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Prosody includes constant non-segmental characteristics of speech: variations in the pitch, loudness, tempo and timber of the voice. Prosody is a synonym to intonation - a study of principles and means of division of speech and connection of divided parts such as melody, dynamics, tempo and pausation. Prosody is a broader notion than intonation as it deals with various sound sequences (from syllables to texts), while intonation is applied to speech units no longer than syntagmas.
Functions of utterance prosody: 1. Constitutive (structural) - constitutes separate units into prosodic entities; includes integrative (связывающая) and delimitative (расчленяющая) functions; 2. Stylistic - each functional style and each function of speech has its own characteristics in melody, tempo, loudness, voice quality, pause. Official style - frequent use of the gradually descending scale, greater degree of loudness, slower tempo of speech; colloquial style - lowered degree of loudness, great number of hesitation pauses; 3. Aesthetic - general impression from the person's speech; 4. Social - gives information about gender, age, education, place of living.