INTONATION 2

Chapter 16

What is an intonation language?

It is a language in which substituting one distinctive tone for another on a particular word or morpheme can cause a change in the (lexical) dictionary meaning of that word

What is a tone unit?

An utterance of one or more than one syllable

It has a tonic syllable and a tonic stress

What is a tonic syllable?

A syllable that carries a tone

Is that ∕ you?

What is a tonic stress?

A stress carried by the tonic syllable

The structure of the tone-unit

SimpleOne tonic

syllable

Complex Two tonic syllables

The structure of intonation is composed of:

1. The head

2. The pre-head

3. The tail

1 .The head is:

All the part of the tone unit that extends from the first stressed syllable up to but not including the tonic syllable

The head tonic syllable

‘Give me \those

2 .Pre-head

All the unstressed syllables in atone unit preceding the first stressed syllables

1. When there is no head

pre-head tonic syllable

In an \hour

2. When there is a head

Pre-head head tonic syllable

In a ‘little ‘less than an \hour

3 .The tail

Any syllable between the tonic syllable and the end of the tone- unit

tonic syllable tail\Look at it

tonic syllable tail ∕What did you say

We can summarize the tone-unit structure as:

(PH) (H) TS (T)

In a ‘little ‘less than an \hour I think

where is the head?

‘Bill is \here

‘Sara ‘called to ‘give me \these

If ‘They ‘wouldn’t \care

Where is the pre-head?

On the ‘black \table

To the ‘left \hand there

Where is the tail?

\Both of them

If it \rains outside

True or false:

A tonic syllable carries only the tone and not the tonic stress

Χ The structure of the tone unit could be simple or

complex

√ A head extends from the first stressed syllable and

includes the tonic syllable

Χ

True or false:

The pre-head all the unstressed syllables preceding the second stressed syllable

Χ A pre-head could precede a head or tonic syllable

√ Syllables between the tonic syllable and the end of

the tone-unit

√