Prof. Pedro L. Luchini
A Brief Brief Comparison Between the Attitudinal Approach of O’Connor and Arnold, and Brazil’s Communicative Approach An adaptation adaptation of a summary of a paper presented presented in a Seminar in Phonology Phonology at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana (author unno!n"
ATTITUDINAL MEANING OF INTONATION
#any #any of the best$ best$no no!n !n descr descript iption ions s of %ngl %nglish ish inton intonati ation on in the past past have have regarded the attitudinal function as primary and central, i.e. &'onnor and Arnold, for e)ample. *he main part &'onnor and Arnold's !or !as dedicated to the attitudinal meaning of intonation, i.e. attitude !hich can be detected in a speaer's voice+ !hether the spea speaer er is angry angry,, or civil, civil, or grumpy grumpy,, or enthu enthusia siasti stic. c. *hey *hey ascrib ascribed ed diffe differe rent nt meanings to various patterns patterns for e)ample, something is -categorical, -categorical, !eighty, !eighty, judicial or conside considered' red',, or it can be -impress -impressed, ed, a!ed, a!ed, complace complacent, nt, self$sat self$satisfi isfied, ed, challen challenging ging,, censorious, disclaiming responsibility'. n their approach to teaching %nglish intonation &'onnor and Arnold presented ten differe different nt tone tone groups. groups. *hey used used differ different ent tunes, tunes, differe different nt pattern patterns s of pitch, pitch, for grammatical purposes+ 1-The Low Drop low fall! n Statements+ !ith no head, detached, cool, dispassionate, reserved, dull, possibly grim or surly !ith a high head, categorical, !eighty, judicial, considered. n /0$1uestions+ !ith no head, detached, flat, unsympathetic, unsympathetic, even hostile, !ith a high head, searching, serious, intense, urgent. n 2es34o s34o 1ues 1uesti tion ons+ s+ !ith ith no head head ( in tags tags used used as inde indepe pend nden entt comm commen ents ts", ", uninterested, hostile, !ith a high head, serious urgent. n ommands+ !ith no head, unemotional, calm, controlled, cold !ith a high head, very serious, very strong. n nterjections+ !ith no head, calm, unsurprised, reserved, self$possessed !ith a high head, very strong. "- The #i$h Drop hi$h fall! n Statements+ conveying a sense of involvement, light, airy. n /0$1uestions+ bris, businesslie, considerate, not unfriendly, lively, interested. n 2es34o s34o 1ues 1uestio tions ns++ !illi !illing ng to disc discuss uss but but not not urgent urgently ly,, someti sometimes mes sept septica ical l (in 5uestion 5uestion tags used used as independ independent ent comments comments"" mildly mildly surpris surprised ed acceptan acceptance ce of the listener's premises. n ommands+ suggesting a course of action and not !orrying about being obeyed. n nterjections+ mildly surprised, not so reserved or self$possessed as !ith the Lo! 6rop.
