Phonetics: Intonation Flashcards
Intonation definition
the SYSTEMATIC use of PITCH PATTERNS over utterances
What are suprasegmental aspects of speech?
Intonation
Rhythm
Voice Quality
What is pitch?
Pitch is the psychological response to hearing a physical sound
Psychological - what we perceive ups/downs/levels
Physical - what crates sense of pitch eg. physical process/instruments etc
Pitch possibilities on a syllable ->
Limited number of patterns (due to limited no. phonemes)
Uni directional movement:
- pitch stays level
- pitch falls
- pitch rises
Bi/multi directional movement:
- combinations of level/fall/rise
- eg. rise + fall or rise + level
Systematic meaning for pitch ->
Specific meaning is attached to specific patterns
- these meanings can vary according to the function of intonation
- and variety of English spoken
It is conventional
It is learnt
Physics of pitch in speech
Vocal folds vibrate
- resulting patterns of air movement
- patterns of sound waves
Frequency of vibration of the sound wave
- specifically, the fundamental (ie. lowest) frequency of vibration of the sound wave
Fundamental frequency definition + physics
F zero (F0) F nought = number of times the sound-wave repeats itself per second
Expressed as:
- cycles per second OR more commonly in hertz
Tessitura definition
the pitch range of our voices
Pitch range adults general
Female: 120-280 Hz
Male: 80-150 Hz
Ways to display pitch patterns
- Diagrams:
- contour
- interlinear tonetic - Diacritics
- Instrumental display
Contour diagram (perceptual display of pitch)
Continuous line following rise and fall of pitch over utterance
Interlinear Tonetic (perceptual display of pitch)
Blobs and tadpoles
Diacritics
= marks such as
‘ high level
/ rise
\ fall
/\ rise fall
\/ fall rise
F0 Plots (instrumental display of frequency)
Produced by speech processing programmes such as Praat
Meanings and Functions of Intonation:
- accentual
- grammatical
- attitudinal
- discoursal
