Фоностилистика английского языка. Учебное пособие на модульной основе

A new prime minister for Thailand

The army chief who forced out Thailand‘s civilian government three months ago has been selected as the kingdom‘s prime minister. General Prayuth Chan-Ocha was the only candidate nominated for the job.

(B) World Cup Match Accident ♫

TV announcer Jonathan Keats:

In Barcelona today, supporters clashed, when England played their World Cup match against Spain, the present cup holders. England had held the champions to one-one until half time, but soon after play was resumed a penalty was awarded against them. According to our reporter, Jim Bullock, the decision caused uproar among a group of England fans, and this is in turn triggered an angry response from some opposing supporters in an adjoining section of the stand.

The referee stopped the game when violence spilled over onto the pitch, and there were several minutes of noisy confusion until local police restored order and escorted alleged ringleaders out of the stadium. Apparently, there were further disturbances in pavement cafes and bars in town after the match. No one seems to have been injured seriously, either inside or outside the stadium. It is not known whether the police made any arrests.

After order had been restored on the pitch, England attacked vigorously, but the Spanish defence was too well disciplined for them, and their hopes of appearing in the final were dashed when the opposition captain, Marcos, scored the winning goal, just thirty seconds before time.

(C)The Business News ♫

1.World oil prices have continued to fall today, with US sweet light crude dropping more than $3 to $63.20. Several members of OPEC, the 13-nation producers‘ group, which is responsible for producing about 40 % of the world‘s total supply, want to cut output by at least one million barrels a day to increase prices.

2.US software giant Microsoft has posted profits and sales figures well above analysts‘ expectations. The company made a $4.37 billion profit during the first three months of its financial year, up from $4.29 billion a year ago, while turnover rose 9% to $15.06 billion.

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3.In South Korea, Hyundai Motor Company has reported a 38% fall in third-quarter net profit, which was slightly better than expected in a difficult year. Hyundai say that although global auto demand is shrinking, demand for smaller cars is rising. German car maker Daimler has reported a €213 million profit for the quarter a dramatic turnaround from the €1.5 billion loss it made in the same period a year ago.

4.British manufacturers are still doing well. The UK is currently the world‘s sixth largest manufacturer, but the country appears set to remain in the top ten for the next 15 years. Even though it is expected to slip to ninth place by then, its share of global manufacturing value added is forecast to dip by just one percentage point.

5.It is predicted that the rapidly growing biofuel market, involving cereals, sugar, oilseeds and vegetable oil, will keep farm commodity prices high over the next decade. The study co-written by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization predicts prices will rise by between 20% and 50% in the next ten years.

(D) Local News ♫

A pleasant Sunday outing in the spring sunshine almost turned to tragedy for two Harpole families at Ladram beach last weekend.

The children in the party had pleaded to be allowed to explore an adjacent bay together, and their parents, who were looking forward to a cup of coffee at a nearby cafe, had agreed that they could go, provided they promised to be back within an hour. The four children then scampered off along the beach by the foot of the cliffs, clambered over the rocks at the end of the bay, and disappeared from sight around the headland. They failed to notice the time passing, until they realized in dismay that the tide was coming in rapidly, and hurriedly they retraced their steps along the now narrow strip of sand. If they had been a few minutes earlier, they could still have paddled back round the headland, but already the water was too deep for them to pass. Although they tried, they could not climb the steep cliffs either, so the eldest of the four, the only one who could swim, left the others sitting on a rock, holding one another by the hand, while he attempted to swim back and raise the alarm.

The boy, 12-year-old Thomas Tailor of Manor Road, Harpole, struggled manfully in the cold water against the strong current, and twenty minutes later he

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succeeded in rounding the headland. Soon after, he was able to scramble ashore in the next bay. After pausing to regain his breath, he raced to his worried parents and told his story. Luckily they managed to find the owner of a nearby motor boat, and sped off to the rescue. They found the frightened youngsters, still holding one another‘s hands, with the waves now lapping around their feet.

QUESTIONS and TASKS:

1.Give semantic characteristic of informational (formal) style.

2.What are main peculiarities of this style in terms of basic nuclear tones, tempo, rhythm, internal boundaries placement used here?

3.What is Stepping Head?

4.Listen to the recording, analyze and read extracts exemplifying this style. Take into account the speaker‘s intonation markers.

