Stylistic use of intonation
TERM PAPER
STYLISTIC USE OF INTONATION (INFORMATIONAL, ACADEMIC, PUBLICISTIC, DECLAMATORY, CONVERSATIONAL STYLES)
CONTENTS
- INTRODUCTION………………………………………………
………………………...3 - ENGLISH INTONATION , ITS STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS…………………....4
- THE FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS OF ENGLISH INTONATION………………………...9
- PHONOSTYLISTICS AND STYLISTIC USE OF INTONATION……………………13
- PROBLEMS OF PHONOSTYLISTICS………………………………………
………...13 - INTONATIONAL STYLES…………………………………………………………….
15 - STYLISTIC USE OF INTONATION IN LITERATURE, PRESS,
BROADCASTING, EVERYDAY COMMUNICATION……………………………………………
……….18 - CONCLUSION……………………………………………………
………………….....22
The actuality of the term paper.
In linguistics, intonation is variation of spoken pitch that is not used to distinguish words, instead it is used for a range
of functions such as indicating the attitudes and emotions of the speaker,
signalling the difference between statements and questions, and between
different types of question, focusing attention on important elements
of the spoken message and also helping to regulate conversational interaction.
It contrasts with tone, in which pitch variation in some languages does distinguish words, either lexically or grammatically. Although intonation
is primarily a matter of pitch variation, it is important to be aware
that functions attributed to intonation such as the expression of attitudes
and emotions, or highlighting aspects of grammatical structure, almost
always involve concomitant variation in other prosodic features. Crystal for example says that "...intonation is not a single system of
contours and levels, but the product of the interaction of features
from different prosodic systems – tone, pitch-range, loudness,
The aim of the term paper.
The aim of this work is to distinguish the intonational styles from each other to study about the structure of English intonation and its stylistic use.
The objectives of the term paper.
- To study phonology and the stylistic use of intonation.
- To reveal peculiarities of the intonational styles .
- To create an effective model in order to distinguish intonational styles.
The scientific novelty of the term paper.
Combining principles of intonation we conclude that it's important to recognize the meaning behind the
tones used in everyday speech, and to be able to use them so that there
are no misunderstandings between the speaker and the listener. It is
generally true that mistakes in pronunciation of sounds can be overlooked,
but mistakes in intonation make a lasting impression.
ENGLISH INTONATION, ITS STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS
Another part of suprasegmental phonology is intonation. Intonation is a language universal. There are no languages which are spoken as a monotone, without any change of prosodic parameters. But intonation functions in various languages in a different way. So our attention will be turned to the role of intonation in the language and its contribution to the communicative value of the act of speech. Intonation hasn’t been thoroughly investigated yet, as such research involves the use of both special skills and particular technical devices and equipment. From the very beginning of phonetics as a science phoneticians preferred to study segmental phonemes rather than intonation, so now we have a far more detailed analysis of English sounds than of its intonation patterns. Teachers of phonetics also prefer to concentrate their attention on sounds, as the recognition of intonation variations requires a special skill, the so-called musical ear, which is difficult to acquire and develop. Native speakers use intonation unconsciously. Intonational differences in the native language seem to be the first to be perceived and acquired by children, so they are rooted so deeply in their minds that when they come to studying a foreign language, interference (influence) of the native intonation is the strongest and the most difficult to get rid of. More than that. Very often the misuses of intonation patterns in a foreign language are perceived by native speakers not as mistakes, but as an intentional act, so such situations may cause misunderstanding and even offence. The study of intonation went through many stages: as individual sounds, intonation can be examined on different levels – auditory, acoustic and functional. We shall start with the description of intonation on the auditory and acoustic levels, and then pass on to its linguistic function.
The Structure of English Intonation
Most linguists agree that on perception level intonation
is a complex unity formed by significant variations of pitch, tempo,
loudness and timbre. Nowadays there is another term – prosody –
which is used in linguistics, sometimes meaning “intonation”. According
to the British School intonation refers to pitch (or melody) variations,
and prosody embraces pitch, loudness, tempo and voice quality (or timbre).
