and quality of his voice, as
well as the tempo of the utterance, are the suprasegmentals that determine the attitude
that he wants to convey. NA: D
A12: “There’s no such thing as magic!” → IP1: |There’s /no | IP2: such \/thing | IP3: |as
\magic! ||
IP1: Low head, low-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; NA: C IP2: mid fall-rise nuclear tone,
nonfinal; LT: C IP3: low head, high-fall nuclear tone, final. Uncle Vernon is speaking
13
almost in undertones and through clenched teeth, therefore all heads appear low. In
combination with slow tempo, his statement, spread over so many phrases, sounds
utterly categorical. NA: C
A13: “Yours? Who would be writing to you?” → IP1: \/Yours? || IP2: ↘Who’d be
writing to /\you?||
IP1: Nuclear mid fall-rise, making Uncle Vernon’s comment (to Harry’s claim that the
letter is his) a declarative question; this is an implicational fall rise, showing Uncle
Vernon’s sardonic attitude towards the notion that Harry might have got a letter; HT: C
IP2: falling head + rise-fall nuclear tone - uncle Vernon is cruelly derisive and implies
that there is no one who would write to Harry. NA: C
A14: “Fine day is Sunday. In my opinion, best day of the week. Why is that, Dudley?”
→
IP1: 'Fine \day, | IP2: is ¯–Sunday. || IP3: In \/my opinion, | IP4: ◦best ◦day of the \week.
|| IP5: ◦Why is ◦that, /Dudley? ||
IP1: High head, law-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP2: something like stylized pattern,
involving mid-to-low pitch, short syllables, almost sung, with a slight fall between the
nucleus and the following unaccented syllable – Uncle Vernon is in a good mood; IP3:
mid fall-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; LT: C IP4: law-fall nuclear tone, final; LT: C IP5:
high-rise nuclear tone - encouraging rise in wh question, but Uncle Vernon is not really
asking a question, he is actually expecting confirmation of his previous statement and
citation of the well known reasons for that. HT: C
A15: “‘Cause there’s no post on Sundays?” → IP1: Cause there’s |no \post | IP2: on
/Sundays?
IP1: Low head, low-fall nuclear tone – negative attitude + low temperature – Harry
replies instead of Dudley and sounds ironical, saying the words which Uncle Vernon
wants to hear; NA: C IP2: high-rise nuclear tone – declarative question and final
adverbial of time typically making with the preceding IP a fall-plus-rise pattern. HT: C
14
The above analysis is plausible both from the perspective of standard intonation
patterns and the meaning that this particular pattern should convey – as for the meaning,
it almost perfectly fits the intended one. Yet, we must not neglect that, perhaps owing
to the fact that Harry (i.e. the actor playing Harry) is just a boy, before the word
Sundays we can distinctly hear (and see in the spectrogram below) three falling tones
(one of which on the above proposed nucleus in IP1) of almost equal duration and
moving within almost equal pitch range. The word post sounds more prominent owing
to greater intensity (also clearly shown in the spectrogram), which helped in identifying
the nucleus here (although it is the tone we should be searching for, not intensity).
These successive tones of similar pitch (no, post, on), together with the two preceding
ones, but unaccented and shorter in duration (‘cause, there’s), give this sentence an
atmosphere of boredom and apathy, which is not to be neglected - regardless of the fact
that this is a child’s voice - because it’s just the way it seems that Harry feels at this
point.
A16: “Right you are, Harry!” → IP1: 'Right you \are, | IP2:
/Harry!
IP1: High head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP2: high-rise nuclear tone; very
emphatic exclamation – Uncle Vernon sounds complacent. HT: C
A17: “No blasted letters today!” → IP: ¯No ↘blasted ↘letters to\\day!
