Intonation

American Speech Music

There are 6 major aspects of intonation in American English:

 New Information
 Contrast
 Meaning
 Pronunciation
 Mood or Personality
 Cultural Understanding

Language conveys very specific information, such as how to get somewhere or what someone is
doing. It can be also used beyond the exact meaning of the words to indicate how the speaker
feels about what he is saying, or how he personally feels at that moment.

Generally speaking, if English is not your first language, this is where you start running into
difficulty. Even if you pronounce each word clearly, if your intonation patterns are non-standard,
your meaning will probably not be clear. Also, in terms of comprehension, you will lose a great
deal of information if you are listening for the actual words used.

Each language deals with expressing these emotional ranges and contextual importance in
different ways. Some languages, such as French and other Romance languages, stress the end
of a sentence, and then use word order to indicate an important change. Other languages, such
as Chinese, have a pitch change that indicates different vocabulary words, and then superimpose
further pitch change to change meaning or emotion.

Because English has a fairly strictly fixed word order, it is not an option to rearrange the words
when we want to make a point about something. Intonation in American English is the rise and
fall of pitch in order to convey a range of meanings, emotions or situations, within the confines of
standard grammar and fixed word order. The intonation aspects of grammar are explained in
compound nouns and complex grammar.

This is the starting point of standard intonation. When we say that we need to stress the
new information, it's logical to think, "Hmmm, this is the first time I'm saying this
sentence, so it's all new information. I'd better stress every word." Well, not quite. In
standard English, we consider that the nouns carry the weight of a sentence, when all else
is equal. Although the verb carries important information, it does not receive the primary
stress of a first-time noun.
Dogs eat bones.
After the information has been introduced, or is being repeated through the use of
pronouns, the intonation shifts over to the verb. Notice how the intonation changes when
a sentence changes from nouns to pronouns:

Dogs eat bones.

They eat them.

Phrasing
In addition to the intonation of a statement, there is another aspect of speech that
indicates meaning -- phrasing. Have you ever caught just a snippet of a conversation in
your own language, and somehow known how to piece together what came before or
after the part you heard? This has to do with your natural understanding of phrasing. In a
sentence, phrasing tells you where the speaker is at the moment, where he is going, and if
he is finished or not. Notice that the intonation stays on the nouns.

Statement First half, second half

Stress the nouns and let the tone The first half of a sentence usually
fall at the end of the sentence. sets up the second half.
Dogs eat bones. Dogs eat bones, but cats eat fish.

Intro Phrase Listing

When you want to preface your With more than one item in a list, all
statement, use a rising tone. but the last one have a rising tone.
As we all know, dogs eat bones. Dogs eat bones, kibbles and
meat.

Question Repeated Question

A regular question goes up A repeated, rhetorical or emotional
(compared with a statement), but question goes up, and then up
drops back down at the end. again at the end.
Do dogs eat bones? Do dogs eat bones?!

You'll notice, of course, that the dogs-eat-bones sentence uses simple nouns and simple
verbs. An extremely important part of intonation is compound nouns and complex verb
tenses.

Contrast

Once the intonation of new information is established, you'll soon notice that there is a
pattern that breaks that flow. When you want to emphasize one thing over another, you
reflect this contrast with pitch change. Notice how the intonation indicates contrast:

Bob studies English.

Bob studies English, but he doesn't use it.

If a person consistently stresses "contrast words" as opposed to "new information words",

he can end up sounding permanently argumentative:
I said it is good.

He doesn't like it. Where are you going?

Additionally, mixed messages occur when modals or verbs of perception are stressed --
you end up with the opposite meaning!

People should exercise more, but . . .

They would help us, if . . .

It looks like Chanel, but at that price, it's a knock-off.

He seems like a nice guy, but once you get to know him . . .

Meaning

A good exercise to demonstrate the variety of meaning through intonation changes is to

take a single sentence, try stressing each word in turn, and see the totally different
meanings that come out.

1. I didn't say he stole the money.

2. I didn't say he stole the money.
3. I didn't say he stole the money.
4. I didn't say he stole the money.
5. I didn't say he stole the money.
6. I didn't say he stole the money.
7. I didn't say he stole the money.

Once you are clear on the intonation changes in the seven sentences, you can add context
words to clarify the meaning:

1. I didn't say he stole the money, someone else said it.

2. I didn't say he stole the money, that's not true at all.
3. I didn't say he stole the money, I only suggested the possibility.
4. I didn't say he stole the money, I think someone else took it.
5. I didn't say he stole the money, maybe he just borrowed it.
6. I didn't say he stole the money, but rather some other money.
7. I didn't say he stole the money, he may have taken some jewelry.

