Intonation Analysis in Will Smith’s Full Interview with Ellen

By Aurelia Puti Imani

NIM: 19320172
D Class

Phonology
Lecturer: Deny Efita Nur Rakhmawati, M. Pd.
State Islamic University Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang
Introduction

Intonation is mainly about the pitch of the voice when we say something. The way the
voice rises and falls when speaking. Peter Roach in his book “English Phonetics and
Phonology” (1991) said that most books agree that in general, there are four types of
intonation, consisting of Rise, Fall, Fall-Rise and Rise-Fall. Meanwhile, Parviz Birjandi in his
book “An Introduction of Phonetics” (2005) said that Intonation means how, when and why
speakers choose raise or lower or sustain the pitch of their voice at particular points while
they speak. In general, he said that English uses six different forms of intonation patterns, that
consist of: Rising, Falling, Rising-Falling, Falling- Rising, Take Off, and Level.

Based on Parviz Birjandi (2005) falling intonation is used in many situations, such as:
statements, WH questions, and confirmatory tag questions 1. Rising intonation is used in yes-
no questions, repeated questions, question-statement, and tag questions. Rising-falling
intonation is a combination between rise and followed by fall pitch, it is used in two-part
statements, intro-phrases, and listings. Falling-rising intonation is a combination between fall
and followed by rise pitch, it is used for soothing and politeness. In take off intonation, the
speaker begins with a regular or level tone and then gradually raises the pitch, it is like the
way airplane wants to take off, take off intonation often used in statements with negatively-
charged emotions. In level intonation, the pitch is not changing or it will stay in the same
pitch throughout the sentence, one such situation can be found in Church, when the priest
reads the holy book to the church-goers.

This paper aims to determine the intonation used in Will Smith’s Interview with
Ellen, and also to analyse the function of each intonations used in that interview. The data of
this paper analysis is acquired from a video from Ellen Show Youtube Channel, specifically
entitled “Will Smith’s Full Interview with Ellen”, which the link will be put in the references
of this paper.

Analysis Result

I found three types intonation in the Will Smith’s Full Interview with Ellen. The most
appeared intonations found are falling intonation and rising intonation, which each of them
have a function. Falling intonations in that video are functioned for showing statements,

1
Confirmatory tag question is a question which you expect the listener to confirm with what you say.
commands, and asking question that is statement requesting confirmation rather than question
or it can be called confirmatory question. Meanwhile, rising intonations in that video are
mainly functioned for asking WH questions and yes-no questions. Also, I found two more
intonation types there, they are rising-falling intonations and falling-rising intonation. Rising-
falling intonations are functioned for showing two-part statement and unfinished thought,
while the falling-rising intonation is functioned for showing uncertainty. The deeper analysis
will be described below.

Falling Intonation

“I always love when I know you’re going to be on the ↓ show .” (2:03)

“You’re so much ↓ fun.” (2:06)

“I need to ask you some ↓ questions .” (2:15)

“You forced your ↓ wife.” (2:39)

“I agree with ↓ you.” (9:31)

Those are falling intonations found in that video that are functioned as statements.

“Just ↓ relax.” (2:10)

“Don’t do ↓ that.” (7:04)

“Don’t play with ↓ that.” (10:34)

“Stop ↓ swinging .” (11:05)

Those are falling intonations found in that video whose function for showing commands.

“So, she asked for ↓ it ?” (3:41)

“You’re scared of ↓ mice ?” (10:35)

“Wasn’t all it was cracked up to ↓ be ?” (5:52)

Those are falling intonations whose function as questions that are statements requesting
confirmations rather than questions or confirmatory questions. As it can be seen in the
conversation which all of them is said by Ellen, she asked Will all of them mainly as
statements to confirm what she had said.
Rising Intonation

“What is ↑ up?” (1:38)

“What 1970s sitcom had this theme ↑ song ?” (22:32)

Those are rising intonations found in the video whose function is for showing WH questions.

“So, did Jada end up liking ↑ it ?” (4:12)

“Have you ever ↑ jump ?” (5:33)

“Were you fans of the ↑ original ?” (12:16)

“Did you go after ↑ it ?” (12:43)

Those are rising intonations whose function is for showing Yes-No questions.

Rising-Falling Intonation

“She scared of heights, ↑ doesn ; tlike flying, and ↑ you said for my 50th birthday you jump out
of a plane for ↓ me?” (2:54)

This line is a rising-falling intonation for showing two-part statement and in the end of the
line it is asked for a confirmation or confirmatory question.

“She’s trying to listen to the story, ↑ She ' s ↓ like…(Coughing)” (13:20)

This line is a rising-falling intonation whose function for showing unfinished thought, as Will
said this for describing Ellen who wanted trying to listen to the story, but she actually can’t
because she held her cough at the moment.

Falling-Rising Intonation

“Doesn’t she look ↓ ha ↑ ppy ?” (3:00)

This line is showed falling-rising intonation whose function as doubt or uncertainty. As it can
be seen when Will said this line in the conversation, he actually was uncertain if her wife was
happy at that time.
Conclusion
There are four types of intonation found in Will Smith’s Full Interview with Ellen’s
Video, consisting of: Falling Intonations whose functions are for showing statements,
commands, and confirmatory questions; Rising Intonations whose functions are for showing
WH questions and yes-no questions; Rising-falling Intonations whose functions are for
showing two-part statement and unfinished thought; and Falling-rising intonation whose
function is for showing doubt or uncertainty. Surely, this analysis paper may have some
errors and it is not complete as the author just want to identify some of the conversation that
is showing as representations of each type of the intonations. Indeed, the author welcomes
criticism and suggestions openly. Thank you.

References
Birjandi, P. & Salmani-Nodoushan, M. A. (2005). An Introduction to Phonetics. Tehran:
Zabankadeh Publications.
Roach, P. (1998). English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course (Second Edition).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Video’s Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoldJNDLZHc