Discussion phonetics and phonology topic intonation

THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH FACULTY DISCUSSION Phonetics and Phonology TOPIC INTONATION Supervisor Duong Thi Hong Tham Class’s code 2302ENTH2811 Group 6 HÀ NỘI, 2023 INDIVIDUAL TASK ASSIGNMENT TABLE[.]

THUONG MAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH FACULTY DISCUSSION Phonetics and Phonology TOPIC: INTONATION Supervisor : Duong Thi Hong Tham Class’s code : 2302ENTH2811 Group HÀ NỘI, 2023 :6 INDIVIDUAL TASK ASSIGNMENT TABLE Student’s Members’s name Duties of each members Evaluation 20D170067 Phan Phương Diệu Statement falling intonation A 20D170189 Đặng Thị Ngọc Hà Enumerating + Response + A code (Leader) Conclusion + Game 20D170137 Cao Thị Thu Huệ 20D170093 Đỗ Xuân Nhi 20D170100 Nguyễn Thị Minh Tone changes A Introduction + Definition A Question A Tâm 20D170102 Ngô Thị Phương Request + Command A Thị Phương Exclamatory sentences + A Thảo 20D170226 Vũ Thủy 20D170220 CONTENTS Phan Thị Cẩm Tú Direct address Sentences types A INTRODUCTION CONTENTS Definition Intonation and Sentence types 2.1 Sentence types .5 2.2 Intonation and tone changes 2.2.1 Intonation 2.2.2 Tone changes General rules 11 3.1 Statement: Falling intonation .11 3.2 Questions .13 3.2.1 Wh-question: Falling intonation 13 3.2.2 Yes/ No question: Rising intonation 14 3.2.3 Alternatives questions: Rise-Fall intonation 14 3.2.4 Tag questions: Falling or rising intonation 15 3.3 Requests 16 3.4 Commands 16 3.5 Exclamations 17 3.6 Direct address .18 3.7 Enumerating: rising - falling intonation .19 3.8 Responses: Falling intonation 20 CONCLUSION 21 INTRODUCTION By researching, we found that English people speak too fast and emphatically, so many students, including English majors, often have difficulty communicating in English Communicating naturally like a native with the right up-down intonation is what makes it difficult for learners to communicate Intonation contributes to conveying your meaning and feelings, practicing speaking English with standard rhythm helps you to be more confident in communicating with foreigners But what is intonation in English? How can I practice speaking English naturally? I will help you answer all of the above questions in this article CONTENTS Definition Intonation while speaking is considered one of the most important factors in every language Specifically, each country has a different intonation system, so listeners can distinguish languages by listening to their intonation If you master the intonation system of a certain language, learners can achieve natural speaking like native speakers Understanding the importance of this, the following article will introduce readers to the rules of intonation in English, in order to help readers speak English in the most natural way Definition: Intonation is the melody of the sentence Intonation is created by changes in the pitch of the voice (the voice goes higher and lower; remains on the same level; rises or falls), by sentence stress (strong stress on important words; weak stress or no stress on less important words), and by rhythm (stressed syllables occur at more or less equal intervals) Compare intonation in English and Vietnamese Vietnamese is a tonal language, specifically the tonal system of Vietnamese includes six tones: ngang, huyền, sắc, hỏi, ngã, nặng Therefore, in Vietnamese, speakers almost not pay attention to the intonation of the whole sentence because each word in Vietnamese has its own tone Vietnamese intonation often changes depending on the context For example: Sentence: Tôi muốn Tone of words: ngang, sắc, hỏi Intonation of the whole sentence: Based on the context, not much change In contrast, English is a non-tonal language Therefore, when speaking, the speaker focuses on emphasizing the stress and intonation of the whole sentence For example: Sentence: This is my father Word tone: Dropping voice at the end of a sentence Sentence intonation: Based on stress Because of the above difference, when Vietnamese speak English, they often face the following two difficulties: There is no intonation for the whole sentence When speaking, there is no emphasis, so usually sentences are said with a steady tone, without rising or falling when speaking If there is intonation, it is often unnatural or different from the intonation of English Intonation and Sentence types 2.1 Sentence types Sentences are divided into four types: declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory.  