English Pronunciation Practice Lecture III Intonation in Communication

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English Pronunciation PracticeLecture
IIIIntonation in Communication

• WANG GUIZHEN
• English Faculty
• Guangdong University of Foreign Studies

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• Review
• Elements of good English pronunciation
• Phonemes Vowels20
  Consonants24
• Combination of sounds camera
• Sound linking Was all of it eaten?
• Weak forms fish and chips
• Word stress present vs present
• Sentence stress Whats your
  name?
• Rhythmic pattern Come and have a look.
• Intonation I beg your pardon./?

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Fig. 10 was at war in the sentence England
was at war with America (native vs non-native).
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Intonation Why?

• A. It shows the relationship of words
  within and between
  sentences
• B.  It tells something about the feeling
  of the speaker.

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• They 're going to ' have a ?picnic.
• They 're going to 'have a ?picnic.

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• ' Those who ' sold ??quickly ' made a ?profit.
• (A profit was made by those who sold quickly.)
• ' Those who ??sold ' quickly ' made a ?profit.
• (A profit was quickly made by those who sold.)

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I. Types of English Intonation

• 1. Falling tone
• 2. Rising tone
• 3. Fall-rise tone

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• 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?

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• 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?

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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II. Structure of English Intonation

• P Pre-head
• H Head
• N Nucleus
• T Tail

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• Elements in an intonation unit
• The nucleus the stressed syllable of the last
  ?? prominent word in a tone unit
• The tail any syllable or syllables that may
  ?? follow the nucleus
• The head the part of a tone unit that extends
  from ?? the first stressed syllable up to the
  nucleus
• The pre-head any unstressed syllable or
  syllables that ?? may precede the head - or the
  nucleus, if there is no head

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• We are LEARNing a FOReign LANGuage.
• P H
  N T
• P Pre-head
• H Head
• N Nucleus
• T Tail

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• Structures of an intonation unit
• PH NT We are learning a foreign language.
• PH N I am afraid we can't go.
• P NT We hope so.
• P N It was at night.
• H NT When are they coming?
• H N Peter has arrived.
• NT Look at him.
• N Help!

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Mark out the elements in the following intonation
units.

• P H N T She'll be able to do it
  properly.
• P H N It was a very dark night.
• P N T He said so.
• P N They'll be late.
• H N T Isn't John going?
• H N Go ahead.
• N T Pardon?
• N Thanks.

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Mark out the elements in the following intonation
units.

• P H N T She'll be able to do it
  properly.
• P H N It was a very dark night.
• P N T He said so.
• P N They'll be late.
• H N T Isn't John going?
• H N Go ahead.
• N T Pardon?
• N Thanks.

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The Stress Rules

• 1. Stress tends to fall on content words within
  an utterance.
• 2. Only a words stressed syllable carries the
  sentence stress.
• 3. Within an intonation unit, there may be
  several words receiving stress but only one has
  the nucleus.
• 4. New information tends to receive prominence
  and generally occurs towards the end of an
  utterance.

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Circle the prominent word in each thought group.

• A Im starved. Lets go and grab a bite to eat.
• B Good idea. Where do you want to go?
• A Well, theres a nice Italian restaurant about
  a
• block from here.
• B Do you have your heart set on Italian? What
• about a Chinese place?
• A Oh, do you know one?
• B I sure do. The food is delicious and its
  right
• around the corner.
• A Great! Lets go.

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Circle the prominent word in each thought group.

• A Im starved. Lets go and grab a bite to eat.
• B Good idea. Where do you want to go?
• A Well, theres a nice Italian restaurant about
  a
• block from here.
• B Do you have your heart set on Italian? What
• about a Chinese place?
• A Oh, do you know one?
• B I sure do. The food is delicious and its
  right
• around the corner.
• A Great! Lets go.

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Circle the prominent word in each thought group.

• A I have a picture of a lady sitting in a park.
• B I have a lady in a park too. Shes reading a
  book.
• A Oh, my lady is reading a newspaper.
• B Next to the lady theres a big tree.
• A Theres a big tree in my picture too.
• B My picture has a dog.
• A My picture has two dogs.

