intonation

(noun)

The rise and fall of the voice in speaking. Some texts use "inflection" instead of intonation to indicate change in pitch.

Related Terms

Examples of intonation in the following topics:

  • Articulation and Pronunciation

    • Articulation focuses on making individual sounds and pronunciation focuses on stress, rhythm, and intonation of the syllables in the word.
    • Pronunciation refers to the ability to use the correct stress, rhythm, and intonation of a word in a spoken language.
    • Your job in pronunciation involves recognizing the different syllables that make up a word, applying the stress to the right syllable and using the right up and down pitch pattern for intonation.
    • You can change the meaning by varying the intonation pattern.

  • Pitch

    • All languages use pitch pragmatically as intonation (or inflection as is used in some text) to communicate different meanings—for emphasis, to convey surprise or irony, or to pose a question.
    • Practice saying sentences with different intonation patterns to change the meaning.
    • For example, if you make a statement with falling intonation at the end, you can turn it into a question by raising the intonation at the end.

  • The Importance of Language

    • Speech contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage, including voice quality, rate, pitch, volume, and speaking style, as well as prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation, and stress.