English phonetics

Intonation of Parentheses.

INITIAL PARENTHESES Parenthetical words and phrases at the beginning of an utterance are used for various purposes: a) in order to gain time before saying the main remark or to call the listener's attention to what is going to be said; b) to show the speaker's attitude towards the subject-matter: supposition, certainty, satisfaction Initial parenthesis often forms a separate intonation-group which has all the typical characteristics of a non-final group: the choice of the nuclear tone in it depends on the degree of semantic independence and importance of the parenthesis. A common pattern for an introductory parenthetical phrase is the Low Rising nuclear tone preceded by a normal (or high) prehead and high head (if there is any): As 'far as I ‚know, | you 'passed your e'xams with 'excellent 'marks. Parentheses pronounced with the Falling nuclear tone sound weighty and make the whole utterance more important: 'Anyway, | it's 'all 'your problem. Additional emphasis or contrast is conveyed by the Falling-Rising nuclear tone: 'As for ˇme, | I 'can't 'speak Spanish, | but I under'stand ˙nearly 'everything. Initial parentheses which are linked very closely with the main remark do not, as a rule, form a separate intonation-group. This is common for parenthetical clauses such as I suppose ..., I believe ..., I presume ..., I'm afraid ..., I think ... etc. They may be unstressed or partially stressed forming the prehead of the tune, or they may have a full stress on the important word which becomes part of the head: I 'think that's my 'niece at the door. I 'hope ˙things will ˙soon im'prove. Short parentheses such as well, now, but, oh, surely, probably, certainly, of course frequently follow this pattern. They are unstressed or stressed according to the degree of importance attached to them: Of 'course it's a 'splendid idea. Well, 'let's ˙ask the 'others. FINAL PARENTHESES Parentheses at the end of the utterance serve to summarize or add some details to the speaker's main remark. They do not, as a rule, form an intonation-group of their own and are pronounced as unstressed or partially stressed postnuclear syllables (tail). I'm 'not ˙good at 'languages, you know. 'Peter ‚knows him, of ˙course. Additional prominence is achieved when parentheses in final position are said as part of the nucleus of a Falling-Rising tune (Divided): You'll 'finish the re'port to'morrow, I ‚hope. PARENTHESES IN THE MIDDLE OF AN UTTERANCE Parentheses inserted into the middle of the principal remark usually convey a side-thought, which the speaker wishes to communicate at once without waiting until he has finished his utterance. Parentheses are commonly inserted between two intonation-groups, in which case these intonation-groups remain unchanged while the parenthesis forms an intonation-group of its own and is pronounced on a lower pitch and at a quicker tempo than the main remark: The 'climate in 'Great ‚Britain, | as far as I ‚know, | is 'very 'changeable. A parenthesis may join the first intonation-group as a tail or part of the Falling-Rising nucleus: 'This ‚variant, at ˙least, | can be ac'cepted.

Intonation of reporting phrases and reported speech

Reporting phrases are phrases such as "he asked", "said the other", etc., used in conversational passages in novels or in live conversation. They may be found at the beginning, middle or end of the Quoted (Direct) speech. Reporting phrases preceding the Quoted speech are more typical for conversation. Medial and final Reporting phrases are commonly used in conversational passages in novels. INITIAL REPORTING PHRASES Initial Reporting Phrases generally form a separate intonation group. The frequent nuclear tone of these groups in conversation is Mid Level (Static): the nuclear syllable is pronounced on a steady (unmoving) pitch about the middle of the voice-range. This is one of the rare occasions when a static tone is used as a nuclear tone. It shows that the intonation group is semantically incomplete and leads on to the more important part of the utterance. There is usually a short pause between the Reporting phrase and the beginning of the Quoted speech: 'Anthony >answered: |"I've been 'looking for a 'man like 'you". In reading aloud the most common pattern for initial Reporting phrases is Low Rise. Like the Mid-Level tone it shows that the Reporting phrase is semantically incomplete without the following Quoted speech. At the same time the division of the utterance into two intonation-groups and the pause between them are more distinct, which is often desirable in reading aloud and unnecessary in conversation: She 'asked ‚anxiously: | "'Was I ‚wrong?" Fall-Rise Divided is used instead of Low Rise when a Reporting phrase contains a word contrasted in meaning to another word (in the given context): — The 'younger ˙boy‚ said: | "The 'film is 'boring". — The 'older one ob‚jected: | "'Why, | 'I've en ‚joyed it". The Falling nuclear tone (High or Low) can be used on a Reporting phrase when it is semantically and grammatically complete in itself and requires greater prominence. This situation may occur in reading aloud: His 'cousin re'peated his question: | "'Who 'told you that?" FINAL REPORTING PHRASES In the final position the Reporting phrase usually forms the tail of the tune of the Quoted speech. Its pitch pattern therefore is determined by the nuclear tone of the Quoted speech. After Rising and Falling-Rising nuclear tones the Reporting phrase is rising, and it is pronounced on a low pitch after a Falling tone: "'Are you in a ‚hurry?" she ˙asks. "If you 'like", says he. "'What 'is it?" I asked. "I'm 'not ˇready", says ˙Mary. The Reporting phrase may form part of an expanded nucleus of Fall-Rise Divided. The important word of the Reporting phrase then carries the rise of the Falling-Rising tone. This intonation pattern is commonly used to express contrast: "I have 'seven 'English 'books", says Sid. "I have 'more than 'you", says ‚Tom. When the final Reporting phrase is long, it may form a separate intonation-group similar in its nuclear tone to the pattern of the Quoted speech but lower in pitch: —"'Must I ˙stick it on my‚self?" asked a˙lady, | who bought a postage ‚stamp. — "'No, madam", replied the counter-clerk,| "it's much 'better to 'stick it on the 'envelope". INTONATION OF REPORTING PHRASES IN REPORTED SPEECH In Reported speech the Reporting phrases generally form the first (non-final) intonation-group of an utterance while the main remark (grammatically transformed Quoted speech) forms the following group. Like all non-final groups, Reporting phrases may take various nuclear tones: low rising, falling-rising, falling: I 'want to ‚ask you | if you are 'ready. They 'want to ˇknow | why he is 'here. Mr. 'Brown 'answered | that he 'didn't 'know that 'man. A Reporting phrase may not form an intonation-group and then the first word of it, important enough to take a full stress, becomes the head of the whole utterance, or otherwise it is pronounced as its prehead (unstressed or partially stressed): I 'wonder if they 'know about our ar'rival. He says he 'never ˙does it a'lone.

Intonation of questions. Alternative and disjunctive questions.

