INTONATION

WHAT IS INTONATION? The rise and fall of the voice in speaking. The definition of intonation is the way the pitch of your voice goes up and down as you talk or reciting something by singing it. An example of intonation is the way your voice raises in pitch at the end of a question.

Falling Intonation The tone of the voice falls at the final stressed syllable of a phrase and that is Falling Intonation. The WH questions tend to finish with a falling intonation. ↘ 1. Where are you headed? ↘ 2. How are you still doing that? The falling intonation comes into play when there is assurance and definite clarity in speech. ↘ 1. Here is the magazine you asked for. ↘ 2. You’ve just been outplayed.

Types of Intonation There are three types of intonation in spoken English and they are : Rising Intonation Rising Intonation refers to the rise of tone at the end of the sentence. The yes-no questions usually end in a raised intonation. ↗ 1. Is this your shirt? ↗ 2. Do you like chicken?

Circumflex Intonation With the circumflex intonation, the voice falls and then rises. This variant of intonation is heard when someone isn’t sure about the statement or uses tentative phrasing in it. ↘ ↘↗ 1. I don’t need any help at the moment. ↘↗ 2. It rained every day during the first week. This circumflex intonation is used in questions that request information and invite someone to do or have something. In this case, with the right intonation pattern, the inquiry sounds more polite. ↘↗ 1. Is this your camera? ↘↗ 2. Would you like some coffee?