Contrastive Analysis of Intonation and Tone in Chinese and English

hwsy@overseaen.comISSN 1009- -5039http://www. overseaen.comOverseas English海外英语Tel:+86- -551-65690811 65690812Contrastive Analysis of Intonation and Tone in Chinese and English甘田(宁夏大学外国语学院,宁夏银川750021)pitch. English intonation is non- tone language which means the word meaning will not changed with the changing of the inde-pendent word’s tone, while Chinese is Tone language, in which tone often determinates the meaning of word, different tonesare representative of different meanings. Chinese language function exerts differently in tone and intonation，and it is a bit com-plicated compared with English.中图分类号:H0文献标识码:A文 章编号:1009- 5039(2014)10-0227-021 Introductionof emphasizing the pragmatic features and express grammatical re-In linguistics, intonation is variation of spoken pitch that islations by using of word order, function words or auxiliary words .not used to distinguish words; instead it is used for a range of func-Therefore Chinese is called tone language ，in which the wordsmeaning or gramma depend on the changing of tone. Mandarin tonetions such as indicating the atitudes and emotions of the speaker,is divided into: "Yinping" ( level tone), "Yangping" (mediate lev-tween dfferent types of question, focusing atention on important el-el), "shangsheng" (alling), "qusheng" four (full flling tone), and aements of the spoken message and also helping to regulate conver-light tone. (Figure 1)一切 5 highP Shighpshighp Shighsational interaction. It contrasts with tone, in which pitch variationin some languages does distinguish words, either lexically or gram-: 3 medin。3 median/3 median. 3 medianmatically. (The term tone is used by some British writers in their.1low↓11ow。1lowdescriptions of intonation, but this is to refer to the pitch movementyin pingyaing pingshang shengqu shengfound on the nucleus or tonic syllable in an intonation unit ). "Into-Figure 1 The tones pitches of Standard Chinesenation involves the occurrence of recurring pitch pattens, each ofThe meaning of words and phrases is different from tone towhich is used with a set of relatively consistent meaning, either ontone. Such as:" Ma "the syllable tone is as follows:single words or on groups of words varying length"(Cruttenden,阳平轻声1977:7)妈(ma)麻(ma)马(m()骂(ma)吗(ma)Although intonation is primarily a matter of pitch variation, itThis four words' phoneme are exactly the same, but with theiris important to be aware that functions attributed to intonation suchdifferent tones, different ltters are constructed. The Chinese into-as the expression of attitudes and emotions, or highlighting aspectsnation is usually smooth which are influenced by the words' tone.of grammatical structure, almost always involve concomitant varia-tion in other prosodic features. Crystal for example says that "..i-cabulary and structure. The phonetic level refers to use stress andtonation is not a single system of contours and levels, but the prod-intonation to make a expression. V ocabulary level refers to the useuct of the interaction of features from different prosodic systemsof particles, auxilary, modal adverbs and interrogatives to expresstone, pitch-range, loudness, rhythmicality and tempo in particular."mood. Structure level means to use the fixed structures like"if", "isIn this thesis the writer will focus on distinguishing the dffer-A or B "to express specific mood. Chinese Rarely used single toneence in Chinese and English intonation from functional perspec-expression to show the mood, but often tend to use vocabulary, thetives , which will helpful to second language learners.structure combining with tone to express the speaker' s mood.2 The Comparison Analysis of Chinese and English W hich is a bit dfferent from English.Intonation Characteristics2.2 English:non-tone language2.1 Chinese: tone languageEnglish is a kind of spelling language . It is not the writtensign but the sound or spelling that gives more ideas of the meaningChinese is a typical analytical language, it has characteristics中国煤化工MHCNMH G收稿日期:2014-03-14修回日期:2014-04-14 .作者简介:甘田(1989-),女,内蒙古呼和浩特人，宁夏大学外国语学院2013级硕士研究生,主要研究方向为应用语言学。本栏目责任编辑:谢嫒嫒X逼喜关脉处) 227 .Overseas English海外英语2014年05月of the words. English has morphological changes, which depen-2)老师看到//我笑了。老师看到，我笑了。dents on relatively fixed order and numerous function words to ex-The meaning of these two sentences are followed:press syntactic relations, therefor it belongs to synthetic - analyti-(1) The teacher saw me and smiled.cal language. It is also the intonation language in which the sen-(2) the teacher saw that I smiled.tences involves intonation changes. Modern English word order is3.1.3 Modal particlesrelatively fixed, and comparing with Chinese it has much morpho-Modal particles are also used to distinguish between differentlogical changes, so the pronunciation and intonation play a greatpragmatic function, like “ah"," Well",“now”, “oh”,“ah", etc.role in semantic interface. Because of the different phonologicalSuch as:system and written form, English pronunciation ataches great im-他不来啦。(statement)他不来啊。(ffirmation)portance to the role of language, there is no fixed tone in a word,他不来嘛。(complainment)他不来吧? (conjecture)and the meaning changing depends on tone. The function of Eng-他不来哦。(come to realize sth)他不来呀 。