Alternative questions generally form a combined tune in speech. The most common nuclear tones in the first and the second intonation-groups are: Low Rise + Fall (High. Low) and High Rise + Fall (High. Low). The first pattern is suitable in all kinds of situations while the second conveys a more formal attitude. Alternative questions can be Friendly and Neutral. Where there are more than two alternatives, the combined tune contains more than two intonation groups: — Do you 'usually have ‚porridge, | ‚cornflakes | or 'eggs for breakfast? The Falling nuclear tone in the last intonation-group shows that the list of alternatives is complete: a) — Would you 'like a 'book by ‚Dickens | or 'would you pre'fer one of the 'modern writers? b) — Is he 'coming on ‚Wednesday | or on 'Saturday? When the list of alternatives is incomplete the last intonation-group has the same nuclear tone as the preceding one— the High Rise or the Low Rise: — 'Can she ˙play the ‚piano | or the ‚violin? (or some other musical instruments) The typical intonation patterns of these questions are combined tunes of the following two types: Fall (High, Low) + Rise (low, High) and Fall (High, Low) + Fall (High, Low): You 'like this dress, | ‚don't you? 'Jane's new 'coat is 'brown | ‚isn't it? It's 'rather a 'long 'way,| 'isn't it? There's a 'good 'play on television, | 'isn't there? The intonation pattern of the first type shows that the speaker is not sure of the answer he will get or is asking the listener's opinion (Uncertainty Disjunctive questions): Mother: —You 'haven't ˙eaten ˙anything since' breakfast, | ‛have you? Daughter: — Yes, I have. I had lunch at the institute canteen with my groupmates. The intonation pattern of the second type shows that the speaker is sure of the answer he will get or expects the listener to agree with him (Certainty Disjunctive questions): Passenger: —I must get 'off at the ˙next' stop, | 'mustn't I? Conductor: —Yes, it's the next stop Disjunctive questions of this type are used by the speaker rather to keep the conversation going than to get new information. — It's 'nasty 'weather today | 'isn't it? - Awful, indeed.

Alveolar consonants before interdental sounds. Consonants with [W]

Alveolar consonants are consonant sounds that are produced with the tongue close to or touching the ridge behind the teeth on the roof of the mouth. The name comes from alveoli - the sockets of the teeth.At the juncture of the alveolar consonants [t, d, n, 1, s, z] and the interdental consonants [θ, ð] regressive assimilation affecting the place of articulation is observed: the alveolar consonants are represented by their dental variants (allophones).Eg.: ninth, sixteenth, about the text Consonants preceding [w], especially in a stressed syllable are lip rounded (or labialized), i.e. regressive assimilation takes place. E.g.: twist, quarter, switch, dweller, wigwam.When [w] is preceded by a voiceless consonant there is also some devoicing of [w]. This is the case of progressive assimilation. Thus, in the clusters [tw, kw, sw, pw] double assimilation takes place.

The English sound system. Principles of classification of consonants.

Consonant is a sound when the air stream has obstruction on its during of articulation.Consonants are classified according to: 1.type of obstruction & kind of noise:occlusive(plosive[p][b] & nasal[m][n][l]), constrictive(fricative[f][v] & sonant[j][w]), affricates[tS][dз] 2.the work of active organ of speech & place of obstruction: fore lingual(apical-alveolar[t][d], apical-dental[Ө],curcuminal[r]),medio lingual(palatal), back lingual(velar[ŋ], glottal[h]) 3.labio-dental[t][v] & bilabial[b][p] 4.the work of vocal cords & the force of articulation(lenis[b][d] & fortis[p][f])

Intonation of conversational formulas

Conversational formulas include Greetings, Farewells, Apologies, expressions of Gratitude and phrases typically used in response to them. Conversational formilas play an important role in communication. They help to establish and to keep the contact between the speaker and the listener. According to their function in speech they can be regarded as formulas of politeness. According to the degree of politeness expressed it is possible to divide conversational formulas into 3 groups: normal (neutral), friendly (very polite, warm, lively), casual (perfunctory) and these three groups would be distinguished in oral speech by intonation. The common feature of all friendly formulas that they are pronounced with a Falling-Rising tone (divided or undivided). All casual formulas take the Low-Rising intonation. Such phrases are used between people on familiar terms who meet regularly. Normal Greetings, Expressions of Gratitude and Apologies are characterized by Falling nuclear tone. Normal Farewells are pronounced with Low Rise.

Classification of Basic Intonation Patterns.

Different combinations of pitch sections (pre-heads, heads and nuclei) may result in more than one hundred pitch-and-stress patterns. But it is not necessary to deal with all of them because some patterns occur very rarely, so attention must be concentrated on the commonest ones. As the nucleus is the most important pitch section on which the whole pitch pattern centres, we grouped all the sections (pre-heads, heads, and tails) into eight pitch-and-stress groups according the eight nuclear tones: I. The Low (Medium) Fall pitch-and-stress group. II. The High Fall group. III. The Rise-Fall group. IV. The Low Rise group. V. The High Rise group. VI. The Fall-Rise group. VII. The Rise-Fall-Rise group. VIII.The Mid-Level group. All the patterns of each group have one pitch section in common — the nuclear tone. So they all convey the most general meaning expressed by the nucleus itself, and different pitch sections (pre-heads or heads) either add some additional attitudinal meanings to the patterns or intensify them. Each group, however, contains patterns that are commonly used and those which are rather occasional. So patterns that occur frequently and with a much wider usefulness than others are grouped into 'Common Usage' subgroup and patterns that occur rather rarely into 'Occasional Usage' subgroup. Since the Rise-Fall and the Rise-Fall-Rise are not so commonly used as the other nuclear tones, all the patterns of these two groups (Groups Three and Seven) are treated as occasional. The other six groups include both common and occasional usage.

Intonation of Direct Address

Direct address is placed at the beginning of an utterance when the speaker wants to call his listener's attention to the subject-matter or to the fact that the remark concerns the listener personally. It usually forms a separate intonation group which may be pronounced with any of the nuclear tones. The choice of the tone does not depend on the communicative type of the utterance but is determined by the speaker's attitude to the situation. The Falling tone on a Direct address shows the speaker's serious attitude to what he is going to say: e.g. 'John, | I 'want you to 'tell me e'xactly what 'happened. 'Peter, | 'are you 'ready with your re‚port? This pattern is commonly used in addressing an audience at the beginning of a formal speech: e.g. 'Ladies and 'Gentlemen, | we must dis'cuss an im'portant 'problem today. The Falling-Rising tone is normally used on an initial Direct Address in informal conversation to convey a warm and friendly attitude: ˇKitty, | 'why aren't you 'eating anything? ˇPeter, | 'will you 'help me with my ‚iron? This tone may sometimes suggest a warning or a wish to single out the person named from a number of others: ˇMary, | 'come and 'help me with the 'supper. 'Let ˙Mike 'do his 'work a'lone. Direct Address at the beginning of an informal speech can also be pronounced with a Low Rising tone: My ‚friends, | I am 'happy to meet you here to‚night. Final and medial direct address Direct Address placed at the end of an utterance does not serve to attract the listener's attention. It is added simply as an expression of politeness, affection or criticism. It is therefore either unstressed or only partially stressed and forms the tail of the tune: e.g. — 'Can you 'type these ‚letters for me, ˙Mike? — Of 'course, father. e.g. — You are 'late a'gain, Tom. — I'm ˇsorry, ˙sir. Final Direct Address may be pronounced as part of the Falling-Rising Divided nucleus. When this intonation pattern is used, the utterance sounds warmer and the address becomes more prominent: e.g. You 'look ˙very 'tired, ‚Jane. Direct Address placed in the middle of an utterance is pronounced in the same way as in final position: e.g. I 'don't ˙mean to 'say, Jack, | that it's 'your fault

The Ascending Stepping Head. The Low Head.