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%- The Ta&e Off low rise with a low head! n Statements+ encouraging further conversation, guarded, reserving judgment, appealing to the listener to change to change his mind, deprecatory, (in contradictions" resentful in on final !ord groups, deprecatory. n /0$1uestions+ !ith the nuclear tone on the interrogative !ord, !ondering, mildly pu77led other!ise, very calm but very disapproving and resentful. n 2es34o 1uestions+ disapproving and septical. n ommands+ (beginning !ith Don’t …) appealing to the listener to change his mind (in a fe! short commands" calmly !arning, e)hortative. n nterjections+ sometimes reserving judgment, sometimes calm, casual acno!ledgment. '- The Low Bounce low-rise! n Statements+ soothing, reassuring, hint of great$self$confidence and self$reliance (in echoes" 5uestioning !ith a tone of surprise an disbelief (in on$final !ord groups" creating e)pectancy about !hat is to follo!. n /0$1uestions+ !ith the nuclear tone on the interrogative !ord, pu77led (in echoes" disapproving other!ise, sympathetically interested. n 2es34o 1uestions+ genuinely interested. n ommands+ soothing, encouraging, calmly patroni7ing. n nterjections+ airy, casual yet encouraging, often friendly, brighter than !hen said the *ae$&ff. (- The )witch*ac& the fall-rise! n Statements+ grudgingly admitting, reluctantly or defensively dissenting, concerned, reproachful, hurt , reserved, tentatively suggesting (in echoes" greatly astonished. n 1uestions+ (in echoes" greatly astonished other!ise, interested and concerned as !ell as surprised. n ommands+ urgently !arning !ith a note of reproach or concern. n nterjections+ scornful. +- The Lon$ ump hi$h fall with a low risin$ head! n Statements+ protesting, as if suffering under a sense of injustice. n /0$1uestions+ protesting, some!hat unpleasantly surprised. n 2es$4o 1uestions+ !illing to discuss but protesting the need for settling a crucial point. n ommands+ recommending a course of action but !ith a note of critical surprise. n nterjections+ protesting, surprised. - The #i$h Bounce hi$h rise! n Statements+ 5uestioning, trying to elicit a repetition, but lacing any suggestion of disapproval or pu77lement (in non$final !ord groups" casual and tentative. n /0$1uestions+ !ith the nuclear tone on the interrogative !ord, calling for a repetition of the information already given !ith the nuclear tone follo!ing the interrogative !ord, either echoing the listener's 5uestion before going on to ans!er it or (in straightfor!ard, non$echo 5uestions" tentative, casual. n 2es34o 1uestions+ either echoing the listener's 5uestion or (in straightfor!ard, non$ echo 5uestions" light and casual. 2
n ommands and interjections+ 5uerying all or part of the listener's command or interjection, but !ith no critical intention. .- The ac&&nife the rise-fall! n Statements+ impressed, a!ed, complacent, self$satisfied, challenging, censorious, disclaiming responsibility. n /0$1uestions+ challenging, antagonistic, disclaiming responsibility. n 2es34o 1uestions+ impressed, challenging, antagonistic. n ommands+ disclaiming responsibility, sometimes hostile. n nterjections+ impressed, sometimes a hint of accusation. /- The #i$h Dive n Statements+ appealing to the listener to continue !ith the topic of conversation e)pressing gladness, regret, surprise. n 1uestions+ very emotive, e)pressing plaintiveness, despair, gushing !armth. n ommands+ pleading, persuading. n interjections+ intensely encouraging, protesting. 10- The Terrace mid-level tone! n all sentence types+ (in non$final !ord groups" maring non$finality !ithout conveying any impression of e)pectancy. n Statements and nterjections+ (in final !ord groups" calling out to someone as from a distance.
According to *ench (899:+88;", they thus have an -intonational le)icon' of t!enty patterns, each of !hich has a range of meanings. For all the patterns, ho!ever, different ranges of meaning can be ascribed to statements, !h$5uestions, yes3no 5uestions, commands and interjections. 0e concludes that the range of different meanings seems so !ide that it may actually be too !ide to posses any general sense. According to ", the claim that ?@!e use intonation to e)press our attitudes is fundamentally !rong. 0e then adds that !or by phoneticians on emotions and attitudes in speech has tended to have a rather simplistic vie! of the subject, and it has become perhaps rather commonplace among phonology teachers to 5uote some of the ?...more speculative and unscientific statements !hich !ere made by &'onnor and Arnold (