Pronunciation

In any language, there are areas of overlap, where one category has a great deal in
common with a different category. In this case, intonation and pronunciation have two
areas of overlap. First is the pronunciation of the letter T. When a T is at the beginning of
a word (such as table, ten, take), it is a clear sharp sound. It is also clear in combination
with certain other letters, (contract, contain, etc.) When T is in the middle of a word (or in
an unstressed position), it turns into a softer D sound. (This is covered in more detail in
pronunciation.)
Betty bought a bit of better butter.
Beddy bada bida bedder budder.

It is this intonation/pronunciation shift that accounts for the difference between

photography (phoTAgraphy) and photograph (PHOdagraph).

Mood & Personality

This is an extremely important aspect of intonation, as it goes beyond what you are trying
to say--it dictates how your listener will relate to you as an individual--if you will be
considered charming or rude, confident or nervous, informed or unfamiliar.
An extremely important part of intonation is inside a one-syllable word. Intonation in a
one-syllable word? Isn't that a contradiction in terms? No, we put in little sounds that are
not in the written language, but that convey a great deal of information in terms of who
we are. (These extra sounds are explained in liaisons.)
When we contrast two similar words, one ending with a voiced consonant (d, z, g, v, b)
and the other with an unvoiced consonant (t, s, k, f, p), you will hear the difference in the
preceding vowel, specifically in the length or duration of that vowel.

Simply put, words that end in a voiced consonant have a doubled vowel sound. For
example, if you say bit, it is a quick, sharp sound--a single musical note. If you say bid,
however, the word is stretched out, it has two musical notes, the first one higher than the
second, bi-id. pronunciation.

  single double

tense beat bead

lax bit bid

Compound Nouns

There are 2 stress patterns for nouns: 

Descriptions & Compound nouns

One of the first things you learn about intonation is that nouns carry the new information,
and consequently, they carry the stress in a sentence.

Dogs eat bones.

But what if you have an adjective with the noun, or two nouns together -- which word do
you stress?
In this case, you have to make a simple decision: Either stress the first word or the second
word (rarely both). How do you know which one to stress? Well, if it is a description
(with no contrast), skim over the adjective and stress the noun:

a nice guy
a big house
a good idea

If you have a two nouns that form a compound noun, stress the first word:

a hot dog
a notebook
a picture frame

This will explain why we say:

He lives in a white house.

He lives in the White House.

After you have mastered first-word or second-word stress, you can go on the more
complex intonation:

It's a pot.
It's new.
It's a new pot.
It's brand new.
It's a brand new pot.
It's a tea pot.
It's a new tea pot.
It's a brand new tea pot.
It's a tea pot lid.
It's a new tea pot lid.
It's a brand new tea pot lid.

Grammar in a Nutshell
Simple
Perfect
Conditional

One of the most interesting thing about English is that you can have a simple sentence
such as...

Dogs eat bones.

... and the same sentence with a much more complex verb tense, but you will keep the
same intonation pattern:
The dogs will have eaten the bones.

Because they are both Noun-Verb-Noun sentences with no contrast, you automatically
stress the noun each time. The verb is said very quickly and without much stress at all.
Furthermore, the natural liaisons make the sound very different from the spelling:

Dogs eat bones.

[däg zeet bounz]

The dogs will have eaten the bones.

[the däg z'l'veetn the bounz]

When you switch to a Pronoun-Verb-Pronoun sentence, the liaisons are the same, but the
main verb is stressed.

They eat them.

[they ee d'm.]

They will have eaten them.

[they l'v ee(t)n'm.]

Listen carefully to a radio broadcast and notice how complex verb tenses are used and
pronounced.
 Liaisons
There are four main points where liaisons happen:

Consonant & Vowel

Consonant &  Consonant

Vowel & Vowel

T, D, S, or Z & the Y sound

In American English, words are not pronounced one by one. Usually, the end of one word
attaches to the beginning of the next word. This is also true for initials, numbers, and spelling.
Part of the glue that connects sentences is an underlying hum or drone that only breaks when
you come to a period, and sometimes not even then. You have this underlying hum in your own
language and it helps a great deal toward making you sound like a native speaker.