Intonation starts with a phrase, an utterance, while prosody has a wider
domain: from a syllable to the whole text. But for convenience in our
textbook we shall not discriminate between prosody and intonation and
use the terms interchangeably.
This boy ┊ was ↘not a ˈmodel °pupil||
This ↘boy was ˈnot a ˈmodel °pupil||
Now let’s see how each of the constituents of intonation
actualizes such language units as syntagms, sentences, phrases. Among
the pitch parameters we shall concentrate on the variations in the direction
of pitch, pitch level and pitch range. Pitch changes can’t
be separated from loudness, so we shall discuss pitch-and-stress structure
of the intonation pattern.Not all stressed syllables in a phrase are
of equal importance. One of the syllables has the greater prominence
than the others and forms the nucleus of an intonation
pattern. The nucleus is normally the last strongly accented syllable
in an intonation pattern, which marks a significant change of pitch
direction (where it goes up or down). The nuclear tone is the most important
part of the intonation pattern without which the latter cannot exist
at all. On the other hand an intonation pattern may consist of only
one syllable which is its nucleus. In general nuclear tones may be falling,
rising and level or a combination of these movements. Each movement
may begin on a lower or higher level, thus producing a variety of nuclear
tones. For teaching purposes the following most important and frequently
used nuclear tones are chosen: °Low Fall, èHigh (Mid) Fall, Low Rise, æHigh (Mid) Rise, ëFall-Rise, ^Rise-Fall, >Level. Speakers are said to select
from a choice of tones according to how they want the utterance to be
heard. During the development of modern phonetics in the twentieth century
it was hoped that scientific study of intonation would make it possible
to state what the function of each different aspect of intonation was,
and that foreign learners could then be taught rules to enable them
to use intonation in the way that native speakers use it. However these
rules are not quite adequate as a complete practical guide to how to
use English intonation.
I’ll come in an °hour.
Rising tone conveys an impression that something more is to follow , it has the general meaning of “incompleteness, uncertainty, dependence”:
- Have you seen Ann? - No.
Some not very important parenthetical information is often spoken with a rising tone to show that it’s incomplete and depends on the main sentence:
…and then, on the left, you’ll see my house.
The fall-rise is used a lot in English, it combines the meaning of falling tone’s certainty and the rising tone’s meaning of dependence, so it often conveys a felling of reservation:
- Do you smoke? - ëSometimes. (not in general)
- I’ve heard it’s a good film. - ëYes. (but I don’t completely agree)
The rise-fall is used to convey rather strong feelings of approval, disapproval or surprise:
- Isn’t the view lovely! - ^Yes.
The level nuclear tone is usually used to express a feeling of something routine, uninteresting or boring.
I’m afraid I can’t >manage it…
Mid-level tone is common in spontaneous speech and low-level tone is characteristic of reading poetry:
And >then ┊ my >heart ┊with èpleasure feels…
And °dances ┊with the °daffodils|
An intonation pattern contains one nucleus and may contain other stressed or unstressed syllables, which normally precede or follow the nucleus. The part that extends from the first stressed syllable up to (but not including) the nucleus is called the head. The unstressed syllables which precede the first stressed syllable of the head are called the pre-head, and any syllables between the nucleus and the end of the utterance are the tail.
The tone of a nucleus determines the pitch of the rest of the intonation pattern (that is the tail), thus after a falling tone the rest of the intonation pattern is at a low pitch. After a rising tone the rest moves in an upward direction:
èNo ˌMary. \ æWell °Mary.
The nucleus and the tail form what is called the terminal tone.
but a strong emphatic “yes” – like this:
So pitch range can be normal, wide and narrow. Narrow pitch range is associated with dull monotonous speech.
