English Pronunciation for Communication Intonation in Communication

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English Pronunciation for CommunicationIntonatio
n in Communication

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

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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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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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Thank you and good luck!