More on Intonation and Stress Chapter 8

Polite tones: Politeness is expressed using higher pitch notes. Polite words can be more polite if spoken with higher pitch tones. Mildly Rising tones: It has a pleasant tone and can show an openness to continue communication.

Sharply Rising inflection: Questions with a sharply rising inflection has a tone of surprise or disbelief. Swinging Pitch inflection: It shows disagreement, surprise, or sarcasm. Pitch rises, falls sharply, and then rises again.

Sharply falling inflection: It has a tone of impatience, irritation, or urgency. Declarative form with rising inflection: It expresses surprise, instead of a real question. Wh-questions with rising inflection: Wh-questions are normally spoken with a falling inflection. If they are spoken with a rising inflection, the speaker either doesn’t remember the information or did not hear it clearly.

Degrees of stress: Different degrees of stress are used for emphasis. Page: 8.8 Shifting primary stress in a sentence gives emphasis to words that express the main point, and it affects the overall meaning of the sentence. Page: 8.10

Stating options: When providing choices, a slight pause between items and a change in inflection makes the message clearer. Two options: When to options are stated, the first is spoken with a rising inflection and the second with a falling inflection. More than two options: Each item, except the last one, is spoken with a slightly rising inflection.

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