3. Nuclear tone

The term is used to refer to a marked change of pitch movement which occurs on the most prominent syllable in the intonation group. There are six main nuclear tones in English: falling, rising, falling-rising, rising-falling, rising-falling-rising and level.

Each nuclear tone is represented in speech by its allotones, for instance, the falling tone is presented by its high falling and low falling allotones, the tonal pitch being the principle of such a classification; the range differences allow to distinguish high wide and high narrow falling tone. According to the type of descending curve the falling tone can be convex and concave. The rate of the falling tone movement enables to class the falling tone into abrupt (when the rate of the tone movement is high) and smooth (when the rate of the tone movement is slow), etc.

Each nuclear tone has a definite sphere of use performing in speech a certain communicative task:

The falling tone is used to state facts (positive or negative) and to make utterances sound categoric and final;

The rising tone, being represented in speech by its high rising and low rising allotones, is used (1) to make the utterance sound non-final and non-categoric, as well as (2) to ask for information.

The falling-rising tone, which expresses more information than the verbal context (both divided and undivided allotones), is used to convey implication.

The rising-falling tone is used to convey cordiality or mockery.

The rising-falling-rising tone manifests itself in a very emotional speech as a means of intensification, or highlighting the utterance meaning, as well as a to indicate the speaker’s emotional state.

low level

4. tail, descending, the syllables (or one syllable) that follow the nucleus.

ascending.

5. Different systems of graphical notation of intonation. The notation systems prosodic phenomena are very important fot both language teaching and research work. There is a great variety of graphical representations of intonation in printed text, the most frequently used of them are:

a) a musical notation (J.Fonagy, K.Magdics)

b) an interlinear staves with dots, dashes and arrows (L.Armctrong, I.Ward)

c) the head and nucleus system or a notation within the line of the text (H.Palmer)

d) the tonetic stress-mark system (R.Kingdon)

e) the pitch levels notation (K.Pike)

f) D.Crystal’s notation system indicating various degrees of pitch variation, pitch range, pause, loudness, speed, rhythmicality and tension

g) a prosodic transcription (Moscow State University)

6. Studies of intonation in communicative phonetics.

1. Experimental studies of the speaker’s characteristics on phonetic level, i.e. the role of phonetic means in the process of speaker recognition. The description of phonetic level of speaker recognition is based on the studies carried out by J.Wells (1982), D.Abercrombie (1967), the review of Nolan’s work made by Ladefoged (1982). According to Nolan non-intentional differences between speakers lie both on segmental and suprasegmental levels, namely:

a) differences in the number of phonemic oppositions, i.e. differences in the system of phonemes;

b) differences in the permitted sequences of phonemes in a language, i.e. in phonotactics;

c) incidental differences, like // and //; / and/; / and/;

d) realizational differences mentioned by D.Abercrombie, which show the speaker’s sociolinguistic background, dialect, vocal size and shape. These differences are termed as ‘across-speaker’ variabilities. Differences caused by the speaker’s physiological and psychological state, speaking rate, voice quality are called ‘within-speaker’ variabilities. To this group of differences belong the so-called coarticulational differences.

The suprasegmental differences can be described in the terms of the same four factors mentioned above. To the individual variations on the speaker’s suprasegmental level L.S.Hultzen 1957) ascribes the speakers’ peculiar nuclear tones (the use of falling tones in non-final intonation groups stands for a speaker’s dogmatic character; other speakers use rising tones everywhere producing the impression of being generally tentative or querulous.), a wider or narrower range, different pronunciation of unstressed syllables. These individual variations communicate the information about the personality of the speaker as well as are the part of the complex which help to recognize voices.

Besides the speakers can differ from one another in communicative intent as well as in non-intentional ways.

Revealing the nature of some information in speech signal, which is speech-specific knowledge, can be helpful in the development of speech recognition system.

2. Prosodic manifestation of the speakers’ social background, status and roles, sex and age, physical and psychological states etc.

3. Phonetic characteristics of male and female speech.

4. Phonetic means in expressing the utterance emotional and pragmatic potential.

5. Phonetic means in expressing cognitive meaning.

6. The interaction of prosodic and paralinguistic means in expressing the utterance meaning.