Another component of intonation is tempo. It implies the rate of the utterance and pausation. The rate can be normal, slow and fast. The parts of the utterance which are particularly important sound slower and those which bear additional, not significant information are pronounced at a faster rate. Utterances are split into smaller portions by means of pauses. By pause is meant a complete stop of phonation. Pauses differ according to their length. Usually three kinds of pauses are distinguished for teaching purposes:
- Short pauses which separate intonation groups within a phrase;
- Longer pauses which manifest the end of the phrase;
- Very long pauses (twice as long as the first type) are used to separate paragraphs.
Functionally pauses may be syntactic, emphatic and hesitation. Syntactic pauses separate phonopassages, phrases and intonation groups. Emphatic pauses serve to make prominent certain parts of the utterance. They are used to draw the listeners’ attention to what the speaker is going to say. Hesitation pauses are mainly used in spontaneous speech to gain time to think over what to say next. They may be silent or filled.
Sometimes we can perceive a pause, when there is no stop of phonation at all. It may happen when pitch changes its direction; variations in the rate of the utterance, aspiration, etc. can also produce this effect.
Timbre or voice quality has not been thoroughly investigated yet. Phoneticians describe three types of voice quality settings which depend on the position of speech organs, the characteristics of the vocal cords and muscular tension. For the moment it is known that voice quality differences do contribute to a foreign accent and that they stem from both linguistic and sociolinguistic factors, but further research is needed on this phenomenon for more accurate information.
The changes of pitch, loudness and tempo are highly organized in any particular language. No matter how different the individual variations of these prosodic components are they are standard, so that all speakers of the language use them in similar ways under similar circumstances. These characteristics of intonation structure form the prosodic system of English.
The Functional Aspect of English Intonation
Our further point will be the description of intonation on the functional level. Intonation is a powerful means of human intercommunication. One of the aims of communication is the exchange of information between people. The meaning of an English utterance derives not only from the grammatical structure, the lexical composition and the sound pattern. It also derives from variations of intonation or its prosodic parameters. We can see that intonation makes it easier for a listener to understand what a speaker is trying to convey. The ways in which intonation does this are very complex, and there exist various points of view on the number and aims of intonation functions in a language.
P.Roach, for example, singles out the following intonation functions:
- grammatical
- accentual
- attitudinal
- discourse
Let’s have a closer look at them. First of all intonation serves to mark boundaries between phrases, clauses or sentences to indicate the grammatical subordination and to show the difference between questions, statements, commands, etc., so this function is called grammatical. The placement of the intonation-group boundary is important for differentiating the meaning of some ambiguous sentences, as in the example:
Those who ësold ┊ˌquickly ˌmade a °profit|
ˈThose who ˈsold ëquickly ┊ˌmade a °profit|
The intonation-group boundary can occur not only between words, but other grammatical units such as phrases and clauses, thus showing what is subordinate to what, as in the example:
The boys ┊ who weren’t punished ┊ were happy|
The boys who weren’t punished ┊ were happy| (only some boys)
Some skilful speakers use this ability of intonation as a special rhetorical device to attract the listeners’ attention or to hold the floor a bit longer.
The choice of nuclear tones also has grammatical significance, as it makes clear whether the person is telling something, asking or commanding. Basic tones are generally associated with certain communicative types of sentences. The falling tone is most common in statements, special questions, commands and exclamations. The rising tone is characteristic of non-final parts of statements, general questions, requests and warnings. The grammatical function here seems to overlap with the pragmatic function and depends on the speaker’s pragmatic aim. The choice of the nuclear tone can turn the command into a polite request:
ˈClose the ° door ┊°will you|
ˈClose the ° door ┊will you|
a question into an exclamation:
Isn’t she beautiful|
ˈIsn’t she èbeautiful|
an apology into a request to repeat:
I’m °sorry|
I’m sorry|
a statement into a question (mostly in colloquial speech):
You èdid it|
You did it|
As we’ve said already intonation helps to produce the effect of prominence, the placing of nucleus on a particular syllable marks out the word to which it belongs as the most important in the intonation group. It highlights the focus of information in the utterance indicating that it’s new (it’s called rheme) while the rest of the given information is called theme as it’s either known to the listener or can be easily understood from the context. Thus intonation can structure the information content of an intonation group or a phrase. This function is called accentual.
