Intonation & Accentuation

Intonation

• The same phrase can be pronounced differently, depending upon whether the speaker wants to indicate his feelings – impatience, surprise, fear, politeness, etc.
• Intonation is often described as the melodic curve of the phrase. One speaks of the ‘melody’ of the phrase. Intonation is a characteristic of prosody that is applied to the whole phrase and not simply to a word or group of words.
• Distinctive characteristics of intonation
  • Phoneticians distinguish the following:-
    • The height of the voice – is it rising or falling, etc.
    • The length and intensity of the sound
    • The melodic curve
• The function of intonation
  • Modality
    • Commands
    • Questions
  • Syntax

In some cases intonation alone distinguishes the syntactic or semantic components of the phrase. Compare:-

	On le	remontait,	il	redescendait…	(enumeration)
	2	3	2	3
	On le	remontait,	il	redescendait.	(subordination)
	2	3	2	1

In the absence of any other indices, only intonation allows the interlocutor to understand the logical sequence of the speaker’s ideas.

• • Other
    • When part of the phrase is in parentheses, the intonation suddenly descends to a lower level.

Les cours que	je suis	(l’économie et	l’histoire	sont mes	préférés
2	2	1	1	2	1

• • • If the subject follows a ‘groupe ou mot présentatif’, the intonation of the subject is stable. The intonation of the ‘groupe ou mot présentatif’ will rise or fall, depending on whether the speaker is making a statement or asking a question, etc.

	Il est	à moi,	ce	livre
	3	2	2	2
	Il	vient	ce	café?
	2	3	3	3

Accentuation

• Accentuation is the highlighting of one syllable in a word or group of words.
  • In the non-linguistic sense, ‘accent’ means any pronunciation that deviates from the norm.
  • This highlighting is achieved in particular by the quality of the vowel of the syllable, which is pronounced with more intensity and perhaps for a longer duration than is normal.
  • Accentuation is noted phonetically by the sign ́ placed before the start of the syallable.
• The tonic accent
  • Always affects the last syllable of the ‘rhythmic group’
• The ‘accent d’insistance’
  • May be introduced by the speaker to indicate changes of mood
  • Placed on a syllable that would not normally be stressed
  • Can be in addition to the tonic accent or replace it
  • Distinctive characteristics
    • The introduction of an additional accent where one would not normally occur gives a ‘syncopated rhythm’ to phrases.
    • The syllable bearing the ‘accent d’insistance’ changes quantatively.
      • The vowel is lengthened an pronounced with greater intensity of voice.
      • The consonant is often ‘doubled’
    • Public speakers have a tendency to emphasise first syllables. This is particularly noticeable in the media.
    • Another characteristic is to detach and accentuate each syllable.
  • Function
    • The main function of the ‘accent d’insistance’ is to contrast different words in the sentence.
    • It is overused, particularly in teaching and the media and is also becoming a banal feature in other fields, such as politics.
• The rhythmic groupe

A group of words ending in an accentuated syllable and preceded by one or more unstressed syllable, which forms a unity of sense.