Prosody in Practice
Non-segmental Phonetics in Typical and Atypical Speech
Joan Rahilly [+–]
Queen’s University Belfast
Joan Rahilly is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics and Phonetics at Queen’s University, Belfast. Her research focuses on phonetic and phonological manifestations of speech and language disorders, but she is also pursuing work on literacy acquisition amongst young people in the Northern Irish context.
Notwithstanding a spurt in prosody-oriented work since the late 1980s compared to earlier periods, the persisting dominant narrative is that prosody remains the proverbial poor relation in phonetics. Such a narrative is no longer entirely reliable or sustainable, and it needs to be addressed and challenged. It is clear that researchers and practitioners have developed analytic and theoretical models which permit a helpful understanding of how prosodic forms are analysable and how they perform certain functional roles. However, the result of this focus on analysis and theory is that we now know a great deal more about those areas than we do about the overall communicative significance of prosody in typical and non-typical speech varieties. This volume, by contrast, offers a ‘big picture’ study, providing a cohesive and wide-ranging account of prosody and its functions.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
This chapter provides a working definition and exemplification of the prosodic elements of speech, focusing on the pitch and intonation characteristics which dominate investigations in the field, and including loudness, tempo, rhythm and pause. It shows that, within the overall trajectory of modern phonetics, prosodic characteristics have indeed been neglected compared to segmental aspects, and it will indicate how and why this neglect came about. It outlines the relatively limited set of prosodic functions which were typically identified in earlier work, and the extent to which those functions were seen as important or otherwise in communication.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 looks at the efforts of a number of investigators in the late 1980s whose work on prosody was responsible for shifting attention from formal, analytic models to questions of meaning. The move in focus to meaning and function was, arguably, a reaction to what had become by then largely a set of fixed, if not moribund, analysis-driven approaches in which phonetic realisational issues took precedence over communicative processes.
Chapter 3
Here, we examine how speakers and listeners use prosodic cues to convey and understand various types of exchanges: discoursal and conversational, and across a range of sociolinguistic, situational and stylistic contexts. Sample contexts are natural conversation and monologue, news and documentary broadcasts and oral advertising (with data from the sources noted in 4.3. above), with a sidebar look at the representation of prosodic behaviours in printed texts. The chapter also explains the ways in which speakers’ prosody contributes to their identity, whether self- or other-perceived, and how prosodic breakdown in atypical speech affects identity cues.
Chapter 4
Chapter 4 focuses on the clinical reasons for prosodic disruption and breakdown, with illustration provided from a range of clinical speech types. It examines the ways in which prosodic problems impede affected individuals’ ability to produce and understand communicative signals appropriately, and outlines therapeutic methods for targeting prosody and ameliorating the effects of prosodic breakdown. The chapter acknowledges that only a minority of therapists is convinced of the value of working on prosodic aspects of speech, so it provides an evidenced argument for incorporating prosody therapy into clinical work using methods that are accessible, manageable and productive for SLTs.
Chapter 5
This chapter provides readers with an overview of the methods and models which are typically used to analyse prosodic form. It notes that there is no single analytic process or standard to which investigators should aspire. It shows, for example, that choices regarding the domain of analysis (from individual syllables to longer utterances) should be made in light of the particular function under investigation. On the other hand, for analysts who have a sense that prosodic production is affected but are unsure how to pinpoint the difficulty, guidance is given on how to identify relevant problems.
Chapter 6
The final chapter reflects on the earlier content of the book and underscores the consequential significance of prosody in typical and non-typical speech types, and across a range of communicative situations. It assembles the argument that reference to prosodic organisation is indispensable if we wish to advance our analyses and understanding of human interaction.
