Pronunciation in practice. Year II. Undergraduate course in practical phonetics. Учебное пособие по практической фонетике для студентов II курса



Tasks and exercises

Explanation

Nolanguageisspokenonaatmonotone.Intheprocessofspeak-

ing,speakersofEnglishmakethepitchoftheirvoicesriseandfallina waywhichhasmeaningfortheirhearers.Thesepitchmovementsare calledtones.

Thereare two main kinds of nal tone in English: those which

nallyriseandthosewhichnallyfall.Ofthese,thetwowhichseem tooccurmostfrequentlyarethefall-riseandthefall.

Thefall

Speakers use falling tones in parts of utterances which contain

informationtheythinkisnewfortheirhearers—whentheyaretellingthemsomethingtheydon’talreadyknow.Itmaybeinformationin responsetoaquestion.Oritmaybesomenewinformationthespeakerspresentasnew,somethingtheywanttheirhearerstoknowabout orconsider.

Thefall-rise

Speakersusefall-risetones in parts ofutteranceswhichcontain

ideastheythinktheirhearersalreadyknowaboutorhaveexperience of.Theyrefer to something shared by themselvesandthehearersat thatpointin the conversation.Itmay be somethingtheyboth know about.Oritmaybesomethingwhichhasjustbeenstatedorimplied intheconversation.

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

Tasks and exercises

Listen to the rst part of a conversation between Lisa and Tony. Write down the transcript. Identify telling and referring tones.

_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________

Explanation

Speakerschoosefallingtoneswhentheythinkthatwhattheysay

willincreasetheirhearer’sknowledge.

Speakerschoosefall-risetoneswhentheyarereferringtosome-

thingalready statedor implied in the conversation. It is not always easytoidentifysomethinginthe immediate context.What speakers sayinthistonerefersto something they know orassumeisalready knowntoboththehearersandthemselves.

So speakers may use fall-rise tones to refer, not to something

which has been said, but to something which is part of their backgroundknowledgeorexperiencetheysharewiththeirhearers.

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

Tasks and exercises

Functions of the referring tone:

1. Givinganevasiveanswer.

2. Addingorextendinginformationgiven(____but___)

3. Reference(=remindingof/to)thingsdonetogetherandintro-

ducinganewidea.

4. Givinganexcuse,inasituationofpersuasion

5. Rejectingasuggestion.

6. Referencetomutualknowledge/experience.

7. Referencetosomethingthathasjustbeensaid.

8. Referencetobackground(general)knowledge.

9. “Makingsure”—checkingonwhatyoualreadybelievetobe

thecase.

Listen to the second and third parts of a conversation between

Lisa and Tony.

Write down the transcript. Identify telling and referring tones.

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1. Look at the adjectives in the box below.

a) Do you know which sign of the zodiac any of them are associ-

ated with? Write them on the table as in the example. Transcribe each star sign.

 

Aries(Mar21–Apr20) Fiery Taurus(Apr21–May20) Gemini(May21–Jun20) Cancer(Jun21–Jul20) Leo(Jul21–Aug20) Virgo(Aug21–Sep20) Libra(Sep21–Oct20) Scorpio(Oct21–Nov20)

Sagittarius(Nov21–Dec20) Capricorn(Dec21–Jan19) Aquarius(Jan20–Feb18) Pisces(Feb19–Mar20)

b) Read the interview and complete the table. c) Find out if your personalities match your signs?

2. Work with a partner and practise reading this dialogue. Think

about which words you will highlight and where you will use telling and referring tones.

NowadaysitisverypopularandIwouldsayfash-

ionabletostudyastrologyandsignsoftheZodiac.Couldyoutellour readersaboutthe12starsignsandwhatcharacteristicsmatchthem? Let’sstartwithAries?Whataretheylike?

:Well,traditionallythey’resaidtobeeryintempera-

ment.Andthismakessomeofthemwarmandgenerous,butinothers itcancomeoutasanauthoritarianstreak.

I:AndTaurus?Peoplesaythey’reverydirect. A:Taureansareusuallyquitelevel-headedtoo,andfriendly. I:AndGeminiisthesignofpeoplewhoare proud,isn’tit?But

they’realsochangeable,aren’tthey?

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A:Yesthat’sright.Somepeoplesayversatileratherthanchange-

able!Leoisthesignofproudpeopletoo.Leoisveryindependentas well,andcanoccasionallyberatherbossy.

I:AndCancer? A:Theytendtobeconservativeandshyaswell.Abitsensitive. I:Piscespeoplearesensitivetoo,aren’tthey? A:Yes,verysimilartoCancer,butPiscesarealsoveryimagina-

tiveandcreative.

I:AndwhataboutVirgo? A:They’reusuallyabitobsessive—youknow,theylikethings

neatandtidy.

I:Mmm,sortofperfectionist. A:Yes,that’sright.They’realsohardworkingandpractical.The

oppositeofSagittarians.Whoaregreattalkers.Theothertalkingsign isLibra,buttheyareontheargumentativeside.They’reverypleasant, butyouknowquitewhereyouarebecausetheyarealwayschanging theirminds.

I:Scorpio,whataboutthem? A:Extremist,possessive, passionate,they’renottheeasiestsign

tolivewith.Butlifeisneverdullwiththem!

I:AndCapricorn— they’re supposed to be conservative, aren’t

they?

A:Yes,that’strue,andpolite andshytoo.Butwhenyougetto

know them, Capricorns can be incredibly generous, not just with money,butwithtimeandeverythingelsetoo.

I:Whatareweleftwith—ohyes,Aquarians.Whataboutthem? A: Well, Aquarius is the thinking sign, the intellectual. Maybe

that’swhatmakesAquariansthemosttolerantaswell.Theyareindependentintheirjudgementsandinthewaytheylive—butsometimes theytendtobeabitunstable,and,dareIsayit,alittlemad.

3. Can you explain why the speakers have chosen to use a telling

tone or a referring tone in each case you have marked?

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4. Interview your partners; nd out their date of birth, their

sign. Ask about their personal characteristics. Do you agree with the analysis of their personality? Use telling and referring tones in your conversation.

5. Read the mini-extracts below as the sense dictates. Explain

the use of chosen tones. Practise varying intonation:

a) Takeoffyouroldragsandputonmyclothes.Itisasmallhappi-

nessforyou!

Afewminuteslater,PrinceEdwardstoodinTom’srags,andTom

worehis kingly clothes.The two boyswent and stood in frontof a lookingglass.

Astrangething!WhenTomputonthePrince’sclotheshewaslike

thePrince.AndwhenthePrinceputonTom’srags,hewaslikeTom.

b) ‘Thersttelephones,nineofthem,camein1903.Theyhadtouse

switchboards.Thatmeans that all calls wenttosomewhereelserst andthentothehouse.Andeveryonehadpartylines.’

‘Party,’Markyellsout. MrsStantonsays,‘Partylinesmeansthatyouhavetosharethem

andthateachhousehasaspecicsoundofringing.’

6. Space for your own Telling and Referring conversation:

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

Tasks and exercises



Listen to the continuation of the conversation between Lisa and

Tony. Identify the tones you hear. Practise reading the dialogue.

_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________

Explanation

In some conversations the relationship between the speakers

meansthatoneofthemnaturallytakesadominantrole(e.g.amanager speakingtoaworker,adoctortoapatientorateachertoastudent).

Therisingtoneistheappropriatereferringtoneforthedominant

speakertochoose,butitwouldbeinappropriateforthenon-dominant speakertouseit.

Bychoosingtherisingtoneinsteadofthefall-risetone,speakers

canexercise a sort of dominance in the conversation which may or maynotbeassociatedwiththeirsocialstatus.Ifyouusearisingtone whenafall-risewould have been moreappropriate,you may sound self-assertiveorevenaggressive.

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1. Read this extract from “The Prince and the Pauper” by Mark

Twain. Observe possible cases of rising tones. Explain why you would use them.

PrinceEdwardsatalonewithTom.Heaskedhimquestionswhile

heate.

–Whatisyourname? –TomClanty,please,sir. –Whatastrangename!Andwheredoyoulive? –Inthecity,sir.InOffalStreet. –Haveyouafatherandmother? –Yes,sir.Andtwosisters,NanandBet.Myfatheroftenhitsme.

Butmymotherandmysistersareverykind.

2. Read the following extract from the text “

”. Identify the cases of rising tones. Explain why you

would use them.

‘Haveyoubeenridingtoday,MrGreville?’askedtheQueen. ‘No,Madam,Ihavenot,’repliedMrGreville. ‘Itwasaneday,’continuedtheQueen. ‘Yes,Madam,averyneday,’saidMrGreville. ‘Itwasrathercold,though,’saidtheQueen. ‘Itwasrathercold,Madam,’saidMrGreville. ‘Your sister, Lady Francis Egerton, rides, I think, doesn’t she?’

saidtheQueen.

‘Shedoesridesometimes,Madam,’saidMrGreville.

3. Add examples of rising tones of your own. Space for your own

conversation:

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

Tasks and exercises

Astheyarespeakingtoeachotherspeakerssometimeslowerthe

pitchleveloftheirvoicesforsomepartsofwhattheysay.

Listen to the part of a radio interview. Write the transcript and

indicate the parts which are spoken at a low pitch level.

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Explanation

Whenspeakersdropthepitchoftheirvoicesonaprominentsyl-

labletothislowerleveltheyareusingLowKey.

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

1. The more common of the two is information which has the

same meaning (it expresses nothing which is different in meaning) as the piece of information which comes immediately before, or sometimes after, it.

2. The second kind of Low Key information is what a speaker

says as an ‘aside’. In this case speakers seem to be addressing themselves rather than their hearers.

1. Read the review. Indicate the cases of Low Key information in

the text. Practise reading it.

The ChroniCles of narnia

Veronika Bandurina, Year 2005

There’s a very special set of books by C.S. Lewis called “The

Chronicles of Narnia”, which you probably read when you were a

child.Itsgenreisfantasy,my favourite actually.Thissetofbooksas you may guessconsistsofseveralparts,7 to be precise.Allofthemde-

scribetheadventuresofthreechildreninthewonderlandcalledNarnia,an interesting plot I should mention.Andby the wayC.S.Lewis wasagoodfriendofTolkienif you’re interestedandtheirstylesare somewhatcompared.ButwhatI’mreallyeagertosayisthat,I must say I was immensely and pleasantly surprised, Narnia has recently beenscreenedbysomedirectorandistobeoninourcinemasatthe beginningofJanuary.It’s rst part, to be exact.Theopeningbookand thescreenversionarecalled:“Narnia.TheLion,TheWitchandthe Wardrobe”.Soifyou nd aposterwiththesewordsanywhere,rush intothecinema,makeyourselfcomfortableandenjoyyourtravelinto themagiccountry,which I’m sure you’ll love.

2. Prepare your own lm/book review. While delivering it in

class pay special attention to the use of Low-key tones.

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