Each of the stressed syllables of the Ascending Head takes a static tone pitched higher than the preceding one, so that the onset syllable occupies the lowest pitch in the head. Intervening unstressed syllables are said on the same pitch as the stressed syllable to which they are attached (usually the preceding one). Since all the stressed syllables are contrasted to one another in pitch they are all regarded as full stresses, and the words carrying them as more or less equally important. The Ascending Head is typically combined with the nuclear high falling and high rising tones. The last syllable of the head doesn't, as a rule, reach the high pitch zone, where the nuclear tone starts from. The degree of prominence of the nucleus seems to be greater than in the Stepping Descending or, especially, High Level Heads. Such an effect is produced by the gradual rise of the pitch throughout the head reaching its climax on the nucleus. As a result of the increased weight of the nuclear word, utterances pronounced with the Ascending Head cause the listener to anticipate the main point of information at the end. Due to these peculiarities the given prosodic pattern imparts specific modal connotations to an utterance. There is often a feeling of impatience, surprise, protest, disbelief or, vice versa, a note of enthusiastic approval and support. In the Low Head all the syllables - stressed and unstressed - are pronounced in the low pitch zone of the speaker's voice-range. Prominence on the relevant syllables in this type of head is achieved by a greater force of articulation and longer duration. The stressed syllables are indicated with a low stress-mark. The Low Head is used in combination with low nuclear tones which are often of a narrow variety. The most frequent nuclear tones after the Low Head are the Low Narrow Fall and the Low Narrow Rise. Since the whole utterance with the Low Head is pronounced within a narrow voice-range there is an impression of smaller overall prominence. Such utterances often convey a cool, detached, phlegmatic, disinterested or disapproving attitude.

Elision in consonant clusters. Elision of [t, d, h]

Elision of [t, d, h] Elision means the dropping of a sound or sounds, either within a word or at a junction of words. Elision is a feature of rapid colloquial speech, while formal speech tends to retain the full form of words under the influence of spelling. One of the most typical examples of elision is the omission of [t] or [d] between two other consonants: friends [frenz], mostly [məƱslI]. Another example is the dropping of [h] in pronouns and auxiliaries. Pronouns with the initial [h] and the auxiliaries "have, has, had" commonly lose [h] when they are unstressed within an utterance. [h] is pronounced in these words when they are initial in an utterance or when they are stressed: The people have gone. [ðə 'pi:pl əv gon] She gave him his breakfast. It took him half an hour. But: He is going away. [hIIz 'gəƱIɳ əweI] It must be remembered that elisions of consonants in consonant clusters are not always permissible. In general, clusters of two identical consonants at a word junction must not be reduced by elision. The two consonants should be run together smoothly without a break. Eg.: what time, with this, clean knife

Intonation of Imperatives.

Imperative sentences are used in speech for different communicative purposes: to express a command or an instruction, to ask for a favour or to give a warning. Accordingly, we can talk about different communicative subtypes of imperatives: commands and instructions, requests, warnings. Commands and Instructions are usually pronounced with the Falling nuclear tone. In an Instruction it is typically a Mid Fall with the preceding High or Stepping Head: e.g.: 'Open the 'books at page 'nine. In Commands the Falling nuclear tone is more frequently of a high variety which gives them an energetic and insistent note: e.g.: 'Leave the 'room at 'once. Commands with a Low Falling nuclear tone preceded by a High or Stepping Head produce a calm, serious and categorical effect: e.g.: 'Wait for the others. It must be noted that Requests can also be pronounced with the Falling tone, but in this case the word "please" which is placed either at the beginning or at the end of an imperative shows that the speaker's intention is to ask and not to order: e.g.: 'Stay a little 'longer, please. More typically Requests are pronounced with the Low Rising or the Falling-Rising nuclear tone: e.g.: 'Try not to be ˇlate. 'Fetch me my ˇcoat. 'Wrap this 'vase ˇcarefully. Requests with all these intonation patterns sound sincere and friendly. When Fall-Rise is used, especially of a divided variant there is an impression that the speaker is asking a greater favour. Such requests are often called polite. Warnings have the same intonation pattern as polite Requests: they are normally pronounced with the Falling-Rising nuclear tone. The exact nature of the imperative — a warning or a request — is nearly always clear from the situation and the speaker's voice colouring. When a Warning contains only one stressable word, Fall-Rise Undivided is used. When there are more than one stressable words, Fall-Rise Divided is preferable: e.g.: Be ˇcareful. 'Watch your ‚step. Imperatives of all kinds can be pronounced with the Low Rising nuclear tone preceded by a Low Head or a Low Prehead. Such imperatives sound casual (in the case of a request), unimportant (in the case of a command): e.g.: Steady ‚on. Fetch me a ‚chair.