15
IP: High prehead, complex falling head (sliding head), followed by the extra high,
falling nuclear tone – a rare combination of head and nuclear tone, as sliding head is
most usually followed by a fall-rise or mid-level nuclear tone; this is an emphasised
exclamation, showing Uncle Vernon’s great complacency. PA: C
A18: “Daddy’s gone mad, hasn’t he?” → IP1: ↘Daddy’s gone \/mad, | IP2: \hasn’t he? ||
IP1: Falling head, mid fall-rise nuclear tone; NA: D IP2: As opposed to the default tone
in tag questions, the yes-no rise, here we have an insistent (high) fall, characteristic of
exclamations, showing us Dudley’s shock and fear. HT: C
2.5 SEQUENCE 5: In the shack, Hagrid’s appearance
A19: “Make a wish, Harry.” → IP1: Make a /wish, | IP2:
/Harry. ||
IP1: Rising nuclear tone in a command – Harry is encouraging himself to make a wish
for his eleventh birthday; the rise spreads around the mid pitch range, ending at the
pitch slightly above it – therefore, we shall consider it a high rise; HT: C IP2: final
vocative bears a rising nuclear tone, which shall be considered high and interpreted in
the same way as the nuclear tone in IP1; in addition, final vocative bears a nuclear tone
here to emphasise that Harry is talking to himself. HT: C
A20: “You’re a wizard, Harry.” → IP1: |You’re a /wizard, IP2 (?):(whisp.)
Harry. 3
IP1: Low head, low-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; PA: D IP2: The word Harry is said in a
low, husky voice, almost whispered. It is quite possible that we have a separate
intonation phrase here, which would reflect the grammatical function of English
intonation, in this case the syntactic function.
3 Hagrid speaks with a West Country accent.
16
A21: “I’m a what?” → IP: I’m a /what?
IP: High-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal, declarative question; it is obvious that Harry is
very surprised. Here we have a classic example of a please-repeat wh question, where
the focused element (wizard) is changed into a question word (what), uttered with a rise.
HT: C
2.6 SEQUENCE 6: With Hagrid in London - In Leaky Cauldron
A22: “Bless my soul… it’s Harry Potter!” → IP: (Bless my soul)… it’s ↗Harry \Potter!
IP: Low prehead (following the low pitch and low intensity in interjection “bless my
soul”), rising head, high-fall nuclear tone, high temperature – expression of the
bartender’s great excitement and joy upon meeting Harry, as opposed to indifferent
(and hostile) mid-level nuclear tone used by Aunt Petunia at the beginning of the story.
PA: D
A23: “Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, I can’t believe I’m meeting you at last.”
→
IP1: 'Doris \Crockford, | IP2: Mr. \Potter, | IP3: I 'can’t be
\lieve | IP4: I’m 'meeting ◦you
◦at \last.
IP1: Very high-pitched head, emphatic and falling towards the lower-pitched high-fall
nuclear tone; PA: C IP2: law-fall nuclear tone, not indicative of lower emotional
involvement, but simply pronounced in lower key, to separate the name of the person
she is introducing herself to from her own name (in a similar way as it should be the
case in A20, IP2) LT: C; IP3: high head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP4: high head,
low-fall nuclear accent, final. PA: C
17
2.7 SEQUENCE 7: With Hagrid in London - At Ollivanders’
A24: “I wondered when I’d be seeing you, Mr. Potter.” → IP1: 'I \wondered | IP2:
◦when ◦I’d be ◦seeing \you, IP3: Mr. \Potter.
IP1: Prolonged monosyllabic head, rising slightly above the mid pitch of the actor’s
voice in this phrase as it approaches the law-fall nuclear tone – solemnly intoned words
by Mr. Ollivander; PA: C IP2: as there is no head to support the nucleus, but only a
series of the low-pitched tertiary accents (rhythmic stresses), and taking into account
the general atmosphere of this utterance, the nuclear high tone (high fall) in this case
conveys a positive attitude – Mr. Ollivander does not show surprise for seeing Harry, as
he obviously indicates that it was just a matter of time. He implies, though, that Harry
Potter is a person of great prominence and importance, which is another great contrast,
and a direct one, with the way this boy was being addressed by his uncle and with the
low-to-zero importance his uncle was assigning to him; HT: C, PA: C IP3: low-fall
nuclear tone – Harry’s surname is emphasised in a solemn way LT: C.
A25: “Give it a wave!” → IP: 'Give it a //wave!
IP: High head, wide-rise nuclear tone in a command, suggesting Mr. Ollivander’s
impatience following Harry’s hesitation to try the wand, as if wanting to say: “Do it,
already, what are you waiting for?” At the same time, he is encouraging Harry to use it.
PA: C
A26: “(I remember every wand I’ve ever sold, Mr. Potter). It so happens that the
phoenix whose tail feather resides in your wand, gave another feather – just one other.
