Problems of phonostylistics

1. Phonetic modifications in speech.

2. Phonetic styles as opposed to functional styles.

3. The classification of phonetic styles.

The main circumstances of reality that course phonetic modification in speech are as follows:

• the aim of spontaneity of speech (which may be to instruct, to inform, to narrate, to chat, etc.)

• the extent of spontaneity of speech (unprepared speech, prepared speech)

• the nature of interchange, i.e. the use of a form of speech which may either suggest only listening, or both listening and an exchange of remarks (a lecture, a discussion, a conversation, etc.)

• social and psychological factors, which determine the extent of formality of speech and the attitudes expressed (a friendly conversation with close friends, a quarrel, an official conversation, etc.)

These circumstances, or factors, are termed extralinguistic factors. Different ways of pronunciation caused by extralinguistic factors and characterized by definite phonetic features, are called phonetic styles, or styles of pronunciation.

Scholars distinguish a number of functional styles of the written language, such as belles-letters style, publicistic style, newspaper style, the style of official documents and the style of scientific prose, which have clearly distinguishable lexical and syntactic peculiarities. The styles of the spoken language are not as yet unanimously defined, though we are aware of the phonetic differences. The phonetic style-forming means are the degree of assimilation, reduction and elision, all of which depend on the degree of carefulness of pronunciation. Phonetic styles differ prosodically, too. Each phonetic style is characterized by a specific combination of certain segmental and prosodic features.

Phoneticians distinguish a number of styles of pronunciation, although among them there is no generally accepted classification of pronunciation styles either. D. Tones distinguishes five styles of pronunciation: the rapid familiar style, the slower colloquial style, the natural style used in addressing an audience, the acquired style of the stage, the acquired styles used in singing. T. Kenyon distinguished four principal styles of good spoken English: familiar colloquial, formal colloquial, public-speaking style and public-reading style. For teaching and learning purposes the following classification of phonostyles is considered useful: - informational style

- academic style

- publicistic style

- declamatory style

- conversational style

Phonostylistic properties of phonetic styles.

Phonostylistic characteristics are summarized in the form of certain parameters based on prosodic features. These parameters represent appropriate prosodic style-forming means (including intonation patterns) common to a particular style. Such parameters are called phonostylistic parameters and they are as follows:

Timbre

Delimitation

3. Style-marking prosodic features: loudness, levels and ranges, rate, pauses, rhythm

4. Accentuation of semantic centres: terminal tones, pre-nuclear patterns, contrast between accented and unaccented segments

The speech typology characteristic of the informational style includes: informational style registers (reading / speaking as the varieties of the language involved; prepared written speech read aloud and / or spontaneous spoken speech); educational information; press reporting and broadcasting. The forms of communication are represented by a monologue, a dialogue or a polylogue with the number of participants involved (suggestion the spheres of discourse – public and non-public) and the character of their relationship (formal and informal). By way of illustration, here is the invariant of phonostylistic properties of the reading of a new bulletin (press reporting and broadcasting) presented in the form of phonostylistic parameters with their appropriate markers.

1. Timbre: dispassionate, impartial, but resolute and assured.

2. Delimitation: phonopassages – phrases – intonation groups.

3. Style – marking prosodic features:

a) loudness – normal or increased, contrasted at the phonopassages boundaries;

b) levels and ranges – normal, decrease towards the end of the passage, noticeable increase at the start of any new news item;

c) rate – not remarkably varied, slow, rarely allegro, deliberately slow (lento) on communicatively important centres;

d) pauses – rather long, especially at the end of each new item;

e) rhythm – stable, properly organized.

4. Accentuation of semantic centres:

a) terminal tones – frequent use of final, categoric falling tones on the semantic centres and falling –rising or rising ones in the initial intonation groups;

b) pre-nuclear patterns – common use of descending heads (very often broken); alternation of descending and ascending heads;

c) the contrast between the accented and unaccented segments – not great.

The academic style is used in the following spheres of communication that involve the written variety of the language and the spoken variety of the language in the forms of a monologue, a dialogue, a polylogue suggesting public and non-public relationships, reading or speaking in a prepared or spontaneous way. By way of illustration, let us consider the invariant of phonostylistic characteristics of an academic lecture read aloud in public in front of a fairly-sized audience.

