ABSTRACT
Prosody, the patterning of sound, lends a text an extra dimension which reinforces, contradicts or adds to its linguistic meanings, or interpretations of them. Like music and paralanguage, its communicative effect is impossible to define or relate to precise referents; the subjective and disputable attempts of literary critics to do this only emphasize its impossibility. Universal, and highly valued in all societies, prosodic patterns can be described, but the reasons for their powerful attraction remain mysterious. From an ontogenetic perspective, it has been suggested that rhythm and repetition recall the regular sound of the mother’s heartbeat in the womb or mimic the vital processes of the body (Langer 1967:324; Stetson 1951) or, from a phylogenetic perspective, the dances of ritual magic (Olson 1950), that they have an enhancing effect on neuronal circuits in the brain (Newman 1986), or that, by drawing attention to chance connections between linguistic structures, they beneficially break down rigid schemata which may impede creative thought (Cook forthcoming). Undoubtedly, they have a powerful emotional and mnemonic effect, yet descriptions of this power are commoner than explanations, and explanations all remain highly speculative.