It is curious that you should be destined for this wand, when its brother gave you that
scar.”
→
IP1: It 'so \happens | IP2: that the \phoenix | IP3: whose ↘tail feather re↘sides in your
\/wand, | IP4: /gave | IP5: a'nother \feather | – IP6: /just | IP7: \one | IP8: \other. || IP9: It is
'curious that \/you | IP10: should be destined for 'this \/wand, | IP11: when its /\brother |
IP12: ◦gave ◦you ◦that \scar. ||
18
IP1: High head, law fall – positive attitude, low temperature – Mr. Ollivander adds
weight to what he is about to say; PA: C IP2: no head, high fall – the importance of
this particular phoenix is emphasized; HT: C IP3: complex falling head (sliding head) -
increased emphasis, mid fall-rise nuclear tone (nonfinal); PA: C IP4: high-rise nuclear
tone, nonfinal; HT: C IP5: high head, low-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP6: low-rise nuclear
tone, nonfinal, LT: C IP7: low-fall nuclear tone, final, LT: C IP8: low-fall nuclear tone,
final, same as in IP7, but starting and ending at even lower pitch – the series IP7 and
IP8 sounds weighty – Mr. Ollivander places great emphasises on the fact that the
phoenix gave just one other feather; LT: C IP9: high head, mid fall-rise nuclear tone,
nonfinal, emphasising Harry; PA: C IP10: high head, mid fall-rise, nonfinal; PA: C
IP11: rise-fall nuclear tone, emphasising the brother-feather; HT: C IP12: series of low
pitched tones, tertiary accented, said in a very slow tempo and emphasising the weighty
law-fall nuclear tone that follows. LT: C
2.8 SEQUENCE 8: With Hagrid in London – in the Inn
A27: “Something about you stumped him that night.”
→
IP1: /\Something about you | IP2: \stumped him that night. ||
IP1: Rise-fall nuclear tone, spreading over the tail; LT: C IP2: low-fall nuclear tone,
low-level tail. LT: C
2.9 SEQUENCE 9: With Hagrid in London – at the train station
A28: “But Hagrid! There must be a mistake! This is platform nine and three-quarters.
There’s no such thing – is there?”
→
IP1: But \Hagrid! || IP2: There 'must be a mis
\take! || IP3: /\This is platform | IP4: ◦nine
and ◦three-\quarters. || IP5: There’s 'no such
\thing | – IP6:
/is there? ||
19
IP1: High-fall nuclear tone; HT: C IP2: high head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP3:
rise-fall nuclear tone, spreading over the tail; HT: C IP4: two tertiary accented syllables,
followed by a high-fall nuclear tone; HT: C IP5: high head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA:
C IP6: high-rise nuclear tone – yes-no rise, tag question. HT: C
2.10 SEQUENCE 10: On the train to Hogwarts
A29: “These aren’t real frogs, are they?” → IP1: 'These aren’t \real frogs, | IP2: /are
they?
IP1: High head, low-fall nuclear tone – positive attitude, final; PA: C IP2: low-rise
nuclear tone, tag question. LT: C
A30: “Has anyone seen a toad? The boy named Neville’s lost one.” → IP1: Has
'anyone seen a \toad? | IP2: The 'boy named \Neville’s | IP3: \lost one. ||
→
IP1: High head, low-fall nuclear tone – insistent fall in a yes-no question – Hermione
sounds businesslike and serious; PA: C IP2: high head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C
IP3: low-fall nuclear tone, low temperature. LT: C
A31: “You’ve got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?” → IP1: You’ve 'got
\dirt on your nose, | IP2: by the /way | IP3: 'did you \know? ||
IP1: High head, low-fall nuclear tone, positive attitude + low temperature; PA: C IP2:
low-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; LT: C IP3: high head, low-fall nuclear tone, final,
positive attitude + low temperature – Hermione still sounds businesslike and serious,
which is a feature of her character. PA: C
2.11 SEQUENCE 11: At Hogwarts
A32: “It’s true, then – what they’re saying on the train – Harry Potter has come to
Hogwarts.”
20
→
IP1: It’s \true, then | – IP2: what they’re 'saying on the
\train – | IP3: 'Harry
\Potter | IP4:
'has come to \Hogwarts.
