INTONATION ANALYSIS OF 2 BARACK OBAMA'S

SPEECHES

Scientific Journal Manuscript

Submitted to Pass the Final Exam Score
Arranged by:
Dendri Endrian Ramadhan
20101050058

Kharima Sukma Wijaya

20101050046

English Literature Study Program

Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Yogyakarta
2021
 
 Abstract
This study entitled “Intonation Analysis of 2 Barack Obama’s Speeches” aims to
analyze Barack Obama's intonation as a good speaker.
In this study, the researcher used a descriptive research method with a qualitative
approach. The data was obtained from recorded video footage from Youtube. The researcher
used listening, note-taking, and analyzing techniques. The researcher analyzed the data: 1.
Transcribing video footage, 2. Identifying the intonation of the speaker, 3. Looking for the
dominant intonation pattern of the speaker, 4. Designing conclusions.
It can be told that Barack Obama as a good speaker rarely uses a very high tone (4) or
fa. He always uses a low note (1) or do at the end of the sentence. He often does a recurring
pattern with a regular tone (2) or re in a few words at the beginning and ends by increasing
the pitch to a high note (3) or mi as the emphasis he wants.

Keywords : Intonation; Speech; Barack Obama

Introduction
Speech is an activity that is closely related to public speaking skills or known as
rhetoric. With speech, many benefits can be felt with various styles of language in conveying
it. Speech also relates to the context and conditions that support the activity. The context of
the speech is very related to political conditions and interests, whether it be a state or even a
state association. Speech According to Emha Abdurrahman (2011), the activity of opinion
related to the description to be conveyed orally about a topic by stating the information
clearly in front of the crowd at a certain time. Then Plato explains in the Dialectical Theory
that a good speaker (a person who wants to give a speech) is someone who is critical in
finding the source of the problem that is the anxiety and interest of the audience but not the
interests of the individual (Larson, 2004). So the researcher can conclude referring to the two
definitions, speech is an activity of conveying a clear opinion regarding the source of many
people's problems which is conveyed orally and puts individual interests aside.
Submission of clear descriptions and opinions is the key to giving a speech, therefore
intonation in a speech is one of the important aspects beyond the scope of the material and
what the speaker wants to convey. Intonation is one of the studies field in phonology.
According to Keraf (1991), intonation is the combination of elements of pressure, tone,
duration, and stop in a sentence that is determined from the beginning to the last stop. From
there, intonation if associated with speech is a unified element composed of several basic
elements (tone, tempo, stress, pause, and volume) to produce sentences that are rhythmic and
pleasing to the audience.
In this research, the speeches will be studied using intonation theory. The researcher
tries to take several sentences that will be analyzed in depth using a qualitative descriptive
approach by observing and taking notes as the research method. The researcher tries to
answer 2 questions, such as :
1. What was Barack Obama’s intonation in 2 different contexts?
2. What intonation tendencies does Barack Obama have when gave a speech?
In this study, the researcher aims to describe intonation and find the intonation tendencies of
Barack Obama in his speech.
Literature Review
Notational Convention Explanation
The first theory that becomes the reference for this study is Amran Halim's (1969)
theory of notational conventions. In theory, he explains several agreed signs, namely:
/ :  A nonfinal break (or, trial), marks the end of a group of nonfinal breaks.
# : Final pause, marks the end of a group of sentence final breaks or the end of a group of
medial discourse pauses
1 : Level 1 (one) pitch, or 'low'.
2 : Level 2 (two) pitch, or 'medium', or 'neutral'.
3 : Level 3 (three) pitch, or 'high'.
Important Role of Intonation
According to Masnur Muslich (2009), intonation plays a very important role in
distinguishing the meaning of a sentence. This distinguishing pattern can be symbolized
using numbers (1,2,3) and lines.
The Main Key During Speech
According to Kholifatul (2014), when giving a speech, variations in intonation are the
main key. A good and correct intonation is characterized by the dominance of the speaker
using a medium tone and not too high. Speech also should not be flat so as not to seem
monotonous. Sooner or later intonation is also needed.

