6. Test

Test your knowledge of the theory.

Declamatory style.

Choose the right answer.

1. The intonation of reading descriptive prose has many features in common with that of reading…

a) broadcast news b) scientific prose c) commencement speech

2. The Stepping Head the Broken Stepping Head and a … succession of syllables interrupted by several falls are used more frequently in reading descriptive texts.

a) ascending b) descending c) level

3. The speed of utterance in reading descriptive prose is relatively… and as a result there are no marked variations in rhythm.

a) normal b) accelerated c) slow

4. Reading aloud a dialogic text, representing the speech of the characters in drama, novel or story is different in the matter of …from a descriptive text.

a) punctuation b) intonation c) accentuation

5. The stylization of colloquial intonation implies that only the… elements of natural speech are made use of.

a) most striking b)least vivid c) most necessary

Module 12 Familiar (Conversational) Style

Theoretical Material

Speaking about this intonational style we are concerned with dominant features of relatively informal conversation between educated people (spontaneous dialogic texts).

Conversation dialogues are sometimes opposed to discussion dialogues. But it is unlikely that there is a clear boundary between conversation and discussion. Some kind of distinction can be drawn in terms of the degree of seriousness of the subject-matter and the formality of the occasion.

Spontaneous informal conversation provides the best example of the intonational style in question; since this is the kind of English everyone makes use of every day. Thereby, it is the most useful and the least artificial kind of English to teach foreign students as a means of everyday communication.

Students who have studied English for several years in their own countries may still find it difficult to understand people in Britain when they first arrive. There could be several reasons for this: people may speak much faster than students are used to, they may use a lot of colloquial and idiomatic language or they may have a regional accent or dialect and use nonstandard forms in their speech. One should not worry too much about this; sometimes even British people from different parts of the country cannot understand each other very well.

In general, familiar (conversational) style, unlike other styles, will allow the occurrence of the entire range of intonation patterns existing in English. This is due to the fact that there seem to be no social restrictions on the range of emotions and attitudes which might be displayed in a conversational situation.

Relatively unexcited conversational situations are characterised by low pre-heads falling or stepping heads and simple low falling or rising tones. The pitch of the utterance may be narrowed or increased depending on the intensity of excitement. Monosyllabic response utterances display narrowed pitch patterns. Widened pitch patterns are typical of more excited situation. In this connection one should note the high proportion of intonation patterns with the High Fall. The flow of conversation much depends on these patterns, as the High Fall implies, among other things, the effect of personal participation or involvement in the situation. In the extremely important for the participants in conversation to show an active interest in what is going on. Besides, it should be mentioned that compound tunes and heterogeneous heads are frequent within this style. The nuclear tone can be placed at an utterly unexpected place.

In spontaneous informal conversation there is marked tendency for intonation to form a basic set of recurrent patterns. These patterns can vary to a certain extent. Such variation depends on such situational factors as:

• the relationship of the speakers to each other;

• the chosen subject-matter;

• the fluency of an individual;

• his emotional state and so on.

The essential patterns are exemplified in the following micro-dialogues:

Group1. Low (Medium) Fall Pattern One: (Low Pre-Nucleus+) Low Fall (+Tail) Statement Attitude: final, categoric, detached, cool, dispassionate, reserved, dull: Stimulus: Didn’t you see him yesterday? Response: You know I didn’t.

Group 2 High Fall Pattern One: (Low Pre-Nucleus +) High Fall (+ Tail) Statement Attitude: personal concern or involvement interested. Stimulus: You ought to write him a letter. Response: I’d love to.

Intonational groups may be any length (within normal physiological limits), but there is a strong tendency to keep them short and to break up potentially lengthy intonation group wherever possible. This tendency is carried to the extremes when the intensity of excitation is the greatest. For instance, in the attitudinal context of “irritation”.

The higher degree of irritation the more pauses will be introduced in the utterance.

Informal conversation is characterised by the frequency of silence for purposes of contrastive pause, as opposed to simply breath-taking pauses. Pauses are brief and there are a large number of cases when intonational groups and sentences are not separated by any kind of pause, tonal differences being the only indicators of their boundaries.

This style is also characterised by the absence of stable pattern of tempo and rhythm. Generally, the speed of utterance is quite fast, but there is no conventional pressure for conversational speed to be regular. It depends to a large extent on:

• the fluency of the speaker;

• his familiarity with the topic being talked about;

• his experience as a “conversationalist”, etc..

One of the most essential distinctive features of informal spontaneous conversation is the occurrence of the entire range of hesitation phenomena.

Following types of events fall in this category:

a) hesitation pauses, comprising unfilled (silent, voiceless), filled (voiced) and mixed varieties

b) hesitant drawls, i.e. lengthening of sounds, syllables and words;

c) repetitions of syllables and words (saying the same thing in a different way). This may involve repetition of key words and phrases for emphasis, for example, the repetition of pronouns in several places: “And the music ‒ it’s any damn thing; it’s whatever it is you need.” And another example: “…grab them up, mix in with them, bring them out...” Emotional power is often gained from repetition, and in conversation, repetition also acts as adhesive, holding ideas together as one thinks one’s way out to a point (Hickey 1993, 9).

d) false starts to words, followed by self-corrections;

e) re-starting a construction or a sentence to confirm more to what the speaker wants to say and interruption;

f) unfinished intonation groups, often accompanied by reduced loudness of the voice and incomplete sentences (clipped constructions: short, almost staccato like clauses or sentences). For instance, “It’s like the Mississippi. It’s got its own story. There’s something it wants to tell.” Loose sentence patterns, common to conversation. For example, “Like when you’re sad sometimes, you want to remember something, maybe something you were happy about once.” (Hickey 1993, 8-9)

g) conversational openers to sentences, such “You know ”, “Say”, “Look” and fillers-in, such as well, and, you see, you know, in fact, etc.;

h) random vocalisations and such “phonetic oddities” as clicks, trills, intakes of breath, etc..

i) casual vocabulary and colloquial idioms, including slang. For example, “like what”, “you know”, “it’s got to”, “grab them up”.

Phonetics of conversation also involves attention to such phenomena as sound symbolism (e.g. Brr, bo, whoosh), artificial clearing of the throat or coughing for purposes of irony, various snorts and sniffs to communicate disgust and other attitudes.

j) people speaking at the same time (overlapping).