Pitch Pitch Pitch refers to the rate of vibration of the vocal cords. The higher the vibration, the higher the pitch. Thus sounds are said with a high pitch, low pitch or a normal pitch. Pitch of a sound is an auditory property that enables a listener to place it on a scale going from low to high… When speech goes up in frequency, it also goes up in pitch (Ladefoged, p. 23)Ladefoged, p. 23)

Levels of PitchLevels of Pitch

44 extra Highextra High33 High naHigh na

22 Normal ____________imagiNormal ____________imagi11 Low tionLow tion

Normal conversation moves between high and Normal conversation moves between high and normal pitch with low pitch typically signaling the normal pitch with low pitch typically signaling the end of an utterance. end of an utterance. Extra highExtra high level is used to level is used to express a strong emotion such as surprise, express a strong emotion such as surprise, enthusiasm, or disbelief and used in contrastive or enthusiasm, or disbelief and used in contrastive or emphatic stress. emphatic stress.

Linguistic info conveyed Linguistic info conveyed by pitchby pitch

Syntactic information Syntactic information : pitch marks the : pitch marks the boundaries of grammatical units.boundaries of grammatical units.

I have this little sister Lola I have this little sister Lola // she is she is small small / / and very funnyand very funny..

Linguistic information conveyed by PitchLinguistic information conveyed by Pitch Lexical InformationLexical Information: Pitch can : Pitch can

differentiate meaning of identical wordsdifferentiate meaning of identical words

IntonationIntonation

A pattern of changing pitch during an utterance (a phrase, clause, sentence) to convey linguistic

information. The variations taking place in the pitch of the voice in connected speech.

The pattern of changing pitch is perceived as the melody - falling or rising intonation.

Intonation Pattern The change of pitch starts on the tonic The change of pitch starts on the tonic

syllable and continues till the end of the syllable and continues till the end of the Intonation unit.Intonation unit.

You must be *VERY brave

Intonation Phrase Intonation Phrase

Intonation Phrase/ Tone unit: The part of The part of an utterance over which a particular an utterance over which a particular intonation patterns extends:intonation patterns extends:

When you wanna take a picture / just press this button

Enough of them / were supportive of what I did / even if they couldn’t tell me

Functions of IntonationFunctions of Intonation1- Intonation can reflect the grammatical function of an utterance (i.e.

it is a syntactic marker: it may signal a phrase boundary, differentiae declarative statements from questions, or denote incompleteness or uncertainty )

- She’s gone

- She’s gone?

" Do you want me to do it NOW?"

“Do it now”

2- Convey an attitude or emotion or a mental state. That is, intonation ntonation signals speaker’s attitude toward what she is saying.signals speaker’s attitude toward what she is saying.

Great! Great!

NoNo

No?No?

Types of Intonation

Falling Intonation: The pitch begins to fall The pitch begins to fall on theon the

accented syllable and it continues to fall till the accented syllable and it continues to fall till the end of the tone unit.end of the tone unit.

assertions, matter-of-fact statements, finality.

Rising Intonation: The pitch begins to rise The pitch begins to rise on theon the

accented syllable and it continues to fall rise till accented syllable and it continues to fall rise till the end of the tone unit.the end of the tone unit.

questioning, uncertain statements, continuation.

Falling Intonation

NO. it will RAIN in a minute.

Falling Intonation

Declarative statements I am going home wh- questions Who will help?

Where are you going? Exclamations How beautiful! What a nice day!

Imperatives Get out1

Turn the lights on! Question tags when you expect an answer “Yes”.

The car is ready, isn’t it?

Rising Intonation Yes/no questions Are you feeling better? Tag questions when we expect a negative answer or tags

intended as a genuine Yes/No answer. You like chocolate, don't you?

You have left the door open, haven't you?

He usually arrives at NOON, DOESn't he? Statements to encourage the listener:

Come on! You can make it. Come On! It won't take a minute.

Yes-no questions in statement formhe is gone?

Incomplete sentences (speaker intends to continue)

If you wait here,….

Well if you are going to play,….

Activity 1Activity 1Say with what intonation pattern

each of these sentences is said:1- I like tea2- Do you like chocolate? 3- If you listen to me, …4- You would like this coat, don’t

you? (expecting a negative answer)

5- What’s your ID?