Methods
The pattern of tone variations in sentence intonation can be represented by numbers
(1,2,3) or lines (Muslich M, 2009). Several variations of tone are used to vary the pitch level
at the word level and the difference in meaning at the sentence level. At the word level,
several variations of differentiating meaning are called notes, which are indicated by the
numbers (1) for low notes or known as 'do', (2) for neutral notes or known as 're', (3) for high
notes or known as ‘mi’, and (4) for the highest note which is known as 'fa’.
The research method that will be used by researchers in this study is descriptive
research method and will be using a qualitative approach. The data is collected through the
process of searching, watching footage video, taking notes, and analyzing. Data was collected
based on the video “Watch President Barack Obama's Full Speech at the 2016 Democratic
National Convention”. The researcher focuses on research by breaking down several
sentences in the video and analyzing it using Masnur Muslich's (2016) intonation theory from
his book entitled Indonesian Phonology: Descriptive Review of Indonesian Sound Systems.

Finding and Discussion

Barack Hussein Obama II or well known as Barack Obama was born on August 4,
1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard
Law School, where he was president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community
activist in Chicago before getting his law degree. He served as a civil rights attorney in
Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to
2004. He represented the 13th District in the Illinois Senate three times from 1997 to 2004
but did not qualify for the House of Representatives' stage. The United States in 2000. Barack
Obama served as the 44th President of the United States. When Barack Obama was elected
president in 2008, he became the first African American to hold the White House.
Researchers in this study will discuss Barack Obama's intonation when giving a
speech in two different contexts. From the first video, the researcher choose the video of
Barack Obama's Speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. At that time, Barack
Obama, former President of the United States, is the speaker who will be examined in this
research. At the 2016 Democratic National Convention Event, Hillary Clinton, who initiated
to continue the leadership from Barack Obama as a representative of the United States
Democratic Party (same as Obama), gave Obama time to give a speech with the aim of
campaigning for her. Obama gave a 49-minute speech and was watched by many
Americans.The research will be focused on analyzing Barack Obama's intonation from
several sentences that have the context of Barack Obama's pride in America. From the second
video, the researcher chose the video President Obama Gives Eulogy for West Virginia
Miners. In the video, President Obama delivers the eulogy during a memorial service in
Beckley, West Virginia for the 29 victims of the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion. The
researches focus on several sentences that have the context of Barack Obama's condolences.
Researchers will try to elaborate on the two contexts and try to see 2 trends that arise from 2
different contexts. In their analysis, researchers will take 6 sentence that has a correlation
with each context from each video.

In the first video, uploaded on Youtube, entitled “Watch President Barack Obama's
Full Speech at The 2016 Democratic National Convention”, there are already 6 sentences that
have an appropriate context. The transcript of the video clip is as follows:

“But I was filled with faith; faith in America – the generous, bighearted, hopeful
country that made my story – indeed, all of our stories – possible.” (at 4.00 to 4.17)

“After a century of trying, we declared that health care in America is not a privilege
for a few, but a right for everybody.” (at 5.24 to 5.34)

“And through countless acts of quiet courage, America learned that love has no
limits, and marriage equality is now a reality across the land.” (at 6.39 to 6.47)

“This is a more fundamental choice – about who we are as a people, and whether we
stay true to this great American experiment in self-government.” (at 8.44 to 8.55)

“The America I know is full of courage, and optimism, and ingenuity. The America I
know is decent and generous.” (at 9.51 to 10.00)

“America is already great. America is already strong. And I promise you, our
strength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump.” (at 23.50 to 24.05)

Data 1

 There are 21 neutral notes, 9 high notes, and 1 low note.

 The dominant intonation is the neutral notes ‘re’, several high notes ‘mi’, and few low
notes ‘do’.
 There is no very high note ‘fa’.

Data 2

 There are 15 neutral notes, 5 high notes, and 2 low notes.

 The dominant intonation is the neutral notes ‘re’, several high notes ‘mi’, and few low
notes ‘do’.
 There is no very high note ‘fa’.

Data 3

 There are 20 neutral notes, 6 high notes, and 4 low notes.

 The dominant intonation is the neutral notes ‘re’, several high notes ‘mi’, and few low
notes ‘do’.
 There is no very high note ‘fa’.

Data 4

 There are 17 neutral notes, 6 high notes, and 1 low note.

 The dominant intonation is the neutral notes ‘re’, several high notes ‘mi’, and few low
notes ‘do’.
 There is no very high note ‘fa’.
Data 5

 There are 12 neutral notes, 4 high notes, and 1 low note.

 The dominant intonation is the neutral notes ‘re’, several high notes ‘mi’, and few low
notes ‘do’.
 There is no very high note ‘fa’.

