An Introduction to the Study of Intonation Author(s): Ernst Feise Reviewed work(s): Source: The Journal of English and Germanic

Philology, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Jan., 1911), pp. 1-19 Published by: University of Illinois Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27700068 . Accessed: 14/02/2013 16:47
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AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF INTONATION.*

I heard a man summer, in Hammerstein's roof-garden, on his banjo scenes of domestic life, among which was imitating a conversation The man came home between husband and wife. Last late, and after he had, with considerable she started hole and climbed upstairs, a few muttered utterances rupted only by lost his patience and said :
g? to hell

trouble, a good

found

the key sermon, inter he

from his side, until

And

every one of the audience understood, banjo, what his words had been.

from the sound of the

The performer produced these tones by turning the keys and so shortening and lengthening the strings. If you tried the same on the piano, you would hardly succeed in making yourself thing because you can not glide from one tone to the other understood, on the piano. And that is the peculiarity of the intonations, that our voice does not rest on one tone a perceivable time, but glides or slurs in a continual portamento or springs up and down. or Sprachmelos,x this Sprachmelodie, What is this intonation, and how does it differ from a musical melody ? The main differ ence in its character tones. While intonation is the aforesaid a melody is musical, is a half-musical difference is bound noise with of fixed and gliding and keys, to harmonies instead

half-harmonies

and disharmonies, quickly changing of chords, arpeggiated chords.2

*A University i Sar criminates melodie" acf. n lecture given of Wisconsin. in his before the Language

its keys, and having,

and Literature Club

of

the

Deutsche

Verslehre

(M (intonation

nchen

"Sprachmelos" in verse). (intonation Johan Storm, Englische

between

1907, in prose)

dis p. 24 ff.) and "Sprach

?1

Philologie,

Leipzig,

1892.

205

ff.

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2 It

Feise

that speech really uses different is proven by notations But I am not musician for different purposes. keys enough to on this question, and I can leave it aside for the be competent very simple reason that only a very refined ear, after a close any shades of that kind in our intona study, can discriminate

tions.3

While, further, in music the words are rather an accompani ment of the melody, and in a certain way subjected to it, speech is an accompaniment of the speechsounds, accantus? melody as it was called in Latin, to translate the Greek term accentus, irpoauSia?i. e., something that is sung to the words which are the communication of the thoughts. this vpoau?la is no Nevertheless, unessential detail. As the quoted instance shows us, intonation alone is expressive. We can observe this every day by listening to a conversation in a distant room, from which we do not hear anything but a vague noise with its pitches. We even use it for

communications of simple attitudes of mind toward a given fact, when we are too lazy to articulate. Our 'm' or 'm etc.,* is almost but intonation, and is nevertheless understood nothing by the
person addressed.

Written reveal

words

in no way there be a musical

and phrases are lifeless and meaningless. the emotional interest of the speaker, sign represented by our punctuation.

They unless How

interest of the speaker cannot be expressed ever, the emotional at all, or at best incompletely, while in speech there is a sur leaves the scholar who first prising richness of means, which these questions almost in despair of ever being able to little has explain and classify them. And, indeed, comparatively been done. There are very clever aper?us and observations on tackles the question, which, however, often leave the reader in doubt about the most important details, because they are rendered by insufficient little bars and points, from which nothing can be
s cf. Storm, 1. c, p. 207. der menschlichen Stimme, Ieipzig, 1866. cf. Merkel, 356 ff. * cf. Eduard

Physiologie

p.

Sievers,

Grundz?ge

der Phonetik,

Leipzig,

1901.

? 397.

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An Introduction

to the Study

of Intonation

There

learned about the starting point and the nature of the intervals.5 are elaborate curves taken with the kymographion in psy those are too elaborate, the curves laboratories. But chological

too long and large, and the instances, on account of the difficulty of this process, not numerous enough for our purposes.5
5 Merkel the not first yet in his to give "Physiologie with notations der menschlichen musical signs, Pierson and Stimme" his was one of are observations

nor surpassed. Paul du naturelle (M?trique antiquated Paris Storm Verslehre, (1. c. 1,177 ff.), Saran (Deutsche 1884), language, z. d. Phi!, M?nchen HaUe 1907, p. 36 and p. 219; Studien 1903, p. 171 " in his der Phonetik, Sievers Leip 239) and others followed. Grundz?ge '' or physiological the more phonetic deals more with phenomena; zig 1901, " ' ' are on of theories his fundamental only in form Sprachmelodie given for his more a program extensivo 18), but we are still waiting (cf. note publication It and on the is a pity subject. that used A. Melville the Bell in his various as books and a on elocution