IP1: High-fall nuclear tone, very high-pitched; HT: C IP2: high head, high-fall nuclear
tone, lower pitched than the one in IP1; PA: C IP3: high head, high-fall nuclear tone;
PA: C IP4: high head, high-fall nuclear tone, lower-pitched than the one in IP3. This is
a very good example of the high degree of relativity of the high fall pitch range. PA: C
2.12 SEQUENCE 12: At Hogwarts – the Sorting Hat
A33: “Ha! Another Weasley… I know just what to do with you! Gryffindor!”
→
IP1: /Ha! | IP2: A'nother \Weasley… | IP3: I know 'just what to do with /\/you! || IP4:
\\Gryffindor! ||
IP1: High-rise nuclear tone – exclamation, not with the most usual exclamatory fall, but
with a rise; HT: C IP2: high head + prolonged, low-fall nuclear tone – such Hat’s
utterance adds to the tension of the moment; PA: C IP3: high head, rise-fall-rise nuclear
tone – further adding to tension; PA: C IP4: high fall, exclamation – if there was a tone
that could be called a “wide fall”, then this would be the one, falling from around 360
Hz to only around 95 Hz! HT: C
A34: “Hmm, difficult, very difficult.” → (Hmm), | IP1: \difficult, | IP2:
\very | IP3:
\difficult. ||
IP1: High-fall nuclear tone; HT: C IP2: high-fall nuclear tone, higher pitched that the
one in IP1, and very prolonged, rising before the fall, with the duration of rising almost
the same as that of falling; HT: C IP3: low-fall nuclear tone, very low-pitched. LT: C
All phrases are uttered very slowly, all tones are prolonged, thus producing a dramatic
effect.
21
A35: “Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There’s talent, oh yes -- and a
thirst to prove yourself...”
→
IP1: 'Plenty of \courage, | IP2: ↓ I see, | IP3: 'not a bad /mind | IP4: \either. || IP5:
'There’s \talent, | IP6: ↓ oh \yes | -- IP7: and a \thirst | IP8: to
\prove yourself... ||
IP1: High head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP2: low key, showing that this particular
piece of information is not important; the tone of the nucleus can not be identified,
owing to very low pitch of the voice; IP3: high head, low-rise nuclear tone; PA: C IP4:
function word that attracts the nucleus, law fall nuclear tone; LT: C IP5: high head,
high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP6: low key, irrelevant comment, law-fall nuclear tone;
LT: C IP7: law-fall nuclear tone; LT: C IP8: high-fall nuclear tone. HT: C
2.13 SEQUENCE 13: At Hogwarts – the Banquet
A36: “I know you -- you're Nearly Headless Nick!” → IP1: \/I know you | IP2: --
¯you’re ↗Nearly ↗Headless \Nick! ||
IP1: Mid fall-rise nuclear tone, spreading over the tail; HT: C IP2: high prehead,
climbing head, high-fall nuclear tone – emphatic exclamation. PA: C
2.14 SEQUENCE 14: At Hogwarts – Professor McGonagall’s class
A37: “That was bloody brilliant.”
→
IP1: 'That was \bloody | IP2:
\brilliant. ||
IP1: High head, high-fall nuclear tone; PA: C IP2: high-fall nuclear tone. HT: C
22
2.15 SEQUENCE 15: At Hogwarts – Professor Snape’s class
A38: “Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in a possession of
abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough… to not pay attention!”
→
IP1: Then a\/gain, | IP2: \maybe | IP3: \some of you | IP4: have come to >Hogwarts | IP5:
in pos\/session | IP6: of a'bilities so /\/formidable | IP7: that you feel \/confident
enough…| IP8: to /not | IP9: >pay | IP10: at\tention! ||
IP1: Mid fall-rise nuclear tone; LT: C IP2: low-fall nuclear tone; LT: C IP3: high-fall
nuclear tone; HT: C IP4: mid-level nuclear tone; LT: C IP5: mid fall-rise nuclear tone;
LT: C IP6: high head, rise-fall-rise nuclear tone; NA: D IP7: mid fall-rise nuclear tone,
spreading over the tail; LT: C IP8: low-rise nuclear tone; LT: C IP9: mid-level nuclear
tone, slightly rising, nonfinal; LT: C IP10: high-fall nuclear tone, final. HT: C
A39: “Mister Potter.” → IP: ↗Mister \Potter.
