Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
PREPARED BY:
ABDULRAHMAN ALYOUSEF
KHALID AL GHAMDI
Definition :
Intonation is a part of
suprasegmental phonology .
It is mainly a change of
pitchmovement .
e.g "yes" can be said in many
ways.
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Each one has different meaning .
Languages and Tone
* Languages are divided into tone and
intonation languages. Tone languages
are like Chinese which depends on the
tone .
e.g. the word " ma " in Chinses has
defferent meanings . It could mean
(mother- scold- hemp)
depending on how it is pronounced.
* English is not a tone language but it
uses intonation .
*** Languages without intonation is
No languages is spoken in a
monotone
In fact, no languages is
spoken in a monotone.
Every one has a melody of
its own.
So it is already exist in our
language but we will focus
on how it is working in
details.
The Main Terms
The main terms that we will study in
the concept of intonation are :
- tone unit
- tonic syllable
- pitch-
- pause
Through these terms we will study the
forms and the functions of intonation.
Four important points:
In the beginning we will start with
four important points to get the
concept of intonation.
* The first point is to divide the
tone units .
Q. What is tone unit?
The tone unit or tone
group means a word or
a group of words in
which you believe that
constitute full meaning .
OR . Group of words
between two pauses.
It could be one word or more.
E.g. the word "Hello" if you
believe that it is meaningful
then it is a tone unit. Also
sometimes some words can't
be a tone unit, e.g. "to my
school"
It is not a tone unit because it is
not meaningful.
The tone unit must convey a
message and this message is
In addition, we should know that the
tone unit is not related to the
sentences because some
sentences are two or three lines
and we can't consider these lines
as one form. So you have to divide
the tone units .
In other words , you have to pause
in the right place.
e.g. if you have a paragraph , you
can't read it in one level like a
machine but you have to divide
Pause is where you stop. The
main function of pause is to
breath . Therefore, it is a
matter of fact that you pause
whether you like or don't.
In intonation we need to pause
because you may mis-convey
the message.
e.g. " Those who lie often get caught
"
What does this sentence
So it is related to the
speaker and the listener.
As a speaker you have to
know where to stop.
As a listener you have to
decide and recognize what
does the speaker mean by
this.?