The location of the nucleus is of considerable linguistic importance. The most common position for it is on the last lexical word. In this case sentence stress is normal. But there are cases when a speaker may shift the nucleus to an earlier part of the intonation group for contrastive or emphatic purposes. In this position the stress is logical.
I’m ˈgoing to ˈleave °soon| (normal)
I’m ˈgoing to ° leave soon| (contrastive, meaning I’m going not to stay)
I èam going to leave soon| (emphatic)
The position of the nucleus can also differentiate the actual meaning of the sentences, as in the example:
I have ˈplans to ° leave| (=I’m planning to leave)
I have ° plans to leave| (=I have some plans that I have to leave)
By putting the stress on one particular word, the speaker shows that he is treating the word as the carrier of new information, and that the information of the other words is not new and can be easily understood from the situation.
The next function of intonation is the attitudinal one. Intonation enables us to express emotions and attitudes and this adds a kind of special meaning to spoken language. The ability of intonation to express attitudes is associated with tones and pitch range features accompanied by voice quality and tempo and loudness changes. Some phoneticians make a distinction between the attitude towards what the speaker is saying and his/her emotional state.
Then there are also culture-specific norms of demonstrating emotions and attitudes. This makes it difficult for a foreign learner to interpret what he/she has heard and to use an appropriate intonation pattern in a certain situation. For example, Russian falling tone when used in English parting remarks may seem offensive or even insulting to native speakers of English, who usually use rising tone in saying good-bye. On the other hand English emotional High Falls or a wide pitch range may sound unnatural and pretentious to Russian speakers.
This function of intonation is closely connected with paralinguistics which includes facial expressions, gestures and body movements.
In the last few years the attention of phoneticians has been focused on a larger context in which sentences occur – that is discourse, in the structuring of which intonation plays a significant role. Generally intonation helps to focus the listeners’ attention on aspects of the message that are most important and to regulate the conversational behaviour of the participants.
As we’ve said already the placing of the nucleus on a certain syllable of one particular word signals that the information conveyed by it is most important and new. It’s clear that the placement of the nuclear tone is at least partly determined by the larger context. The chosen other parameters of the intonation group can also indicate whether they are used to present new information or refer to that which is already possessed by the listener, is common knowledge or part of the cultural background. Foreign learners of English, having in general less common ground or shared knowledge with the native speaker, might also have some difficulty in deciphering the message.
Another area of intonational discourse function is the regulation of conversational behaviour. Speakers use various intonation components to indicate to others that they have finished speaking, that another person is expected to speak, that a particular type of response is required, etc.
Some phoneticians also distinguish a semantic function of intonation (other terms are distinctive or phonological). Some parameters of the intonation pattern are capable of differentiating the actual meaning of a phrase or utterance of the same grammatical structure and the same lexical composition:
I don’t like to read °anything| (=ընդհանրապես չեմ սիրում կարդալ)
I don’t like to read ëanything| (=ես ոչինչ չեմ սիրում կարդալ)
Intonation can also be in contradiction with the syntactic structure and lexical content of the utterance, thus neutralizing them:
- Do you know what I’m here for? - No (=question)
- I’ve broken your vase. - ´How °nice of you (=sarcasm, reprimand)
One more important function of intonation, singled out by some phoneticians, is a stylistic one, as intonation is used to characterize a particular style or a variety of oral speech. As it’s rather a wide topic it will be discussed in a separate units later.
To sum it up we can say that all the functions of intonation overlap and can be viewed as different aspects of discourse function.