IP: Rising head, high-fall nuclear tone, negative attitude + high temperature, final. NA:
C
A40: “Our new celebrity.” → IP1: \/Our | IP2: >new | IP3: ce\lebrity. ||
IP1: Mid fall-rise nuclear tone, nonfinal; LT: C IP2: mid-level nuclear tone, slightly
rising, nonfinal; LT: C IP3: high-fall nuclear tone, final. HT: C IP1 and IP2 are uttered
rather slowly, and the tones are prolonged and soft. Professor Snipe’s words are intoned
in such way that it is clear that he does not approve of “celebrities” and that Harry will
have to show what he is capable of.
23
3. CONCLUSION
3.1 Incidence of isolated nuclear tones in analyzed material and their congruence
with theoretical postulates
The following results have been obtained in the present analysis of spoken material:
Out of 122 total analyzed IPs, isolated nuclear tones have been found in 52 IPs
– SSE and inconclusive results are not included. 28 isolated falling nuclear tones have
been identified, out of which 9 are low falls, 16 high falls and 3 rise-falls; there is a
100% congruence of these tones with theoretical postulates. 12 isolated rising nuclear
tones have been identified, out of which 4 are low rises, 8 high rises, and 0 wide rises;
there is a 100% congruence of these tones with theoretical postulates. 8 isolated fall-
rise nuclear tones have been identified, out of which 8 are mid fall-rises, 0 high fall-
rises and 0 rise-fall-rises; there is a 100% congruence of these tones with theoretical
postulates. Finally, 4 isolated level tones have been identified, out of which all 4 are
mid-level tones; there is a 100% congruence of these tones with theoretical postulates.
The results are summarized in the following table:
Tones Incidence Congruence Congruence %
Falls 28
Low falls 9 9 100%
High falls 16 16 100%
Rise-falls 3 3 100%
Rises 12
Low rises 4 4 100%
High rises 8 8 100%
Wide rises 0 0 /
Fall-rises 8
Mid fall-rises 8 8 100%
High fall-rises 0 0 /
Rise-fall-rises 0 0 /
Level tones 4
Mid level tones 4 4 100%
Total isolated nuclear tones 52 52 100%
Table 1: Incidence of isolated nuclear tones in the analyzed material and congruence
24
3.2 Incidence of combinations of heads and nuclear tones in analyzed material
and their congruence with theoretical postulates
The results pertaining to identification of combinations of simple/complex heads and
nuclear tones and their congruence with theoretical postulates are summarized in the
following table (falling and rising simple heads are included in high heads and low
heads, respectively):
Heads+nuclear tones Incidence Congruence Congruence %
Simple 42 33 78.57%
HH+HF 15 13 86.67%
HH+LF 10 10 100%
HH+FR 3 2 66.67%
HH+LR 1 1 100%
HH+WR 1 1 100%
HH+RFR 2 1 50%
HH+LT 2 0 0%
HH+RF 1 1 100%
LH+LF 1 1 100%
LH+LR 2 1 50%
LH+HF 4 2 50%
Complex 3 3 100%
Climbing+HF 1 1 100%
Sliding+HF 1 1 100%
Sliding+FR 1 1 100%
Total heads+nuclear tones 45 36 80.00%
Table 2: Incidence of combinations of heads and nuclear tones and congruence
The results presented above show that, out of total 45 cases, there are 9 cases
where deviations from the meanings described in theory are present.
3.3 Cases of congruence of isolated nuclear tones
As described in theory, level tones in the analyzed material convey the meaning of
indifference and hostility (A6), or coldness (A40, IP2), high tones give high
temperature and denote higher emotional involvement, and low tones produce low
temperature and denote lesser emotional involvement. Fall-rises, apart from meaning of
non-finality, tend to be either implicational or to express reservations. Rise-fall-rises
were used either to express derision (A13, IP2), irony (A38, IP6), or for additional
25
emphasis and to produce an effect of tension (A33, IP3). Rise-falls were used for
additional emphasis and to show that the speaker is impressed (A27, IP1) or wants to
impress the hearer (A26, IP11), as well as for expression of amazement (A28, IP3).
Finally, stylized tones were used for ‘baby talk’ or to express satisfaction and
complacency (A14, IP2).
