Prosodic unit
Encyclopedia
In linguistics
, a prosodic
unit, often called an intonation unit or intonational phrase, is a segment of speech that occurs with a single prosodic contour
(pitch
and rhythm
contour). The abbreviation IU is preferred because of the negative connotations of "PU", and therefore the full form is often found as intonation unit, despite the fact that technically it is a unit of prosody rather than intonation
, which is only one element of prosody.
Prosodic units occur at a hierarchy of levels
, from the metrical foot
and phonological word
to a complete utterance
. However, the term is generally restricted to intermediate levels which do not have a dedicated terminology. Prosodic units do not in general correspond to syntactic units, such as phrase
s and clause
s; it is thought that they reflect different aspects of how the brain processes speech, with prosodic units being generated through on-line interaction and processing, and with morphosyntactic units being more automated. Prosody is more interesting to schools of discourse
and functional linguistics, which are concerned with the effect of live interaction in speech production and processing, than to schools of generative linguistics
, which may dismiss prosodic contours as details of performance
and thus irrelevant to the study of language.
. Breathing, both inhalation and exhalation, only occurs at the boundaries (pausa
) between higher units. Several short contours may carry an additional overall gradual decline in pitch and slowing of tempo; this larger unit is termed a declination unit (DU). At the boundaries (pause
s) between declination units, the pitch and tempo reset
; for this reason the final one of the shorter internal contours is said to have final prosody, whereas the others are said to have continuing prosody.
These two levels of the hierarchy
may be schematicized as follows:
! colspan=4 | Declination unit
|-
| continuing IU, || continuing IU, || continuing IU, || final IU.
|}
The International Phonetic Alphabet
has symbols (single and double pipes) for "minor" and "major" prosodic breaks. Since there are more than two levels of prosodic units, the use of these symbols depends on the structure of the language and which information the transcriber is attempting to capture. Very often each prosodic unit will be placed in a separate line of the transcription. Using the single and double pipes to mark continuing and final prosodic boundaries, we might have American English,
or French,
Note that the last syllable with a full vowel in a French
prosodic unit is stressed, and that the last stressed syllable in an English
prosodic unit has primary stress
. This shows that stress is not phonemic in French, and that the difference between primary and secondary stress is not phonemic in English; they are both elements of prosody rather than inherent in the words.
The pipe symbols the vertical bar
s | and ‖ used above are phonetic, and so will often disagree with English punctuation, which only partially correlates with prosody.
However, the pipes may also be used for metrical
breaks a single pipe being used to mark metrical feet, and a double pipe to mark both continuing and final prosody, as their alternate IPA descriptions "foot group" and "intonation group" suggest. In such usage, each foot group would include one and only one heavy syllable. In English, this would mean one and only one stressed syllable:
In many tone languages with downdrift
, such as Hausa
, the single pipe may be used to represent a minor prosodic break that does not interrupt the overall decline in pitch of the utterance, while [ ‖ ] marks either continuing or final prosody that creates a pitch reset
. In such cases, some linguists use only the single pipe, with continuing and final prosody marked by a comma and period, respectively.
In transcriptions of non-tonal languages, the three symbols pipe, comma, and period may also be used, with the pipe representing a break more minor than the comma, the so-called list prosody often used to separate items when reading lists, spelling words, or giving out telephone numbers.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, a prosodic
Prosody (linguistics)
In linguistics, prosody is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance ; the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and focus; or other elements of...
unit, often called an intonation unit or intonational phrase, is a segment of speech that occurs with a single prosodic contour
Prosody (linguistics)
In linguistics, prosody is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance ; the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and focus; or other elements of...
