Intonation as Means of Logic-Emotional Expressiveness in Professional Actor’s Verbal Action

Abstract

The aim of the article is to reveal the peculiar features of intonation as one of the most essential means of a professional actor’s logic-emotional expressiveness, as well as to define the specificity of logical intonation of an utterance in the context of verbal activity. The research methodology. The author has applied typological, systems methods and the method of functional analysis to analyse intonation in the context of verbal activity by a professional actor. The method of terminological analysis has been used to specify basic terms and definitions of the research. The method of cognitive analysis has enabled the extrapolation of theoretical foundations of linguistics to the theatrical art. Scientific novelty. The article presents the research of intonation as the main means of logic-emotional expressiveness in the context of a professional actor’s verbal activity. The author has analysed the functions of intonation, peculiar features of its components, such as logical and verbal stress, pauses, rising and falling tones, speech melody, voice timbre, tempo, as well as intonation constructions in the theatrical speech. Moreover, the author has described some types of utterances with different emotional shades in the context of selecting language means by an actor to make a character expressive/well-marked. Conclusions. Connotative and emotional-stylistic differences in an actor’s speech when in an image appear as a result of cooperation between sentence syntactic structure, the lexis, intonation patterns used and denotative relations in the context. Emotional verbal expressiveness of a professional actor is a result of a complex work at all language levels: lexical, syntactical, and prosodic. Using intonation an actor can express various character’s emotions such as surprise, elation, joy, sadness, fear, and anger. Logical intonation in the professional actor’s speech comprises speech melody, tempo, and timbre. It is an inseparable component of a speech act and a powerful tool of influence on the audience. The spectators can understand through intonation only a specific emotion the actor expresses during the character presentation. Mastering stage speech at the professional level means a thorough selection of intonation means according to their communicative and pragmatic potential in a specific dramaturgic piece. Taking into account the influence of intonation pattern of a character’s mother tongue is one the essential elements of selecting verbal means of an actor’s expressiveness in the process of creating an image.

Key words: intonation, logical intonation, logic-emotional expressiveness, stage speech, professional actor.