phonetics

description for instance Elocution'' interesting Jespersen, and very my the opinion, course

and points of bars system His observations and terminology. were, of his "Essays from the XXVT chapter "A shadow class 1886), (New York and extensive. Passy, Other observations of

vague it seems, to judge on and Postscripts students," kind we very in find

very

of that

Sweet, valuable that of the a

a whole devotes and others. Jespersen Hempl to these problems. in It is to be regretted, chapter or Tiefton between Hochton in he did not discriminate sentence circumstance on and rise which intonation. eben mit der and leads He if to the fall, subject to overemphasize him sayi (p. 228) : "Beim Ab the

schlussgesetz, of influence eines dass

the breath

Beginn

wo die Lungen Satzes, auch die Schwingungszahl wo die in der Lunge Schluss, Es ist daher

Luft gef?llt Stimmb?nder

Luftmasse gesammelte dass man die letzten Silben eines l?ngeren ganz nat?rlich, . . ." This als die ersten Ton tieferem Satzes mit is, ausspricht a law, not true. We often if made can, on the contrary, very however, at the end of the sentence rise is reached that the highest observe very or even in the last occurs in the last syllable, close to the cadence, which or consonant in my toward of the last to begin proceed investigations the beginning. nicht Pfennig eignen mehr* "Wheeler syllable. the with (Compare Pfennig' mehr, And end of the for the that reason communication could be I preferred and to quoted as well:

ist es nat?rlich, sind, ist als gegen grosser fast verbraucht ist.

vowel

doubtful

intonation just

by Jespersen: nicht einen ?cf.

which

Edward

of Experimental the method poses small profit on

his "Elements works, Scripture's especially York New 1902. For more pur Phonetics/7 practical seems with of experiment the machine to be of very above. of the reasons It account is, moreover, given

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Feise

Only a short time ago a way was found which really seems a results. Daniel Jones published to be apt to give practical a phono curves taken by the aid of small volume of intonation and tuning forks. The only objection against this process graph would with the records are not taken under his supervision he had studied and he could whose peculiarities speakers texts with here describe, and that the speakers speak memorized be that and there false accents. A few attempts are made to simplify and classify the different but they are neither observations, done, lacking a thoroughly a system of classification nor method and subclassification, and do they avoid the difficulty which comes in through inappropriate terms and the attempt to characterize the whole intonation of a by mixing and by the presumption that the result of the stress is a higher pitch. stronger This is obviously an error. A violinchord does not give a and so it is with higher pitch because it is pinched stronger; the accent the vocal acceleration as well pitched
not those an of

phrase at once, instead of taking Some of them even get confused

the different

parts of it first. up the intonation

with

chords.

But

of the movement

as the glottis On the other hand, higher.

advisable practice are who to use often

affect the larynx. Through of the heart, the breathing organs are contracted, and accordingly the tone is relaxation,
a

emotions

as a result

of the

actors, and of singing noticed among gesucht, did not "L?ge" be spoken where choose

by the melody on p. 65: "das ich dir aus others the wrong intonation ich must not take of emphasis the accent (Wallenstein a horse, on p. 57 rode his usual but and "Schecke"), up tone,

as made trained person, by speeches kind of a peculiar carried away by habits I of the verse itself. In Jones' notations

to the preceding verb "l?gen," and is therefore a higher while deserves "?ternkunst'' pitch; '' '' the word is overemphasized. The French line 6 on the same page giebt is taken he offers for educational and accordingly conversation purposes only takes in a low somewhat conservative shifted accent and unnatural mind of to my Phonetik the rare occur intonation; to confirm for as Vietor this; und Orthoepie des Deutschen, Englischen "das whether: It is doubtful 1887): in its seems als im Affekt gesprochen wird."

rence says und

der (Elemente Heilbronn Franz?sischen, Franz?sische ?berhaupt je (p. 43.)

anders

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An diminished

Introduction

to the Study

of Intonation

interest and emotion, lowers it. We can then state at this point one of the most elementary of psychological laws, that of the phe of expectation and fulfilment, to which the multitude of the endintonation the intonation can be reduced. By endintonation of the end of a statement. For this is for

nomena we mean

our purposes the most important part of the sentence, and since we have in this investigation to deal more with the emotional and phonetic sides than with the merely physiological expressions of speech, we do well important factor. to give the main emphasis to this most