Declarative: This is a sentence that makes a statement or conveys  information In lecture intonation, statements typically have a falling intonation at the end For example:  - I have a meeting at PM (falling intonation at the end, neutral tone) - The weather is beautiful today (falling intonation at the end, neutral tone) Interrogative: This is a sentence that asks a question In lecture intonation,  questions typically have a rising intonation at the end For example:  - Did you finish the report? (rising intonation at the end, neutral tone) - "What time is the train leaving? (rising intonation at the end, neutral tone) Imperative: This is a sentence that gives a directive or instruction In  lecture intonation, commands typically have a falling intonation at the end, with a higher pitch on the emphasized word or phrase For example:  - Please send me the report by tomorrow (falling intonation at the end, higher pitch on "report" and "tomorrow") - Don't forget to turn off the lights before leaving (falling intonation at the end, higher pitch on "forget" and "lights”) Exclamatory: This is a sentence that expresses strong emotion or  emphasis Exclamations typically have a rising-falling intonation pattern, with a high pitch on the emphasized word or phrase For example:  - I can't believe I won the lottery! (rising-falling intonation, high pitch on "won" and "lottery") - This is the best news I've heard all year! (rising-falling intonation, high pitch on "best" and "heard") 2.2 Intonation and tone changes 2.2.1 Intonation Intonation can change types and meanings of sentences.  - - Rise - fall:  - I will go to the ↗supermarket after I leave my ↘office.  - I can't ↗believe you did ↘that! - Hello↗, this is my new ↘car.  - Would you like ↗orange juice or ↘lemonade? Fall - fall:  - - - I don't like ↘apples or ↘bananas.  - She's studying ↘math and ↘physics.  - He's from ↘Australia, but he lives in ↘Canada.  - This is ↘John, a best ↘friend of mine - It is an interesting ↘story, ↘isn’t it? Rise-rise: - You're ↗going out again ↗tonight?  - The weather is ↗beautiful ↗today!  - I can't ↗wait to ↗see you again! - You're ↗going to ↗Paris? How ↗amazing! - You're really ↗going to wear ↗that dress? /Wow! Fall - rise: - You ↘think I'm /stupid? (accusatory emphasis) - I ↘love /you! (emphatic declaration) - Don't ↘ever that /again! (strong warning) - You didn't ↘finish your ↘homework /again? (disappointed scolding) - I told ↘you to be ↘here /by 8pm! (impatient reminder) 2.2.2 Tone changes  Falling tones: The falling tone expresses finality, completeness, confidence The falling tone begins on the last stressed syllable of the sentence and goes down, ending near the bottom of the normal speaking range The fall takes place within the last stressed syllable: Tom is my↘ friend If there are unstressed syllables after the final stressed syllable, they are pronounced on the same low level where the fall ends: Tom is a ↘ journalist The falling tone is used:  At the end of statements (It's↘nice.)   Special questions (What ↘ happened?)  Commands ( ↘Call him.)   Exclamatory sentences (How ↘nice!)  In the first part of tag questions (He \works, ↘doesn't he?)  In the last part of alternative questions (Do you ↗study or ↘ work?)  Rising tone Depending on the context, the rising tone may express interest, politeness, surprise, doubt, incompleteness, and so on The rising tone begins on the last stressed syllable of the sentence and first goes down just a little and then continues going up If the sentence ends on the last stressed syllable, the rise takes place within the last stressed syllable: Do you have a ↗pen? If there are unstressed syllables after the final stressed syllable, the rise goes down a little on the stressed syllable and then continues going up on the unstressed syllables: Do you have a ↗pencil? The rising tone is used :  At the end of general questions (Is she ↗here?)  In requests (Could you ↗help me?)  At the end of introductory phrases beginning the sentence (As ↗usual, he was ↘late.)  In the first part of alternative questions (Is it ↗short or ↘long?)  In the second part of tag questions (Nice ↘weather, ↗isn't it?)  In direct address (↗Mike, where↘are you?)  In enumerations (I bought ↗milk, ↗cheese, and ↘fruit.)  Fall-rise The fall-rise expresses non-finality, signals continuation of the utterance, emphasizes the word on which it is used, and may express polite warning, suggestion, correction, contrast, and so on The voice falls down and goes up within one word For example:  - If you don't hurry ↘ ↗up, you'll be ↘late → express polite warning - Despite her ↘ /warning, he opened the ↘door → contrast  Other tones: a High fall The high fall is an emphatic variation of the falling tone It may be used in informal situations to show lively interest and friendliness, usually in exclamatory sentences.  Examples OH ↘HI! How ↘NICE! What a sur↘PRISE! The high fall begins much higher than the falling tone and goes down into the lower part of the normal speaking range, but not always as low as the falling tone The stressed syllable on which the high fall takes place is pronounced more loudly, and the stress on it is stronger Though this tone is rather common in everyday speech, language learners should use it with caution and not too often because it is emphatic and rather expressive and, depending on the situation, may express various strong feelings ranging from admiration and delight to disgust and horror.  