Intonation in English

Intonation is the rise and fall of the voice in speaking, which affects the meaning of what is being said. There are four basic intonation patterns, namely: falling tune, rising tune, falling-rising, and rising-falling. English speakers use intonation to express their attitude towards what is being said, and towards the listener. This is called the attitudinal function of intonation. Secondly, they use intonation to differentiate among the various types of sentences or utterances, such as declarative sentences (or statements), interrogative sentences (questions), exclamatory sentences (or interjections), tag questions, etc. This is known as the grammatical functions of intonation.

Let’s give a few examples.Attitude can be expressed through a change in the intonation pattern. If you are asked the question, “Are you British?” You may reply, “Yes.” However, what shows your real attitude towards the question itself is the intonation pattern used in expressing your response. For example, a yes with the falling tune could imply direct affirmation. However, yes with a rising tune could imply doubt, disbelief, anger, or surprise. It could even signify your attitude towards the mental state of the questioner. Of course, there are so many ways in which speakers use intonation patterns to express various attitudes towards the conversation topic, or towards the addressee.

English speakers also use intonation patterns to specify the type of sentence they are using in their conversation. For example, the falling tune is normally used in statements. Examples: A. John is a school teacher. B. Messi plays for Barcelona. These two utterances are expressed with the falling tune, showing that they are statements.The rising tune is used in asking yes or no questions. Examples: A. Can you drive? B. Will you visit us this weekend? These two utterances use the rising tune, and they are used in tag questions. Examples: A. Jack is a good boy, isn’t he? B. Mary sings beautifully, doesn’t she?

For a more detailed explanation of Intonation in English, watch the following video: