Communicative Types of Sentences

The communicative type of a sentence is a linguistic category differentiated in speech in accordance with the aim of the utterance. There are 4 types of them. They are:

1. Statements (categoric, non-categoric, implicatory).

2. Questions (special, general, alternative, disjunctive).

3. Imperatives (commands, requests).

4. Exclamations.

The Segments of Intonation Group

The intonation contour of an extended syntagm consists of three functionally important parts:

1. The pre-head.

2. The scale, or head.

3. The terminal tone.

4. The tail.

I have been doing English at the institute.

Types of Pre-Heads

A low pre-head consists of unstressed syllables pronounced at a low pitch, or gradually ascending in pitch towards the head or the nucleus:

e.g. But you’ll be home in time for dinner?

A high pre-head consists of unstressed syllables pronounced on a high pitch. A high pre-head gives to the utterance an extremely emotional character and may be regarded as a feature of emphatic speech.

e. g. How can you be so obstinate?

The System of Scales

The Scale is a phonetic unit that begins with the head group and extends to the terminal tone.

Scales can be classified as follows:

1) According to the arrangement of unstressed syllables within stress-tone groups can be:

• Stepping

e.g. Ourclasses begin at three o’clock.

• Sliding

e.g. Our classes begin at three o’clock.

• Scandent

e.g. Our classes begin at three o’clock.

2) According to the direction of the pitch movement the scales can be classified as:

• The Descending Scale (Stepping, Sliding, Scandent)

e.g. Hepromised to be intime.

Hepromised tobe intime.

Hepromised to be intime.

•The Ascending Scale (Stepping, Sliding, Scandent)

e.g. Hepromised to be intime.

Hepromised tobe intime.

Hepromised to be intime.

• The Level Scale (Low, Mid, High)

e.g. Hepromised to come intime.

Hepromised tocome in time.

Hepromised tocome intime.

3) According to the regularity of their pitch movements scales can be:

• Regular

• Broken

e.g. Hepromised tocome in ↑half an hour.

Hepromised tocome in ↑half an hour.

The function of the scale lies in the fact that it helps to convey different emotions. We can call this function attitudinal.

Scales in Detail The Stepping Scale

1. The Regular Descending Stepping Scale is characterised by steplike descend of all stress-tone units. The head-unit of the contour takes the highest pitch. The unstressed syllables within every stress-tone unit are said on a level sequence.

The Regular Descending Stepping Scale is commonly used in descriptive prose and in monologue parts of a conversation. It can serve any communicative type of utterance. It sounds formal, businesslike, matter-of-fact.

e.g. Im a first-year student of the English department.

The Regular Descending Stepping Scale can be combined with any of the six terminal tones.

2. The Broken Descending Stepping Scale

The Descending Stepping Scale can be broken on any important word (except the head one), which takes a higher pitch than the preceding stressed syllable. Then the step-like descend continues. This rise is called SPECIAL or ACCIDENTAL. It is used for several reasons:

• to avoid the monotony of a long syntagm:

e.g. I’m a first-year student of the ↑English department.

• to join short syntagms into longer ones:

e.g. Tomorrow morning we ↑ leave for Kyiv.

• to give special emphasis to an important word. There is a number of emotionally coloured words which are liable to take the Special Rise, they are: all, always, very, every, best, many, quite; all the numerals and so on.

e.g. Our classes begin at ↑three in the afternoon.

NOTE. If the Special Rise is produced during the second accented word, the preceding stressed word takes a low-level or a mid-level pitch.

e.g Our canteen is ↑always overcrowded.

3. The Ascending Stepping Scale is characterised by the step-like ascend of all stress-tone units. The head-unit of the utterance takes the lowest pitch. The unstressed syllables within every stress-tone unit are said on a level sequence.

The High Level Prehead often precedes it. It can be used on any communicative type of utterance. It conveys displeasure, disgruntled protest, critical surprise.

e.g. I thought perhaps you might stay up to see her. (displeasure)

¯Are you sure you don’t want to be a lawyer, John? (critical surprise)