Activity 2: Match the meanings of each version to the Activity 2: Match the meanings of each version to the interpretation belowinterpretation below

1. She DIDn’t take the car 2. She didn’t take the CAR3. SHE didn’t take the car

i. Someone else must have ii. So stop accusing her iii. She must have gone on foot or by

bus

Activity 3: Match the meanings of each version to Activity 3: Match the meanings of each version to the interpretation belowthe interpretation below

1.1. he thought the film was GOOD he thought the film was GOOD

2.2. He thought the FILM was goodHe thought the FILM was good

3.3. HE thought the film was good HE thought the film was good

i.i. But the music was awful But the music was awful

ii.ii. She didnShe didn’’t, thought, though

iii.iii. Oh really? The critics hated it Oh really? The critics hated it

Intonation in Arabic Arabic and English have fairly similar intonation patterns.

Arabic learners still have problems in English intonation as they tend to adopt Arabic intonation.

English mainly uses word order and grammatical words to form questions, intonation is the major signal for questions in colloquial Arabic.

There are various intonation patterns in English showing various meanings depending on the speaker’s intention (friendly, polite, detached, reserved, reassuring) which the Arabic speaker is not aware of. This may cause Arabic speakers to sound abrupt and commanding when speaking English.

Differences between English and Arabic intonation patterns

1- The intonation pattern of the tag-question in Arabic is always rising, the same as that of any other question without a question word..

English tags with a rising intonation means the

speaker is expecting disagreement from the listener; if he/she expects agreement, a falling intonation is used.

Arabic speaker of tag questions expects, rather than demands, agreement

Differences between English and Arabic intonation patterns

2- Calling on persons: in English: If the name is stressed on the last

syllable, e.g. (Marie), it may take the rising intonation pattern.

If the name is stressed on the first syllable such as "Harry and Jane", it may take the falling pattern.

In Arabic, the most commonly used pattern is the second case.

Suggestions for Teaching Intonation (1) Suggestions for Teaching Intonation (1)

1. T. must make sure that their students understand the stress patterns and weak forms.

2. T. must show learners the relationships between grammatical patterns and intonation (questions, statements), e.g. falling intonation for affirmative or WH. questions; Rising intonation for tone questions and yes –no questions

3. Attitudinal intonation should be introduced contextually so that the learner can associate between the type of intonation and the spoken attitude.

Suggestions for Teaching Intonation (2) Suggestions for Teaching Intonation (2)

4. Intonation arrows: draw a little box over each stressed syllable. Add a small intonation arrow coming out from the right of each box, showing the direction of the intonation e.g. if the intonation starts high and then falls, draw arrow from the top- right corner of the box going diagonally down.

5. Role Play and dialogues

6. It’s necessary to produce intonation after native speakers model, tape recorder, computer and radio.

Suggestions for Teaching Intonation (3) Suggestions for Teaching Intonation (3)

7. One-Word Conversation 7. One-Word Conversation

Write a number of single words(e.g. yes, today, sorry, bread Write a number of single words(e.g. yes, today, sorry, bread

etc.) on pieces of paper. Make groups of three-and give each etc.) on pieces of paper. Make groups of three-and give each

group one of the pieces of paper. group one of the pieces of paper.

Tell the class a situation-(e.g. “Two people think the third Tell the class a situation-(e.g. “Two people think the third

person is a thief.” It is one person’s birthday.”) Then person is a thief.” It is one person’s birthday.”) Then

the students must have a conversation, but the only word the students must have a conversation, but the only word

anyone can say is the one on their paper to express different anyone can say is the one on their paper to express different

ideas or emotions through intonations.ideas or emotions through intonations.

Suggestions for Teaching Intonation (4) Suggestions for Teaching Intonation (4)

8. Marking Texts:Ask learners to listen to a short dialogue while Ask learners to listen to a short dialogue while looking at the printed text. looking at the printed text.

The learners must (a) decide which syllables The learners must (a) decide which syllables are prominent (i.e. are strongly stressed in the are prominent (i.e. are strongly stressed in the sentence) – and then- (b) which direction the sentence) – and then- (b) which direction the intonation moves after these stresses. intonation moves after these stresses.

When learners are sure, they should mark the When learners are sure, they should mark the text (using the boxes). text (using the boxes).