5.Do you agree that all extracts can be said to belong to the same variety?

6.Find any extract of your own exemplifying informational style. Single out its phonostylistic peculiarities and be ready to act it out in class.

POETRY

She is Not Fair ♫

¯She is ˙not „fair ¦ to ˌoutward \view, As many maidens ˇbe;

Her ˈloveliness I “never \knew Unˈtil she \smiled on ˌme.

\Oh, ˈthen I „saw her ˈeye was \bright, A ˈwell of „love,│a „spring of \light.

But „now ¦ her ˈlooks are „coy and „cold – ¯To „mine they ˙never re„ply;

¯And >yet ¦ I ˈcease ˙not to be\hold The „love-ˌlight ¦ in her \eye.

Her “very „frowns ¦ are ˈsweeter ˇfar

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¯Than „smiles of „other ˌmaidens \are.

Hartley Coleridge (1796-1849)

♦♦♦ Unit 2. Scientific (Academic) Style

Explanation

In scientific (academic) style intellectual and volitional intonation patterns are concurrently employed. The speaker‘s purpose here is not only to prove a hypothesis, to create new concepts, to disclose relations between different phenomena, but also to direct the listener‘s attention to the message carried in the semantic component. Although this style tends to be objective and precise, it is not entirely unemotional and devoid of any individuality.

Scientific style is frequently used, for example, by university lectures, schoolteachers, or by scientists in formal or informal discussions.

Attention is focused here on a lecture on a scientific subject and reading aloud a piece of scientific prose, that is to say, the type of speech that occurs in the written variety of language, in one-sided form of communication

(monologue), in prepared, public, formal discourse. The lecturer‘s purpose is threefold:

(a)he must get the ‗message‘ of the lecture across to his audience;

(b)he must attract the attention of the audience and direct it to the ‗message‘;

(c)he must establish contact with his audience and maintain it throughout the

lecture.

To achieve these goals he makes recourse to a specific set of intonation means. The most common pre-nuclear pattern (that part of the tune preceding the nucleus) is (Low Pre-Head + ) Stepping Head. The Stepping Head makes the whole intonation group sound weighty and it has a greater persuasive appeal than the Falling Head. Occasionally the High Head may occur as a less emphatic variant of the Stepping Head. This enables the lecturer to sound categorical, judicial, considered and persuasive.

As far as the terminal tone is concerned, both simple and compound tunes occur here. The High Fall and the Fall-Rise are the most conspicuous tunes. They are widely used as means of both logical emphasis and emphasis for contrast. A succession of several high falling tones also makes an utterance expressive enough, they help the lecturer to impress on his audience that he is

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dealing with something he is quite sure of, something that requires neither argument nor discussion. Thus basic intonation patterns found here are as follows:

(Low Pre-Head + ) (Stepping Head + ) Low Fall ( + Tail)

(Low Pre-Head + ) (Stepping Head + ) High Fall ( + Tail)

(Low Pre-Head + ) (Stepping Head + ) Low Rise ( + Tail)

(Low Pre-Head + ) (High (Medium) Level Head + ) Fall-Rise ( + Tail) (Low Pre-Head + ) (High (Medium) Level Head + ) Mid-Level ( + Tail)

Variations and contrasts in the speed of utterance are indicative of the degree of importance attached to different parts of the speech flow. Less important parts are pronounced at greater speed than usual, while more important parts are characterized by slower speed. Diminished and increased loudness that contrasts with the normal loudness helps the listeners to perceive a word as being brought out.

Internal boundaries placement is not always semantically predictable. Some pauses, made by the speaker, may be explicable in terms of hesitation phenomena denoting forgetfulness or uncertainty (eg. word searching). The most widely used hesitation phenomena here are repetitions of words and filled pauses, which may be vocalic [ə(з:)], consonantal [m] and mixed [əm(з:m)]. Intentional use of these effects enables the lecturer to obtain a balance between formality and informality and thus to establish a closer contact with his listeners who feel that they are somehow involved in making up the lecture. Moreover, a silent pause at an unexpected point calls the listeners‘ attention and may serve the speaker‘s aim to bring out some words in an utterance.