Once you have a strong intonation, you need to connect all those stairsteps together so that each
sentence sounds like one long word.

The dime.
The dime easier.
They tell me the dime easier.
They tell me the dime easier to understand.
They tell me that I'm easier to understand.
The last two sentences above should be pronounced exactly the same, no matter how they are
written. It is the sound that is important, not the spelling.

Consonant & Vowel

Words are connected when a words ends in a consonant sound and the next word starts
with a vowel sound, including the semivowels W, Y and R. (You can check out the
individual sounds as well: Pronunciation).

Spelling Pronunciation

My name is Ann. [my nay mi zæn]

American accent [amer'k' næksent]

You also use liaisons in spelling and numbers.

Spelling Pronunciation

LA [eh lay]

909-5068 [näi nou näin, fäi vo sick sate]

Consonant & Consonant

Words are connected when a word ends in a consonant sound and the next word starts
with a consonant that is in a similar position.

  Lips Behind Teeth Throat

Unvoiced P, F T, Ch, S, Sh K, H

Voiced B, V D, J, Z, Zh G, Ng, R

For example, if a word ends with a letter from the Behind Teeth category and the next
word starts with a letter from that same category, these words are going to naturally join
together. This is the same for Lips and Throat.

Spelling Pronunciation

I just didn't get the chance [I jussdidn't ge(t)the chance]

I've been late twice. [äivbin la(t)twice]

Vowel & Vowel

When a word ending in a vowel sound is next to one beginning with a vowel sound, they
are connected with a glide between the two vowels.

Spelling Pronunciation

Go away. [go(w)away]

I also need the other one. [äi(y)älso need the(y)other one]

A glide is either a slight [y] sound or a slight [w] sound. How do you know which one to
use? This will take care of itself--the position your lips are in will dictate either [y] or
[w].

For example, if a word ends in [o], your lips are going to be in the forward position, so a
[w] quite naturally leads into the next vowel sound: [Go(w)away].

After a long [e] sound, you lips will be pulled back far enough to create a [y] glide or
liaison: [I(y)also need the(y)other one]. Don't force this sound too much, though. It's not a
strong pushing sound.

T, D, S or Z + Y

When the letter or sound of T, D, S or Z is followed by a word that starts with Y, or its
sound, both sounds are connected. These letters and sounds connect not only with Y, but
they do so as well with the initial unwritten [y] sound of syllables and words. They form
a combination that changes the pronunciation.

T + Y = CH
Spelling Pronunciation

What's your name? [Whacher name?]

Can't you do it? [Canchoo do it?]

Don't you like it? [Donchoo like it?]

actually [achully]

D+Y=J
Spelling Pronunciation

What did you do? [Whajoo do?]

Would you help me? [Wüjoo help me?]

Did you like it? [Didja like it?]

graduation [graju(w)ation]

S + Y = SH
Spelling Pronunciation

insurance [inshurance]
sugar [shüg'r]

Z + Y = ZH
Spelling Pronunciation

How's your family? [howzher family?]

Who's your friend? [hoozhier friend?]

casual [kazhyoow'l]

usual [yuzhoow'l]
 Pronunciation
Here are the big 6, in terms of pronunciation:

Bat? Bought? But?

The American T
The American R
The American L
Tee Aitch
I and E

Once you have thoroughly studied intonation and word connections, you can begin to address
pronunciation.

The three most important sounds are [æ], [ä], and [uh], also called the schwa.

The American R

The American R is like a vowel because it does not touch anywhere in the mouth. In
Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Greek and many other languages, the R is a consonant
because it touches behind the teeth. The American R is produced deep in the throat. Like
the French R and the German R, the American R is in the throat, but unlike those two
consonant sounds, it doesn't touch. Let's contrast two similar sounds: [ä] and [r]. Hold
your hand out in front of you, with your palm up, like you are holding a tray on it.
Slightly drop your hand down, and say ah, like you want the doctor to see your throat.
Now, curl your fingers up slightly, and say [r]. Your tongue should feel in about the same
position as your hand

Bat? Bought? But?

æ
Let's start with the [æ] sound. Although it's not a common sound, [æ] is very distinctive
to the ear, and is typically American. In the practice paragraph vowel chart, this sound
occurs 5 times. As its phonetic symbol indicates, [æ] is a combination of [ä] + [e]. To
pronounce it, drop your jaw down as if you were going to say [ä]; then from that position,
try to say eh. The final sound is not two separate vowels, but rather the end result of the
combination. It is very close to the sound that a goat makes: ma-a-a-ah!

