Intonation (speech)

Intonation is about the variation in pitch of speech which may change meaning. How something is said may change its meaning. All spoken languages use this tactic.

"He found it on the street?" It is a question when street in emphasised (technically, rising pitch).

"Yes, he found it on the street". (street not emphasised, not rising pitch)

The study of intonations is part of prosody.^[1]^[2]

A simple example which shows how important prosody is. A parent says to a child "well done". Without some annotation, one can't decide whether the child has indeed done well, or whether it has {say} knocked a glass of milk over.

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References

↑ Crystal, David 1969. Prosodic systems and intonation in English. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-07387-5
↑ Trager, George L. & Smith, Henry Lee 1951. An outline of English structure. American Council of Learned Societies.

[1] Crystal, David 1969. Prosodic systems and intonation in English. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-07387-5

[2] Trager, George L. & Smith, Henry Lee 1951. An outline of English structure. American Council of Learned Societies.

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