Padalka O. Prosody of Actual Division in Contemporary German Political Speeches: An Experimental Phonetic Study.

This thesis focuses on the study of prosodic peculiarities of actual division in speeches delivered by contemporary German political figures. The research singles out intonation patterns of utterances and defines functions of intonation in producing effect on the recipient. The thesis provides a theoretical background for analyzing the intonation of political speeches as a means of producing effect on the recipient. It establishes five types of actual division characteristic of German political speeches and outlines its main prosodic parameters. A methodology of an experimental study examining prosodic organization of political presentations has been elaborated; changes in speech melody, fundamental frequency, stress, pausation and tempo while delivering main and additional information have been described. The research distinguishes basic intonation patterns in the German language.