Components of intonation. Utterance-stress

In a sentence or in an intonation group some of the words are of greater importance than the others. This largely depends on the situation or context. Words, which provide most information are brought out in speech by means of utterance (sentence) stress. The special prominence given to one or more words according to their relative importance in an utterance is called utterance stress. ([1] The term "sentence stress" is not quite precise, as sentence often implies a syntactical structure only). The main function of the sentence stress is to single out the communicative center of the utterance, which introduces new information. The prominence is realized by the variations of pitch, force, length and quality. The most prominent part of a sentence is the last stressed syllable, which takes the nuclear tone. The second in weight is the first stressed word, which often has the highest pitch and is fairy loud. Eg. The ˈdoctor ˈsays it's ˈnot imˈportant. The distribution of the stresses in a sentence depends on the semantic value of words and is closely connected with the lexical and grammatical structure of the sentence. In most languages there is natural tendency to subordinate form word to content (notional) words in stress. This is especially the case of English. We differentiate 3 types of utterance stress. 1. Normal or syntactical (non-nuclear) 2. Logical (nuclear) 3. Emphatic Normalutterance stress is used to arrange words into sentences or intonation groups phonetically. Together with grammatical and lexical means it expresses the general idea of the sentence and indicates its communicative center. The nuclear syllable is generally associated with the last content word of the intonation group. Eg. We have ˈplenty of ˋtime. The position of the last utterance stress determines the place of the nucleus of the communicative center. By shifting the position of the last stress we can change the place of the nucleus of the communicative center. Eg. ˈNelly ˈspoke to him ˋyesterday. ˈNelly ˈspoke to ˋhim yesterday. ˋNelly ˈspoke to him ˈyesterday. The type of utterance stress, which gives special prominence to a new element in a sentence or an intonation group is called logical stress (special, shifting, corrective). The logical stress is one of the most expressive means of oral speech. Most human utterances express not only the speaker's thoughts but also his feelings and attitudes to reality and to the contents of the sentence. Both normal and logical stresses can be unemphatic or emphatic (emotional). Emphatic stress increases the effort of expression. It may strengthen the stressed word making it still prominent. Emphatic stress manifests itself mainly on the High Fall or the Rise-Fall of the nuclear syllable.

The Steping Head. The High Head. The Broken Head.

In the High Head all the syllables are said on the same rather high pitch. There is only one fully stressed syllable, i.e. one peak of prominence, in the High Head. This is the stressed syllable of the first important word: the onset. The other semantiс items in the prenuclear part are given a smaller degree of prominence indicated by a high partial stress. The High Head and the Gradually Descending Stepping Head are opposed to each other in that there can be no more than one full stress in the former and, vice versa, there must be more than one full stress in the latter. In fact, the Stepping Head presents an intensification of the High Head which is achieved through pitch contrasts between the successive stressed syllables. When the head of an utterance contains only one notional word, i.e. it cannot be expanded, the difference between the Stepping and the High Heads is neutralized. The High Head is commonly used in conversation, where it occurs more frequently than the Stepping Head. The Gradually Descending Stepping Head is a combination of a descending overall contour, even pitch throughout a stress-group, and a diffuse (or mixed) distribution of prominence. Each fully stressed syllable beginning with the second is lower in pitch than the preceding one. Unstressed and partially stressed syllables (which are optional) are said on the same pitch as the preceding fully stressed syllable. This type of head may be associated with any nuclear tone in utterances of different communicative types. The Gradually Descending Stepping Head is sometimes called the most typical, or normal, kind of head in English. It is certainly the most frequently occurring single category of head. In fact, the Gradually Descending Stepping Head is characteristic of only some kind of English reading aloud, formal conversation, lecturing or some other kind of didactic monologue, although it may be heard in any other variety of spoken English. The Gradually Descending Stepping Head may have a monotonous effect, especially when the intonation-group contains more than three stressed syllables. This monotony can be avoided by making an upward break somewhere in the middle of the head, after which a downward movement of the pitch is resumed. The pattern is described in this case as the Broken Descending Stepping Head, and a tune containing such a head may be called a broken tune. The effect of an upward break is achieved by pronouncing one of the stressed syllables on a rather higher pitch-level than the preceding one. The pitch of the syllable carrying such a special, or ' accidental''', rise may or may not exceed the pitch of the onset, depending on the pitch-level of the latter and the intended degree of pitch prominence of the former. The break generally occurs on any fully stressed syllable beginning with the third. The upward break is usually made on words of sufficient semantic importance. These are frequently words that stand out on account of their inherent emotional coloring or because they express an unusual degree of some quality or quantity, some extraordinary, unexpected actions, etc. The syllable on which a special rise is made can be indicated in different ways: a) by a high static tone mark - while the preceding stressed syllable is marked by a mid static tone (or even a low static tone, if the preceding part of the head contains three or more stresses); b) by a straight upward arrow beside the high static tone while the preceding syllables also carry high level marks; c) by an emphatic high static tone mark after normal high static tones on the preceding syllables. Clearly, the various ways of indication reflect differences in the realization of the Broken Descending Head in speech. The most important feature of the first pattern seems to be the lowered pitch of the stressed syllable immediately preceding the one carrying an accidental rise. The last two patterns involve a widening of the speaker's voice-range as compared to its normal characteristics (the widening is especially noticeable in the third variant).

Combinations of voiceless consonants with [r]. Combinations of alveolar and interdental consonants with [r]

In the clusters of voiceless consonants with the sonorant [r] complete or partial devoicing of the sonorant takes place — progressive assimilation affecting the work of the vocal cords. The sound [r] is completely or almost completely devoiced when it is preceded by a voiceless plosive consonant [p, t, k] in a stressed syllable: train, pride, cry. In an unstressed position, at a word boundary or when [p, t, k] are preceded by [s] or some other fricative consonant the devoicing of [r] is partial: waitress, temperature, spread, quite right. A similar effect (of partial devoicing) both in stressed and unstressed syllables is produced when [r] is immediately preceded by a fricative consonant: friend, Geoffrey, shrewd, three, fruit. In some of these clusters assimilation affecting the place and the manner of articulation can be observed. Thus under the influence of the post-alveolar [r] the alveolar consonants [t, d] in the clusters [tr, dr] become post-alveolar. The clusters [tr, dr] are actually characterized by double (reciprocal) assimilation because the sonorant [r] is modified as well: under the influence of the noise consonants [t, d] it becomes fricative, and after [t], as was mentioned above, it is also devoiced. In the clusters [0r, 6r] the post-alveolar frictionless sound [r] is often replaced by an alveolar tap, or a flapped variety of [r]: a single brief tap is made by the tip of the tongue on the teeth ridge. In the cluster [0r], besides, there is partial devoicing of the sonorant [r].

Intonation and its functions

Intonation is a unity of: speech melody (variations in the pitch of the voice) timbre (tonal colouring of the speaker's voice) sentence stress (relative degree of prominence given to various words in a sentence) temporal characteristics(duration, pauses, tempo) rhythm (periodic recurrence of rhythmic units of different size and level). Functions of Intonation: 1) Delimiting - delimitation of utterances and parts of utterances in the speech flow 2) Syntactical - reflecting the syntactical relations in the sentence 3) Accentual - indicating more or less important elements of the utterance through contrasts in the degree of prominence of its different parts 4) Attitudinal (modal) - conveying the speaker's attitude to the subject-matter and to the communicative situation 5) Communicative - indicating the communicative type of an utterance Speech melody deals with the elements of an intonation group and tones. The elements of an intonation group are: the Nucleus (= the nuclear tone )- the basic element of the intonation group; the Head (= the scale) - tonetic unit beginning with the first stressed syllable and ending before the nucleus; the Pre-Head - variations in unstressed or partially stressed syllables before the Head; the Tail - unstressed or partially stressed syllables following the last strongly stressed syllable in the intonation group. Tones are divided into two classes since they may be pronounced in the following quite distinct ways: 1) by keeping the vocal cords at a constant tension thus producing a tone of unvarying pitch (such tones are known as static or level). 1) by varying the tension of the vocal cords thus producing a tone of varying pitch (such tones are known as kinetic or dynamic). According to the actual height within the speaker's voice range static (level) tones may be high, mid, low. Kinetic tones are generally classified according to the following principles: 1) the direction of the pitch change (fall, rise, fall-rise, rise-fall); 2) the width of the pitch change, or its interval (wide, narrow); 3) the relative position of the pitch change within the speaker's voice range.

