Prosody

Prosody meaning

In linguistics, prosody, also known as prosodic or suprasegmental phonology, is concerned with the way connected speech sounds. Because of this, some people refer to prosody as the ‘music’ of language. Prosodic features are a set of linguistic features (also known as suprasegmentals) that are used to convey meaning and emphasis in spoken language.

Some of the main prosodic features are intonation, stress, rhythm, and pauses. These are an important part of speech as they can help structure the things we say and affect meaning.

Prosody of speech

As discussed before, prosodic features are the suprasegmental elements of speech. This means they accompany consonant and vowel sounds and are extended across whole words or sentences rather than being limited to single sounds. Prosodic features typically appear in connected speech and often occur naturally.

For example, when we say just one or two words, we’re far less likely to hear prosody than when we speak for an extended period of time.

Prosodic features are comprised of different prosodic variables, such as tone, length of sounds, voice pitch, duration of sounds, and volume.

Prosody examples - prosodic features

Let’s look at some of the main prosodic features in more detail.

Intonation

Intonation usually refers to the rise and fall of our voices. However, there’s a little more to it than that, and our intonation is based on a few different factors. These are:

• Dividing speech into units.
• Changes in pitch (high or low).
• Changing the length of syllables or words.

Stress

Stress refers to the emphasis we place on certain words or syllables. Stress can be added to a word by

• Increasing the length.
• Increasing the volume.
• Changing the pitch (speaking in a higher or lower pitch).

Pauses

Pauses can help add structure to our speech and often functions in the same way a full stop does in written text.

Pauses can also signal that we are hesitant about what we’re about to say or can be used for emphasis and dramatic effect.

Rhythm

Rhythm is less of a prosodic feature itself and more the result of the combination of other prosodic features and variables. Rhythm refers to the ‘movement’ and flow of speech determined by the stress, length, and number of syllables.

Functions of prosody in reading

Prosody is an important part of speech and has many functions, namely showing what the speaker actually means in comparison to what they are saying. Let's look at some of the main functions of prosody.

To add meaning

Prosody is another way of adding meaning to the things we say. This is because the way in which we say things can change their intended meaning. Prosodic features have no meaning on their own and instead we must consider the use and context of prosody in relation to the utterance (units of speech).

Another good example of prosody being used to add meaning is the use of sarcasm and irony.

When people are being sarcastic or ironic, there is usually a contradiction between what they say and what they actually mean. We can interpret the intended meaning by placing the utterance into context and paying attention to the prosodic features.

To express emotion

The prosodic features we use can say a lot about how we’re feeling. We can often tell whether someone is feeling sad, happy, scared, excited etc. based on the way their voice sounds.

Quite often the prosodic features that give away our emotions happen involuntarily; however, we can also adjust our prosody on purpose to indicate to others how we really feel.

Fig. 1 - We often subconsciously use prosodic features in our speech which can give away our emotions and feelings to others.

For clarity and structure

The use of prosodic features can also help add structure and remove ambiguity from our speech.

Transcribing prosody

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) chart has a group of symbols that can be used to transcribe prosodic features under the heading ‘Suprasegmentals’.

We can include suprasegmental symbols in phonetic transcriptions to give others a better idea of how the section of connected speech should sound as a whole.

Fig. 2 - Suprasegmentals are used in the International Phonetic Alphabet show prosodic features of speech in transcriptions.

Prosody in poetry and literature

So far, this article has been about prosody in linguistics; however, we also talk about prosody in terms of literature and poetry. In this case, prosody is a literary technique, used to add rhythm to a ‘poetic’ piece of work. Prosody is usually found in poetry, but can also be seen in different forms of prose too.

When examining prosody in literature, we look at the way the author has used language and metric line (e.g. iambic pentameter) to create a rhythmic effect.