b Low fall Lowering the pitch into the lower part of the normal speaking range and using the low fall as the final tone in the sentence may indicate, depending on the situation, such feelings as disappointment, sadness, hopelessness, sympathy, sincerity, responsibility, fear, threat When strong emotions are expressed, the low fall may be emphatic The low fall begins much lower than the falling tone, and the speaker usually pronounces the words less loudly, in a soft voice, and sometimes even close to whisper.  The unemphatic low fall may be used at the end of the sentence in a group added as an afterthought after the final fall, or in the author's words at the end of the sentence of words (if they are important).  For example:   I think I saw your cell phone in the ↘kitchen, on the ↘windowsill.   "↘Stop it!" a woman's voice behind them said ↘angrily If the speaker wants to mark the end of his whole utterance (after he has been speaking for some time), the whole final sentence may be pronounced on a lower level with low-falling intonation and with the low fall at the end.  c High rise The high rise is an emphatic rising tone that may be used for expressing strong surprise or disbelief, mostly in surprised echo questions.  Examples: ↗What? You lost my ↗money? The high rise begins higher than the normal rising tone, goes into the higher part of the normal speaking range, and ends much higher than the normal rising tone Depending on the emotion expressed, the high rise may even go beyond the upper boundary of the normal speaking range Depending on the situation, the high rise may also indicate astonishment, indignation, anger, and so on Because the high rise is emphatic, very expressive and may indicate various emotions, it is advisable for language learners to limit the use of this tone in speech d Mid-level rise The mid-level rise is used mostly in informal American speech, for example, in direct address, in introductory phrases, in subordinate clauses at the beginning of the sentence.  The mid-level rise begins at mid level (or a little higher) and immediately goes up (not too high)-without first going down a little as the ordinary rising tone does Examples: Mrs ↗Smith, this is ↘Annie, my ↘niece e Low rise The low rise may be used in a group of words added (as direct address, as a suggestion, for politeness, etc.) at the end of the sentence after the final fall The low rise begins and ends lower than the ordinary rising tone The low rise generally signals the speaker's polite interest and his readiness to continue the conversation Examples: Good to ↘see you, ↗Alan You can stay ↘here, if you ↗like General rules Content words (key words) are always stressed; function words are not stressed Usually stressed words: nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs; contracted negative words forms of auxiliary and modal verbs; question words Usually unstressed words: auxiliary and modal verbs; personal pronouns; prepositions, conjunctions, articles 3.1 Statement: Falling intonation   Falling intonation describes how the voice falls on the final stressed syllable of a phrase or a group of words When we use the term “falling intonation,” we’re actually talking about a rise and then a fall on the most important content word of the sentence In normal, neutral sentences, the last content word of the sentence is the one that receives the most stress, and so we’re going to rise and then fall from that stressed syllable down to the end of the sentence Your pitch is going to rise to its highest point on this stressed syllable and then drop down at the end This drop at the end is why we often refer to this type of intonation as falling intonation  Statements with one stress - I ↘know - She ↘works - We ↘found it - She has ↘done it - It’s im↘portant  Statements with two stresses - 'People ↘work.  - 'Mike is↘sleeping.  - The 'weather has ↘changed.  - 'Mary is a ↘teacher.  - 'Bananas are ↘yellow.  - 'Cars are ex ↘pensive.  - I 'work in a ↘library - She 'said it ↘loudly.   Statements with three stresses  - 'Betty 'lives in ↘London.  - "Victor 'works at a ↘bank - I 'haven't 'read this ↘book.  - The 'children are 'playing in the ↘park.  - My 'sister 'works as a ↘teacher.  - 'Moscow is the 'capital of ↘Russia.  - 'Ella is a 'good ↘student.  - She 'works in a 'small ho↘tel.  - He knows it 'very ↘well.  - She was 'two 'hours ↘late.  - He 'doesn't 'want to ↘go.  - We 'didn't 'do it ↘yesterday.  - 'Peter 'doesn't ↘live here.  - 'Lena 'wasn't in↘vited.   Statements with four stresses - She 'wants to 'buy a 'new ↘car.  - He 'wrote the 'letters 'very quickly.  - Their 'new 'house is near a 'large ↘park.  - Tom is 'leaving for 'Rome to↘morrow   - He is 'reading an 'interesting 'book about ↘animals.   