The three Ts

in Intonation

(Taken from: Wells, J.C. English Intonation, an introduction,

2006, Cambridge University Press, UK)
TONALITY How to break the spoken material into chunks.

Intonation Phrases
(IP)

TONICITY Intonation to highlight some words as important .

TONE Having decided the tonicity –that is, having

Decided a right location for the nucleus- What
kind of tone is the speaker going to associate
with it?
 Intonation phrases
 How does the speaker break the material up into
intonation phrases (IPs)?
 What determines the number of words that go into a
single chunk of tune, a single IP?

Essentially , the intonation structure reflects the grammatical structure.

We regularly place an intonation break (a boundary)between succesive sentences,
usually between succesive clauses, sometimes even succesive phrases,
and ocassionally between succesive words. We can even break within a word –though
This is unusual and only used for special emphasis.
Examples
 'Milk comes from 'cows,| 'Wool comes from 'sheep.
 'Milk comes from 'cows, | and 'wool comes from 'sheep.
 'Milk | 'comes from ‘cows.

Less typical examples:

De‘licious, | ‘cool | milk.
T67

'Abso| lutely | 'de | 'licious!

‘Bo | ‘ring!
‘Milk, | I be‘lieve, | comes from cows.
 'What did you see on the way across?
 'What did you see on the way? A cross?

 Do you like 'pawpaw? (i) I’m sorry | I don’t know.

(ii) I’m sorry | I don’t | no.

 She washed and ironed her clothes.

 She washed, and ironed her clothes.
 I was talking to a chap I met in the pub.
 I was talking to a chap I met | in the pub.

 I’ll talk to the students in the garden.

 I’ll talk to the students | in the garden.

 Look at that dog with one eye!

 Look at that dog | with one eye!

 The competitors who finished | first receive a goody bag

 The competitors who finish first | receive a goody bag.
 It’s all over my friend.
 It’s all over | my friend.
 What is this thing called love?
 It’s all over | my friend.

 What is this thing called | love?

 What have you got on your sweater?

 It’s all over | my friend.

 What is this thing called | love?

 What have you got on ? your sweater?

 It’s all over | my friend.

 What is this thing called | love?

 What have you got on ? your sweater?

 Those who spoke quickly got an angry response.

 It’s all over | my friend.

 What is this thing called | love?

 What have you got on ? your sweater?

 Those who spoke | quickly got an angry response.

 It’s all over | my friend.

 What is this thing called | love?

 What have you got on ? your sweater?

 Those who spoke | quickly got an angry response.

 The Smiths say the Danes drink too much.

 It’s all over | my friend.

 What is this thing called | love?

 What have you got on ? your sweater?

 Those who spoke | quickly got an angry response.

 The Smiths | say the Danes | drink too much.

EACH INTONATION PHRASE REPRESENTS ONE PIECE OF INFORMATION

TONALITY How to break the spoken material into chunks.

Intonation Phrases
(IP)

// I can rememher as children// we were rather naughty// once//

we stuck a picture// of an elephant// on the back of Dad's coat//
before he went out// of course he couldn't see it//
so he didn't know why everyone was laughing at him //
until he got to work// and took it off//
 Tonicity
To highlight some words as important for the meaning
they want to convey.

These are the words on which the speaker focuses the

hearer’s attention.
 I think it was ridiculous
I ‘m sure

Within each intonation phrase, we select one word as particularly important

for the meaning. This is where we place the nucleus (or nuclear accent).
ANATOMY OF THE INTONATION PHRASE
In an IP, there may be other stressed syllables in addition to the
nuclear accent. If so, the nucleus is the last stressed syllable.

 Example:
HEAD TAIL

A 'bar of 'cho colate

ONSET
NUCLEUS
PREHEAD

Definition of these concepts

 The nucleus is the last stressed syllable in an IP.
 The tail corresponds to all unstressed syllables after
the nucleus.
 The head starts from the first stressed syllable until
the nucleus (not including the nucleus)
 The prehead refers to all the unstressed syllables
before the head.
 The onset is the first stressed syllable inside the head.
 Focus
When we utter a stretch of speech (an IP), we can either bring
everything into focus (broad focus), or we can focus selectively on one
part of it (narrow focus).

BROAD FOCUS:
 What happened next? (very general)
 Everyone burst out 'laughing

NARROW FOCUS:
 What got broken?
 Her leg. (or Her 'leg got broken)
 Other possible answers: It was her 'leg that got broken
• I think it was her 'leg.
Other examples:
Who brought the wine?
 'Mary.
 'Mary did.
 'Mary brought the wine.
 I think it was 'Mary.
 I think it was 'Mary that brought the wine.

 Who went with him?

 His 'brother did.
 Just his 'brother.
 It was his 'brother who went