PHONOSTYLISTICS AND THE STYLISTIC USE OF INTONATION
A speaker uses a great number of varieties of the
language according to the situations he finds himself in. As he/she
moves through the day, so the variety of the language he/she uses is
moving. It is changed instinctively or consciously at home, with friends,
at work, so on. An educated speaker is multilingual. Functional stylistics
studies certain aspects of language variations. The aim of it is to
analyze language habits and identify the linguistic features which are
restricted to certain social contexts, to explain them and to classify
them.
Phonostylistics studies the way phonetic means of the language function in various oral realizations of the language. The choice of the phonetic means suitable to this or that situation depends on a number of factors, among which extra-linguistics ones are very important as they result in phonostylistic varieties.The most important extra-linguistic factor is the aim of utterance, which is a sort of strategy for the language user. People speak in order to inform, persuade, instruct, narrate, etc. In each particular case speakers select a number of intonational means that serve his/her purpose and make his/her speech more effective. That is why the aim of utterance is considered to be a style-forming factor, whereas the rest are style-modifying ones.
The nature of intercourse or the form of speech can also influence the choice of a phonetic style. It suggests listening, speaking, or exchanging remarks and may be a lecture, a discussion, a conversation, etc. Depending on the number of participants it may be a monologue, a dialogue or a polilogue. The last factor sets the degree of speech spontaneity or preparedness. An utterance can be qualified as fully spontaneous, when the verbal realization of speech is simultaneous to reproduction of the idea in the mind of the speaker. Speech is half-prepared when the speaker has thought over what he/she is going to say (for example, a teacher giving explanations at a lesson). Speech is fully prepared when the speaker prepares the reading of a piece of prose (or poetry) or when he/she quotes. In this case the speech is prepared in advance, is written on paper and is generally read.
Other style-modifying factors include social and psychological situations. The occupations of the speaker and the listener, the social status, age and gender determine the degree of formality of speech and the attitudes expressed (it may be a friendly talk, a formal conversation, public or non-public speech, etc.). If the situation is formal the speaker will tend to articulate more slowly and carefully. Individual sounds will be given their full forms, none will be omitted. In a very informal situation, on the other hand, he/she will be more likely to speak quickly, less carefully, and some sounds will either change their form or be omitted entirely.
All these factors are interconnected and interdependent in everyday life situations and it’s normally the combination of several of them that characterizes the phonetic style. The task of phonostylistics is firstly, to identify the set of phonetic expressive means, which are stylistically significant; secondly, it must outline a method of analysis, which would allow to arrange these features in such a way as to facilitate the comparison of the use of one language with any other; thirdly it must decide on the function of these features by classifying them into categories, based on the extra-linguistic purpose they have.
One of the most urgent problems of phonostylistics is the classification of phonetic styles. Different scholars name different styles according to the principle the classification is based on. We give preference to the classification suggested by the phoneticians of our faculty. Taking the aim of utterance as the main principle of their classification they distinguish the following phonetic styles:
- Informational
- Scientific or academic
- Publicistic
- Declamatory
- Familiar or conversational
Any of these styles has a great many varieties in accordance with style-modifying factors. Besides any of these styles may be realized either in the form of reading or in the form of speaking. Speaking and reading are two different psychic processes in which the sounding utterance is generated in different ways. When a person reads a text, he/she has a ready piece of information, written on paper. So he/she doesn't have to think what to say. The only thing he/she has to think of is how to say, how to make it sound proper, according to the norm of the language, suitable for the situation. As a result the usage of phonetic means is characterized by a high degree of regularity.
