PUBLICISTIC STYLE

The term "publicistic" serves for many kinds of oratorical activities that's why this intonational style is called "oratorial". It is a very broad label because there is a great deal of overlap between academic, publicistic and declamatory style when the basic arm of the speaker is to extend persuasive and emotional influence on the listeners. In publicistic speeches this purpose is achieved through all sorts of direct oratorial performances. These performances are designed to entertain the public thus accomplishing the purpose of imposing the speaker's ideas on listeners.

This is especially noticeable in public political speeches of some politicians, whose appeals to the nation are overloaded with all sorts of oratorical tricks and are characterized by various contrasts in all prosodic features to produce a complex vocal effect, thus making addresses more effective.

The manifestation of this style is heard in political, juridical, oratorical speeches, in sermons, parliamentary debates, at congresses, meetings, press conferences, etc.

It has long been believed that oratorial skills need special training, therefore special schools of public speech makers were established throughout the centuries and all over the world. It's evident that intonation was of primary importance and needed accurate training.

Another important thing is that publicistic style speeches are never spontaneous. It is generally accepted that any professional talk is a "voyage", and it is strongly advisable not to use any notes while speech performance because they destroy the listener's interest.

Basically political speeches, addresses of governments tend to be very formal, so a great number of "high-flown" phrases, set expressions are common to this type of the style, however in publicistic speeches of other kind-speeches of famous writers, public figures, peace fighters, etc. There may be deviations from formality and a contrast is often seen between the highly formal and rather ordinary and even colloquial language, when various illustrations, examples, comparisons, jokes and quotations are produced. So a good speaker is aware of a proper balance between intelligibility, pronounceability, relative dignity, formality and informality.

As any publicistic speech is fully prepared and even rehearsed, it usually goes smoothly and with ease, without hesitation devices. It is marked by it's dignified slowness, careful articulation and impressive resonance on the most important communicative centres and properly rhythmically organized.

Public speakers are very enthusiastic about what they say and how they say, so they may go to extremes by enormously increasing the loudness alternating it with whisper or pronouncing very long breath groups and suddenly interrupt the phonation by using the rhetorical silence.

PROSODIC FEATURES

Timber - dignified, self-assured, concerned, personally involved.

Delimitation - phonopassages, phrases, intonation groups.

Loudness - enormously increased but sometimes instances of diminished loudness are observed.

Ranges and levels - greatly varied, predominant are wide ranges; a very high level of the start of the initials groups.

Rate - moderately slow, showing down to bring out communicatively important centers; acceleration of speed within less important information.

Pauses - definitely long between the passages; a great number of breath-taking pauses; a rather frequent stop of phonation before the emphatic semantic center; 'rhetorical silence' is often used to exert influence on the public.

Rhythm - properly organized, which produces the acoustic effect of strict rhythmicality.

Terminal tones — mostly emphatic, falling-rising tones are frequent in non-final groups; terminal tones are contrasted to distinguish between formal and less formal segments of speech.

Pre-nuclear patterns - common use of descending falling and stepping heads, a large number of accidental rises; another 'rhetorical' trick is subordination of tones, when high level head may be alternated with the low level head, especially in enumerations.

The contrast between accented and non-accented segments - not great.

Paralinguistic features - a great number of facial expressions, bodily movements, gestures.

Sonants or sonorants. While producing a sonants the voice dominates over the noise because the air stream comes freely out of the lungs. That's why sonants are considered the intermediate class between vowels and consonants. English sonants are more sonorous than Russian ones.

/m, n, / - nasal sonants

/ / - lateral sonant

/w, r, /- constrictive sonants

/j/ - medial sonant

Fortis and lenis articulation of English consonants

English voiced consonants are characterized by a weak or lenis (Latin) articulation especially in the initial and final position,

whereas voiceless consonants require strong or fortis (Latin) articulation.

Syllabic function of sonants /m, n. /

They become syllabic at the word final position preceded by a fricative cons., or between 2 consonants.

/bi: | t1, ni:|dnt,

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