Data 6 

 There are 19 neutral notes, and 8 high notes.

 The dominant intonation is the neutral notes ‘re’, several high notes ‘mi’.
 There is no low note ‘do’ and very high note ‘fa’.

The trend that the researchers got from the 6 data, Barack Obama often uses a neutral
tone pattern 're' with a high note 'mi' at the end of the phrase for emphasis. This tendency can
be found in several fragments, namely:

 Data 1: But I was filled, (emphasis on the word Filled)

 Data 2: -We declared, (Emphasis on the word Declared)
 Data 3: -of quiet courage, (emphasis on the word Courage)
 And some more data.

In the second video, uploaded on Youtube, entitled “President Obama Gives Eulogy

for West Virginia Miners”, there are already 6 sentences that have the appropriate context.
The transcript of the video clip is as follows:

 “These men -– these husbands, fathers, grandfathers, brothers, sons, uncles,

nephews – they did not take on their job unaware of the perils.” (at 12.17 to 12.32)
 “All that hard work, all that hardship, all the time spent underground, it was all for
the families.  It was all for you.” (at 13.24 to 13.33)

“It was all in the hopes of something better.  And so these miners lived – as they died-
in pursuit of the American Dream.” (at 13.47 to 13.58)

“Rescuers, risking their own safety, scouring narrow tunnels saturated with methane
and carbon monoxide, hoping against hope they might find a survivor.” (at 15.07 to 15.19)

“They were always proud, and they asked me to keep our miners in my thoughts, in
my prayers.  Never forget, they say, miners keep America’s lights on.” (at 16.11 to 16.24)

“We cannot bring back the 29 men we lost.  They are with the Lord now.” (at 17.08
to 17.15)

 Data 7

 There are 19 neutral notes, 8 low notes, and 1 high note.

 The dominant intonation is the neutral notes ‘re’, several low notes ‘do’, and few high
notes ‘mi’.
 There is no very high note ‘fa’.

Data 8 

 There are 14 neutral notes, 5 low notes, and 1 high note.

 The dominant intonation is the neutral notes ‘re’, several low notes ‘do’, and few high
notes ‘mi’.                           
 There  is no very high note ‘fa’.

Data 9 
 There are 13 neutral notes, 4 high notes, and 3 low notes.
 The dominant intonation is the neutral notes ‘re’, several high notes ‘mi’, and few low
notes ‘do’.                           
 There  is no very high note ‘fa’.

Data 10

 There are 23 neutral notes, 4 high notes, and 4 low notes.

 The dominant intonation is the neutral notes ‘re’, several high notes ‘mi’ and low notes
‘do’.                            
 There  is no very high note ‘fa’.

Data 11 

 There are 17 neutral notes, 5 low notes, and 4 high notes.

 The dominant intonation is the neutral notes ‘re’, several low notes ‘do’, and few high
notes ‘mi’.                           
 There  is no very high note ‘fa’.

Data 12 
 There are 9 neutral notes, 4 low notes, and 1 high note.
 The dominant intonation is the neutral notes ‘re’, several low notes ‘do’, and few high
notes ‘mi’.                           
 There  is no very high note ‘fa’.

In the second speech, a condolence speech for the deaths of miners in America,
Barack Obama used the same speech pattern but with quite a different tendency. He
consistently uses a neutral 're' tone but often ends his phrases with a low 'do' tone. In
addition, the same pattern can be found again when Barack Obama wants to emphasize some
words. He suppressed it by raising his intonation to a high 'mi' note. He also often lowers his
tone at the end of the sentence.

Conclusion
Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States has a unique speech pattern.
He has a consistent intonation that continues to stand on the neutral tone of 're' even though it
is in 2 places and 2 different speech contexts. He also often uses emphasis by raising his tone
while using hand gestures to reinforce the message he wants to convey. However, in practice,
Barack Obama still has high integrity by changing the tendency when delivering messages in
different contexts. In the contexts needed to convey strength and enthusiasm, he often
emphasizes and raises the tone of his speech. On the other hand, when the context of the
speech is more in a sad condition, he is still introspective to share his sadness by lowering his
tone of voice when speaking in that context. The commonality found in the two speeches and
the different contexts is that he often raises his tone in the key words that he wants his
listeners to find. Furthermore, Obama also often lowers his intonation at the end of sentences.

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