Components of intonation. Static and Kinetic tones.

Listening and speaking practice shows that we tend to single out from an utterance stretch only some of its elements while others are more or less overlooked as insignificant. The reasons for it lie in the specific contrastive character of the speech chain: some of its elements stand out phonetically and functionally among the others, i.e. they are prominent, or stressed. Prominent segments are usually associated with a pitch change or a pitch contrast of some kind combined with increased force of articulation, or loudness, and increased duration. Such a cooperation of different prosodic parameters is reflected in the notion of t h e t о n e - the basic element of English intonation. Tones are divided into two classes since they may be produced in two quite distinct ways: 1) by keeping the vocal cords at a constant tension thus producing a tone of unvarying pitch; 2) by varying the tension of the vocal cords thus producing a tone of varying pitch. Tones of the first type are known as static, while those of the second type are known as kinetic. According to the actual height within the speaker's voice-range static tones may be high, mid and low with two relevant gradations within each type - very high, fairly high; mid high, mid low; fairly low, very low. In fact, the number of static tones corresponds to the number of significant pitch gradations, or levels. Kinetic tones are generally classified according to the following criteria: 1) direction of the pitch change; 2) width of the pitch change, or its interval; 3) relative position of the pitch change within the speaker's voice range. Static and kinetic tones differ in form and in their function in speech. Static tones give prominence to words. In general, the degree of prominence is proportional to the pitch-height of the static tone:, the higher varieties are usually associated with greater prominence, which, in turn, signifies greater semantic importance. Kinetic tones are more significant to the utterance. Besides giving prominence to a word, kinetic tones perform a number of other functions pertaining to the overall communicative meaning of an utterance. They a) indicate the communicative type of an utterance; b) express the speaker's attitude towards the subject-matter, the listener and the situation; c) single out the centre of new information in an utterance or the point of greater semantic importance as viewed by the speaker.

The intonation of non-final parts of utterances.

Non -Final Intonation Groups are formed by: Initial clauses of compound and complex sentences ; Adverbial and subject groups; Parenthetical words; Direct Address; Reporting phrases. Non-final Intonation groups are pronounced with various nuclear tones A Falling Nuclear Tone A Rising Nuclear Tone A Falling-Rising Nuclear Tone The choice of the nuclear tone in a N-F group reflects the degree of semantic weight and independence that the speaker attaches to this part of the utterance. A Low Rise is used to show that the information in the utterance is incomplete. The utterance is not finished and there is a continuation of it. The intonation pattern is characterized by the high pitch of the prenuclear part (the High Head or the Stepping Head): This pattern is pronounced in grammatically incomplete parts of utterances: Adverbial phrases Enumeration This pattern is pronounced in grammatically incomplete parts of utterances: Initial subordinate clauses Principal clauses formed by the author's words in reported speech A Falling Nuclear Tone Categoric and definite character Adds greater semantic weight to a N-F group in comparison with a LR pattern I 'live near the ̀bus-stop which is 'very coǹvenient. Has the so-called "not-low ending" A Falling-Rising Nuclear Tone Has a complex semantic effect 1. Special semantic importance - due to the falling component of the tone. 2. Semantic incompleteness and close links with the continuation - due to the rising component of the tone. The prenuclear part of the F-R NT is characterized by the pattern of a Sliding Head. The F-R NT in non-final groups shows the non-final group is contrasted with the context The F-R NT in non-final groups expresses Emphasis when the context does not imply the meaning of contrast.

The Sliding Head. The Scandent Head.

The Sliding Head is formed by a sequence of slides, i.e. downward pitch movements, associated with each fully stressed syllable of the head. To symbolize the Sliding Head the mark N is placed above each stressed syllable. The stressed syllables in the Sliding Head may start on the same pitch or form a gradual ascent or descent. The last type seems to be the most frequent. In the Descending Sliding Head each preceding stressed syllable starts on a higher pitch than the following one, the first full stress beginning on the highest pitch. However, the descent in pitch is not step-like as in the Stepping Head; it has a jumpy, or wave-like, character. Such an effect is due to the pitch contrast between the end of the preceding stress-group and the beginning of the following: the latter is higher in pitch as a result of a downward pitch movement inside the preceding stress-group, realized either as a glide on the stressed syllable (when there aren't any unstressed syllables following) or as a jump in pitch between the stressed syllable and the following unstressed ones. Partially stressed syllables in the given type of head behave in the same way as the unstressed ones: they gradually carry the pitch down, so that when a full stress is given only to the first notional word and the other prenuclear notional words are given partial stresses {one-peak head), the pitch pattern of the head is falling rather than sliding. The degree of prominence achieved is at the same time greater in the Sliding and Falling Heads as compare with the Stepping and the High Heads, respectively. This accounts for their wide us in lively, expressive conversation and in reading emotionally colored texts. The Sliding Head and its variant, the Falling Head, are most frequently combine with the Falling-Rising Tone, although they may occur with any of the other nuclei tones as well. The Scandent Head The head of an utterance is sometimes formed by a sequence of 'climbs', i.e. upward pitch-changes associated with each of the stressed syllables which are indicated with an upward arrow (/m). These upward pitch movements are realized either inside the stressed syllable (when no unstressed syllables follow) or on the unistressed syllable which are then pronounced on a higher pitch than the preceding stressed syllable. Partial stresses in the given type of head behave in the same way as the unstresse syllables: they continue the rise of the voice initiated on the preceding stressed syllable. Utterances pronounced with the Scandent Head sound lively and expressive. The exact modal connotation depends on the nuclear tone and the communicative type of an utterance. Combined with the High Rise in general questions the Scandent Head often expresses surprise and incredulity. Combined with the Low Rise in imperative utterances this head has a reassuring, encouraging meaning and is often used in speaking to childreny. The Scandent Head before a falling nuclear tone may express the speaker's irritation or, vice versa, cheerfulness and interest (the exact meaning is always clear from the context).

