Discussion phonetics and phonology topic intonation

THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH FACULTY DISCUSSION Phonetics and Phonology TOPIC INTONATION Supervisor Duong Thi Hong Tham Class’s code 2302ENTH2811 Group 6 HÀ NỘI, 2023 INDIVIDUAL TASK ASSIGNMENT TABLE[.]

THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY

INDIVIDUAL TASK ASSIGNMENT TABLE

Student’s

code

Members’s name Duties of each members Evaluation

20D170067 Phan Phương Diệu Statement falling intonation A

20D170189 Đặng Thị Ngọc Hà

(Leader)

Enumerating + Response +Conclusion + Game

A

20D170093 Đỗ Xuân Nhi Introduction + Definition A20D170100 Nguyễn Thị Minh

A

CONTENTS

CONTENTS 4

1 Definition 4

2 Intonation and Sentence types 5

2.1 Sentence types 5

2.2 Intonation and tone changes 6

2.2.1 Intonation 6

2.2.2 Tone changes 7

3 General rules 11

3.1 Statement: Falling intonation 11

3.2 Questions 13

3.2.1 Wh-question: Falling intonation 13

3.2.2 Yes/ No question: Rising intonation 14

3.2.3 Alternatives questions: Rise-Fall intonation 14

3.2.4 Tag questions: Falling or rising intonation 15

3.3 Requests 16

3.4 Commands 16

3.5 Exclamations 17

3.6 Direct address 18

3.7 Enumerating: rising - falling intonation 19

3.8 Responses: Falling intonation 20

CONCLUSION 21

By researching, we found that English people speak too fast and emphatically, somany students, including English majors, often have difficulty communicating inEnglish Communicating naturally like a native with the right up-down intonation is whatmakes it difficult for learners to communicate Intonation contributes to conveying yourmeaning and feelings, practicing speaking English with standard rhythm helps you to bemore confident in communicating with foreigners But what is intonation in English?How can I practice speaking English naturally? I will help you answer all of the abovequestions in this article

1 Definition

Intonation while speaking is considered one of the most important factors in everylanguage Specifically, each country has a different intonation system, so listeners candistinguish languages by listening to their intonation

If you master the intonation system of a certain language, learners can achievenatural speaking like native speakers

Understanding the importance of this, the following article will introduce readers

to the rules of intonation in English, in order to help readers speak English in the mostnatural way

Definition:

Intonation is the melody of the sentence Intonation is created by changes in thepitch of the voice (the voice goes higher and lower; remains on the same level; rises orfalls), by sentence stress (strong stress on important words; weak stress or no stress onless important words), and by rhythm (stressed syllables occur at more or less equalintervals)

Compare intonation in English and Vietnamese

Vietnamese is a tonal language, specifically the tonal system of Vietnameseincludes six tones: ngang, huyền, sắc, hỏi, ngã, nặng Therefore, in Vietnamese, speakersalmost do not pay attention to the intonation of the whole sentence because each word inVietnamese has its own tone Vietnamese intonation often changes depending on thecontext

For example:

Sentence: Tôi muốn cả

Tone of words: ngang, sắc, hỏi

Intonation of the whole sentence: Based on the context, not much change

In contrast, English is a non-tonal language Therefore, when speaking, thespeaker focuses on emphasizing the stress and intonation of the whole sentence

For example:

Sentence: This is my father

Word tone: Dropping voice at the end of a sentence

Sentence intonation: Based on stress

Because of the above difference, when Vietnamese speak English, they often facethe following two difficulties:

There is no intonation for the whole sentence When speaking, there is noemphasis, so usually sentences are said with a steady tone, without rising or falling whenspeaking

If there is intonation, it is often unnatural or different from the intonation ofEnglish

2 Intonation and Sentence types

2.1 Sentence types

Sentences are divided into four types: declarative, interrogative, imperative,exclamatory

 Declarative: This is a sentence that makes a statement or conveys

information In lecture intonation, statements typically have a falling intonation atthe end

For example:

- I have a meeting at 2 PM (falling intonation at the end, neutral tone)

- The weather is beautiful today (falling intonation at the end, neutral tone)

 Interrogative: This is a sentence that asks a question In lecture intonation,

questions typically have a rising intonation at the end

For example:

- Did you finish the report? (rising intonation at the end, neutral tone)

- "What time is the train leaving? (rising intonation at the end, neutral tone)

 Imperative: This is a sentence that gives a directive or instruction In

lecture intonation, commands typically have a falling intonation at the end, with ahigher pitch on the emphasized word or phrase

 Exclamatory: This is a sentence that expresses strong emotion or

emphasis Exclamations typically have a rising-falling intonation pattern, with ahigh pitch on the emphasized word or phrase

For example:

- I can't believe I won the lottery! (rising-falling intonation, high pitch on

"won" and "lottery")

- This is the best news I've heard all year! (rising-falling intonation, highpitch on "best" and "heard")

2.2 Intonation and tone changes

2.2.1 Intonation

Intonation can change types and meanings of sentences

- Rise - fall:

- I will go to the ↗supermarket after I leave my ↘office

- I can't ↗believe you did ↘that!