The falling curve or cadence means that the communication of the thought is completed and that the speaker does not expect of it from the person addressed. The cadence any continuation : is the expression of fulfilment. When I say
I'll take a walk heute today ausgehen aujourd 'hui Ich werde Je vais me

promener

there is nothing that indicates the expectation of a continuation or an answer. And the case is not changed-as it perhaps might of speechtones-when appear to a person unused to observation the accent on the last word brings in a high pitch before the dropping
111 or

of the voice
take a walk

in

today

Ich will heute ausg hn or

Je vais m7 promener aujourd'hui

for there
Er H

is always a little tag of falling curve even as late as or in a voiced consonant : in the last part of the i in aujourd'hui
meinte den Mann que c' tait the man l'homme croyait He meant

Er ist am Ziel simplest way to find this out is to take a word Instead of with the accent on the first. syllables The
Er ist am Ziel ist am Ziele meinte die M nner a. s. o.

of two

say:
Er Er

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6 The the musical

Feise stronger the interest, the emotion of the communication, While the most usual curve moves in larger the intervals. fourths and fifths

by passing through the second, it is to the octave and even higher: for instance, if often pitched we want to emphasize the man, and not the that he meant woman. In doubtful cases, or even in general, it is advisable in order to suppress the "Eigenton," the relative pitch of the vowel, to stop all articulation and let the air pass through the nose, thus isolating the intonation from the words to which it belongs, sense than to the acoustic. and to trust more to the motoric Sounds which are heard is used through to observing himself. So the dropping of the tone at the end of the sentence : the movements
Oui, c'est gentil

can still only with difficulty of the glottis by a person that

be felt

for the reason of clearly bringing out the cadence, so often uses the shifted accent or the simple raising of the voice before the last syllable if this bears the main accent : Perhaps the French
Oui, c'est gen*til.7

where notations, have it twice in the cadence : In Jones'

Alors Si il vaut mieux toi, a servis c'est ce n'est les prendre donc ton*

this

shifting

is very
(p. 46, 22) 5)

scarce, we

au gui* chet. fr?re, (p. 42,

Jesperson
On nous

quotes:
comme des* rois. (Phon., p. 238)

and Storm,
Monsieur

I, 187 :
Dubois, donnez vous la peine d'en-trer.

The
En C'est J'I'ai

shifting,
effet, je n'ai d'un effet bien

of course,

is very common
vu d'aussi

in cases of emotion

and emphasis:
vu rien jamais mer *veil*leux. je n'I'ai pas* gran*diose.

vu* mais

en*ten*du.

where
Ich

"entendu"
habe ihn him

and

"vu"

form

a contrast

and would :

have

about the same high

I heard* 7 To higher dots

pitch

in German

and in English

aber nicht geh?rt* gesehn* but I did not see* him the relative of the lower syllable. or higher pitch I use the lower or

indicate at

the end

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An That

Introduction

to the Study

of Intonation

structure of the sentence has no syntactical on the intonation can be easily seen, when we observe questions which are meant as commands or prohibitions. We say, with a constant fall :8 the mere influence
Willst Will du das wohl lein lassen \ that nonsense \ you stop ce livre \ vous me donner Voulez

are kept But we can even go farther and state that intonations reasons. All questions with an interrogative for historical pro noun take the cadence. to a supposition They were?according which
Wer

I owe

to Mr.

Edward

clauses, having

the intonation

Prokosch?originally of such.

dependent

hat dir das gesagt \ Qui est-ce qui te Pa dit\ Wann hast du ihn ges?hn\

When When When When

And will take place when a question is asked either upon a preceding communication of the fact you are asking for, or upon a preceding answer which you did not expect :
Did Hat When Mais he say so\ really er das wirklich gesagt \ see him, not wh?re\ did you non, est-ce quil la ecrit\

you see him\ you see him\ you see him\ you see him\ the same intonation did did did did

No, but did he write it to you\ We are perhaps not far from the explanation by assuming that those questions are also felt as dependent clauses :
I mean: No, but when did did you he write you, see him\ that is the question \

