he syllables in a word are pronounced with the same degree of force: usually one syllable is made more prominent than the others by means of stronger current of air, by a stronger expiration; such a syllable is called the stressed syllable. Word's stress in English is free; the position of stress is not fixed:
e.g. 'many - be'llow - photo'graphic.
Tempo of speech - the rate of utterance which is connected with rhythm - the regular alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. It is so typical of an English phrase that the incorrect rhythm betrays the non-English origin of the speaker. Each sense-group of the sentence is pronounced at approximately the same period of time, unstressed syllables are pronounced more rapidly: the greater the number of unstressed syllables, the quicker they are pronounced. In its turn, rhythm is connected with sentence stress. Under the influence of rhythm words which are normally pronounced with two equally strong stress may lose one of them, or may have their word stress realized differently.
E.g., Picca'dilly -, Piccadilly 'Circus -' close to, Picca'dilly, prin'cess - a, princess 'Royal
Temper is the relative speed with which sentences and intonation groups are pronounced in connecting speech.
Speech tamber is a special colouring of voice which shows the speaker's emotions:
e.g. pleasure - displeasure
Paradoxal though it may seem, many of these means, the effect of which rests on a peculiar use of the voice, are banned from the linguistic domain. But there has appeared a new science - В« paralinguisticsВ» - of which all these devices are the inventory.
Vocal phenomena such as drawling, whispering, etc. should be regarded as parts of the phonemic system on the same level as pitch, stress and tune. [13]
1.3 Phonetic stylistic devices
Now let us see what phonetic stylistic devices secure this musical function.
Onomatopoeia is a combination of speech sounds which aims at imitating sounds produced in nature (wind, sea, thunder, etc.) by things (machines or tools, etc.) by people (singing, laughter) and animals. Therefore the relation between onomatopoeia and the phenomenon it is supposed to represent is one of metonymy There are two varieties of onomatopoeia: direct and indirect .
Direct onomatopoeia is contained in words that imitate natural sounds, as ding-dong, burr, bang, cuckoo . These words have different degrees of imitative quality. Some of them immediately bring to mind whatever it is that produces the sound. Others require the exercise of a certain amount of imagination to decipher it. Onomatopoetic words can be used in a transferred meaning, as for instance, ding - dong , which represents the sound of bells rung continuously, may mean
1) noisy, 2) strenuously contested.
Indirect onomatopoeia demands some mention of what makes the sound, as rustling of curtains in the following line:
And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain.
Indirect onomatopoeia is a combination of sounds the aim of which is to make the sound of the utterance an echo of its sense. It is sometimes called В«echo writingВ».
An example is: В« And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain В» (EA Poe), where the repetition of the sound [s] actually produces the sound of the rustling of the curtain. [11]
Alliteration is a phonetic stylistic device which aims at imparting a melodic effect to the utterance. The essence of this device lies in the repetition of similar sounds, in particular consonant sounds, in close succession, particularly at the beginning of successive words: В« The possessive instinct never stands still (J. Galsworthy) or, В« Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there wondering , fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before В»(E.A. Poe).
Alliteration, like most stylistic devices, does not bear any lexical or other meaning unless we agree that a sound meaning exists as such. But even so we may not be able to specify clearly the character of this meaning, and the term will merely suggest that a certain amount of information is contained in the repetition of sounds, as is the case with the repetition of lexical units.
But even so we may not be able to specify clearly the character of this meaning, and the term will merely suggest that a certain amount of information is contained in the repetition of sounds, as is the case with the repetition of lexical units.
However, certain sounds, if repeated, may produce an effect that ...