(pitch
Pitch contour
In linguistics, speech synthesis, and music, the pitch contour of a sound is a function or curve that tracks the perceived pitch of the sound over time....
and rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
contour). The abbreviation IU is preferred because of the negative connotations of "PU", and therefore the full form is often found as intonation unit, despite the fact that technically it is a unit of prosody rather than intonation
Intonation
Intonation may refer to:*Intonation , the variation of tone used when speaking*Intonation , a musician's realization of pitch accuracy, or the pitch accuracy of a musical instrument*Intonation Music Festival, held in Chicago...
, which is only one element of prosody.
Prosodic units occur at a hierarchy of levels
Phonological hierarchy
Phonological hierarchy describes a series of increasingly smaller regions of a phonological utterance. From larger to smaller units, it is as follows:#Utterance#Prosodic declination unit / intonational phrase...
, from the metrical foot
Foot (prosody)
The foot is the basic metrical unit that generates a line of verse in most Western traditions of poetry, including English accentual-syllabic verse and the quantitative meter of classical ancient Greek and Latin poetry. The unit is composed of syllables, the number of which is limited, with a few...
and phonological word
Phonological word
The phonological word or prosodic word is a constituent in the phonological hierarchy higher than the syllable and the foot but lower than intonational phrase and the phonological phrase...
to a complete utterance
Utterance
In spoken language analysis an utterance is a complete unit of speech. It is generally but not always bounded by silence.It can be represented and delineated in written language in many ways. Note that in such areas of research utterances do not exist in written language, only their representations...
. However, the term is generally restricted to intermediate levels which do not have a dedicated terminology. Prosodic units do not in general correspond to syntactic units, such as phrase
Phrase
In everyday speech, a phrase may refer to any group of words. In linguistics, a phrase is a group of words which form a constituent and so function as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. A phrase is lower on the grammatical hierarchy than a clause....
s and clause
Clause
In grammar, a clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition. In some languages it may be a pair or group of words that consists of a subject and a predicate, although in other languages in certain clauses the subject may not appear explicitly as a noun phrase,...
s; it is thought that they reflect different aspects of how the brain processes speech, with prosodic units being generated through on-line interaction and processing, and with morphosyntactic units being more automated. Prosody is more interesting to schools of discourse
Discourse analysis
Discourse analysis , or discourse studies, is a general term for a number of approaches to analyzing written, spoken, signed language use or any significant semiotic event....
and functional linguistics, which are concerned with the effect of live interaction in speech production and processing, than to schools of generative linguistics
Generative linguistics
Generative linguistics is a school of thought within linguistics that makes use of the concept of a generative grammar. The term "generative grammar" is used in different ways by different people, and the term "generative linguistics" therefore has a range of different, though overlapping,...
, which may dismiss prosodic contours as details of performance
Linguistic performance
In linguistics, performance has two senses:It is also one of the two elements in Chomsky's performance-competence distinction, which relates to Language production , with an emphasis upon how this is different from Competence, or the mental knowledge of language itself...
and thus irrelevant to the study of language.
Defining characteristics
Prosodic units are characterized by several phonetic cues, such as a coherent pitch contourPitch contour
In linguistics, speech synthesis, and music, the pitch contour of a sound is a function or curve that tracks the perceived pitch of the sound over time....
. Breathing, both inhalation and exhalation, only occurs at the boundaries (pausa
Pausa
In linguistics, pausa is the end of a prosodic unit, such as an utterance. Some sound laws specifically operate in pausa only; for example, certain phonemes may be pronounced differently at the end of a word, when no other word follows within the same prosodic unit, such as in citation form...
) between higher units. Several short contours may carry an additional overall gradual decline in pitch and slowing of tempo; this larger unit is termed a declination unit (DU). At the boundaries (pause
Pause
Pause may refer to a rest, hesitation, or temporary stop.Examples:* Fermata, a musical pause of indefinite duration* Pause key, the Pause/Break key on computer keyboards...
s) between declination units, the pitch and tempo reset
Pitch reset
In speech, phonetic pitch reset occurs at the boundaries between prosodic units.Over the course of such units, the median pitch of the voice declines from its initial value, sometimes reaching the lower end of the speaker's vocal range. At this point it must reset to a higher level if the person...
