1. English Pronunciation
Intonation

2. NO.1 Intonation
NO.2 Pitch
NO.3 Tone
NO.4 Tone unit and stress
NO.5 Exercises
NO.6 Differences between BrE and AmE in intonation

3. 1. What is intonation?
Intonation is often called the melody of language
since it refers to the pattern of pitch changes
that we use when we speak.
Pitch changes on stressed syllables determine
the intonation patterns of an utterance
Intonation is a combination of stress and pitch
variations.
a continuous piece of speech beginning and ending with a clear pause

4. 2. What is pitch?
The word pitch is often used to describe the relative highness and lowness of the voice.
Every individual has a level of pitch which is normal, and which we can recognize as his/her middle pitch level.

5. Pitch tracks
Shown below are the pitch tracks corresponding to three English utterances of the word "beans". Each has a different intonation pattern...and the function of each utterance is quite different.

6. Beans (declarative)

7. Beans? (yes/no question)

8. BEANS?!

9. Pitch range 3=high ̶–––––––––––––––––––––––––
2=mid normal pitch range
1=low –––––––––––––––––––––––––
In ordinary speech, we usually keep within the normal part of our pitch range.

10. If we want to express stronger feelings:
4=extra-high
3=high ̶–––––––––––––––––––––––––
2=mid normal pitch range
1=low ––––––––––––––––––––––––––
0=extra-low

11. 3. Tone
The overall behavior of the pitch in an utterance is tone.

12. Tone (声调) in Chinese

13. Tone language
In Chinese, the height of pitch and change of pitch is associated with the pronunciation of syllables or words which affects the meaning of the word.
In Chinese, tone is a morphemic or lexical feature.

14. Tone (语调) in English Level yes no Fall yes no Rise yes no
Fall-Rise yes no
Rise-Fall yes no

15. Each of these may express particular attitudes:
Fall: neutral statement
Rise: neutral question, doubt
Fall-Rise: scepticism
Rise-Fall: emphatic statement
Level: boredom, disinterest

16. Fall: neutral statement, conclusion
- Have you see Ann?
- Yes.
Falling intonation indicates ‘I have answered your question and do not intend to add anything else’.

17. Rise: questioning, doubt, desire to continue conversation
-Have you seen Ann lately?
- Yes…
Rising intonation indicates ‘I want to continue the conversation, I am curious’.
More …

18. Rise-Fall: emphatic statement, irritation, command
- Do I really have to clean my room?
- Yes!
Strong feelings of approval, disapproval, or surprise.
More …

19. Fall-Rise: surprise, scepticism
- Ann and Peter were on good terms at the party?
- Yes.
Limited agreement, response with reservations.
More …

20. Level: boredom, lack of interest
- Can you remember Peter Jackson, the cost consultant for our company in Taiwan? The other day in the office I invited him for dinner, he’ll be coming tomorrow.
- Yes.

21. Intonation language
The five tones found on English one-syllable utterances show a difference between each other, but there is not a difference in meaning in a clear-cut way as in Chinese.
In English, a change of pitch affects the meaning and function of utterances in discourse.
large units of language such paragraphs, conversations, and interview.

22. 4. Tone Unit and Stress
For analyzing intonation, we need a unit which is greater in size than the syllables, and this unit is called the tone unit.
In its smallest form, the tone unit may consist of only one syllable.

23. Tonic syllable you is it you
The third syllable is more prominent than the other two and carries a rising tone.
It’s an utterance of three syllables, consisting of one tone unit.
A syllable which carries a tone will be called a tonic syllable.

24. The structure of the tone unit
(pre-head) (head) tonic syllable (tail)
(PH) (H) TS (T)
pre-tonic tonic
segment segment

25. We shall begin by considering the fall: here is a tone unit solely composed of a tonic syllable.

26. Things become more complicated when we add syllables.

27. In this case there are no stressed syllables before the tonic: ‘I said’ is the pre-head.

28. Here we have added a stressed syllable, ‘told’, before the tonic, which is called the head. Notice how the intonation rises from the pre-head.

29. Here we have added syllables after the tonic, this is called the tail
Here we have added syllables after the tonic, this is called the tail. Note how it tends to follow the intonation pattern of the tonic.

30. This is obviously not the only possible realisation of this sentence
This is obviously not the only possible realisation of this sentence. If we put the main stress on ‘told’, it changes the pattern completely.

31. In a similar way a rising tonic syllable will condition its tail: here ‘when’ is the tonic syllable.

32. Again when we come to complex tone we find the tail following the tonic syllable: for a fall-rise the fall occurs on the tonic and the rise at the end of the tail.

33. No matter how many syllables there are in the tail, the rise finishes on the last

34. Listen and repeat: falling intonation
It’s MINE.
It was NINE O’CLOCK.
I was in LONDON ON SUNDAY.
He’s STUDING FRENCH.
She was GOING AWAY.
We’ll GO for a WALK.
He WANTS some BEEF.
I’m afraid I CAN’T.
START doing it NOW.
COME to the BLACKBOARD.