If you find yourself getting too nasal with [æ], pinch your nose as you say it. Go to the
practice paragraph and find the 5 [æ] sounds, including [æu] as in down or out.

ä
The [ä] sound is a more common sound than [æ]; you will find 10 such sounds in the
practice paragraph. To pronounce [ä], relax your tongue and drop your jaw as far down as
it will go. As a matter of fact, put your hand under your chin and say [mä], [pä], [tä], [sä].
Your hand should be pushed down by your jaw as it opens. Remember, it's the sound that
you make when the doctor wants to see your throat.

uh
Last is the schwa, the most common sound in American English. When you work on the
practice paragraph, depending on how fast you speak, how smoothly you make liaisons,
how strong your intonation is, how much you relax your sounds, you will find from 50 to
75 schwas. Spelling doesn't help identify it, because it can appear as any one of the
vowels, or a combination of them. It is a neutral vowel sound, uh. It is usually in an
unstressed syllable, though it can be stressed as well.

Whenever you find a vowel that can be crossed out and its absence wouldn't change the
pronunciation of the word, you have probably found a schwa: photography [f'tägr'fee]
(the two apostrophes show the location of the neutral vowel sounds).

Because it is so common, however, the wrong pronunciation of this one little sound can
leave your speech strongly accented, even if you Americanize everything else.

Remember, some dictionaries use two different written characters, the upside down e &
[^] for the neutral uh sound, but for simplicity, we are only going to use the first one.

Silent or Neutral?

A schwa is neutral, but it is not silent. By comparison, the silent E at the end of a word is
a signal for pronunciation, but it is not pronounced itself: code is [kod]. The E tells you to
say an [o]. If you leave the E off, you have cod, [käd]. The schwa, on the other hand, is
neutral, but it is an actual sound, uh. For example, you could also write photography as
phuh-tah-gruh-fee.

The schwa is a neutral sound, (no distinctive characteristics), but it is the most common
sound in the English language. To make the uh sound, put your hand on your diaphragm
and push until a grunt escapes. Don't move your jaw, tongue or lips, just allow the sound
to flow past your vocal cords. It should sound like uh, not ah.
Once you master the two sounds [æ] and uh, you will have an easier time pronouncing
'can' and 'can't'. In a sentence, the simple positive 'can' sound like [k'n]. The simple
negative 'can't' sounds like [kæn(t)].

Intention Spelling Pronunciation

Positive I can do it. [I k'n do it.

Negative I can't do it. I kæn(t) do it.

Extra Positive I can do it. I kææn do it.

Extra Negative I can't do it. I kænt do it.

Vowel Chart

In the vowel chart that follows, the four corners represent the four most extreme positions
of the mouth. The center box represents the least extreme position -- the neutral schwa.
For these four positions, only move your lips and jaw. Your tongue should stay in the
same place -- with the tip resting behind the bottom teeth.

LIPS JAW

beat bought

but

boot bat

Practice these sounds:

[æ] [ä] [uh]

Ann on un-

ban bond bun

can con come

cat caught cut

rat rot run

Fæst Dæncing Næncy

Mälly's Välleybäll
S'nday or M'nday?

The American T

The American T is influenced very strongly by intonation and its position in a word or
phrase. It can be a little tricky if you try to base your pronunciation on spelling alone.

There are, however, 4 basic rules: [T is T], [T is D], [T is Silent], [T is Held].

1 Top of the Staircase [T is T]

If the T is at the beginning of a word (or the top of the staircase), it is a strong, clear T
sound.

1. In the beginning of a word: table, take, tomorrow, teach, ten, turn Thomas tried
two times.
2. With a stressed T and ST, TS, TR, CT, LT and sometimes NT combinations:
They control the contents.
3. In the past tense, D sounds like T, after an unvoiced consonant sound — f, k, p, s,
ch, sh, th (but not T).
picked [pikt], hoped [houpt], raced [rast], watched [wächt], washed [wäsht]
It took Tim ten times to try the telephone.

2 Middle of the Staircase [T is D]

If the T is in the middle of the word, intonation changes the sound to a soft D.
Letter sounds like [ledder].