When a person produces a spontaneous text, that has not been written or prepared beforehand, he has to think of both: what and how to say. When such a person starts speaking he/she has only an intention to make an utterance. In most cases he/she doesn't even know how long the utterance is going to continue. The speaker has to decide spontaneously how to express what he intends using proper lexical, phonetic and grammatical means. The main thing that differs reading and speaking is the segmentation (or delimitation) of speech into phrases and intonation groups. In reading a phrase corresponds to a written sentence. The end of the phrase is marked by a pause with a complete stop of phonation and by the falling nuclear tone. Intonation groups in the text which is read coincide with syntagms. Each intonation group has a semantic centre. Intonation groups of a spontaneous text may be syntactically complete or incomplete (they may lack a semantic centre). The end of the intonation group is characterized by the absence of any pause and often is pronounces with the mid-level or even rising nuclear tone. While reading a person makes mainly syntactic pauses, those which mark the end of a phase or an intonation group. Sometimes a reader makes emphatic pauses too, to emphasize the following part of utterance. While speaking a person makes three kinds of pauses - syntactic, emphatic and hesitational, among which hesitations prevail. Hesitation pauses are characteristic of spontaneous speech belonging to any style.
In spontaneous speech semantic centres are more prominent, they are much louder, pronounced at a much higher pitch and are much slower compared to the rest of the utterance. We can say that rhythm in spontaneous texts is often non-systematic, variable and unpredictable. Normally, each act of communication is addressed at a listener, so it’s important to understand what perceptional characteristics of an oral text have a style-differentiating value for him/her. The most important ones are considered to be delimitation (or segmentation), the accentuation of semantic centres and the speaker’s timbre.
Now we are going to discuss the main intonational features of each style. It should be born in mind that each style exists in a number of varieties which depend on the style-modifying factors.
1) Information Style
It seems to be the most neutral as its main purpose is to convey information without expressing any emotions or attitudes. It is the least marked kind of situationally influenced English. This kind of style is used mostly in broadcasting, press reporting, oral representation of any information or a written text, in formal business conversations and classroom teaching.
Among the prosodic features characteristic of this style we should mention the following:
- Low Fall/Rise with Descending Heads and High Level Head;
- stable and normal loudness;
- normal or relatively slow speed;
- mostly syntactic pauses;
- systematic and properly organised rhythm.
2) Academic Style
It is used in lectures, scientific discussions, conferences, etc. Its purpose is to inform, to win the attention and interest of the public, to establish a contact with the audience. As it is an intellectual and volitional type of speech (the speaker appeals to the intellect and will of the listener) it requires some emotional colouring. It is achieved by varying prosodic features, by the alternation of pauses, types of heads and terminal tones, by using tempo contrasts:
- High/Low Falls and Fall-Rises with Stepping Head;
- rather high loudness;
- a large proportion of pauses that serve to bring out semantic centres;
- normal or relatively slow speed
- systematic and properly organized rhythm.
3) Publicistic Style
This is the style of public discussions on political, judicial or economic topics, sermons, parliamentary debates. Its aim is to persuade, to influence, to involve the audience into the talk and to make the listeners take the speaker’s point of view. It is never spontaneous and is often even rehearsed. This style is extremely emotional, mimics and gestures are widely applied.
The prosodic features are the following:
- a lot of High Falls and Fall-Rises with Descending and Ascending Heads;
- changes of loudness from fortissimo to whispering;
- rather slow speed;
- intonation groups are not short, separated with rather long mostly syntactical and emphatic pauses;
- properly organized rhythm.
4) Declamatory Style
It is used on stage, TV screen or in class in reading aloud prose or poetry. Its aim is to appeal simultaneously to the mind and emotions of the listener, so this style is highly emotional and expressive. It requires special training. On the prosodic level the following features are the most common:
- falling, level nuclear tones with Low/High Level or Stepping Head;
- varied loudness;
- rather slow speed;
- properly organized and stable rhythm.
5) Conversational Style
This is the style of every-day communication between friends, relatives, well-acquainted people. It is relaxed, characterized by the lack of planning, so it is unpredictable, there are a lot of errors, slips, hesitations, elliptical constructions:
- falling or rising tones with Level or Falling Heads;
- normal loudness;
- varied speed;
- intonation groups are rather short separated by pauses, mostly hesitations, which can be both silent and filled;
- irregular rhythm.