According to the results of this analysis, isolated nuclear tones sometimes do
not convey a positive attitude when they are high or a negative attitude when they are
low. For example, the low nuclear tone in A4 conveys a positive attitude, and its low
temperature reflects the seriousness of the moment. Likewise, the high tone in A6 IP3
conveys a negative attitude, and its high temperature reflects Aunt Petunia’s hostility
and impatience.
3.4 Cases of incongruence (deviations)
Cases of incongruence have been found in A6 IP2, A8 IP1 and IP2, A9, A11, A18 IP1,
A20 IP1, A22 and A38 IP6.
In A6 IP2 the combination ‘high head + level nuclear tone’ has been identified,
which should convey the meaning ‘introducing more’ (Hlebec 2004: 87); this
incongruence should be, thus, taken conditionally, because ‘introducing more’ does not
exclusively imply either positive or negative attitude. The same applies to A8 IP1.
A8 IP2 and A11 are the cases where the combination ‘high head + high falling
tone’ has been identified. These are clear cases of incongruence as, contrary to
expectations, the attitude that they convey is extremely negative. So, what happened
with the phrase 'What \happened? This is the sentence which we can hear almost every
day in spoken language, and, most usually, it can be marked with exactly the same
intonation symbols to denote a positive attitude and a genuine interest or concern.
Intonation-wise, it is uttered in a very high-pitched (male) voice. Higher pitch usually
accompanies a higher degree of one other suprasegmental, voice loudness, and this
voice loudness also plays a significant role here, because Uncle Vernon is yelling.
Nevertheless, contrary to what Roach proposes (cf. 1.2), we can imagine this sentence
being uttered with all the above suprasegmental elements (for example in some urgent
situation when one wants to be heard by someone standing at a distance), yet without
conveying a negative attitude. What seems to play a decisive role in negative attitude of
26
this IP is voice quality. This is the notion that requires further investigation, but one
thing is certain: in these two cases, other suprasegmentals do not emphasise the general
atmosphere and attitude conveyed – they change it.
In A18 IP1 the combination ‘falling head+mid fall-rise’ has been identified,
which should generally convey positive attitude, i.e. one of the following meanings:
contrasting, encouraging, prompting, soothing, gently warning, hesitant (Hlebec 2004:
89). However, none of the above can be applied to this phrase, although, in general, it
does not convey a negative attitude, but negative emotions, i.e. shock and fear. Other
suprasegmentals play a significant role here: very high pitch and loudness (voice
intensity), rapid tempo and voice quality.
In A20 IP1 the combination ‘low head+low-rise’ has been identified, which
should convey negative attitude. Actually, Hagrid is gently and cautiously telling Harry
that he is a wizard. Maybe we should allow for the possibility that WCA played some
role in this particular intonation pattern.
The negative attitude (irony) conveyed in A38 IP6, with ‘high head+rise-fall-
rise’, was tentatively marked as deviation, i.e. in case that this intonation pattern is to
be interpreted in the same way as the combination ‘high head+fall-rise’.
Finally, A9 and A22 share the same pattern of incongruence. The combination
‘rising head+high-fall’ appears in both cases, and both fail to convey negative attitudes
(Wells 2006: 225), or the meaning of protest. In A9, Harry shows amazement, and in
A22 the bartender expresses great excitement and joy upon meeting Harry. It may be of
significance to note that these two examples are not statements, but an exclamation and
a yes-no question with an insistent fall (cf. A39). In this context, the combination high
prehead+climbing head+high-fall nuclear tone in A36 IP2 can also be identified as
incongruence (Wells 2006: 225) as it fails to convey either a negative attitude or an
emphasised meaning of protest.
3.5 Difficulties in analysing spoken material
When analysing spoken material, one is faced with all kinds of difficulties, first of all
those concerning tone, tonicity and tonality.
As regards nuclear tones, it was sometimes extremely difficult to identify them.
