I N T O N A T I O N
It´s the name given
to the different levels of pitch.
Level of Pitch
It refers to the
level of voice.
Level 1 = Low
Level 2 = Standard
Level 3 = High
The combination of
the different levels gives a resul: rising, falling, non finaal.
It has level: 2=standard; and 3 high.
It´s usually in
yes/no question (questions with auxiliaries in initial position)
The level 3 receives
stress:
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Nouns
- Demonstrative
- Negative form
- Adverbs
EXAMPLES
PRACTICES
It has levels: 2.
Standard; 3.
High and 1. Low
It’s usually found
in:
- Short wh/question(Questions with WH in
initial position)
Level 3 is stressed
(high):
- Nouns
- Adjectives
- Verbs
- Adverbs
- Demostrations
- Negative forms
PRACTICE
INVESTIGATION
I N T O N A T I O N
Intonation is
the "music" of a language, and is perhaps the most important element
of a good accent. Often we hear someone speaking with perfect grammar, and
perfect formation of the sounds of English but with a little something that
gives them away as not being a native speaker.
Therefore, it
is necessary to realize that there is more than the correct pronunciation of
the vowels and consonants of a language. This is very important and we do stress
it in other articles. But it is only one of the three components to an
accent, pronunciation, intonation, and linking.
In other places
we will examine the correct pronunciation of vowels and consonants, and
linking, the way that syllables within a word, and the beginning and ending of
words come together.
Intonation is very important for
communication, as it helps the addressee interpret the message. There have been
different proposals to explain how intonation can help communication, some of
which are:
1. Intonation enables us to express emotions
and attitudes as we speak: the attitudinal function of intonation.
2. Intonation helps to produce the effect of
prominence on stressed syllables: the accentual function of intonation.
3. Intonation helps to recognise the grammar
and syntactic structure of the utterance: the grammatical function of
intonation.
4. Intonation conveys the given-new
information, or provides information for turn-taking: the discourse function of
intonation.
So, there are three simple possibilities for
intonation: level, fall and rise.
Intonation exists in every language, so the concept we're introducing
isn't new. However, learners are often so busy finding their words that
intonation suffers. Yet intonation can be as important as word choice - we
don't always realise how much difference intonation makes:
- Awareness of
intonation aids communication.
- Incorrect
intonation can result in misunderstandings, speakers losing interest or
even taking offence!
Though it's unlikely our learners will need native-speaker-level
pronunciation, what they do need is greater awareness of intonation to
facilitate their speaking and listening.
