The Functions of Intonation Shane Lee Ward

THE GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION The grammatical function of intonation is one of the three functions of intonation considered as important. It can mark “grammatical contrasts, such as chunking into clauses and sentences, or contrast between questions and statements” (Dalton, 1994, p. 49). Firstly, intonation can be used to “distinguish grammatical groupings with quite different meanings” (Finch, 2005, p. 52). In Finch’s (2005) example, “/i don’t KNOW/” (p. 52), depending on the pause or lack of pause between “don’t” and “know” it can either be one tone group or two, so “/i don’t KNOW/” (p. 52) consists of one tone group (presumably answering a question such as “where is it?”), whereas “/i DON’T/ NO/” (p. 52) consists of two (presumably answering a question such as “do you have any?” and pausing between “don’t” and “no”).

THE GRAMMATICAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) There is also the common use of rising tones for “yes/no” questions, and falling tones for “wh” questions. For example, /will you GO?/ uses a rising tone, and /where are YOU?/ uses a falling tone. Despite the common usage of rising tones for “yes/no” questions, and falling tones for “wh” questions, “there is no one-to-one match” (Finch, 2005, p. 52). This is more of a generality. Some “yes/no” questions can be said “with either a rising or a falling intonation depending on the mutual state of knowledge between speaker and listener” (Finch, 2005, p. 52-53). For example, a policeman questions a witness, asking “he had an accomplice, DIDN’T he?” If the pitch direction rises on “didn’t” then the policeman has no knowledge of whether the perpetrator had an accomplice or not (e.g. “he had an accomplice, DIDN’T he?). If the pitch direction falls on “didn’t” then the policeman knows or assumes to know that the perpetrator had an accomplice, and that both the policeman and the witness share this knowledge (e.g. “he had an accomplice, DIDN’T he?). However, this is where the role of discourse comes into play, asserting its importance over the grammatical function of intonation.

THE ATTITUDINAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION Intonation can serve an emotional function, otherwise an “expression of attitudinal meanings such as excitement, surprise, reserve, etc.” (Dalton, 1994, p. 49), where “the tone we select will depend on what we want to express” (Dalton, 1994, p. 44). There is some evidence supporting this notion that tones are linked with “personal emotions or attitudes” (Finch, 2005, p. 51). For example, Finch (2005) states that falling tones are associated with assertiveness and positivity, such as “that’s MINE” (p. 51) for assertiveness, and “it’s here, I’m SURE” for positivity. Rising tones are indicative of politeness, diffidence, and are inquiring. Examples are: “LUNCH?” for inquiring, “no PROblem” for politeness, and “I CAN’T” for diffidence. A level tone indicates neutrality and disinterest. For example, “it’s FINE” indicates neutrality and “eh, WHATEVER” indicates disinterest.

THE ATTITUDINAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) Falling-rising tones are normally indicative of reservation, doubt, and uncertainty (Finch, 2005, p. 52). For example, “I MIGHT” indicates reservation, and “I don’t KNOW” indicates doubt and uncertainty. Rising-falling tones are normally indicative of emphasis, impatience, and sarcasm. Examples include: “it’s YOURS” for emphasis, “drive FASTER” for impatience, and “that’s NICE” for sarcasm.

THE ATTITUDINAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) None of the descriptions that link tones with attitudes can be realized without context. In fact, “in real-life discourse, our interpretation is usually sufficiently constrained by context” (Dalton, 1994, p. 46). The same intonation pattern can be used for different emotions, depending on context. For example, a rise-fall can indicate agitation, seen in the statement “why ME,” but it can also express emotions at the opposite end of the spectrum, such as contentment (e.g. “that’s quite ALRIGHT”). Therefore, the grammatical and discoursal functions of intonation play pivotal roles in realizing the attitudinal function of intonation; but, moreover, the discoursal role plays a larger role in realizing the attitudinal function, due to the interactive nature of intonation, which gives meaning to attitudinal utterances.