(surprse)lish intonation and meaning is much richer than Chinese. So someexperts view the English vowels and consonants as the language’s3.2 English intonation and tone functions Semantic inferencebody, and regard the intonation as soul of English, which on the oth-The study of English intonation and tone should pay much at-er hand, proves the importance of intonation in English.tention to the English intonation Structure. English intonation struc-3 Contrastive Analysis of Pragmatic Value in Chi- ture is the basic unit of lngistis and usually it refers to the into-nation group. The intonation group is made up of four parts: onset, .nese and English Intonationrhyme, nucleus and coda. However, the function of intonaton groupThere are two layes of meaning in language communication, is flfllel by the pause and stess.one is the speaker produces a numerous of sounds with certain pur-3.2.1 Pause in discouse can be used to distinguish differentpose in producing process (Locutionary act). The other Layer is thespeaker conveys the implied meaning of the language or purportgrammar structures, such as:force through speaking sounds (llocutionary act). It is not enoughShe fed her/dog biscuits. She brought herself dog biscui to eat.to understand the role of itonaion in cmmunication from the sen- She fed her dogbiscuits. She usesed cokies to feed the dog.matic perspective, and it is proved that pragmatical function is ofa 3.2.2 Stress in discouse can express the speaker 's attitude,great vaule in leaning the intonation and tone in linguistics. That issuch as:to say we should Combine this discourse with context to make theA: When shall I last come?listener properly understand the meaning in concrete language situ-B:“Any time you/like". (riendliness and politeness)ation, which often relates with stress, rhythm, pause, etc.B:“Any time you like". (perfunctoriness, boredom)3.1 Chinese intonation and tone functions in semantic infer-The function of English intonation indeed performes as theencelanguage mode and the tune or melody in language communication,In Chinese, Compared with intonation, the tone of languagein which speakers convey direct meaning or express implied mean-usually plays a more crucial role in meaning conveying, and peopleing of the utterance by changing the position of the nuclear andcan also make diferent iterpreation to the discouse through di- with the lone ups and downs.ferent ways such as stress, pause and modal particles.4 Conclusion3.1.1 StressThe Chinese language consists of ideographie character in-1)’我知道你stress会来看我。(others don't know that you stead of orthographic spelling. English is a kind of spelling lan-will come to se me )It is not the written sign but the sound or spelling that gives2)我知道你会来看我。(I can see through your intention,)more ideas of the meaning of the words. As part of language ingredi-3)我知道'你会来看我。(I don' t know whether others willents, intonation and tone functions almost anywhere language in-come to see me, but I am sure you will do that.)volves in, from syntax to semantics, and to pragmatics. Intonation4)我知道你'会来看我。(how could you not come to see me，variation, again, plays different roles in different types of languag-since we are such good friends?)es. In tone languages, pitch variation mainly serves to difrentiate5)我知道你会来看’我。(It is me that you come to see.)lexical entries and the pitch affects the meaning of a word. In non-3.1.2 Pauseintonation languages, pitch variation often does not affect the mean-ing of individual words, and it mainly afects the meaning of theIn oral communication, pause can also change the meaning ofphrase or sentence and provides the functional or emotional mean-the sentence .while In witten communication, sentence meaning ising of the utterance Rased nn the nrosent mndorstanding of intona-to use punctuation marks to distinguish between oral communica-tion, this thesis i中国煤化工mic and srucuraltion form witen communication form. Such as:analysis of Englil:fHC N M H G the perspective of口头交际形式书面交际形式functionalism. By making a contrast study of various intonation1)老师看到我//笑了。老师看到我，笑了。(下转第274页)228 /遭爱研7本栏目责任编辑:谢媛嫒Overseas English海外英语2014年05月What is more, as for one’s concern to others, people living in cepted by Americans.China and in western countries also have different understanding.Conclusion: as we all know, rite is the fundamental moral ruleFor example, an American student falls il, one of his Chinese which is asked to obey by everyone to maintain a harmonious soci-friends has a visit to him, and asks: “oh, you do not look healthy,ety. For a single person, rite is the reflection of his morality level,what is wrong?" the student answers:“I am feeling sick, and I am education background, and communication ability, and for a soci-afraid that I have a cold." The visitor continues: “have you seen ety, rite is the rflection of civilization, morality and living habit. .the doctor? Have you gone to a hospital and had an examination? Communication language rite is the most obvious rite, and differentYou need to drink much water and stay in bed. Oh, did you takecountries have different rellection, especially in China and westernany medicine? Chinese medicine is very effective. I suggest that countries. If we have a better understanding of Chinese and west-you would better to have a try. If you can not decide which Chinese erm culure, it will be easier and more appropriate for Chinese peo-medicine doctor is better, I can recommend one to you. OK?" Then ple and westerners to communicate with each other.the American student has no patience any more, and asks theReferences:speaker:“are you may mother, aren' t you?" Why dose this Ameri-can student get impatient? Because Americans pay much attention[1] Samovar LA, Porter R E,Stefani L A.Communication BetweenCultures[M]. CENGAGE Learning Custom Publishing,2000.to individualism, and a man who is taken good care is considered tobe weak. 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