- Hello↗, this is my new ↘car

- Would you like ↗orange juice or ↘lemonade?

- Fall - fall:

- I don't like ↘apples or ↘bananas

- She's studying ↘math and ↘physics

- He's from ↘Australia, but he lives in ↘Canada

- This is ↘John, a best ↘friend of mine

- It is an interesting ↘story, ↘isn’t it?

- Rise-rise:

- You're ↗going out again ↗tonight?

- The weather is ↗beautiful ↗today!

- I can't ↗wait to ↗see you again!

- You're ↗going to ↗Paris? How ↗amazing!

- You're really ↗going to wear ↗that dress? /Wow!

- Fall - rise:

- You ↘think I'm /stupid? (accusatory emphasis)

- I ↘love /you! (emphatic declaration)

- Don't ↘ever do that /again! (strong warning)

- You didn't ↘finish your ↘homework /again? (disappointed scolding)

- I told ↘you to be ↘here /by 8pm! (impatient reminder)

2.2.2 Tone changes

 Falling tones:

The falling tone expresses finality, completeness, confidence The falling tonebegins on the last stressed syllable of the sentence and goes down, ending near the bottom

of the normal speaking range

The fall takes place within the last stressed syllable: Tom is my↘ friend If there

are unstressed syllables after the final stressed syllable, they are pronounced on the same

low level where the fall ends: Tom is a ↘ journalist.

The falling tone is used:

 At the end of statements (It's↘nice.)

 Special questions (What ↘ happened?)

 Commands ( ↘Call him.)

 Exclamatory sentences (How ↘nice!)

 In the first part of tag questions (He \works, ↘doesn't he?)

 In the last part of alternative questions (Do you ↗study or ↘ work?)

 Rising tone

Depending on the context, the rising tone may express interest, politeness,surprise, doubt, incompleteness, and so on The rising tone begins on the last stressedsyllable of the sentence and first goes down just a little and then continues going up Ifthe sentence ends on the last stressed syllable, the rise takes place within the last stressedsyllable: Do you have a ↗pen?

If there are unstressed syllables after the final stressed syllable, the rise goes down

a little on the stressed syllable and then continues going up on the unstressed syllables:

Do you have a ↗pencil?

The rising tone is used :

 At the end of general questions (Is she ↗here?)

 In requests (Could you ↗help me?)

 At the end of introductory phrases beginning the sentence (As ↗usual, hewas ↘late.)

 In the first part of alternative questions (Is it ↗short or ↘long?)

 In the second part of tag questions (Nice ↘weather, ↗isn't it?)

 In direct address (↗Mike, where↘are you?)

 In enumerations (I bought ↗milk, ↗cheese, and ↘fruit.)

 Fall-rise

The fall-rise expresses non-finality, signals continuation of the utterance,emphasizes the word on which it is used, and may express polite warning, suggestion,correction, contrast, and so on The voice falls down and goes up within one word

For example:

- If you don't hurry ↘ ↗up, you'll be ↘late → express polite warning

- Despite her ↘ /warning, he opened the ↘door → contrast

 Other tones:

a High fall

The high fall is an emphatic variation of the falling tone It may be used ininformal situations to show lively interest and friendliness, usually in exclamatorysentences

Examples

OH ↘HI! How ↘NICE! What a sur↘PRISE!

The high fall begins much higher than the falling tone and goes down into thelower part of the normal speaking range, but not always as low as the falling tone Thestressed syllable on which the high fall takes place is pronounced more loudly, and thestress on it is stronger

Though this tone is rather common in everyday speech, language learners shoulduse it with caution and not too often because it is emphatic and rather expressive and,depending on the situation, may express various strong feelings ranging from admirationand delight to disgust and horror

b Low fall

Lowering the pitch into the lower part of the normal speaking range and using thelow fall as the final tone in the sentence may indicate, depending on the situation, suchfeelings as disappointment, sadness, hopelessness, sympathy, sincerity, responsibility,fear, threat When strong emotions are expressed, the low fall may be emphatic

The low fall begins much lower than the falling tone, and the speaker usuallypronounces the words less loudly, in a soft voice, and sometimes even close to whisper

The unemphatic low fall may be used at the end of the sentence in a group added

as an afterthought after the final fall, or in the author's words at the end of the sentence ofwords (if they are important)

For example:

 I think I saw your cell phone in the ↘kitchen, on the ↘windowsill

 "↘Stop it!" a woman's voice behind them said ↘angrily.

