Theoretical phonetics. Study guide for second year students. Борискина О.О - 61 стр.

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     In a similar vein, Chun (1988: 81) notes: "Intonation functions to express
whether a speaker is ready and willing to relinquish the floor, to signal that a
response is desired, unnecessary, or unwanted, and to differentiate normal
information from contrastive or expressive intentions." In other words,
intonation performs an important conversation management function, with the
speaker being able to subtly signal to the interlocutor to quit talking, to respond
in a particular fashion, or to pay particular attention to a piece of highlighted
information.
     Nonnative speakers are frequently misinterpreted as rude, abrupt, or
disinterested solely because of the prosodies of their speech. Native speakers
may find choppy, unnatural rhythm; overly flat intonation; or inappropriate
application of rise or rise-fall patterns annoying or difficult to understand.
       On the other hand, nonnative speakers often cannot hear important keys to
meaning because of their limited command of prosodic clues. This is especially
true when humor, sarcasm, anger, irony, and the like are conveyed through
prosodic means. To take a simple example, the nonnative speaker might not
understand that his or her idea is being negatively evaluated if the phrase "That's
a great idea," is spoken sarcastically.

Statements
      Unmarked or neutral versions of most English statements have rising-
falling intonation and fairly predictable stress. For example:
      JOHN COOKED DINner.
      However, statements are sometimes marked such that one constituent, for
example the subject noun John, is singled out for special focus or emphasis.
This special marking can be accomplished in a variety of ways. There are
grammatical options, such as the cleft construction (It was John who cooked
dinner), and addition of emphatic markers (John himself cooked dinner); yet in
everyday spoken English, marking is most commonly accomplished through
greater length, extra force, and higher pitch on the prominent syllable. Thus the
most typical way to give special prominence to John in the statement we are
discussing is to say:
      JOHN COOKED DINner.
      However, it does not make sense to practice the unmarked and marked
versions of John cooked dinner in isolation and out of context. Learners must
understand early on that one version is appropriate in one context, whereas the
other is appropriate in another context. For example, consider the following
conversational exchange:
      Alice: WHAT HAPpened after you gот HOME?
      Betty: NoTHing unUSual; JOHN cooked DINner.
      In this context the unmarked version of the statement is used. Contrast it
with the following:
      Alice: Did you COOK DINner after you GOT HOME?
      Betty: NQ, JOHN COOKED DINner.