Oral speech is characterized by the presence of a variety of emotional and intonational shades. With their help, you can add different meanings to the same expression: surprise, mockery, question, assertion and other options. It is much more difficult to convey all this in writing, but it is possible with the help of punctuation marks that reflect the main elements of intonation.
The concept of intonation
Spoken language without intonation seems boring, dry and lifeless. Only with the help of voice overflows can any narration be made alive and expressive. Therefore, intonation is called the rhythmic-melodic side of the speaking process.
A narrower meaning of intonation implies fluctuations in voice tone, which is generally identified with the melody of oral speech. A broader understanding expands the concept of melody, supplementing it with pauses, tempo and other components of the speech flow, up to the timbre of the voice and its rhythm. There are also less familiar and obviousbasic elements of intonation. Emphasis applies to them as well as possible. In this case, we are talking not only about the verbal, but also about its logical version. Highlighting one word in the speech stream significantly changes the entire tone of the sentence.
Melody as the basis of intonation
To understand the difference in the semantic load of the same phrase, but in different speech situations, you need to look at its melody. It is with her that the main elements of intonation begin.
To begin with, we note that the melody organizes one phrase together. But also with its help semantic distinction is made. The same statements take on new shades depending on how the melody manifests itself.
If you slightly raise or lower the tone of your voice during the speaking process, you can easily change the purpose of the statement: from a message to a question, from censure to a call to action.
Let's look at this with a specific example: "Sit!" pronounced with a sharp and loud intonation, placing emphasis on the vowel, shows a categorical order. “Side-e-et ?!” - expresses a question and indignation due to the length of the stressed vowel and the rising intonation at the end of the phrase. Thus, we see that the same word, enriched with different melody, has a completely different semantic load.
Intonation in syntax
To distinguish between parts of a sentence, highlight its semantic center, complete a speech phrase, a person uses different intonational means. Since this is extremely important for suchscience, like syntax, she studies these means the most.
The Russian language has six types of intonation constructions. Its central part is a syllable, on which all types of stresses go. Also, this center divides the construction into two parts, which are not distinguished in all phrases.
The most common types, and therefore sentences by intonation, are declarative, interrogative and exclamatory. It is around these intonation patterns that the main melodic picture of speech is built.
Offer types
Syntaxists distinguish sentences by purpose, intonation. Each of them expresses completely different information and has its own melody.
Descriptive sentences convey information calmly, evenly and without any obvious intonation. Most of the emotional nuances in such sentences are formed at the lexical level: "At the seaside, there is a green oak, a golden chain on that oak …"
The question is characterized by an ascending-falling intonation, in which at the beginning of the question the tone rises significantly, and towards the end it decreases: "When did you come here?"
But the exclamation has an even rising intonation. The tone of the phrase rises gradually, and at its end it acquires the highest tension: "She has come!"
We conclude that the intonation, examples of which we examined above, serves to express the emotions and attitude of the speaker to the content of the information he said.
Other intonationsfunds
If we consider this question in more detail, then there are not only three types of sentences by intonation. Its additional means give an unlimited picture of emotional-intonational expression.
The human voice has different qualities. It can be loud and quiet, hoarse and sonorous, creaky, tense and fluid. All these qualities make speech more melodic and expressive. But they are weakly transmitted in writing in separate characters.
With a strong or weak voice at the time of speech, the intonation also changes significantly. Examples of fear or insecurity that are expressed very quietly, or anger, which, on the contrary, sounds very loud.
The intonation picture also depends on the speed of speech. The melody of fast speech indicates the excited state of the person who speaks. A slow pace is characteristic of a situation of uncertainty or solemnity.
And, perhaps, the most basic means of intonation are pauses. They are phrasal and clock. They serve to express emotions and divide the speech flow into complete blocks. According to their modality, pauses are completed and not completed. The former are used at the absolute end of a sentence. In its middle there is a place for unfinished pauses, which form the end of the bar, but not the whole phrase.
The meaning of the sentence depends on the correct use of the pause. Everyone knows the example: "Execution cannot be pardoned." The location of the pause determines whether a person survives or not.
Reflection of intonation in writing
Intonationtext is more typical for live speech, when a person can control his voice, and with its help change the melody of the statement. Written speech looks rather dry and uninteresting if you do not use the means by which intonation is transmitted. Examples of such characters are known to everyone from school - these are dots, dashes, exclamation and question marks, commas.
The end of the thought forms a dot. Sequential unfolding of the phrase is formed by commas indicating the place of pauses. An unfinished, broken thought is an ellipsis.
But cause-and-effect relationships are expressed with a dash. Before him in speech, the intonation always rises, and after it it goes down. The colon, on the contrary, is characterized by the fact that the voice calms down a little before it, and after a pause, a new round of its development begins with a gradual fading towards the end of the sentence.
General intonation of the text
With the help of intonational means, you can add a general tone to the sound of the text. Romantic stories are always tense and intriguing. They evoke emotions of empathy and sympathy. But strict reports do not respond at all on an emotional level. In them, except for pauses, there are no other significant intonational means.
Of course, it cannot be argued that the overall sound of the text depends entirely on private intonational means. But the overall picture is reflected only if certain elements of the melody are used to reveal the main idea. Without this, the essence of the message may be incomprehensible to people who have read it.
Intonation of different styles of speech
Each style of speech has its own intonation pattern. Depending on the purpose of the utterance, it can be either maximally developed and versatile, or minimal, without any special emotional overflows.
Official-business and scientific styles in this regard can be called the driest. They tell about concrete facts based on dry information.
The most emotional styles can be called colloquial and artistic. To convey all the colors of oral speech in writing, the main elements of intonation, and other, less popular means, are used. Often, in order for the reader to imagine the speech of the character, the authors resort to a detailed description of the pronunciation process. All this is complemented by written intonation signs. Therefore, the reader easily reproduces in his head the intonation that he sees through visual perception.