As we have mentioned already, each style has some varieties depending on the extra-linguistic factors. Each can be realized in different forms: monologue, dialogue, polilogue, in speaking and reading, etc. It’s also important to note that any style is seldom realized in its pure form, each oral text usually includes phonetic characteristics of different styles, so there’s overlapping (or fusion) of styles. But the knowledge of peculiarities of the usage of different phonetic styles improves the effectiveness of speech, facilitates understanding and communication, so it shouldn't be ignored in both teaching and learning a foreign language.
STYLISTIC USE OF INTONATION IN LITERATURE, PRESS, BROADCASTING, EVERYDAY COMMUNICATION
INFORMATIONAL STYLE
According to Ucas, two decades ago there was no gender gap, but this has now become one of the most distinctive features of applications.
(BBC World News)
The Thai firm, which owns the John West and Chicken of the Sea brands, has been on an acquisition spree in the past year.
(BBC World News)
Air pollution is definitely damaging. The World Health Organization estimates it causes 3.7 million deaths each year.
(Time News)
Italian screen actress Virna Lisi, famed in the 1960s for appearing opposite stars including Frank Sinatra, has died at the age of 78.
(Health News)
London
Tonight-fair to partly cloudy, low 64 fahrenheit, winds east-northeast at 5-10 meters per hour. (Broadcast)
In these sentences we express information. We use these sentences in press, in broadcasting etc. In these sentences we use stable and normal loudness, normal or relatively slow speed, mostly syntactic pauses, systematic and properly organized rhythm. We use this style without expressing any emotions or attitudes.
ACADEMIC STYLE
"We can define language as a system of communication
using sounds or symbols that enables us to express our feelings, thoughts,
ideas, and experiences."
(E. Bruce Goldstein, Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research,
and Everyday Experience, 2nd ed. Thomson, 2008)
An economy is a system which tries to balance the available resources of a country (land, labour, capital and enterprise) against the wants and needs of consumers. It deals with three key issues:
Old English was derived from the Germanic languages of the Anglo-Saxons who settled in Britain in the fifth century.
(The Lectures of OE)
This style we use in lectures, discussions, conferences, etc. Its aim is to center the attention and interest of the public, to create a contact with the audience. These sentences requires some emotional colouring. During pronunciation of this style we use rather high loudness, normal or relatively slow speed , systematic and properly organized rhythm.
PUBLICISTIC STYLE
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…
(Th. Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence).
We’re talking about healing our nation. We’re not talking about politics. We’re all here to do everything in our power to save lives… I’m here to thank you for hearing that call. Actually, I shouldn’t be thanking you, I should be thanking a Higher Power for giving you the call.
(George W. Bush).
A party’s candidates for President and Vice-President are generally choosen at a national conversation, which meets every 4 year.
This is the style of public discussions on political, judicial or economic topics. Its purpose is to involve the audience into the talk. These sentences are extremely emotional.
DECLAMATORY STYLE
“And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
(John F. Kennedy)
“I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.” - Diogenes“ Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.”
(Plato)
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
(Aristotle)
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.
(Romeo and Juliet, 2.2)
↑All the world is ↓astage,
(William Shakespeare “As you like it”)
This style is used on stage , TV screen, poetry etc. I take examples from poetry and thoughts of famous people like Plato, Aristotel, John F. Kennedy. The aim of this style is to appeal simultaneously to the mind and emotions of the listeners. Thus this style is more emotional and impressive. To exhibit such kind of sentences we need varied loudness, partly slow speed, properly organized and stable rhythm and falling, level nuclear tones with low, high or stepping head.
CONVERSATIONAL STYLE
"But if you really wanted to
walk on the beach, all you had to learn to do was pick up a piece of
seaweed, shake it in the dog's face and everything would be hunky dory."
(Spalding Gray, Swimming to Cambodia. Theatre Communications
Group, 2005)
"It was the first day off in a long time, and all of us were trying to get a little rest and relaxation out by the pool at this big, modern hotel that looked something like a prison. If I had to call it anything I would call it a 'pleasure prison.'
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