Functions of intonation Conclusions

It seems clear that studying intonation in relation to discourse makes it possible to explain much more comprehensively the uses that speakers make of intonation. Practically all the separate functions traditionally attributed to intonation (attitudinal, accentual and grammatical) could be seen as different aspects of discourse function. The risk, with such a broad approach, is that one might end up making generalizations that were too broad and had little power to predict with any accuracy the intonation that a speaker would use in a particular context. It is still too early to say how useful the discourse approach will be, but even if it achieves nothing else, it can at least be claimed to have shown the inadequacy of attempting to analyze the function of intonation on the basis of isolated sentences or tone-units, removed from their linguistic and situational context.