INFORMATIONAL STYLE

This intonational style is qualified as formal, neutral. It occurs in the written

variety of some information read aloud. Here two main realisations of informationa
style pieces will be discussed - informational educational texts and press reporting
and broadcasting.
When speaking about informational educational texts it should be noted that
there distinguished two varieties of such texts - read aloud and spoken. Reading
and speaking each requires differently directed intensive efforts. Consequently, the
phonetic features of these varieties of texts would be basically different.
To show the opposition of spoken and written informational educational texts read
aloud there given a comparable table containing the phonostylistic parameters of
these varieties.
Table 1

Phonetic features of two varieties of informational educational

Phonostylistic texts
characteristics
Reading Speaking
impartial,
dispassionate, businesslike, reserved,
Timbre dispassionate,
occasionally interested
reserved

phonopassages - phonopassages-phrases-intonation
phrases - intonation groups; a number of hesitation and
groups; pauses are breath-taking pauses (filled and non
Delimitation
mostly at syntactical filled) breaks phrases into a great number
junctures of medium of intonation groups, destroying their
length syntactical structure
 Phonetic features of two varieties
Phonostylistic of informational educational texts
characteristics
Reading Speaking
normal (piano) throughout normal (piano), contrastive at the
Loudness the text, varied at the boundaries, decrease towards the end of
phonopassage boundaries the passage; increase on semantic centres
Other style-marking prosodic features

decrease of level and ranges within the

Levels and decrease of level and ranges
ranges within the passage
normal (moderate) or slow,
Rate not variable
not greatly varied, mostly
Pauses syntactical, occasionally
emphatic
systematic, properly
Rhythm organized, decentralized
accentuation.
common use of final
Terminal categoric falls; in non-final
Accentuation of semantic centres
passage; various ranges and levels bind
together several successive sequences
into a larger unit
variable; allegro on interpolations, lento
on emphatic centres
varied; the length depends on the
syntactical and semantic value of the
segment, the longest - at the passage
boundaries
non-systematic, centralized stress
distribution, the rhythmicality within the
passage is achieved by the alternation of
all prosodic features
common use of final categoric falls on
semantic centres, non-final falls, mid-
level and rising tones in non-final

tones segments mid-level and low

intonation groups. The emphasis is
rising tones are common
achieved by the use of high falls
varied; common use of level heads with
common use of falling and
Pre-nuclear one accentuated pre-nuclear syllable;
level heads or several falls
patterns descending falling heads are broken by
within one interpausal unit
"accidental rise"
The
great; achieved by the centralized stress
contrast
pattern; increase of loudness, levels and
between
ranges on semantic centres; high
accented not great
categoric falls, emphatic stress on them
and
and other variations of different prosodic
unaccented
features
segments
Press reporting and broadcasting, especially the reading of the news over the
radio is characterized by a high degree of formality as the reader tends to sound
impartial when reporting routine news. The central function here is to inform, to
present a certain number of facts to a listener or a viewer with the effect of giving
the impression of neutral, objective, factual reporting.
It should be noted that the speech of radio and television announcers is somewhat
different - the ability to be seen on the screen helps a TV news reader to guide
better understanding to the viewer by means of facial expressions and gestures
while the radio announcer, being isolated in a studio, tends to use certain prosodic
features to be better understood by a listener.
Nevertheless, it is possible to speak about phonostylistic regulations in radio and
TV news reading as these two realizations have much in common. The invariant of
phonostylistic characteristics of press reporting and broadcasting is given in Table
2.
Table 2

Phonostylistic Phonetic features of press reporting

characteristics and broadcasting
Dispassionate, impartial, but assured; the effect of "chilly
Timbre
distant sounding" (achieved by special training)

Delimitation phonopassages - phrases-intonational groups

normal or increased, contrasted at the phonopassages

Loudness
boundaries
Other style-marking prosodic

Levels and normal; decrease towards the end of the passage; noticeable
ranges increase at the start of any new news item
features

not remarkably varied; slow, rarely allegro; deliberately slow

Rate
on communicatively important centres

Pauses rather long, especially at the end of each news item

Rhythm stable, properly organized

 Phonostylistic Phonetic features of press reporting
characteristics and broadcasting

frequent use of final categoric falling tones on the semantic

Accentuation of semantic centres

Terminal
centres and falling-rising or rising ones in the initial
tones
intonation groups

Pre-nuclear common use of descending heads (very often broken);

patterns alternation of descending and ascending heads

The contrast
between
accented
not great
and
unaccented
segments