The first difficulty, and the one that accompanied me throughout the present analysis,
concerns defining high falls and low falls (the same applies to high rises and especially
27
low rises, as one can be easily mislead and misinterpret the rising part of a fall-rise as a
low rise). According to definition, as already mentioned in the introductory part of this
thesis (1.3.3), a high fall is a tone involving “a falling pitch movement from a relatively
high pitch to a low pitch”, whereas a low fall is a tone involving “a falling pitch
movement from a mid pitch to a low pitch” (Wells 2006: 216, 217). But, what actually
is a mid pitch? The average Fo (fundamental frequency) value for adult male voices is
around 125 Hz, for adult female voices around 200 Hz, and for children’s voices
around 300 Hz (Pravica, Drincic 2006: 33), or, according to some other findings,
approximately 120 Hz for men, 220 Hz for women and 265 Hz for children (Cruttenden
1997: 3). This piece of information, however, is something that will not help us much
when analysing spoken material. Although each individual has its own average Fo,
which can be measured, this is a very broad term, and in terms of such analysis can be
of some help only in conditions of normal speech, where the pitch oscillations are not
as prominent as they are in emphatic speech, which is abundant in the material that was
the subject of the analysis. Software analysis can be of great help in such cases, but
only for checking whether our analysis results are correct; otherwise, just measuring
frequencies with software support can not and will not always be reliable. Maybe the
best advice for identifying different nuclear tones would be to compare the onset pitch
of the nucleus with the pitch at which the head ends, or, in the absence of one, with the
pitch of the last accented or unaccented syllable in the previous IP. Also, it can help to
read aloud the sentence (phrase) with the intonation symbols that we marked it with,
and than compare it to the recorded sound. If something sounds wrong, than, most
probably, it is wrong. Finally, it is advisable to try to read the phrase as we imagine it
should sound with, e.g., a high fall and a low fall. This will certainly help to make a
difference between the meanings that these sounds would convey, and thus to choose
the appropriate tone.
As regards tonicity, A15 is a very good example of the hardships that one may
encounter when analysing the spoken material. There is no need to further elaborate
here the problems encountered in analysing this particular example, as the elaborate
comment has already been given in the analytical part of the thesis; it can just be noted
that nuclei are not always as prominent as we would wish them to be.
Although we do not suppose to have any problems with tonality once we have
identified the nucleus, it does face us with further problems. A38, IP7, is a very good
example: that you feel \/confident enough… Are we confident enough to state that this is
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the only interpretation of tonicity and tonality in this case, or we may also propose the
following solution - IP7: that you feel \confident | IP8: /enough…?
Some other problems were of purely technical nature – interference of other
sounds in the recorded material (music, various types of noise, etc.), as well as sound
effects added to the actors voices. The other ones were related to such variety of pitches
and voice colours, children’s voices, female voices, very low-pitched or husky male
voices, etc. Such work called for an intensive use of sound processing software (e.g.
pitch shifts in both directions as regards the major part of analyzed recordings in order
to be able to identify tones and any prenuclear and post-nuclear material), together with
constantly referring back to the relevant literature.
29
References
Al-Sibai, D.M. (2004, May). A Suprasegmental Aspect of English Intonation, 21-22.
Retrieved [September 12, 2009] from http://reference.ksu.edu.sa/pdf/48724-
urban%20planning/48825-planning/48775marketing.pdf.
Cruttenden, A. (1997). Intonation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Cubrovic, B. (2005). A Workbook of English Phonology. Belgrade: Philologia.
Hlebec, B. (2004). A Textbook of English Phonology. Belgrade: Čigoja.
Maidment, J. English Intonation (PLINP202), Int. systems. Retrieved [September 10,
2009] from http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/johnm/plinp202/lp202-2.pdf.
Mayo, C. J. (1996). Prosodic transcription of Glasgow English: an evaluation study of
GlaToBI. Retrieved [September 7, 2009] from http://www.ling.ohio-
state.edu/~tobi/Glasgow/Mayo1996.pdf.
Pravica P., Drincic D. (2006). Elektroakustika. Belgrade: Viša elektrotehnička škola
Beograd, 26-33.
Roach, P. (1991). English Phonetics and Phonology, second Edition. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press, 163-181.
Scobbie, J.M., Gordeeva, O.B., Matthews, B. (2006). Acquisition of Scottish English
Phonology: An Overview; Working Paper WP-7. Retrieved [September 9, 2009]
from http://www.qmu.ac.uk/ssrc/pubs/scobbie_et_al%202006%20wp7.pdf.
Wells, J.C. (2006) English Intonation: An Introduction. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
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Appendices
Appendix 1: A1-A40 Waveforms and Spectrograms
Appendix 2: Audio CD – Examples A1-A40
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Appendix 1: A1-A40 Waveforms and Spectrograms
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