In the case of reading aloud scientific prose the most widely used prenuclear pattern is also (Low Pre-Head + ) Stepping Head. Sometimes the broken Stepping Head is found, if an accidental rise occurs on some item of importance. The Stepping Head may be replaced by the so-called heterogeneous head, i.e. a combination of two or several heads. Occasionally the Scandent (Climbing) Head (characterized by an upward pitch movement over the stress-groups) is employed which is an efficient means of making a sentence or an intonation group more emphatic. Final intonation groups are pronounced predominately with the low or the high falling tone. Non-final intonation groups present more possibilities of variations. In addition to the simple tunes found in final intonation groups the following compound tunes are used: the Fall-Rise and the

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Rise-Fall. But the falling nuclear tone ranks first, the Low Rise or Mid-Level are much less common.

It should be borne in mind that the falling nuclear tone in non-final intonation groups in most cases does not reach the lowest possible pitch level. Compound tunes make the oral representation of a written scientific text more expressive by bringing out the most important items in an utterance. Moreover, they secure greater intonational cohesion between different parts of a text. Thus the following intonation patterns may be added to those listed above:

(Low Pre-Head + ) (Stepping Head + ) Rise-Fall ( + Tail) (Low Pre-Head + ) (Heterogeneous Head + ) Low Fall ( + Tail) (Low Pre-Head + ) (Heterogeneous Head + ) High Fall ( + Tail) (Low Pre-Head + ) (Heterogeneous Head + ) Fall-Rise ( + Tail) (Low Pre-Head + ) (Sliding Head + ) High Fall + Rise ( + Tail) (Low Pre-Head + ) (Scandent Head + ) Low Fall (+ Tail)

(Low Pre-Head + ) (Scandent Head + ) High Fall (+ Tail)

The speed of utterance of reading scientific prose fluctuates from normal to accelerated, but it is never too fast. This can be explained by the greater length of words and the greater number of stressed syllables within an intonation group. Variations in speed also depend on the communicative centre. Since a communicative centre is brought out by slowing down the speed of utterance and less important words in the intonation group are pronounced at greater speed, the general speed of utterance is perceived as accelerated.

Reading scientific prose is characterized by contrastive rhythmic patterns. This is predetermined by the correlation of rhythm and speed of utterance. It is generally known that slow speed entails regular rhythm while in accelerated speech rhythm is less regular. Pauses are predominantly short, their placement and internal boundaries are always semantically or syntactically predictable. Hesitation pauses are to be avoided.

The following examples serve as a model of scientific style.

(A) Academic kind of lecturing:

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS ♫

Good morning, everyone. In your studies so far, you will have been made aware that public relations covers a very broad field. Today I want to talk about a special genre of public relations, that is, public relations for non-government

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organizations. Often called NGOs these are non-profit, or not-for-profit organizations.

I‘d like to begin by describing what a non-profit organization – or NPO – is in general terms. Next, I‘d like to broadly characterize non-profit organizations in two major types, and then look briefly at some of the changes that have affected their development. After that, I consider the role of NGOs in a nation‘s economy. And finally, I conclude by considering the role of public non-profit organizations, especially with regards to fundraising.

So, what exactly is a non-profit or not-for-profit organization? Basically, there is no difference between the terms non-profit or not-for-profit. Both terms describe an organization whose purpose is to serve the public, as opposed to an organization earning profits for shareholders. Non-profit organizations operate in all areas of public life. They provide services to groups, such as hospitals, educational institutions and organizations. Because they don‘t make a profit, they rely on public support in the form of donations from, for example, philanthropic individuals and organizations. However, in some cases non-profit organizations may receive some government funding.

(B) Reading scientific prose

LINGUISTIC TOLERANCE ♫

The English language is a very much more widespread language than the world has yet seen in its history and the first thing the English-speaking people have to learn is that there are many good ways of speaking it. Everybody believes his own to be the best, an attitude that, in other spheres of life, civilization has taught us to despise. Many national misunderstandings are due to simple language differences, as even a short comparative investigation into English and American intonation will convince anybody.

Many Americans are offended by the normal intonations of British English, just as Britishers are often hurt by American intonations. Much of our hasty generalization concerning the French temperament is due to the fact that French speakers use, in normal circumstances, types of intonation that are in

English associated with situations that are not normal… .

