Intonation of parentheses

A parenthesis is a word, phrase, clause inserted or attached to a sentence to show

a) the speaker’s attitude towards the idea expressed in the sentence;

b) to connect the sentence with another one;

c) summarize what is said in the sentence.

There are about 60 of them in English. For example: after all, as a matter of fact, by the way, fortunately etc.

The intonation of the parenthesis depends upon the semantic importance and position

in the sentence.

1. If the paranthesis is semantically important it is usually placed at the beginning of

the sentence and is stressed. In this case it can form a separate intonation group and be pronounced either with the Low Rise, Low Fall, Mid Level or Fall-Rise.

e.g. _\Well,| I _\do.

Sometimes the parenthesis at the beginning of the sentence is not separated from the rest

of the sentence because it is of no importance for the speaker.

e.g. Well, I 'don’t _\know.

2. The parenthesis which is not semantically important is usually placed in the middle

or at the end of a sentence. In this case they are unstressed and pronounced as a tail of a

preceding intonation group.

Intonation of vocatives

A vocative is a word or a group of words used to address a person or several persons.

Vocatives may consist of a) the name or the title of the person; b) a noun preceded by

adjectives or pronouns. E.g. 'What are you _\doing, you naughty boy! c) emotionally coloured

words: dear, darling, brute. E.g. _\Yes, darling.

The intonation of a vocative depends on its position in the sentence and on the speaker’s attitude.

1. Initial vocatives are usually important in meaning, they are emphatic and form a separate sense-group. They are pronounced with the Level Tones, High Fall, Fall-Rise Low Fall.

e.g. ^\/Mary,| 'come _\here!

2. Medial vocatives and final vocatives are unstressed or partially stressed and they have the intonation of the nuclear tone as they form the tail of it.

e.g. Of _\course, _ﺍJohn,| you are _\right. You 'needn’t _\worry, _ﺍMrs. _ﺍParker.

Intonation of the author’s words (reporting phrases)

Reporting phrases are phrases introducing, following or inserted into direct speech.

1. Initial reporting phrases occur more frequently in live conversation than in novels. They form a separate intonation groups and are pronounced with almost any nuclear tone: Mid Level, Low Rise, Low Fall.

e.g. He _\said: “The play is perfect”.

2. Medial reporting phrases occur mainly in novels. They are joined to the preceding part of the direct speech.

e.g. “_/John”, _ﺍsaid the _ﺍsecretary, | “is _\out”.

3. Final reporting phrases are also common in novels and hardly ever occur in live conversation.

Short final reporting phrases form the tail of the preceding intonation group of the direct speech.

e.g. “I’m 'not _\ready,” he _ﺍsaid.

Long final reporting phrases may form a separate intonation group pronounced with the same nuclear tone, but on a lower pitch level. If they consist of two or more intonation groups, the actual reporting words form the tail of the preceding intonation group and the remaining part forms a separate group pronounced on a lower pitch level and with the nuclear tone of the direct speech. The type of scale will be Level or Falling.

e.g. “ 'What a _\pity!” was _ﺍall I _ﺍsaid, | when he 'broke a _\glass.

“'Do you 'think that’s _/ fair?” she _ﺍasked, | 'looking at me with sur_/prise.