One could say the preceding

Did he write it to you\

question

implies

a contrast

and we supply :
Or did he only say so\

But

in disjunctive questions only the second member the first one takes a rising pitch : cadence ;
8Here right, the as end later rise by the cadence slanting is indicated to the left. German Orthography by a line slanting a line

has

the

to

the

Phonology,

Phon. cf. Jespersen, p. 332. Hempl: New York, 1897, p. 172.

and

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Feise Willst du hier bleiben / oder nach Hause gehn\ Will you stay here /or will you go h?me\
Resterez vous ici/ou rentrerez vous chez no?s\

Either these are not to be regarded as real questions, but as state between which you have to choose, or ments of two possibilities are under the laws of contrast pitch, which will be explained they an anticipated later. Hempl calls the second member reply. I need not say that questions of surprise, anger, disappointment, even when they consist of an interrogative pronoun or interjec tion, do not take the rising pitch, as long as an answer is not to vraiment\ how\ really\ a level pitch having its place presume Many phoneticians But I think that we can between the rising and falling pitch. It is the expression of indiffer not concede it a class by itself. ence, and, as far as I can see, always somewhat falling or some est-il possible \ what
j? =

be expected: wirklich \ wie\

rising:
y?s ou? dazu I don't ou?, w?U = tj? weil = j? y?s kann may be, it is so ich nichts sagen know

mais.

They

often

indicate

that

some remark

or objection

is sup

pressed. We come now to the rising pitch, the most important use of is that in questions not introduced by an interrogative which pronoun :
Hast L'avez Est-ce du ihn ges?hn/ vous que vu/ vous l'avez

Did you see him /

vu /

Er hat das getan/ Giebst du mir das Buch / But there is one sort of a question introduced by an interrogative that takes the rising instead of the falling tone, and pronoun or an of a statement that is a question asking for repetition answer which the questioner has not understood. comes home and B asks him about his commission A A Well/what did he s?y \
Nun Eh /was bien, hat quest-ce er gesagt quil \ a d?t\

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An
B He'd Er

Introduction
come to-morrow\

to the Study

of Intonation

k?me

Il allait Was Qu hat 'est-ce

morgen \ venir demain \ er gesagt / qu 'il a dit /

A What did he say /

Or, when B is surprised at the question same question, with a rising pitch:
Wai hat er gesagt / Na, dass er kommen

of A, he will
wollte\

repeat

the

Jesperson calls this "a question raised to the second power."10 In a surprised a little are usually .question the intervals : larger Beally / Vraiment / Wirklich / To call some one's attention to a fact, to warn him, or to express that we are ready for action, we start with a compara tively high tone and go still farther up : fertig / ready / allright /
attention Vorsicht Belegte / Br?dchen/, Pumpernickel/ Apfelsinen gef?llig/ /s'il vous plait /

At

the same time

there

forces public lable of the sentence, instead of dropping it; and this can also is called by name; be noticed when somebody in this however, last case the reason might be that one is waiting for an answer. Adolf / Karl / Ernst / (which is mostly changed to Erenst) One of my first impressions, when I came to this country man two years ago, was in the station of the ?Tew York Central the with the megaphone, had who, in the word "Springfield," a musical interval of about a fourth or fifth in the "r," while the difference of the two "i's" was hardly a semitone.

often

is a very simple acoustic reason which speakers to raise their voice on the last syl

The word "nation" has always been very interesting to me in this respect, for almost every time I have heard it pronounced in a speech, it had the rising instead of the and I falling pitch; suspect that this is a habit introduced by public speakers who want to make it as expressive as possible at the end of a phrase, by raising the last syllable :
of the whole p. nation/ 231. lo Phon.

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10 On the other hand, it seems perhaps at the first glance sur that peddlers and street vendors sometimes prefer the prising are cadence. But it is to be remembered that their exclamations mostly always little songs, very musical.
frische

really sung more than spoken, Our blueberry sellers sing :

Heilebeern Hei le beern frische Heilebeern

though

not

Heilebeern,

r. Jn-rr, ni. ri

Others

:
alle Sorten Tee alle Sorten Tee

Waldmeister,

Wald-meis-ter,

i rr-Tl.
m

rr.
peddling watercress and

In Normandy singing:
Cresson de fontaine,

heard
deus sous

a man
la botte,

JJU fof-i
Cresson d' f on-taine dens sous la botte

while pitch,
Kaft

in Holstein but more with

Flundern

their peddlers announce a speaking voice :

fish with

a rising

U m Kaft Flundern

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An Still rising
tences Das You as must must