n the past, the attitudinal function of intonation !as the main feature of intonation model taught to students of %nglish as a foreign language. *he students !ere even taught that using inappropriate or ?!rong intonation pattern in a certain social environment might result in offense being taen by a person spoen to. Such a vie!, for obvious reasons, probably caused a lot of an)iety in learners of %nglish. According to ouper$Cuhlen (899:", emotions, just lie facial e)pressions or other body language, mae themselves evident in spite of a speaer -s attempts to control them. &n the other hand, attitudes are usually deliberately displayed. Diven that they are intentionally sho!n to influence or even manipulate people, claims
6iscourse intonation (6" is a theory of intonation !hich relates -stress', -tone', and -pitch height' to categories of meaning. 6iscourse intonation, as proposed by 6avid Era7il, attempts to mae the simplest possible description, and it attempts to adopt the language user's, not the linguist's perspective+ conte)tual factors are of paramount importance, and the speaer's perceptions are central. Era7il (89B>+;B" claims that there is a ?@need for stating the communicative value of intonation in terms of the projected conte)tual implications of the tone unit+ only if !e regard intonation as a -situation$creating' device, @ can !e give proper recognition to its ability to carry independent meanings. 0e also says that prominent syllables, lie tones, are distributed on the basis of !hat conte)t of interaction the speaer chooses to project. 6 therefore does not aim to provide a lin to categories of grammar, neither does it attempt to establish lins bet!een attitude and intonation, but it offers a !ay of accounting for them outside its o!n systems. auld!ell and 0e!ings (899:+>8" claim that meanings lie surprise, irony, sarcasm, grumpiness are therefore features of particular conte)ts and are not attributable to any one choice, such as a high$falling tone. 6iscourse intonation taes the stance that most speech is divided into tone units !hich have either one or t!o prominences. *one units may or may not be separated by a pause. /hat is important is that there is only one tone in each tone unit+ every tone must be in a separate tone unit. 6 accounts for four systems+ prominence, tone, ey and termination, and the ma)imum number of choices on any one syllable is three. ad!ell and 0e!ings made a table !hich illustrates that the last prominence in each tone unit is the location of one of five tones recognised by discourse intonation+ the fall, the rise, the fall$rise, the rise$fall and the (mid" level. See table 8 belo!+
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*AEL% 8+ Meaning Telling (dominant) Telling Referring Referring (dominant) Opt-out
System code p+ p
Realisation description rise-fall fall
shape
r r+ o
fall-rise rise mid level
According to Era7il, !e choose one of the five or a certain combination. A particular communicative value is associated !ith each of the tones in a !ay that holds true for all occurrences of that tone. 6iscourse intonation maes a basic distinction bet!een telling, i.e. the proclaiming tone, !hich is associated !ith the -fall' and -rise$fall', and referring, associated !ith the -rise' and -fall$rise'. *he significance of the P<&LA#4D *&4%, is that, by producing it, the speaer offers to further the process by changing the hearer's !orld. t is not yet present in the common ground, the ground shared by a speaer and a hearer. &n the other hand, the <%F%<<4D *&4% is already present in the common ground. ". *AEL% +
•
•
•
Referring
Proclaiming
associated with old / shared information (previous tet! the situation! shared "nowledge) more is implied! more could #e said lifting a #arrier! nearing! creating solidarit$ → ←
•
associated with new information
•
no more needs sa$ing% this part of the message is complete
•
creating a #arrier! distancing ← →
Era7il says, ho!ever, that !hen asing 5uestions, for instance, !e can choose either a fall (for seeing unno!n information" or a fall$rise (for confirmation of !hat !e already believe". ?*he result !ill be much the same !hichever tone you use. t is very common for people to behave as if they just needed confirmation@!e 5uite often as 5uestions in order to be friendly, rather than because the ans!er is of any real importance, or even interest, to us (899=+=8". Such statements clearly demonstrate an attitudinal aspect in his !ritings, !hich !ill be addressed in the ne)t section. &
References
&'onnor, H. 6. and Arnold, D. F. (89I" Intonation of Colloquial English , Longman Droup Ltd., Eristol, U.C. Era7il, 6. (89B>" The Communicative Value of Intonation in English , %nglish Language I. ruttenden, A. (89B:, 899I" Intonation, UP, ambridge, U.C. Henner, E. Changes in o%&ectives for !ronunciation teaching , in+ !ea" #ut$ Changes in Pronunciation (Summer 899:", ed. Gaughan$. $=9. Gaughan$I$:;
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