THE DISCOURSAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION Michael Halliday links intonation “with information structure and sees intonation as a means speakers use to highlight “new” information and background “given.”” (Finch, 2005, p. 53). It is the information structure that marks a distinction between “what is already known and what is new” (Dalton, 1994, p. 49). It is argued that the “function of intonation is principally interactive” (Finch, 2005, p. 53), and information that is shared or new is highlighted in interactions. All interaction proceeds “on the basis of the existence of a great deal of common ground between the participants” (Coulthard, 1977, p. 105). However, common ground is “not restricted to shared experience of a particular linguistic interaction up to the moment of utterance; rather it is a product of the interpenetrating biographies of the participants, of which common involvement in a particular ongoing interaction constitutes only a part” (Coulthard, 1977, p. 106).

THE DISCOURSAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) Since “spoken discourse is an extremely complex phenomenon whereby meaning is negotiated in the process of interaction” (Dalton, 1994, p. 50), one must distinguish the tones that are used in the process of interaction. The fall-rise tone, otherwise known as the referring tone, is when a speaker marks a particular part of his/her message “as part of the existing common ground” (Coulthard, 1977, p. 106), whereas with the falling tone, otherwise known as the proclaiming tone, the speaker indicates his/her “expectation that the area of common ground will be enlarged, as a result of the listener being told something he didn’t already know” (Coulthard, 1977, p. 106). In lay terms, when a speaker uses a fall-rise tone, s/he either knows or assumes that the listener shares common ground (the information), and nothing new is considered to be presented. A falling tone, however, “marks the matter as new” (Coulthard, 1977, p. 105). According to the approach on referring and proclaiming tones, “falling tones have a proclaiming function, and are used for closed meanings, whilst rising tone have a referring function, and are employed for open meanings” (Finch, 2005, p. 53).

THE DISCOURSAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) An example of a speaker using a referring tone (fall-rise) and a proclaiming tone (fall) would be: //I’m moving to TOKYO// after I’ve completed SCHOOL//, where the proclaiming tone (fall) is employed on Tokyo, and the referring tone (fall-rise) is employed on school. This would be answering a question along the lines of “where will you be living after you’ve completed school?” Conversely, if a speaker uses a referring tone for Tokyo, and a proclaiming tone for school (e.g. //I’m moving to TOKYO// after I’ve completed SCHOOL//), the question being answered would be along the lines of “when will you be moving to Tokyo?”

THE DISCOURSAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) Changes in pitch direction can also be referred to as high, mid, or low key, where “an utterance that beings on a high key (ie, it starts high), implies a contrast in attitude with respect to the preceding utterance” (Thornbury, 2006, p. 111). Low key is when a speaker adds something obvious, and mid-key implies “no marked change in attitude” (Thornbury, 2006, p. 111). Basically, high key is seen as contrastive (contrary to expectations), mid-key is seen as additive (adding to the statement), and low key is seen as equative (as one would expect) (Coulthard, 1977, p. 111). For example, in the utterance “she bought a lottery ticket and won,” “won” can be expressed in different ways. The fact that the person in the reference won the lottery can be seen as contrary to expectations (e.g. she bought a lottery ticket and won), adding to the fact that she bought a ticket (e.g. she bought a lottery ticket and won), and can be seen as something that one would expect (e.g. she bought a lottery ticket and won).

THE DISCOURSAL FUNCTION OF INTONATION (CONTINUED) Finally, Finch (2005) points out that “in any exchange one speaker will exercise dominance and signal this by the appropriate tone” (p. 53), where “the rise-fall is more dominant than the fall, and the rise is more dominant than the fall-rise” (p. 53). A teacher, for example, exercises his/her dominance by correcting a student on the correct tense, e.g. /it’s RAN/ RAN is the past tense of RUN/. Where the rise-fall (ran) is “closed and dominant” (Finch, 2005, p. 54), while the rise is “open and dominant” (Finch, 2005, p. 54), where the teacher is presumably hoping the student understands the verb tense being used. In summation, Finch (2005) says it best that “using these two parameters, open vs. close, and dominant vs. non-dominant, it is possible to assign intonation patterns more securely to utterances than is the case with grammatical or simple attitudinal approaches” (p. 53-54).

REFERENCES Coulthard, M. (1977/1985). An Introduction to Discourse Analysis. London: Longman. Dalton, C., and Seidlhofer, B. (1994). Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Finch, G. (2005). Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics (2nd edn). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Thornbury, S. (2006). An A-Z of ELT. Oxford: Macmillan Education.