Statements with five stresses  - 'Alex 'wrote the 'letters 'very ↘quickly.  - I 'think the 'first 'question is 'very ↘easy.  - I 'don't 'want to 'watch this 'film a↘gain 3.2 Questions   Most languages have only one type of question intonation: rising English, on the other hand, has two types of question intonation: rising and falling There are some rules for determining intonation in questions 3.2.1 Wh-question: Falling intonation  Wh- question sentences - those are the questions that begin with the words ‘who, what, where, when, why’ and ‘how’- typically end in a falling pitch That means we have to lower our voice at the end of the sentence    Just as in all sentences, the content words - those are the nouns, main verbs, adjectives, and adverbs - are more likely to be stressed than function words The final content word of the sentence usually gets more emphasis than any other word of the sentence The pitch is likely to change on that word, then fall at the end of the whquestion sentence    For example:   'What is your ↘name?  'What's your ↘name?  'Where are you ↘from?   'Where you↘live?   'What you↘do?   Special case: While WH- questions typically end in a falling pitch, there are reasons a rising pitch can be used Ending a wh- question with a rising pitch could be asking for repetition or clarification of previously known information    Ending "Where should we go for /dinner?" in a rising pitch may signal that the topic was already discussed Perhaps the answer was forgotten or even never decided, so the speaker is asking for confirmation "What time's the /meeting?", using a rising pitch could indicate that the speaker wants to verify the schedule    Sometimes to show friendliness, closeness and politeness, the questioner can use a rising intonation at the end of the question For example: “How 'much is this /bag, please?”, “'When is the 'next /train, please?”, “Where is the 'nearest /bank, please?” 3.2.2 Yes/ No question: Rising intonation   In English, yes/no questions start with an auxiliary verb (do, be, have, or a modal such as can, should, will, etc.)   Intonation for Yes/No questions is rising This means your voice will go up at the end of the question This tells the person we are talking to that we expect a yes or no answer For example:  - Have you 'read this↗book? - Have you 'heard the ↗news? - Do you 'need some ↗help - Do you 'have a ↗pen? - Are these 'books ↗yours? 3.2.3 Alternatives questions: Rise-Fall intonation     Life is full of choices these days So, how we use our voice to let someone know we are asking them to make a choice? For example: Do you want / pizza or \ pasta?      When we offer a choice we make it really clear by going up on the first and additional choice and on the last choice we make our voice go down This clearly lets the listener hear that we are offering choices and tells them when the list of choices is done We should remember, up, up, up and finally down on the last choice, no matter how many choices there are For example: - Do you want ↗pizza, ↗pasta, or ↘steak?  - Can you help me ↗now or ↘later?   - Is the best time to meet on ↗Friday, ↗Saturday or ↘Sunday? - Do you want to have ↗ hamburgers, ↗ chicken, ↗ steak or ↘pasta for dinner? 3.2.4 Tag questions: Falling or rising intonation  A question tag can be generally described as a simple statement followed by a short question The intonation used on the question tag shows the speaker’s attitude to their question.  - Tag endings with falling intonation    When someone asks a tag question and the question tag has falling intonation, the person who asks the questions is fairly sure that the statement before the tag ending is correct Because the person asking the question is not 100% sure, however, he or she still wants confirmation.  For example:  - Question is difficult, ↘isn't it? -> I think a question is difficult and want to know if you feel the same way  - - It's a 'beautiful ↘town, ↘isn't it?  - 'Nice ↘weather, ↘isn't it? - You 'don't ↘know them, ↘do you? - 'Peter 'gave you a ↘present, ↘didn't he? Tag endings with rising intonation    Rising intonation on the tag indicates a genuine question; the speaker isn’t sure that the statement is correct and requires an answer from the listener This type of tag can be used to show sarcasm or suspicion.     For example:  - Question is difficult, /isn't it? -> I think I have the answer for question but am not very sure I want to see if you agree with me (or if you will tell me what the answer is) - She 'speaks ↘English, ↗doesn't she? - You 'weren't ↘late, ↗were you? - It's 'not 'too ↘far, ↗is it? - You↘know it, ↗don't you? - He will ↘help them, ↗won't he?   Suggestions can also be followed by a rising question tag with shall: - Let’s go out tonight, ↗shall we? - I’ll make a cup of tea, ↗shall I?   