If the speaker wants to mark the end of his whole utterance (after he has beenspeaking for some time), the whole final sentence may be pronounced on a lower levelwith low-falling intonation and with the low fall at the end

c High rise

The high rise is an emphatic rising tone that may be used for expressing strongsurprise or disbelief, mostly in surprised echo questions

Examples: ↗What? You lost my ↗money?

The high rise begins higher than the normal rising tone, goes into the higher part

of the normal speaking range, and ends much higher than the normal rising tone.Depending on the emotion expressed, the high rise may even go beyond the upperboundary of the normal speaking range

Depending on the situation, the high rise may also indicate astonishment,indignation, anger, and so on Because the high rise is emphatic, very expressive and mayindicate various emotions, it is advisable for language learners to limit the use of this tone

in speech

d Mid-level rise

The mid-level rise is used mostly in informal American speech, for example, indirect address, in introductory phrases, in subordinate clauses at the beginning of thesentence

The mid-level rise begins at mid level (or a little higher) and immediately goes up(not too high)-without first going down a little as the ordinary rising tone does

Examples: Mrs ↗Smith, this is ↘Annie, my ↘niece.

e Low rise

The low rise may be used in a group of words added (as direct address, as asuggestion, for politeness, etc.) at the end of the sentence after the final fall The low risebegins and ends lower than the ordinary rising tone

The low rise generally signals the speaker's polite interest and his readiness tocontinue the conversation.

Examples: Good to ↘see you, ↗Alan You can stay ↘here, if you ↗like.

3 General rules

Content words (key words) are always stressed; function words are not stressed.Usually stressed words: nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs; contracted negativewords forms of auxiliary and modal verbs; question words Usually unstressed words:auxiliary and modal verbs; personal pronouns; prepositions, conjunctions, articles

3.1 Statement: Falling intonation

Falling intonation describes how the voice falls on the final stressed syllable of aphrase or a group of words When we use the term “falling intonation,” we’re actuallytalking about a rise and then a fall on the most important content word of the sentence Innormal, neutral sentences, the last content word of the sentence is the one that receivesthe most stress, and so we’re going to rise and then fall from that stressed syllable down

to the end of the sentence Your pitch is going to rise to its highest point on this stressedsyllable and then drop down at the end This drop at the end is why we often refer to thistype of intonation as falling intonation

 Statements with one stress

- 'Mary is a ↘teacher

- 'Bananas are ↘yellow

- 'Cars are ex ↘pensive

- I 'work in a ↘library

- She 'said it ↘loudly

 Statements with three stresses

- 'Betty 'lives in ↘London

- "Victor 'works at a ↘bank.

- I 'haven't 'read this ↘book

- The 'children are 'playing in the ↘park

- My 'sister 'works as a ↘teacher

- 'Moscow is the 'capital of ↘Russia

- 'Ella is a 'good ↘student

- She 'works in a 'small ho↘tel

- He knows it 'very ↘well

- She was 'two 'hours ↘late

- He 'doesn't 'want to ↘go

- We 'didn't 'do it ↘yesterday

- 'Peter 'doesn't ↘live here

- 'Lena 'wasn't in↘vited

 Statements with four stresses

- She 'wants to 'buy a 'new ↘car

- He 'wrote the 'letters 'very quickly

- Their 'new 'house is near a 'large ↘park

- Tom is 'leaving for 'Rome to↘morrow

- He is 'reading an 'interesting 'book about ↘animals

 Statements with five stresses

- 'Alex 'wrote the 'letters 'very ↘quickly

- I 'think the 'first 'question is 'very ↘easy

- I 'don't 'want to 'watch this 'film a↘gain

3.2 Questions

Most languages have only one type of question intonation: rising English, on theother hand, has two types of question intonation: rising and falling There are some rulesfor determining intonation in questions

3.2.1 Wh-question: Falling intonation

Wh- question sentences - those are the questions that begin with the words ‘who,what, where, when, why’ and ‘how’- typically end in a falling pitch That means we have

to lower our voice at the end of the sentence

Just as in all sentences, the content words - those are the nouns, main verbs,adjectives, and adverbs - are more likely to be stressed than function words The finalcontent word of the sentence usually gets more emphasis than any other word of thesentence The pitch is likely to change on that word, then fall at the end of the wh-question sentence

For example:

 'What is your ↘name?

 'What's your ↘name?

 'Where are you ↘from?

 'Where do you↘live?

 'What do you↘do?

Special case: While WH- questions typically end in a falling pitch, there are

reasons a rising pitch can be used Ending a wh- question with a rising pitch could beasking for repetition or clarification of previously known information