35. Listen and repeat: The Use of Falling Intonation
Words
Statements
Special questions
Exclamations
Commands

36. Listen and repeat: rising intonation
Are you HUNGERY?
Are they NEW here?
Would you LIKE some?
Can I SIT here?
Are they COMING?
Were they LATE last NIGHT?
Do you WORK for the NEWS?
Do you WORK in the EVENING?
Did he TALK to you ABOUT it?
Did I HEAR you CORRECTY?

37. Listen and repeat: The Use of rising Intonation
Words
General questions
Requests, remarks of concern and apology
Statements with an implication
Greetings

38. Questions and Responses
Falling Tone
Questions and Responses
-- What would you like?
-- I'd like a chicken-salad sandwich.
-- What will you have?
-- I'll have a hotdog and a coke.
-- Where are you going?
-- To the lab.
-- What time is it?
-- It's a quarter past four.
-- Where's your lab book?
-- I lost it.
-- Where did you leave it?
-- I don't remember.
Exercises

39. Questions and Responses
Falling Tone
Questions and Responses
-- What would you like?
-- I'd like a chicken-salad ↘ sandwich.
-- What will you ↘ have?
-- I'll have a hotdog and a ↘ coke.
-- Where are you ↘ going?
-- To the ↘ lab.
-- What ↘ time is it?
-- It's a quarter past ↘ four.
-- Where's your ↘ lab book?
-- I ↘ lost it.
-- Where did you ↘ leave it?
-- I don't re ↘ member.
Exercises

40. Yes/No Questions and Responses
Rising Tone
Yes/No Questions and Responses
Are you coming later? If I can.
May I help you? Yes, I'll have a hotdog.
Is it cold outside? It's very cold.
Shall I wait for you? No, you go ahead.
Did he bring his money? No, he forgot it.
Exercises

41. Yes/No Questions and Responses
Rising Tone
Yes/No Questions and Responses
Are you coming later? If I ↘ can.
May I ↗help you? Yes, I'll have a ↘ hotdog.
Is it cold ↗outside? It's ↘ very cold.
Shall I ↗wait for you? No, you go a ↘ head.
Did he bring his ↗money? No, he for ↘ got it.
Exercises

42. Listen and repeat: Falling-rising intonation
THAT’S GOOD.
It’s BEAUTIFUL.
TRY it.
PLEASE.
USUALLY.
He USED to.
We’ll WAIT.
We’ll WAIT for TOM.
I said NOW.
They’d ARRIVED.

43. Questions/Statements and Responses
Fall-rise Tone
Questions/Statements and Responses
-- Do you know German?
-- I can read it.
--Everyone knows about it.
-- Well, not everyone.
-- We got there about midnight.
-- I think it was earlier than that.
-- Nobody wants to buy them.
-- Nobody can afford to buy them.
-- Are you sure he's coming tonight?
-- He said so.
Exercises

44. Questions/Statements and Responses
Fall-rise Tone
Questions/Statements and Responses
-- Do you know ↗German?
-- I can ↘↗read it.
--Everyone knows a ↘ bout it.
-- Well, ↘ not ↗everyone.
-- We got there about ↘ midnight.
-- I think it was ↘ earlier than ↗that.
-- Nobody wants to ↘ buy them.
-- Nobody can af ↘ ford to ↗buy them.
-- Are you sure he's coming to ↘ night?
-- He ↘ said ↗so.
Exercises

45. Listen and repeat: Combined Intonation
The intonation of Simple Sentences
The intonation of Compound Sentences
The Intonation of Complex Sentences

46. Listen and repeat: The intonation of Question-tags
The intonation of Vocatives
The Intonation of Parentheses
The Intonation of Reporting Phrases

47. Differences between BrE and AmE in intonation
Americans speaks more slowly and with less variety of tone.
In American speech a falling intonation in a succession of stressed syllables appears to be common. This usually denotes emphasis in BrE.
The tone of a sentence in AmE is like battlements or waves while in BrE, descending stairs or a slope.
a surface that is at an angle, so that one end is higher than the other斜坡
a rampart built around the top of a castle with regular gaps for firing arrows or guns 城垛

48. *For more information, read
侯维瑞主编，1992，《英国英语与美国英语》，上海：上海外语教育出版社。(本书“对比研究”章节的“语音语调差异”部分。)

49. Conclusion
Just as grammatical exercises can be a preparation for language use in natural discourse, practicing intonation patterns can help sensitize us to the discourse function of intonation

50. The End

51. Review
Intonation

52. The Value of Science
A rich man, it is said, once asked a learned man why it was that men of science were so often to be seen at the doors of the rich, though rich men were very rarely seen at the doors of the learned. “It is,” replied the scholar, “because the man of science knows the value of riches, and the rich man does not always know the value of science.”

53. Rise A: You start off on the right road… B: Yes.
A: turn left at the first roundabout…
A: and ours is the third house on the left.

54. Rise-fall A: You wouldn’t do an awful thing like that, would you?
B: No.
A: I think you said it was the best so far.
B: Yes.

55. Fall-rise A: I’ve heard that it’s a good school. B: yes
A: It’s not really an expensive book, is it?
B: No.