11/13/2012

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Pitch Stress Intonation

Introduction

Pitch

Speaking is a combination or sequence of distinctive sounds of a language. There are other features which are important in pronunciation. They are pitch, stress, and intonation.

Speakers of every language change the pitch of their voice when they speak. Pitch is the frequency or how fast your vocal cords vibrate. The faster they vibrate, the higher the pitch is.

Pitch

Pitch

In English, it does not matter if you way the word cat [kQt] with a high pitch or a low pitch. It does d not t change h the th meaning i of f the th word. In Thai, if you say /khaa/ with a high pitch, it means trade, but if you say / khaa/ with a low pitch it means galangal.

The pitch contour of a sentence is important in English. If we say John John is going. going. with a falling pitch toward the end of the sentence, it is a statement. If we say it with a rising pitch toward the end of the sentence , then it is a question.

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Pitch

Stress

Languages that use the pitch of individual syllables or words to contrast meaning are called tone languages such as Thai and Chinese. Languages that use pitch over a phrase or sentence are called intonation language such as English, French, Malay, etc.

In English, in each content word, one of the syllable is stressed or pronounced with more force. The stress is marked by the symbol @ over the vowel of the stressed syllable in the following examples.

Stress in English
su@bject (noun) as in the subject of the story. subje@ct (verb) as in Hell subject us to boring stories. pervert pe@rvert (noun) as in My My neighbor is a pervert pervert. Perve@rt ( verb) as in Dont pervert the idea.

There are three degrees of stress in English Primary stress (indicated by @ -acute accentover the vowel of the syllable that receives more stress than the other syllable) Secondary stress (indicated by $ -grave accent- over the vowel of the syllable that receives intermediate amount of stress) Unstressed (no stress, indicated by the lack of a symbol).

In English, stress does not fall on the same syllable in every word. about abo @ut abbot a@bbot phoneme pho@ne$me phonemic phone@mic fu$ndame@ntal sy@stem syste@mic sy$stema@tic i$ntrodu@ce i$ntrodu@ctory

One syllable words always receive a primary stress when they are spoken in isolation. When such words are combined into phrases or sentences not of the words receive a primary stress.

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Intonation

ho@t + do@g -- > ho@t do$g ( a type of sausage) ho@t + do@g -- > ho$t do@g ( an overheated dog) re@d + co@at -- > Re@dco$at (a British soldier) re@d + co@at -- > re$d co@at ( a coat that is red in color) whi@te + ho@use -- > Whi@te Ho$use ( the U.S. presidents house) whi@te + ho@use -- > whi$te ho@use ( a house that is white in color)

In English, people make use of four levels of pitch in speaking.

4 extra high 3 high 2 normal 1 low

2 Are you 3there3 ? This 2 3 3 pattern is the pitch signal for questions. Such patterns are called intonation contours. The extra-high level 4 is used as a substitute for level 3 when you wish to express special emphasis or excitement. There are variations. You may find 2 2 1 in Im going home instead of 2 3 1 pattern.

The normal pitch level of a persons speaking voice is called level 2. From this level 2, the voice goes either up or down.
2I Im m going 3 home 1

You start with level 2 until you reach the last primary stress. The voice rises one level to level 3 and then falls to level 1 at the end of the sentence. This 2 3 1 pattern is the pitch signal for statements.

A. 2 3 1 pattern
This contour occurs in three kinds of sentences. 1 A. Statement or declarative sentences: 2We drove to the 3lake1 2.A. Commands: 2Go to your 3room1 3.A. Wh-word questions: 2Who is your 3friend1

B. 2 3 3 pattern
This contour is used in three situations. 1.B. Yes-or-no questions with statement word order: 2Hes 3going3 2 B Yes-or-no questions with question word order: 2.B. 2Is he 3going3 3.B. Introductory phrases or clauses, before the rest of the sentence: 2In 3short3 thats2 what we must 3do1 2If youll 3wait3 we2 can have lunch to3gether1

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c. 2 2 3 2 3 2 3 1 pattern

This contour is used for series, where three different items are mentioned together. In writing, the three items are usually set off by commas.

2She prefers 2oranges3 2apples3 2and 3cherries1 2She looked under the 2bed3 in the 2drawer3 2and in the 3closet1.

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