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> M id general
The sentence
I saw my friend yesterday
may be pro
nounced as emphatic and unemphatic, depending on situation4.
1
V.A. Vassilyev.
Op. cit., p. 301.
2
M. Romportl.
On the Synonymy and Homonymy o f Means of Intonation. In his
«Studies in Phonetics», Prague, 1973, pp. 137-146.
3
AM. Антипова
Система английской речевой интонации. М., «Высшая школа», 1979,
с. 24.
4
J.D. O'Connor.
A Course of English Intonation (English by Radio). Stoch holm, 1959,
p. 18.
A) Unemphatic
I 'saw my 'friend ,yesterday.
I |‘ )
B) Emphatic
1 saw my friend yesterday.
(It was I and no one else)
I 'saw my friend yesterday.
(I didn’t speak to him on the tele-
. )
phone).
______
I saw M y friend yesterday.
(It was my friend, not yours).
I saw my 'Friend yesterday.
(It wasn't some strange person).
I 'saw my 'Friend yesterday.
I saw my friend 'yesterday.
I 'saw my friend Yesterday.
- ,
\
(Not today or a week ago).
~
VIII.3.2. The Functions of Sentence-stress
Sentence-stress is the second primary component o f intona
tion. Its main functions are to single out, words in a sentence, ac
cording to their relative semantic importance, and to provide an
adequate rhythmical structure o f a sentence, e. g.
I am going hom e
/ai am 'gsuirj h su m /
" )
The given sentence is form ed by one sense-group and one
sentence-stress w hich operate together with speech m elody deter
m ining the degree and position o f stress in a sentence. Like word
stress, this type o f stress has sem antic, gram m atical and rhythm ical
factors w hich are in close relationship to each other, although the
sem antic factor is m ore im portant in English than the other factors1.
T he presense of stress in any utterance proves its constitutive func
tion. H. K urath distinguishes tw o types of stress: (1) sentence-stress,
w hich is accom panied by a pitch figure and signals the end of a
segm ent o f discourse; (
2
) phrase stress used at or near the end o f
English phrases, irrespective o f their syntactic structure2. Both o f
these types o f stress are com bined by the term «the accentual struc
ture o f a sentence» in m odem investigations. Som e linguists do not
distinguish w ord stress and sentence stress and describe both o f
them in term s o f three, four and even five degrees. Recent experi
m ental analysies prove the existance o f five degrees o f sentence
stress in English: prim ary, secondary, tertiary, fourtheary and weak.
Like w ord stress, sentence accent is m anifested by intensity, dura
tion (i.e. prolongation o f the sounds o f the accented syllable) and
tone. Sentence accent perform s distinctive (phonological) and rec
ognitive functions. As to its delim itative function, it acts jointly with
a constitutive function o f sentence stress. T he adequate usage of
sentence stress in its right position and degrees is connected with its
recognitive function. Sentence stress, used in its distinctive function
is called
«phrase-accenteme»
(suggested by V .A .V assilyev). Pho
nologically, phrase-accentem e perform s w ord-distinctive, syntactic-
distinctive (it is called
«syntagmo-accenteme»)
and em otional-
distinctive functions in a sentence3, e. g.
Is th ere any 'm istake here? (W ord-d istinctiv e function)
Is there an y M is s T a k e h ere?
T his is m y b ro th er John. (A pposition)
T h is is m y b rother, John. (D irect address)
1
Л.П. Торсуев.
Вопросы акцентологии современного английского языка. М., Изд.
АН СССР. 1960, с. 4.
2 Н. Kurath.
A Phonology and Prosody of Modem English. Ann Arbor. 1964, p. 139.
3
P. Алимарданов.
Акцентная структура предложения в современном южноанг
лийском предложении. Автореферат канд. дисс., М., 1977.
- 193-
W hat's that? (Different emotional meanings)
"What's 'that?
In these minimal pairs pitch pattern and sense-group divi
sions differ but sentence accent contributes to make the meaning
o f the sentences clear.
VIII.3.3. The Functions of other Intonation Components
The other components o f intonation are rhythm, pause, tim
bre o f voice and tempo o f speech which have their specific func
tions.
Tim bre
determines the quality o f voice. It may be
emotional and normal and helps to shape the meaning o f a sen
tence. The sentence
I saw my friend yesterday
may be pro
nounced in different timbre o f voice to express different
meanings.
Rhythm does not exist independently, but is connected with
all other components o f intonation.
Rhythm
is defined as the
regular alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables in a sen
tence or a word. The smallest elements o f rhythm are called
rhythmic groups
which are formed by a stressed syllable with
following unstressed syllables. The preceding syllables combined
with stressed syllables following them are called
proclitics.
Syl
lables, which are combined with the preceding stressed syllable,
are termed
enclitics.
Any rhythmic group is based on the nature
o f a stressed syllable. If a rhythmic group contains one stressed
syllable with unstressed syllable following it is called a simple
one. When a rhythmic group contains two or more stressed sylla
bles with unstressed syllables following, it is called a complex
rhythmic group. Both types o f rhythm may alternate in any con
text. Rhythmic structure is determined by the lexico-grammatical
structure, by the character o f combining words, stylistic and other
factors o f a context1.
Tempo (or rate) of speech,
which may be
normal, slow and quick, functions together with rhythm and other
components o f intonation.
Tempo and rhythm are unseparable and function together to
express a speaker's emotions, and underline the semantic impor
tance o f different parts o f a sentence and sense-groups.
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