Intonation of statements

The definitive fall Although simple independent statements can take any tone, they most often have a fall. A fall is the default (= neutral, unmarked) tone for a statement. We say statements with a fall unless there is a particular reason to use some other tone.All the uses of the falling tone have some degree of meaning in common. As with other tone meanings, it is difficult to define this shared meaning precisely in words. But in general we can say that by using a fall we indicate that what we say is potentially complete and that we express it with confidence, definitely and unreservedly. That fall thus also tends to signal finality. We call this tone meaning the definitive fall. This is a pen. I'm delighted to meet you. The implicational fall-rise Sometimes statements are said with a tone other than a fall - namely, with a rise or fall-rise. One very typical meaning of a non-fall is non-finality. It shows that the speaker has not reached the end of what he or she wants to say: What did you do next?Well I opened the door, and... The rise or fall-rise indicates that the clause phrase or word that bears it is part of a larger structure.But what about non-fall tones on statements that are complete in themselves, i. e. independent non-falls? We analyse these tone meanings in the section that follow now.The most typical meaning of fall-rise tone is that the speaker implies something without necessarily putting in into words. We call this tone meaning the implicational fall-rise.By making a statement with the fall-rise, the speaker typically states one thing but implies something further. Something is left unsaid - perhaps some kind of reservation or implication: Who's that?Well I know her face. The fall-rise implies something further: a contrast between that is expressed and that has not, or not yet, been expressed. In this course it might be:

Falling Tones.Classification and cases of usage.

The falling tone is used at the end of statements (It's \nice.), special questions (What \happened?), commands (\Call him.), exclamatory sentences (How \nice!), in the first part of tag questions (He \works, \doesn't he?), and in the last part of alternative term-24questions (Do you /study or \work?). The falling tone expresses finality, completeness, confidence. The falling tone begins on the last stressed syllable of the sentence and goes down (much deeper than in Russian), ending near the bottom of the normal speaking range. The fall takes place within the last stressed syllable: Tom is my \friend. If there are unstressed syllables after the final stressed syllable, they are pronounced on the same low level where the fall ends: Tom is a \journalist. In many cases you can use the normal falling tone instead of the high fall and low fall. High fall The high fall is an emphatic variation of the falling tone. It may be used in informal situations to show lively interest and friendliness, usually in exclamatory sentences. Examples: OH \HI! How \NICE! What a sur\PRISE! The high fall begins much higher than the falling tone and goes down into the lower part of the normal speaking range, but not always as low as the falling tone. The stressed syllable on which the high fall takes place is pronounced more loudly, and the stress on it is stronger. Though this tone is rather common in everyday speech, language learners should use it with caution and not too often because it is emphatic and rather expressive and, depending on the situation, may express various strong feelings ranging from admiration and delight to disgust and horror. Low fall Lowering the pitch into the lower part of the normal speaking range and using the low fall as the final tone in the sentence may indicate, depending on the situation, such feelings as disappointment, sadness, hopelessness, sympathy, sincerity, responsibility, fear, threat. When strong emotions are expressed, the low fall may be emphatic. The low fall begins much lower than the falling tone, and the speaker usually pronounces the words less loudly, in a soft voice, and sometimes even close to whisper. The unemphatic low fall may be used at the end of the sentence in a group of words added as an afterthought after the final fall, or in the author's words at the end of the sentence (if they are important). For example: I think I saw your cell phone in the \kitchen, on the \windowsill. "\Stop it!" a woman's voice behind them said \angrily. If the speaker wants to mark the end of his whole utterance (after he has been speaking for some time), the whole final sentence may be pronounced on a lower level with low-falling intonation and with the low fall at the end.

Falling-rising Tones.Classification and cases of usage.

The falling-rising tone is a bi-directional tone which means that there is a change in the direction of the pitch movement associated with one stressed syllable. The fall and the rise may be combined within one syllable, the pitch-change beginning about the high level (or slightly above or below it) and ending about the mid-low level, with an intermediate low pitch point which is a boundary between the two elements of the glide. When the nuclear syllable is not the last syllable of the intonation-group the Fall-Rise is split in form, the fall being carried by the nucleus and the rise - by the tail. According to the latter feature it is useful to distinguish between high and low varieties of the falling-rising tone. From the semantic point of view the falling-rising nuclear tone has an implicatory meaning: utterances with this nuclear tone give the impression that the speaker intends the hearer to understand more than the words themselves convey. The implication expressed in an utterance may be that of emphasis, contrast, contradiction, correction, hesitation, doubt, uncertainty, warning, apology, etc. In each case the exact implication is prompted by the contest. The falling-rising tone has an important modification: the so-called Fall-Rise Divided. The two elements of the Fall-Rise in this case are realized on two different words, which both acquire nuclear prominence. It must be emphasized that functionally the divided variant of the Fall-Rise is very j similar to the undivided falling-rising tone: it also imparts an implicatory meaning to the utterance. Fall-Rise Divided makes two ideas prominent instead of one.

Absence of assimilation in some consonant clusters

The foreign learner should be aware of the English assimilatory tendencies governing words in context, so as to avoid un-English assimilations. No assimilation according to the place or manner of articulation of English consonants Clusters of alveolar and labio-dental fricatives with interdental sounds [s - 0, z - 8, s - 8, 8 - s, 0 - z, v - 8, f - 8] and labio-dental fricatives with the bilabial sonorant [v - w, f - w] at syllable and word junctures present special difficulty for learners of English because they are only slightly different in articulation and perception and also because such contrasts as [v - w], [s - 0] etc. are not to be found in Russian. In pronouncing these clusters care should be taken to avoid assimilation according to the place* or manner of articulation, i.e. the quality of the adjacent sounds should be kept distinct. No assimilation according to the work of the vocal cords In English there is no regressive assimilation according to the work of the vocal cords. It means that either within words or at word boundaries 1) voiceless consonants followed by voiced ones are not voiced; 2) voiced consonants followed by voiceless ones are not devoiced.

Classification of Head Types.