; for this reason the final one of the shorter internal contours is said to have final prosody, whereas the others are said to have continuing prosody.
These two levels of the hierarchy
Phonological hierarchy
Phonological hierarchy describes a series of increasingly smaller regions of a phonological utterance. From larger to smaller units, it is as follows:#Utterance#Prosodic declination unit / intonational phrase...
may be schematicized as follows:
-
- {| class=wikitable
! colspan=4 | Declination unit
|-
| continuing IU, || continuing IU, || continuing IU, || final IU.
|}
Transcription
In English orthography, a continuing prosodic boundary may be marked with a comma (assuming the writer is using commas to represent prosody rather than grammatical structure), while final prosodic boundaries may be marked with a full stop (period).The International Phonetic Alphabet
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...
has symbols (single and double pipes) for "minor" and "major" prosodic breaks. Since there are more than two levels of prosodic units, the use of these symbols depends on the structure of the language and which information the transcriber is attempting to capture. Very often each prosodic unit will be placed in a separate line of the transcription. Using the single and double pipes to mark continuing and final prosodic boundaries, we might have American English,
- Jack,
- preparing the way,
- went on.
[ˈdʒæk
or French,
- Jacques,
- préparant le sol,
- tomba.
[ˈʒak
Note that the last syllable with a full vowel in a French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
prosodic unit is stressed, and that the last stressed syllable in an English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
prosodic unit has primary stress
Stress (linguistics)
In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a phrase or sentence. The term is also used for similar patterns of phonetic prominence inside syllables. The word accent is sometimes also used with this sense.The stress placed...
. This shows that stress is not phonemic in French, and that the difference between primary and secondary stress is not phonemic in English; they are both elements of prosody rather than inherent in the words.
The pipe symbols the vertical bar
Vertical bar
The vertical bar is a character with various uses in mathematics, where it can be used to represent absolute value, among others; in computing and programming and in general typography, as a divider not unlike the interpunct...
s | and ‖ used above are phonetic, and so will often disagree with English punctuation, which only partially correlates with prosody.
However, the pipes may also be used for metrical
Meter (poetry)
In poetry, metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study of metres and forms of versification is known as prosody...
breaks a single pipe being used to mark metrical feet, and a double pipe to mark both continuing and final prosody, as their alternate IPA descriptions "foot group" and "intonation group" suggest. In such usage, each foot group would include one and only one heavy syllable. In English, this would mean one and only one stressed syllable:
- Jack,
- preparing the way,
- went on.
[ˈdʒæk ‖ pɹəˌpɛəɹɪŋ
In many tone languages with downdrift
Downdrift
In phonetics, downdrift is the cumulative lowering of pitch over time due to interactions among tones, called downstep, in a tonal language. It is distinct from the general lowering of the pitch during prosodic contours of a tonal or non-tonal language....
, such as Hausa
Hausa language
Hausa is the Chadic language with the largest number of speakers, spoken as a first language by about 25 million people, and as a second language by about 18 million more, an approximate total of 43 million people...
, the single pipe may be used to represent a minor prosodic break that does not interrupt the overall decline in pitch of the utterance, while [ ‖ ] marks either continuing or final prosody that creates a pitch reset
Pitch reset
In speech, phonetic pitch reset occurs at the boundaries between prosodic units.Over the course of such units, the median pitch of the voice declines from its initial value, sometimes reaching the lower end of the speaker's vocal range. At this point it must reset to a higher level if the person...
. In such cases, some linguists use only the single pipe, with continuing and final prosody marked by a comma and period, respectively.
In transcriptions of non-tonal languages, the three symbols pipe, comma, and period may also be used, with the pipe representing a break more minor than the comma, the so-called list prosody often used to separate items when reading lists, spelling words, or giving out telephone numbers.