We are all so susceptible to the minutest details of speech behaviour, that whenever we observe the speech behaviour of others, we imagine them to be suffering from the same emotions as we should have to suffer from before we behaved as they do. And as a rule, it is the intonation that hurts; English spoken

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on Swedish intonation may sound petulant, on Russian intonation lugubrious, on German intonation offensive, on French intonation argumentative, on many American intonations casual or cocksure, on Danish intonation flat and somber…

This, perhaps, is the greatest danger of the spoken word; the technical details of its utterance, of little significance to the speaker, may arouse in the minds of listeners emotions far different from those that prompt it in the mind of the speaker.

QUESTIONS and TASKS:

1.Give semantic characteristic of scientific (academic) style.

2.When does this style occur?

3.Speak on the most essential characteristics of the academic kind of lecturing. What is the lecturer‘s purpose?

4.What is Scandent Head?

5.What is hesitation phenomenon? When is it used?

6.Speak on the most essential characteristics of reading aloud scientific prose.

7.Listen to the speaker, analyze and read the extract presented under the heading of academic kind of lecturing. Why is the lecturer trying to obtain a balance between formality and informality? What evidence is there that he is trying to do so?

8.Listen to the speaker, analyze and read the extract exemplifying scientific prose. Compare it with the lecture. What are linguistic similarities and differences between them? Can these oral texts belong to the same style?

ˈNo ˙time to ‚stand beneath the ‚boughs And >stare as long as „sheep or \cows.

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We have ˆno ˆtime│to ˆstand and ˆstare.

W.H. Davies (1871-1940)

♦♦♦ Unit 3. Declamatory Style

Explanation

In declamatory style the emotional role of intonation increases, thereby intonation patterns used for intellectual, volitional and emotional purposes have an equal share. This style comprises two varieties of oral representation of written literary texts, namely: reading aloud a piece of descriptive prose (the author‘s speech) and the author‘s reproduction of actual conversation (the speech of characters). The speaker‘s aim is to appeal simultaneously to the mind, the will and feelings of the listener by image-bearing devices. Declamatory style is generally acquired by special training and it is used, for example, in stage speech, classroom recitation, verse speaking or in reading aloud fiction. The intonation of reading descriptive prose has many features in common with that of reading scientific prose. In both styles the same set of intonation means is made use of, but the frequency of their occurrence is different here.

In the pre-nuclear part the Low Pre-Head may be combined with the Stepping Head, the broken Stepping Head, or a descending sequence of syllables interrupted by several falls. It is interesting to note that the Scandent Head is not found in reading descriptive prose, it is confined to scientific prose. The nuclear

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tone in final intonation groups is generally the Low Fall, or, less frequently, the High Fall. This is due to the fact that both in scientific and descriptive prose the prevailing sentence type is declarative, necessitating the use of the falling tone. The principal nuclear tones in non-final intonation groups are the Low Fall, the High Fall and the Fall-Rise. The simple tunes are more frequent in descriptive texts while the compound tunes are more typical of scientific texts.

When reading aloud a dialogic text it should be borne in mind that the intonation representing speech of the characters is always stylized. As far as the pre-nuclear pattern is concerned, it should be noted that the Low or High PreHead may be combined with any variety of descending, ascending or level heads. In the terminal tone both simple and compound tunes are widely used. Special mention should be made of the falling-rising tone which has a greater frequency of occurrence in reading dialogic texts than in actual situation. The overall speed of utterance in reading is normal or reduced as compared with natural speech, and as a result the rhythm is more even and regular. Pauses are either connecting or disjunctive, thereby internal boundaries placement is always semantically or syntactically predictable. Hesitation pauses do not occur, unless they are deliberately used for stylization purposes.

To select an intonation pattern for a particular utterance one has to take into account the author‘s suggestion as to how the text should be read (eg. the playwright‘s remarks, and stage directions in drama). Moreover, one has to consider the character‘s social and educational background, the kind of relationship existing between him and other characters as well as the extralinguistic context at large.

QUESTIONS and TASKS:

1.Give semantic characteristic of declamatory style.

2.What two varieties does this style comprise?

3.Speak on the essential characteristics of reading descriptive prose and reading a dialogic text in terms of terminal tones, tempo, rhythm, hesitation phenomenon.

4.Compare the intonation of reading serious descriptive prose (declamatory style) with that of reading scientific prose (scientific style). Identify and account for the similarities and differences.

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