Introduction

to the Study

of Intonation

11

another pitch

reason, but in agreement with our statement: is the expression of expectation, we have in sen
doch nicht tunV

du not

do\that/

or (Sweet),
Don't forget to post that let?terV

It isn't la^te/ (or better lae^it/) It serves here to soften the contradiction, as if the speaker prohibition, the person addressed.
It You is not Don't late\ to post that forget not do that\ must

expected

a defense

the command, the or apology of

letter\

mands

sound quite different. And while these polite and gentle com start quite low, we have the same phenomenon, but start higher and with smaller intervals, when we say "good-bye" ing or "halloh" to a person. The other one usually replies in a lower tone and with the cadence: That means,
hal'lon***

the

conversation

is

over. Good'byeV good-bye^ hal-lohV

tj?h/
bonjour

tjo*h\
madame

(for adieu in German)

/ bonjour monsieur\

Bonjour

madame

Bonjour

monsieur

The rising pitch is further used at any stop in the middle of the sentence or any communication, in order to express that it is incomplete and the end to follow. You put in your order to your grocer,
A dozen of pound of eggs/and

and say :
butter/ a pint* two of of pounds cream ?V13 sugar/ a peek of apples/ a

A pound 12Note We have here that "pint" in English

of butter the

and a pint of cream to emphasize the high pitch to the French similar shifted cadence. accent.

takes

something

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12
The same ? intonation J can often

Feise
be noticed in an emphatical: I-beirrour

par#don.

The grocer ' will

repeat

the same words with

the same intonation

and ask :
That's ail/,

and you will

That'-s

answer
all^v

use

as in German, we mostly In such enumerations, in English thirds, fourths and fifths, starting from the fundamental and going up the scale. But while we
Schokolade,

say :
Tee, Butterbr?te

Kaffee,

rrfgffr?f
Schokolade Butterbrote

the French goes up to the fifth first, and falls back to the fourth.
If the word, for instance, has four syllables, the first two remain

on the starting tone; if three, the first one does; if two, the first one takes the fifth immediately:
du chocolat, du t?, du caf?

?,'rrfrflirrflfr?
da chocolat du t? du caf?

But

the opposite intonation, falling curve is used if the specifi cation is to be emphasized; for instance, if the great number of

objects is to be brought out:

'"av

tszsz

Butterbr?te

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An
We saw

Introduction
a terrible lay on

to the Study
disorder:

of Intonation
rags\

13

music\everything

the floor

books\chairs\plates\old in an utter confusion.**

The following in a sentence :

Soon servative /, however were clergy

example may
/, the revival

illustrate
took a turn /

the rising
at which

at the stop
the more con

alarmed.

And

before a relative clause, rule of punctuation the English which seems so hard to learn to foreigners, is the easiest thing in the world if formulated as follows :
Set raise it. a comma, where you drop yonr voice, no comma where you

But, to be sure, they would to drop the voice.

have to know where

to raise and
awak

stirred by this The people / who had been so profoundly in 1776 the same/who declared themselves ening/were from the mother NO COMMA. country.

great

independent

But
He did not come home even then\, which merely showed that he

had little regard for his family, or

At we had last nothing I was but to give obliged sullen looks and a peremptory short answers refusal\, the whole for day which ensuing.

An details

exception

to this intonation

of the enumeration, the attention of the sentence, to every part of the explanation. dramatic description:
Und und zum er And als ins sie nun Zimmer da itand\und sie . stood the came trat\und der Gedanke. she entered weinte\und in seine . . there \ . and took . . nach Arme schloss/,

is made when, as in the case of the listener is called to the So in

ihrer Mutter da called arms/,

kam for

rief \, ihr her the

erstenmal now he the

when

mother\and first time

thought

room\and to her.

wept \ and her in his

for

The

general level of every new instance here is a little higher, but with falling curve, until the last one takes the rising pitch to indicate the relation of dependent and independent clause.
Et il seront pas sur sorte alors\, par une quand ce point\troubl?\et arriv?\a . . terre. de progr?s\, obscure/, de processus lent\ il ne se reveilleront

So also in an argument:

Hempl14
i* cf.

gives another
Phon. p.

example
235.

and states this falling

pitch

Jespersen, i* 1. c. p. 171.

