Intonation - SS3 English Lesson Note

Intonation is the variation in pitch used to indicate the speaker's attitudes and emotions, to highlight or focus an expression, to signal the illocutionary act performed by a sentence, or to regulate the flow of discourse.

WH questions are questions that start with a WH word, such as who, what, where, when, why, or how. WH questions are typically asked in a rising intonation, which means that the pitch of the voice goes up at the end of the question. This indicates that the speaker is seeking information.

For example, the question "Who is that?" would be asked in a rising intonation. This indicates that the speaker is asking for the identity of the person in question.

Falling intonation is used to indicate a statement or command. For example, the sentence "That is my friend" would be said in a falling intonation. This indicates that the speaker is stating a fact.

Here are some examples of WH questions and their intonation:

• Who is that? (rising intonation)
• What is your name? (rising intonation)
• Where are you from? (rising intonation)
• When did you arrive? (rising intonation)
• Why are you here? (rising intonation)
• How are you doing? (rising intonation)

Here are some examples of statements and their intonation:

• That is my friend. (falling intonation)
• I am going to the store. (falling intonation)
• I like to eat pizza. (falling intonation)
• I am tired. (falling intonation)