Saturday 5 July 2014

The same 'bouquet' with tonetic symbols

My sincere thanks go to ʤæk wɪnzə luːɪs for providing me with a tonemarked version of the mini-dialogue between Hyacinth and Elizabeth. I used my transcription of the sounds and his tone marks. Here's our joint venture:

1. aɪ ˈθɔːt wid hæv ðə ˈnaɪsə ˎtʃaɪnə |
2. ˋəʊ | ˋθæŋk ju haɪəsɪnθ |
3. ðεː ˏ‧sʌmθɪŋ əv ə ˏfæmli ˋ‧eəluːm |
4. əʊ ˋɡɒd | ˋdəʊnt ɡɪv mi eniθɪŋ ˋˏspeʃl̩ |
5. səʊ ju ˈwɪl bi ˎkeəfəl | ˎwəʊntʃu dɪə | ˊbɪskɪt |
6. wə ˋθæŋk ju |
7. aɪ ˈjuːs tə hæv ˋsɪks əv ˏði:z ntɪl ˈwʌn fel ɪntə ðə ˈhænz əv mɑ ˋbrʌðər ɪn lɔː | ˋˏɒnzləʊ | wʌn ˋˏkrɪsməs |
8. ˈaɪ ˏ‧kʊdəv ˋkɪld ɪm |
9. ˎkɔːs wʌn ˋkɑːnt meɪk ə ˋfʌs ɒn festɪv əˏkeɪʒn̩z |
10. bət i ˋsɜːtnli ɡɒt ðə ˋʃɔːt end əv ə ˋˏtɜːki | ˋaɪ kən tel ju |
11. ˈdɪd ðeɪ ˈtel ju wɒt wəz ˈrɒŋ wɪð jɔ: ˋfɑːðə |
12. ˋsʌmθɪŋ ˋmaɪdli ɪmˎbærəsɪŋ |
13. ˈwʌn əv ˈðəʊz | ˋmaɪnə dʒerɪˎætrɪk kəmˎpleɪnts | aɪ ˈkʊdn ˋkætʃ | ðə medɪkl̩ tɜːmɪˏ‧nɒlədʒi |
14. ə |

Jack also writes:
For anyone who might like to take this Hyacinth Bucket passage for a simple lesson on English intonation, all you need to know is the following easily remembered, straightforward, simple, fairly obvious guidelines:
1. Tones are of three types: Falls, Rises and Levels, each high or low.
2. Each tonemark is placed immediately before the syllable it applies to.
3. Vertical lines, called 'bars', signal the end of tonal phrases. [These are different from forward-leaning slashes "/" which enclose (phonemic) transcriptions.]
4. Tones' ordinary values are defined in terms of High, Mid and Low thus: A High Fall ˋa goes from High to Low, a Low Fall ˎa from Mid to Low, a Low Rise ˏa from Low to Mid, High Level 'a etc.
5. A dot after a tonemark signals a pitch range reduced from normal.
6. Any unmarked syllable initial in a tonal phrase is Mid (or lower).
7. The 'tail' (ie any unmarked syllables) following any tonemark continues as that tonemark indicates, eg after a Fall they all stay at bottom pitch. 
Jack would also like to add this:
The most striking feature among her intonation choices is the tone I call a drawled Drop (i.e. a descent from High to Mid) that she uses at ‘heirloom' producing an effect one could call ‘chortling’ (in cheerfully celebrating satisfaction). It's a variety of the tone use in calling informally and cheerfully to someone a little distance away as with 'Yoo-hoo’.

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