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14 if it is desired
Er war er schlug

Feise

to give the impression that the members of a a sentence : series were not all thought of in the first framing of
furchtbar sogar nach b?se\, mir. er schwur \, er stampfte mit den F?ssen\,

matical

is not as good because of the gram however, of the description. of every member completeness So far we have only spoken of the very end of the sentence. Even in the short communication represented by a single word, This instance, as: ja, yes, oui, non, so, indeed, we have complications which have led several scholars to the assumption of compound pitches, as : falling-rising For the sake of simplicity and rising-falling. But I hardly think those terms are advisable and acceptable. that they differ materially falling pitch, because we rise or straight
curves.

the simple types of rising and can observe, even here, that straight fall very seldom takes place.15 Mostly we have from the rise, we go down first and let the the fall, we do the to emphasize
yes A yesV a. s. o.

To mark pitch glide

ja A jaV

and emphasize or spring up;

nein A neinV

opposite. a strong accent precedes this last fall or that is, the accent will rise, the curve will be more pronounced; take the opposite tone, and the end of the syllable ot the follow a more syllable will glide up and down through ing unaccented or less large interval to the third, fourth, fifth or, even the octave, or still higher. If now a word with
ja A non, yes A, oui \ Boger/

This removed
Don't Est-ce We*r

is the shows: the tone which last example from the final tone can be placed back from of the clause :
tq have it warm* l'a di*t in your roo* m you like

farthest the end

into the interior

ton p?*re te que hat dir das gesa*gt.

if the word with the last accent is too far removed However, from the end, or an accessory accent comes in after it, the first accent takes the high pitch and the curve goes down and reaches
"I zig find p. a similar 300. opinion in Vietor, Elemente der Phonetik, Leip 1904?

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An

Introduction

to the Study

of Intonation or near

15 the end of

its lowest pitch in the other accented word the communication:18

Est-ce Didn't que your votre

ce lhvre* p?'re ne vous a pas donne at least tell you anything about fa-ther this mat.ter*

But

even this does not occur if the character of the question is that of astonishment, surprise, if the most important word has a contradictory in accent, if in our example the father is meant to the mother. And from this use that intonation like to call "Kapportyon" seems or the I should

contrast

to be originated which "tone of relation."

We find it in all contradictions, establishing a relation between the speaker and the person addressed. We can generally supply the words "as you think," and, if not already expressed, the posi tive contradictory statement.
did not say so/ My mo.ther hat das nicht getan/ Ka.rl Hernrich Frie.drich' ist gekommen, nicht ist nicht gekommen, (as you think, but it was my father)

Prie.drich/ sondern Hernrich\

the low pitch. The to be that of a certain didactic nature, and, as aforesaid, establishing a relation between the speaker and the person addressed. I have not yet been able to observe it in French, where it seems to be lacking. seems

Note

that always the negative character of this intonation

member

takes

'^ruui'V
Ces gens n' sont pas v'nus au spectacle

^
pu or vous# ?n*tenv*dre.1T

where
Ce 16

"vous"
n '?tait

intonation

does not get the strongly falls from "en" to "tendre"

pas mon p?'re, c'?tait mon'fr?re

lowered

pitch

and the

nur einem "Wo 1. c. p. 231: die Frage einzelnen says, Jespersen Wort im Satze erh?lt dieses w?hrend das Folgende Aufton, gilt, gut abw?rts z.B. 'Ist es An*na, der er sich verheiratet mit kann, gehen " I would, hat?' call this intonation and however, quite exceptional rather example have "Anna" me take think the lowest tone in the sentence. game. Jespersen's makes of questions from in a guessing Storm 1. c. I 218.

i7 This

example

is taken

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16 where

Feise

the accent is shifted upon the "mon." Thus it seems that between two intonation in general we have to discriminate sys tems which have already been assumed by Sievers, who stated: zwei landschaftlich "Es gebe in Deutschland getrennte Systeme f?r die melische Wirkung der Eede, das Nieder der Empfindung that is to say, a curve which deutsche und das Hochdeutsche"; attitude expresses in the North of Germany a certain emotional

of the speaker will in the South express a quite different one. I cannot help thinking that this?merely However, preliminary ?statement is too general, and that it is rather the emotional For even in condition than the expression of it which changes. in the very dialects, I find intona the two parts of Germany, for the German of the South and the German of tions which and are the expression of the the same meaning to give my If I may be permitted attitude. on the matter, which is based on observations made opinion corre at random, I would say that the two different intonations to different conditions of mind and are the result of the spond the North have same emotional racial difference observations Mundart made and of that of temperament. in his excellent by Lessiak in Karaten" I find article that on the the

von Pernegg states the two intonations

the first one, with rising to express emotionless communication statement, confident statement, ing events, command, energetic angry

support this idea. He in his Southern dialect, and says that pitch on the accented syllables, is used of cheerful interest or