Imperatives can be followed by a rising tag with a modal verb (will, could, would etc): - Pass me the remote control, ↗will you? - Help lift this, ↗could you? 3.3 Requests: Rising intonation Unlike other languages, the English language follows several rules of intonation We use a different intonation in every different situation in English And while other people don’t give so much importance to the rules, having the right intonation helps us sound clearer and more natural When you want to ask someone to something for you, you need to use a requests sentence with a slight increase in voice at the end of the sentence This is to show sincerity, ask in a proper and polite way For example - Come↘in, ↗please - ‘Tell me your↘ name,/please ↗Please come /in - Could you give me a ↗pen, please? - Would you mind ↗helping me? - May I speak to ↗Ella, please? - Were they ↗happy or ↘angry? Note: If you lower your voice in the requests sentence, it will be easy to misunderstand it as an order, a scolding, or a coercion 3.4 Commands: Falling intonation One of the most common intonation patterns in the English language is the rules of falling intonation Commands are a type of sentence in which someone is being told to something whereas a request is when somebody asks you to something in a polite manner This is when the pitch of the voice falls at the end of a sentence Unlike requests, commands often lower the voice at the end of the sentence to show the serious and imposed nature of the speaker For example: - ↘Stop it! - Sit↘down - Close your↘books - Turn left at the ↘bank - Give me your ↘hand Making a statement into the question:    The cool thing about intonation is that we can actually make anything into a question You can take a statement and add rising intonation and it automatically becomes a question    You might this if you are surprised, want to change up your grammar or want to check that you understand something You will notice there are no question words and the grammar is not what we normally use for a question in the examples below Our voice alone creates the question For example:   She’s gonna call you later ↗today?  You cleaned the whole ↗house?  This is the best movie of the ↗year?  3.5 Exclamations Exclamations:  expression of surprise, anger or excitement,  virtually always have a fall We call this tone meaning the exclamatory fall It can be seen as sub-type of the definitive fall Some exclamations have special grammatical form In English these begin with what or haw, and in writing usually have an exclamation mark: - What a pity! - What a good idea! Other exclamation may be interjections, statements, or yes-no interrogatives But they are all said with an exclamatory fall: - Wow! - Dreadful! - I don't believe it! Exclamations are thus the simplest kind of utterance for the student of EFL The rule is: if it’s an exclamation, say it with a fall Exclamatory falls are excellent drill material for anyone who wants to practice producing falling tones (It is not true that every sentence written with an exclamation mark necessarily takes a fall In particular, commands may be written with an exclamation mark and pronounced with a fall-rise.) Examples: - How odd! - What pretty eyes she has! - How very nice of him! - Welcome to Brighton! - You were marvelous, darling! - Get out of here! Go on, scram! - Wasn't it awful! - Don’t be discouraged!? - Will I heck! - What a sad thing it is! 3.6 Direct address Direct address is a construction in which a speaker or writer communicates a message directly to another individual or group of individuals The person(s) being addressed may be identified by name, nickname, the pronoun you, or an expression that's either friendly or unfriendly Conventionally, the name of the person (or group) being addressed is set off by a comma or a pair of commas Direct addresses are commonly used in persuasive communication The idea is that you're more likely to convince a person to something if you address them by name or title, or with a second person pronoun (you) rather than a first (I, we) or third person pronoun (one, someone)  “Are you listening, Tim?” “I have your bill here, sir.” In these sentences, we’re addressing “Tim” and “sir.” - Direct address at the beginiing of the sentences is stressed It is pronounced with the low-faaling nuclear tone in formal serious speech and with the falling-rising tone to attract the listener’s attention or in a friendly conversation \Ma/ry|, come\ here - Direct address in the middle or at the end of the sentence is ordinarily pronounced as the unstressed or half- stressed tail of the preceding intonation- group After the low-falling nucleus it can also be pronounced with the low-rising tone E.g: I \say, Mike,| I’ve just had arrived from \Mary Examples : 1.    Teacher, I have a question "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!" —Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in "Gone With the Wind" Thank you so much, honey, for doing that for me