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Intonation Practice

The document outlines objectives for teaching intonation and pronunciation in English, emphasizing the importance of recognizing speaker intention through tone. It describes different types of intonation, including falling, rising, falling-rising, and rising-falling tones, along with their uses in various contexts such as statements, questions, and commands. Additionally, it provides activities for students to practice these intonation patterns.

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8 views

Intonation Practice

The document outlines objectives for teaching intonation and pronunciation in English, emphasizing the importance of recognizing speaker intention through tone. It describes different types of intonation, including falling, rising, falling-rising, and rising-falling tones, along with their uses in various contexts such as statements, questions, and commands. Additionally, it provides activities for students to practice these intonation patterns.

Uploaded by

abuubayda3496
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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INTONATION

Objectives

 To enable students to speak with correct intonation and pronunciation.


 To make them identify the intention of a speaker based on the intonation.
 To enable the students to familiarize themselves with the use of tone.
 To avoid the common errors in pronunciation and intonation.

In English, there are different tones that the English speakers use, and the ones
you must know are described here.

In previous units we dealt with the word stress in English language. In


this unit, we will learn the intonation of English words and sentences.
Intonation in English cannot be compared with the intonation in any other
language, and you need to learn the tones and the logic behind them
continuously as you are a foreign learner.

Pitch
The pitch of the voice is determined by the frequency of the vibration of
the vocal cords, i.e., the numbers of times they open and close in a second. The
patterns of variation of pitch of the voice (i.e., the fall or the rise) constitute the
intonation of a language. If you say,

Put it down!‖ with a falling tone, the pitch of your voice will move from a high
level to a low level. It can be illustrated thus:

Put it D

N!

If you say the same sentence with a rising tone, the pitch of your voice will
move from low to high, as shown below:

N!

W
O

Put it
Types of intonation: Based on the variations and purposes of interaction
between people, the intonation can be divided into five types. They are:

1. Falling intonation (the glide-down)


2. Rising intonation (the glide-up)
3. Falling-Rising intonation
4. Rising-Falling intonation

5. Neutral (level)intonation

Falling intonation ( )

The falling tone is sometimes referred as the glide-down. It consists of a fall in the
pitch of the voice from a high level to a low level. It is marked with ( )

The Falling Tone:


It is used when the pitch of the voice moves from a high level to a low level. It is marked as
[\].
The falling tone is generally used in:

1. Plain statements

Romeo loved Juliet too \deeply.

The city looks \beautiful.

The song was so \sweet.

2. Questions beginning with question words like what, who, where, when, why, and how
used without any implications.
What are you \reading?
Why are you so \shy?
How did it \happen?

3. Commands, instructions and orders.


Come and show your \homework.
Do as I \say.
Don’t neglect your \health.
4. Exclamatory expressions.
Oh, \horrible!
What a \shot!
How \wonderful!

5. Question tags when the speaker wants the listener to agree to what he says.
Abdul Kalam is a great \scientist. \Isn’t he?
Rafi was a great \singer. \Wasn’t he?
Mumbai is a busy \city. \Isn’t it?

6. Rhetorical questions.
Isn’t our performance simply \splendid?
Aren’t Government Departments \corrupt?
After all, aren’t I your \friend?
The Rising Tone

It is used when the pitch of the voice moves from a low level to a high level .It is marked [/].
The rising tone is generally used in:
1. Polite requests
a. Go and open the /window.
b. Close the /door.
2. Incomplete statements
a. I’ll buy you a / dress (If I go there).
b. It’s seven o’ clock (and she hasn’t got up as yet).
3. Yes/No Questions
a. Are they /coming?
b. Is father at /home?
4. Question Tags (Expecting disagreement).
a. You are a \ gardener, aren’t you?
b. It was a good \ film, w/ /asn’t it?
5. Greetings, partings, apologies, encouragement, etc.
a. Good /bye.
b. I’m so /sorry.
c. Good /evening.

The Fall – Rise Tone:


The falling-rising tone is normally used for special implications, not verbally expressed. It
consists of a fall from high to low and then a rise to the middle of the voice. This tone can be
used either on one syllable or different syllables of a word or sentence. It is marked as [V].
Let us look at the following examples.
(\/) as in, \gradu/ally (one word)
( \/) as in, \This is /mine (sentence)
It can also be used to amend what others have said and to indicate a warning, too.
(He is not very old) \/Seventy.
(He is my brother) \/Cousin.
Please give \/respect.

ACTIVITIY:
1. Try and say the following utterances using falling tone.
1. Sit down
2. What is the time?
3. She is a doctor
4. He dances very well, doesn’t he?
5. What a pretty girl!
2. Try and say the following utterances using rising tone.
1. Shut the window.
2. Are you married?
3. Good Morning.
4. You should keep on trying.
5. He is a good student, isn’t he?
3. Try and say the following utterances using falling-rising tone
1. When are you coming?
2. Sachin has retired.
3. The train has left.
4. What are you saying?
5. Sumanth was sick

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