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III. The Use of English Intonation

• The falling tone
• -- indicating definiteness' and
  completeness'.
• Types of sentences
• Ordinary statements
• WH questions
• Imperative sentences (strong commands)
• Exclamatory sentences

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• The rising tone
• - indicating uncertainty',
• incompleteness' or
  politeness'.
• Types of sentences
• Yes-no questions
• Statements intended as questions
• Statements intended to be soothing or
  encouraging
• Repetition questions

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• The falling-rising tone
• - showing contrast, implication,
  disagree-
• ment, contradiction, or warning,
  etc.
• Types of sentences
• Statements where contrast is implied
• Statements which imply reservation
• Statements which show disagreement or
  contradiction
• Warnings

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Utterances Question ? Statement ?
1. He left already.
2. Sallys moving.
3. John missed his flight.
4. Its snowing in New York.
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Utterances Sure ? Unsure ?
1. Your names George, isnt it?
2. Its going to rain tomorrow, isnt it?
3. You wanted to go, didnt you?
4. We should offer to help, shouldnt we?
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Utterances Yes-no ? Choice ??
1. Are you coming Friday or Saturday?
2. Can you meet us at eight or nine?
3. Would you like beer or wine?
4. Are you going to Spain or Portugal?
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IV The Functions of English Intonation

• 1. The accentual function of intonation
• 2. The grammatical function of intonation
• 3. The discourse function of intonation
• 4. The attitudinal function of intonation

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• I.
• A I saw them together.
• B Where did you see them?
• A In the town.
• B When did you see them?
• A This morning.
• B Did you say anything to them?
• A I told them I should tell you.
• B Which youve now done. Thank you.
• A Arent you going to send for them?
• B No need. Ive already invited them for dinner.
• A Them? Both of them? Together?
• B Like to join us?

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• 2.
• A We all know that we face problems. We know
  that we face difficulties. We are all aware that
  the difficulties that we face are not
  difficulties that will be overcome immediately,
  or that will be overcome easily. We all recognize
  that the problems that confront us are not
  problems that will be solved overnight. But I
  sometimes wonder if we realise if we realise
  sufficiently that
• B That that was the clock striking two, Frank!
  Go to sleep!
• A Sorry, dear. Didnt know it was so late. My
  big day, tomorrow, you know. Ah, well.
  Goodnight.
• B Its a lovely speech, Frank.

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• 3.
• A Hes not on the fourth floor now, hes been
  moved to the
• fifth. Use the lift. Ill ring to say
  youve arrived.
• B No hurry. Er how is he, Nurse?
• A I think hes improved. Still coughs a lot, of
  course.
• B And he behaves all right, does he?
• A Oh, yes. We have plenty of laughs! Well miss
  him when
• he leaves!
• B He loves pretty nurses, Granddad does! Its a
  family weakness! By the way, he wanted me to
  bring him this
• gift. For his special favourite a
  nurse called Soft.
• A How lovely!
• B Funny name, Soft, isnt it?
• A Yes. But Ive got used to it.
• B Oh. Sorry.
• A Well, Ill ring to say youve arrived.
• B Im sorry!

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• 4.
• A I havent always lived in this cottage, you
  know.
• B Havent you? How pretty it is!
• A Youve not been here long, of course.
• B I havent, no. Only a month, in fact. But its
  a very nice village. Ive grown to love it
  already.
• A You havent seen Ferringly House, yet, I
  suppose?
• B Oh, its magnificent! A beautiful house!
• A But the new people havent looked after it
  properly, you know.
• B Well, I havent seen it closely, of course,
  Mrs, er
• A Ferringly. Madeleine Ferringly.

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• 5.
• A Jims left, of course.
• B Hes left, too, has he?
• A And Jean.
• B Yes, shes gone to work at Fletchers, they
  tell me.
• A Oh, its changed a lot since you were here.
  Its become much more efficient, of course. But
  its lost the personal touch, Im afraid.
• B And what about our old friend Martin?
• A Oh, Martins stayed on.
• B And become more efficient?
• A Hes had to. At avoiding work, that is.

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Thank you and good luck!