THE OCCURRENCE OF THE GRADUALLY ASCENDING STEPPING SCALE IN EMPHATIC SPEECH OF MODERN BRITISH ENGLISH

• Main Author: Funtova, I.L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Marina Sokolova Publishings 2019-03-01
• Series: Russian Linguistic Bulletin
• Subjects: интонационная модель; интонационное завершение; постепенно повышающаяся ступенчатая шкала; эмфатическая речь; intonation pattern; intonation ending; gradually ascending stepping scale; emphatic speech
• Online Access: http://rulb.org/wp-content/uploads/wpem/pdf_compilations/1(17)/1(17).pdf#page=17

The article deals with the occurrence and meanings of the gradually ascending stepping scale followed by various intonation endings in the emphatic speech of British English based on modern feature films. The aim of the conducted research is to identify the most common intonation patterns containing the gradually ascending stepping scale in modern English and to determine their emotional meanings. As a result, it is proved that the gradually ascending stepping scale can be used in the combination with the following intonation endings: high-wide fall and high-narrow fall, high-narrow rise, as well as rise-fall and fall-rise. As was discovered in the course of the research, in conversational speech of modern British English the gradually ascending stepping scale is most frequently used in the combination with the high-wide fall by means of which a speaker emphasizes the final stressed word of a sense-group, as a rule, conveying interest, surprise or objection.