Function of Tone and intonation

Musleh Saadi
Aug 20
5 min read

We are going to look at the intonation of one-syllable utterance. These are quite common, and

Give us a comparatively easy introduction to the subject. Two common one-syllable utterance

Are ‘yes’ and ‘no’. The first thing to notice is that we have a choice of saying these with the

pitch remaining at a constant level, or with the pitch changing from one level to another. The

word we use for the overall behaviour of the pitch in these examples is tone; a one-syllable word

can be said with either a level tone or a moving tone. If you saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ with a level tone

you may find the result does not sound natural, and indeed English speakers do not use levels

tones on one-syllable utterance very frequently. Moving tones are more common. If English

speakers want to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in a definite, final manner they will probably use a falling tone

one which descends from a higher to a lower pitch. If they want to say ‘yes?’ or ‘no? ‘In a

questioning manner they may say it with a rising tone- a movement from a lower pitch to a

higher one.

Tone and tone languages

In the preceding section we mentioned three simple possibilities for the intonation used

In pronouncing the one-word utterance ‘yes’ or ‘ no’. These were: level, fall and rise.

It will often be necessary to use symbols to represent tones, and for this we will use marks

placed before the syllable in the following way( phonemic transcription will not be used in these

examples—words are given examples):

Level yesno

Falling \yes\no

Rising /yes/no

The simple system for tone transcription could be extended, if we wished, to cover a greater

number of possibilities. For example, if it were important to distinguish between a high and low

level tone for English wo could do it in this way:

High level `yes `no

Low level yes no

A speaker of English would be unlikely to say that the meaning of the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’

were different tones; as will be seen bellow, we will not use the symbols for the high and low

versions of tones in the description of English intonation. While we can hear a difference

between English_yes, /yes and\yes, and between _no, /no and\no, there is not a difference in

meaning in such clear-cut way as in Mandarin Chinese, where, for Example, `ma means

‘mother’ ; /ma means ‘hemp’ and\ma means ‘scold; Languages such as the above are called

tone languages.

Complex tones and pitch height

We have introduced three simple tones can be used on one-syllable English utterance: level, fall

And rise. However, other more complex tones are also used. One that is quite frequently found

is the fall-rise tone, where the pitch descends and then rises again. Another complex tone , much

less frequently used, is the rise-fall in which the pitch follows the opposite movements. We will

not consider any more complex tones , since these are not often encountered and are of little

importance .One further complication should be mentioned here. Each speaker has his or her

Own normal pitch range: a top level which is the highest pitch normally used by the speaker,

an a bottom level that the speaker’s pitch normally does not go to bellow. In ordinary speech,

the intonation trends to take a place within the lower part of the speaker’s pitch range

For example, if we represent the pitch range by drawing two parallel lines representing

The highest and lowest limits of the range, then a normal emphatic’s’ could be diagrammed

Like this

The structure of the tone-unit

The first thing to be done it to make more precise the role of the tonic syllable in the tone-unit;

most tone-units are of a type that we call simple, and the sort we call compound and not

discussed at this point , Each simple tone-unit has one and only one tonic syllable, this means

that the tonic syllable is obligatory component of the tone-unit.(Compare the role of the world

in the syllable) We will now see what the other components may be.

The head

Consider the following one syllable utterance

\those

We find the same tonic syllable in a long utterance(still of one tone syllable)

‘give me\ those

Functions of Tone

Attitudinal function:

Attitudinal of intonation expresses the mood and emotions of a speaker, their attitude to the certain situation and also to the listener or other interlocutor. This function is expressed only by intonation as well.

Example:

A single sentence can be pronounced in a number of different ways depending on intonation of the utterance. For instance, What a beautiful day! may be interpreted in the following ways: (a) What a beautiful day! Simple fall pattern of intonation – meaning: when said perfunctorily; (b) What a beautiful day! Rising intonation – meaning: when said enthusiastically; (c) What a beautiful day! Rising-fall intonation – meaning: when said sarcastically

Explaination:

However, intonation can create differences in meaning that go further beyond attitudinal information. The sentence I didn´t get the job because of my husband. can be understood from two points of view depending on intonation. 1 The sentence I didn´t get the job because of my husband. pronounced with the falling intonation means that the speaker did not get te job because her husband messed things up. 2 The same sentence I didn´t get the job because of my husband. pronounced with the rising intonation at the end of the utterance means that the speaker did get the job but her husband could not claim any credit for the achievement

4 Types of Attitudinal Intonation :

1. Falling Intonation

Falling intonation is when we lower our voice at the end of a sentence. This usually happens in statements and in questions that contain words like where, when, what, why, how, and who (these are called information questions). Here are some examples:

Statements

1. My name is Adir Ferreira.

2. Nice to meet you.

3. I’m going to the movies.

4. I’ll be back in an hour.

5. Have a great day.

2. Rising Intonation

Rising intonation is when we raise the pitch of our voice at the end of a sentence. We use this kind of intonation in questions that are answered with “yes” or “no” (these are called yes/no questions). Check out some examples:

1. Are you American?

2. Does she know about this?

3. Can you lend me a pencil?

4. Is the movie good?

5. Are we leaving soon?

Rising intonation is also used in expressions like:

1. Excuse me?

2. Really?

3. Non-final intonation

In non-final intonation sentences, the pitch rises and falls within the sentence. This type of intonation is used with unfinished thoughts, introductory phrases, series of words and also when we express choices. Let’s listen to some examples:

Unfinished thoughts

1. She bought the magazine, but she didn’t read it.

2. When I finished high school, I got a job.

3. If I study hard, I’ll pass the test.

4. I’m going outside, for some fresh air.

4. Wavering Intonation

Wavering intonation is used when we express specific emotions or attitudes within a word. You can express, for instance, surprise, anger, sarcasm, hesitation, fear, amazement, among others.

Take a look at these two words: you did. I’m going to say them showing that I’m curious, very surprised, disappointed, angry and in agreement. Listen!

1. You did? (curious)

2. You did? (very surprised)

3. You did? (disappointed)

4. You did? (angry)

5. You did. (in agreement)