The head of an intonation-group stretches from the first fully stressed syllable (including it) and extends up to the nucleus. The fist fully stressed syllable with which the head begins is often referred to as t h e onset. The head is an optional element, yet, it occurs in a very high proportion of intonation groups. The head plays an important part in conveying the speaker's attitude and feelings towards the listener, the subject-matter and the situation, in other words, it is relevant for expressing the modal-attitudinal meaning and the emotional colouring of an utterance. Heads vary in respect to overall length: they may consist of one to thirty and more syllables. The head displays an extremely high variation in pitch and stress pattern. Descriptions and classifications of heads are based on the following major criteria: a) the general contour of pitch movement over the head; b) the pitch movement within each stress-group; c) the distribution of relative prominence among the semantic items in the prenuclear part of an utterance, which is ultimately reflected in the number of full and partial stresses in the head. According to the first criterion head patterns in English are classified into three major types: 1. Descending - the first fully stressed syllable is said on a high pitch, each following fully stressed syllable (i.e. beginning with the second) always begins lower than the preceding stressed syllable 2. Ascending the first fully stressed syllable is said on a low pitch; each following fully stressed syllabic always begins higher than the preceding one. 3. Level - there are no perceptible contrasts in the initial pitch-height of the successive stressed syllables. According to the actual pitch of the syllables the Level head may be of a high, mid and low varieties. The first and the second criteria taken together produce the following classification of heads: 1. Stepping Heads characterized by an even, unchanging pitch-level over each of the stress-groups 2. Sliding Heads characterized by a downward pitch movement over the stress groups and climbing 3. Scandent Heads with an upward pitch movement over the stress-groups. According to the 3rd criterion, that of relative prominence distribution, heads can be subdivided in the following way: 1. The onset of the head bears a full stress and all the other semantically important words are given partial stresses to show their smaller prominence, or they may be left altogether unstressed. The whole head in this case produces the impression of a closely knit semantic unit with one peak of prominence in the initial position - one -peak, or compact, head. 2. All the semantically important words are given full stress by the speaker and made equally prominent to the listener. The overall prominence of the utterance increases as a result, and so does the weight of each of the words. The simplest form of this head-type is a double-peak head. More complicated patterns could be called diffuse heads. 3. There are both full and partial stresses in the head (besides the onset). In this mixed type of head semantic prominence is neither compressed (as in the first case) nor distributed evenly (as in the second type); it is focused on several peaks which may occupy any position within the head.

Components of intonation. The Pitch. The tune.

The pitch component of intonation, or speech melody, is commonly referred to as variations in the height of the voice during speech, & is generally described in terms of pitch-changes & levels. A pitch-level is a certain height within the speaker's voice-range. The notion of a level may be applied to the whole stretch of an utterance, and then it means the average height of the voice during the pronunciation of the given utterance. In a narrower sense a pitch-level is associated with some particular point in an utterance, generally the boundary points of pronunciation units: syllables, rhythmic groups, intonation-groups. From the functional point of view the pitch-level plays an important role in marking the degree of semantic prominence attached by the speaker to this or that word or phrase in an utterance. Pitch level is also significant for conveying various shades of modal-attitudional meanings and emotional colouring. A pitch-change (whether a real glide or the result of a pitch contrast) is a feature perceived more easily than a pitch-level. Priority in identification is usually given to the direction of the pitch movement rather than to the height of the beginning and ending points of the pitch movement. The term t u n e is used to refer to the pitch pattern of the whole intonation-group. It is obvious that the notion of tune is wider than that of tone and the tune may comprise several tones while a tune of a minimal size coincides with a tone realized in a monosyllabic utterance. The stressed and unstressed syllables within the tune are distinguished according to their position and function in the tune. Unstressed or partially stressed syllables which precede the first full stress (the onset) form the p r e h e a d . The portion of the tune extending from the first stressed syllable up to, but not including, the nuclear syllable is referred to as the h e a d. It consists of any number of stressed or unstressed syllables (at least one of the former). The syllable bearing the nuclear (terminal) tone is called the nucleus of the utterance. Unstressed or partially stressed syllables following the nucleus are called the t a i l. The number of the component parts in a tune may vary. The only indispensable element of a tune is the nucleus. The other components may or may not be present in a tune. It depends on the length of the utterance, the phonetic structure of the words (monosyllabic or polysyllabic) and the number of prominent words in it.

Rising Tones. Classification and cases of usage.

The rising tone is used at the end of general questions (Is she /here?), in requests (Could you /help me?), at the end of introductory phrases beginning the sentence (As /usual, he was \late.), in the first part of alternative questions (Is it /short or \long?), in the second part of tag questions (Nice \weather, /isn't it?), in direct address (/Mike, where \are you?), and in enumerations (I bought /milk, /cheese, and \fruit.). Depending on the context, the rising tone may express interest, politeness, surprise, doubt, incompleteness, and so on. The rising tone begins on the last stressed syllable of the sentence and first goes down just a little and then continues going up. The English rising tone does not go up as high as the Russian rising tone does. If the sentence ends on the last stressed syllable, the rise takes place within the last stressed syllable: Do you have a /pen? If there are unstressed syllables after the final stressed syllable, the rise goes down a little on the stressed syllable and then continues going up on the unstressed syllables: Do you have a /pencil? In many cases you can use the normal rising tone instead of the fall-rise, high rise, mid-level rise, low rise. High rise The high rise is an emphatic rising tone that may be used for expressing strong surprise or disbelief, mostly in surprised echo questions. The high rise begins higher than the normal rising tone, goes into the higher part of the normal speaking range, and ends much higher than the normal rising tone. Depending on the emotion expressed, the high rise may even go beyond the upper boundary of the normal speaking range. Depending on the situation, the high rise may also indicate astonishment, indignation, anger, and so on. Because the high rise is emphatic, very expressive and may indicate various emotions, it is advisable for language learners to limit the use of this tone in speech. Mid-level rise The mid-level rise is used mostly in informal American speech, for example, in direct address, in introductory phrases, in subordinate clauses at the beginning of the sentence. The mid-level rise begins at mid level (or a little higher) and immediately goes up (not too high) - without first going down a little as the ordinary rising tone does. Example: Mrs. /Smith, this is \Annie, my \niece. Low rise The low rise may be used in a group of words added (as direct address, as a suggestion, for politeness, etc.) at the end of the sentence after the final fall. The low rise begins and ends lower than the ordinary rising tone. The low rise generally signals the speaker's polite interest and his readiness to continue the conversation. Examples: Good to \see you, /Alan. You can stay \here, if you /like.

Rising-falling Tones.Classification and cases of usage.

The rising-falling tone is a bidirectional, or complex, tone (like the Fall-Rise), because it comprises two elements - a rise and a fall - which can be combined within one syllable: the voice first rises from a fairly low (or mid) to a high pitch and then quickly falls to the bottom of the voice-range. According to the number of syllables involved in the pitch change three structured variants of the nuclear rising-falling tone are distinguished: one-syllable tvne, two-syllable type, three-syllable type. Three-syllable type. It's natural that this type of the rising-falling tone may occur only when the last stressed (nuclear) syllable of an utterance is followed by no less than two unstressed syllables. The stressed syllable is uttered on a steady mid-low pitch while the first of the unstressed syllables is pitched high and the second is pitched at the bottom of the normal voice-range. Two-syllable type. In this type the Rise-Fall is spread over two syllables, the first of which is stressed and pronounced on a steady mid-low pitch, while the second starts at the top of the normal voice-range and falls without stress to the bottom. One-syllable type. In this type the entire Rise-Fall is concentrated on one syllable which carries both the rise and the fall. The rising-falling nuclear tone can be compared with the falling-rising nuclear tone both in form and in function. The complex nature of their form leads to a specific functional characteristic, which might be called implicatory. The implications of the two tones, however, are of a different kind: in the Fall-Rise it is basically a continuation of the information already contained in the utterance, it is so-to-speak lexically predicted. In the Rise-Fall the implication is basically of a modal attitudinal kind: the Rise-Fall often gives the impression that what the speaker admits or denies is conflict with his own or his previous opinion.