1. Timbre: authoritative, imposing, edifying, instructive, self-assured.

2. Delimitation: phonopassages – phrases – intonation groups.

3. Style – marking prosodic features:

a) loudness – increased, sometimes to forte;

b) levels and ranges – remarkably varied with the passage segments, gradual decrease within the supraphrasal unity;

c) rate – normal, slow on the most important parts of the lecture (rules, conclusions, examples); rate is as flexible as the lecturer wishes it to be;

d) pauses – rather long, especially between the phonopassages; a large proportion of the pauses serving to bring out communicatively important parts of utterances; occasional use of breath-taking pauses;

e) rhythm – properly organized, especially while giving the rules, reading the laws, drawing conclusions, etc.

4. Accentuation of semantic centres:

a) terminal tones – high proportion of compound terminal tones (High Fall + Low Rise, Fall-Rise, Rise-Fall-Rise); a great number of high categoric falls;

b) pre-nuclear patterns – frequent use of stepping and falling heads; alternation of descending and ascending heads, especially in enumeration;

c) the contrast between the accented and unaccented segments – not great.

Informal conversational English is opposed to written English read aloud, is characterized by:

a) a high proportion of hesitation features of all kinds;

b) a substantial amount of overlapping and simultaneous speech;

c) a great amount of non-obligatory assimilation;

d) a very high frequency of simple falling tones, a high frequency of stepping down head and almost complete absence of stepping up head;

e) a high frequency of compound tones, especially the fall + rise; a frequent use of low rising tones on statement; the occasional use of very emphatic tones, a common use of high unstressed syllables especially in the prehead;

f) a strong tendency to use short intonation groups and to break up lengthy intonation groups wherever possible;

g) a frequent use of pauses which occur in places where they are not regular in formal conversation.

Informality of conversational English is also created by unexpected introduction of dialect forms, elements of very formal language, slips of tongue, hesitant drawls, uneven tempo, significant variations in loudness, paralinguistic features.

The basic aim of publicistic speech is to extend persuasive and emotional influence on the listeners, and volitional and desiderative information is predominant in oratorical texts/speech. The invariant of phonostylistic characteristics of publicistic speech is as follows:

1) timbre: dignified, self-assured, concerned and personally involved;

2) delimitation: phonopassages – phrases – intonation groups;

3) style – making prosodic features;

a) loudness – enormously increased, ranging from forte to fortissimo;

b) ranges and levels – greatly varied; the predominant use of wide ranges within the phonopassages;

c) rate – moderately slow; the public speaker slows down the tempo of his speech to bring out communicatively important centres;

d) pauses – definitely long between the passages; a great number of breath-taking pauses; a frequent stop of phonation before the emphatic semantic centre; “ rhetorical silence” is used to exert influence on the public;

e) rhythm – properly organized;

4) the accentuation of semantic centres:

a) terminal tones – mostly emphatic, especially on emotionally underlined semantic centres; in non-final intonation groups falling-rising tones are frequent;

b) pre-nuclear patterns – common use of the descending sequence of stressed syllables; a large proportion of falling and stepping heads frequently broken by accidental rises to increase the emphasis;

c) the contrast between accented and unaccented segments – not great;

d) paralinguistic features.

Attitudinal, volitional and intellectual functions of intonation are of primary importance in the performance of the declamatory style. This style is represented by a written form of the language read aloud or recited. The invariant of phonostylistic characteristics of the declamatory prose reading is as follows:

1) timbre: concerned, personally involved, emotionally rich;

2) delimitation: phonopassages – phrases – intonation groups;

3) style – making prosodic features;

a) loudness – varied according to the size of the audience;

b) ranges and levels – variable;

c) rate – deliberately slow, necessitated by the purpose of reading changes in the speed of reading utterances are determined by the syntactic structures, importance of information and the degree of emphasis;

d) pauses – long, especially between the passages. The declamatory reading is distinctly marked by a great number of prolonged emphatic pauses;

e) rhythm – properly organized; the isochronic recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables;

4) the accentuation of semantic centres:

a) terminal tones – common use of categoric low and high falls in final and even initial intonation groups and on semantic centres; occasional use of rising and level tones to break the monotony;

b) pre-nuclear patterns – varied, contain patterns which have both common emphatic and non-emphatic usage; for the emphasis the following intonation patterns are most frequently used:

low head + high fall

high head + low fall

high head + high fall

stepping head + high fall

c) the contrast between accented and unaccented segments – not great.

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