2. Intonation
• Unit and structure of
intonation
• Function of
intonation
• Acoustic properties
of tone
3. Intonation
WHATIS INTONATION
1. Intonation is a term used to refer to the
distinctive use of different patterns of pitch that
carry meaningfulinformation.
2.The kinds of pitch modulation which are found in
whole utterances.Intonation contours can be used
to highlight certain elements in an utterance, to
bundle words together into information chunks,&
to convey speaker's attitude to what he/she is
saying.(Philip Carr,page#78)
4. Tone unit
What is a tone unit?
An utterance of one or more than one syllable
It has a tonic syllable and a tonic stress
Tonic stress
A stress carried by tonic syllable
Tonic syllable
A syllable that carries a tone
Is that you?
6. Head
All the part of the tone unit that extends from
the first stressed syllable up to but not including
the tonic syllable
head tonic syllable
‘Give me those
7.
8.
9.
10. Types of tones
1.Fall rise tone( used for showing surprise)
She has got an new car really!
2.Rise fall tone ( used for being impressed)
Really she is very lucky
3.Rise tone ( used for questionswithout question words)
Are the books on the table?
He is very clever isn't he?
4.Falling tone ( use for statements andquestions)
He is very old
Whois the man?
12. Attitudinal
function
It is used to convey our feelings and
attitudes.
Same sentences can be said in
different ways.
Allow us to express anger,
happiness, pain, irony and so on.
13. Types of
attitudinal
intonation
1.Fall rise intonation
You may be right
It's possible
2.Rise fall intonation
It's impossible
It's true
3.Rise intonation
It won't hurt
You will get it right
4.Falling intonation
This is end of the news
Stop talking
14. Accentual
function
The term refers to accent
Some writers attach word
accent to stress
It implies that the placement
of stress is somewhat
determined by intonation
Accentual function related to
tonic syllable stress
15. Examples of
accentual
function
1.Represents normal placement
2. Represents contrastive in which any word can be
tonic syllable
She was wearing red dress
She was wearing red dress
. Place of tonic stress in other positions it may be
emphatic or non-emphatic
It was very boring
It was very boring
16. Grammatical
function
Intonationdistinguishes different types of
sentences. The use of a falling tone makes
it a statement.Whereas, the rising tone turn
it into a question. It also change their
meaning because of their intonation.
Intonationhelps identify grammatical
structures in speech, rather as punctuation
does in writing.We use intonationto mark
the beginningand of grammaticalunits such
as clause and sentence.
17. Examples of
grammatical
function
Questions
She came here, yesterday?
You are eating ,mango?
Statements
She came here yesterday.
You are eating mango.
Open the door( command )
Wow its beautiful!( exclamation)
18. 3-Question-
tags
and Intonation
a-They are coming tomorrow aren't they!
(The falling tone indicates that the speaker is
certain that the information is correct and simply
expects the listener to provide confirmation)
b-They are coming tomorrow aren't they
(The rising tone indicates a lesser degree of
certainty and the question-tag functions more like
a request for information)
19. Discourse
function
Intonation can signal to the listener what is to be taken
as “new” information and what is already “given”. It
can indicate when the speaker is indicating some sort
of contrast or link with material in another tone unit. In
conversation it can convey to the listener what kind of
response is being expected from him.
20. Discourse function
of intonation
covers 2 areas:
1.Attention focusing on information content:
E .g I've got to take the dog for a walk
I've got to take the dog to the vet
2. Regulation of conversational behavior:To mark
the beginning and end of a turn
◦ last time I saw you I was on a diet
The telephone's ringing.
The kettle's boiling.
-- Did you say a lighter shade?
--No, a brighter shade.
21. Acoustic
properties of
tone
: measured in Hertz,
frequency is the pitch of a sound.
There are low-frequency sounds such as frog horns,
designed to travel far distances (since low frequency
waves travel much further).
High frequency noises such as whistles, however, are
much more easily blocked.
22. Amplitude
Amplitude (dB): measures how “loud” a sound is. Most
complex sounds have differing amplitudes (or volumes) at various
frequencies.The average volume at all of the frequencies is called
dBA.
23. Duration/fluctuation
some sounds can be much more annoying or
distracting than others.This is often a product of its
fluctuation. Just like how a fan can help you sleep at
night, our ears adjust to noise levels over time. Quickly
changing noise levels catch our attention.The more
impulsive a noise is, the more problematic it often
becomes.