Intonation That Makes a Conversation Deviate

The question of linguistic deviation with respect to intonation is considered in an analysis of French sentences whose situational meaning depends entirely on their intonation. Intonation is taken to be the "mold" of a sentence, ie, a global form underlying a meaning unit. French intonation patterns are described, & their enunciative & discourse-connective functions are illustrated. As intonation is learned simultaneously with the native language, deviant intonation is restricted to instances of (1) inadequate mastery of the oral-written relation in reading aloud, (2) communicative failure in social contexts, (3) deficits induced by hearing loss, & (4) nonnative speech. 5 References. J. Hitchcock