The second, where the accented surprise, astonishment. syllables have the lower pitch, is used to express indifference, advice, mild resignation, despair, complaint, pity, well-meant moderate indifferent repe reproof, surprise, objective narration, tition of a communication of a third person, restrained style with

The tempo, he says, is here less fast, persons of higher station. the intervals smaller, the general level lower.
is Eduard tung, 1907, Leipzig p. 116. Sieve?: 1901, p. 24. "Deber Sprachmelodisches in der Deutschen Dich M?nchen Franz Deutsche Saran, Verslehre,

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An And
It's scarce, become of

Introduction

to the Study instance

knows

of Intonation of the change

17 of the two
is getting will world

intonations

he gives :
a hard isn't

an excellent

corn

us at

one never world, worth anything the end? a khraeits sint kh?'m

what

to What

do. in

anymore.

Help the

is is wol solt ?io o*nh?bm: c wohin

V rix'oe

af dr welt olwaeil t

man

was

v son ne*amer hokhan <

wos wert

men m?r

de.anspotn < wemr den

weanigr, t mitr

s tr?,d waeil.

an gotsnom

Lessiak says agrees perfectly is a kind of paren that the sentence with reversed intonation of unquestioned I would facts. intimation thesis, a simple : it refers to something that the person addressed knows and say That which the speaker wants to recall I myself have observed this the lecturer gives a r?sum?. For
We used our can therefore up / the / to sum lecture \ / make different the details

with

our observation.

to him ; it is didactic. in lectures, intonation instance :

/, that this /, pointed out / in the

where
/ i* / of

statement

intonation course

The French
Et quand seront arriv? \ Et seront sur

example

given

above:
de processus lent\, il

par alors\, a ce point \

une sorte de progr?s\, troubl? \ et obscure \

I could give,
quand arrive/a terre.

as a r?sum? with

the opposite

intonation,

alors/, par une sorte de progr?s/, ce point / troubl? / et obscure/,

de processus il lent/, il ne s'?veilleront pas

A few days ago I made the same observation with Mr. Mor gan, who gave in his own words a r?sum? of the contents of an had appeared in the Nation. note on the Hempl's c. p. 172 & 173) would, however, rather confirm Sie subject (1. He says : "It will be observed that in most vers' supposition. cases this intonation is generally associated with (falling-rising) an incomplete or hesitated presentation of the case. Its excessive article which use men makes and English upon Germans by many Americans an impression of weakness and indecision," while "failing some is associated with and Americans rising" by Germans or contempt. use by Englishmen form of disapproval Its lavish is therefore ?2 apt to give offense where not intended.

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18 How

Feise are, and whether a more extensive the con

all these intonations general demand of the individual peculiarities

and must be shown in detail. sideration, is still to be investigated Still, I hope to have given the impression that a large part of them is common to all. limitations of a three-quarters-of-an-hour lecture com me to restrict myself to the question of the direction of pelled the curves and to leave aside as much as possible the complica tions arising from the nature of the intervals, their starting The point, etc. To give curve in: an example: though the direction is the same, the

I didn't I didn't

mean mean

to do to do

that that. ( I am sorry

(Look

here,)

awfully

that I did it and don't see how it could happen) denotes something different from the curve in:

I didn't mean

to do that

(Why? Do you think I'm telling you a story?) on But still less has been done in this line of investigation the subject, and I would have to giYe mere observations. If I have contributed to show what of these stage our knowledge matters has reached, and succeeded in pointing out what an enormous field of linguistic is opened, I would investigation be very glad. And this field will not only bear fruit for the will at the same time give new study of modern languages?it insight into psychological and, further, languages, in regard to the relations of the furnish valu in question of authorship, facts

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An

Introduction

to the Study startling

Studien von

of Intonation theories of Sievers

1901. Stimme?

19 and

as the new, able criteria, Ottmar Kutz have proven.

cf. Eduard Ottmar M?nchen Rutz: 1908. Sievers: Neue

Metrische Entdeckungen

I, 1-2, Leipzig der menschlichen

Ernst University of Wisconsin.

Feisb.

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