Vowels in stressed and unstressed syllables in English

Unstressed syllables in English words are in most cases pronounced with the neutral vowel [э] which is historically the result of the reduction, or weakening, of various vowels in an unstressed position. In unstressed syllables containing the letter "e" the sound [i] is often pronounced, which is also regarded as a case of weakening since the letter "e" in a stressed syllable normally corresponds to either [i or [e]. In some English words, however, there is no reduction, i.e. the unstressed syllables in them retain a full-quality vowel. This means that the letter-sound correla tion here is the same as in stressed syllables. Unstressed full-quality vowels, however, differ from stressed ones in length and the force of articulation.

The English sound system. Principles of classification of vowels.

Vowel is a sound when the air stream has no obstruction on its during of articulation.Vowels are classified according to tongue position(horizontal(fully front v-s[e,i:], front retreated v-s[i], mixed v-s[ə], back advanced v-s[u:],back v-s) & vertical(close[u:][i:][i][u],mid-open[e],open[a:][ æ])), lip position(labialized[u:][ ɔ:], non-labialized[ɜ͟:]), length(short & long), the degree of tenseness, the stability of articulation(monophtong[u],diphthong[au],diphtongoid[i:][u:]).

Combinations of plosive and fricative consonants. Linking [r]

When a plosive consonant precedes a fricative consonant in a word or at a junction of words it has its release during the pronunciation of the fricative. This phenomenon is the result of close coarticulation of adjacent consonants in English and is called fricative plosion:e. g,: let's, wha's, kinds, upside, stops, walks. When a word ending in [ə] (including [iə], [ɛə], etc.),' [a:], [ɔ:] or [ɜ:] is immediately followed by a word beginning with a vowel, the sound [r] is very often inserted at the end of the first word joining it to the next one. When the spelling of the word ends in the letter "r" (or "-re"), the inserted r-sound is called the linking [r].

Loss of plosion. Nasal plosion. Lateral plosion.

When two plosives [t,d,p,b,k,g] are in contact there's a complete loss of plosion of the first sound, and a plosion is heard only after the second consonant (tt, tb, tg, db, dp, dt, gk, gp, gt, kt, kk, kb, kd, kg, pt, pb, pd, etc.), This phenomenon is known as LOSS OF PLOSION e.g.: Blackboard, midday. At the junction of the plosive consonants [p, b, t, d, k, g] with the nasal sonorants [m, n] the articulation of the sonorant starts when the articulation of the plosive consonant is not yet finished. As a result of this the air stream passes through the nasal cavity producing the effect of NASAL PLOSION. At the junction of plosive consonants [p, b, t, d, k, g] with the lateral sonorant [l] the plosion is heard during the pronunciation of the sonorant as the air stream passes along the sides of the tongue. This is the case of assimilation known as LATERAL PLOSION, e.g.: kettle, club, standard-lamp.

Reduction of functional words in English.

Words always weak in unstressed position. The basic principle of utterance-stress in English, as in other languages, is that form-words, or functional words, are not stressed, unless there is a need for special contrast or prominence on them. The list of functional words that are generally unstressed in speech includes articles, prepositions, conjunctions, some pronouns, auxiliary and modal verbs. An important feature of English pronunciation is the weakening and reduction of functional words in an unstressed position in an utterance. However, not all functional words are always reduced when unstressed. Some of them may be both weak and strong. There is yet another group of functional words which are never reduced. Thus, according to their pronunciation in an unstressed position functional words can be divided into three groups. 1) Words always weak in an unstressed position word strong form weak form the ui: ui (before a vowel) Note: The strong form of these words is used when the word is said in isolation or with special emphasis. 2) Words which weak and strong At, am, are, be, can, could, do, does, have, has, for, of, should, to, was, would. 3) Always strong Be, do, have, when, will, on, off, that,, some.

Intonation of questions. General questions. Special questions.

Yes-no questions (= general questions, polar questions) ask whether something is the case or not. Such questions are capable of meaning being answered 'yes' or 'no' (though there may be other possible answers such as 'perhaps' or 'I'm not sure'). The default tone for a yes-no question is a rise. We call it the yes-no rise. Are you ready? Is that the time? Will you be at the meeting? Yes-no questions can be positive or negative. Whatever their polarity, they usually have a yes-no rise: Won't you be at the meeting? Haven't you finished yet? Don't you like your soup? Some utterances with the grammatical form of yes-no interrogatives are not questions so much as requests. They, too, usually have a yes-no rise: Would you pass me the water? Will you send him a letter? Couldn't I take the car? It is also possible for a yes-no questions to be said with a fall. This makes the question more insistent. It is more businesslike, more serious, perhaps more threatening. We call this tone meaning for yes-no questions the insistent fall. A: I'll ask you once more: Did you take the money? B: No, I didn't. A: Can you prove that? The insistent yes-no falls is often used in guessing games: A: Guess where I come from. B: From France? A: No. B: From Italy, then? A: No. B: D'you come from Spain? The insistent yes-no fall is also regularly used when a speaker repeats a question because the other person didn't hear it properly: A: Have you come far? B: Sorry? A: I said, have you come far. Wh questions (= question-word questions, special questions) are those that are formed with a question word such as who, that, which, when, where, why, how. They ask for a more specific answer than just 'yes' or 'no'. Where is my knife? Why are you complaining? The default tone for wh questions is a fall. As with statements, this tone meaning is the definitive fall: When did you arrive? Who's that? Nevertheless, a wh question can also be said with a non-fall: a rise or, less commonly, a fall-rise. This has the effect of making it more gentle, kindly and encouraging, sympathetic or differential, as opposed to the businesslike fall. We call this tone meaning the encouraging rise. When did you arrive? What's the time? Contrast the two tone meanings, definitive fall and encouraging rise: (i) Why are you angry? (unmarked) (ii) Why are you angry? (interested, sympathetic) (i) What's your name? (unmarked, businesslike) (ii) What's your name? (encouraging, kindly) A separate type of wh question is the echo question. A short wh question that the speaker immediately answers himself (one type or rhetorical question) usually has an interested rise: - I'm coming back. - Why? - Because I love you. - We can conquer poverty. - How? - By educating workforce. - You can't go. - Why not? - Because I say so.