Water, daughter, bought a, caught a, lot of, got a, later, meeting, better

Practice these sentences:

What a good idea. [w'd' güdäi deey']

Put it in a bottle. [pü di di n' bäd'l]

Get a better water heater. [gedda bedder wäder heeder]

Put all the data in the computer. [püdall the dayd' in the k'mpyuder]

Patty ought to write a better letter. [pædy äd' ride a bedder ledder]

3 [T is Silent]
T and N are so close in the mouth that the [t] can disappear.
  interview [innerview]
 international [innernational]
 advantage [ædvæn'j]
 percentage [percen'j]

If the T is at the end of a word, you almost don't hear it at all.

 put, what, lot, set, hot, sit, shot, brought.

 That's quite right, isn't it?

4 Bottom of the Staircase [T is Held]

With -tain, -tten and some TN combinations, the T is held. The "held T" is, strictly
speaking, not really a T at all. Remember, [t] and [n] are very close in the mouth. If you
have [n] immediately after [t], you don't pop the [t]—the tongue is in the [t] position, but
your release the air for the [n] not the [t]. Make sure you don't put a schwa before the [n].
An important point to remember is that you need a sharp upward sliding intonation up to
the "held T," then a quick drop for the N.

Written, certain, forgotten, sentence:

 He's forgotten the carton of satin mittens.

 She's certain that he has written it.
 Martin has gotten a kitten.

The American L

The American L has two different pronunciations in English (of course, otherwise it
would be too easy!). In the beginning or middle of a word, the tongue tip touches just
behind the teeth — on those hard ridges. In this position, the L shouldn't give you much
trouble. The difficulty begins when the L is at the end of a word. Because the letter L has
a shorter, sharper pronunciation in other languages, this will carry over into English,
where the whole word will just sound too short. At the end of a word, the L is especially
noticeable if it is either missing (Chinese) or too short (Spanish). You need to put a little
schwa sound before the final L. If you want to say the word ball, [bäl], it will sound too
short if you don't say [bä-uhl]. You may even need to add a tiny schwa at the end to
finish off the L, [bä-uh-luh].

One way to avoid the pronunciation difficulty of a final L, such as in call, is to make a
liaison when the next word begins with a vowel. For example, if you want to say I have
to call on my friend, let the liaison do your work for you; say, [I have to kä-län my
friend].

Tee Aitch
The most common word in the English language is THE, so after the schwa, [th] would
be the sound you would hear most often, which is why it is so important to master it. ([th]
also exists in English, Greek and Castillian Spanish.) Besides 'the,' there are several other
very common words that start with a voiced [th]:
 this
 that
 these
 those
 they
 them
 their
 there
 then

Just as with most of the other consonants, there are two types— voiced and unvoiced.
The voiced TH is like a D, but instead of being in back of the teeth, it's 1/4 inch lower
and forward, between the teeth. The unvoiced TH is like an S between the teeth. Most
people tend to replace the unvoiced TH with S or T and the voiced one with Z or D.
Instead of thing, they say sing, or ting. Instead of that, they say zat or dat.

To pronounce TH correctly, think of a snake's tongue. You don't want to take a big
relaxed tongue and push it far between your teeth and just leave it out there. Make only a
very quick, sharp little movement. Keep the tip of your tongue very tense. It darts out
between your teeth and snaps back very quickly.

I and E

These two sounds probably give you a lot of trouble. One reason for this is that most
languages don't make a distinction here. Another reason is that there are four ways of
saying these two sounds, depending what the final consonant is.

This another place where intonation and pronunciation overlap. When you say the long
[e], it is a tense vowel sound. You slightly draw your lips back and raise the back of your
tongue. When you say the short [i], it is a lax vowel sound. Don't move your lips AT
ALL and open your throat.

If the final consonant is unvoiced (whispered), [t, k, f, p, s, sh, ch], then the middle vowel
sound is quick and sharp: [bit] or [beet] If the final consonant is voiced (spoken), [d, g, v,
b, z, zh, j] or any vowel, then the middle vowel sound is doubled: [bi-id] or [bee-eed].

  single double

tense beat bead

lax bit bid

On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being a standard American accent) using this program, what
level do you think you can achieve?

Read the following sentence aloud in a clear voice.

There was a time when people really had a way with words.

Listen to me say the sentence, and imitate exactly how it sounds to you. Relax your throat,
and speak from your chest. Use a deep, full voice to repeat the sentence.
There was a time when people really had a way with words.

Read the following sentence out loud.

Betty wanted to get a better water heater in the later meeting on Saturday.

Next, read the sentence again, replacing the letter T with a D sound. For instance, little
would sound like liddle.
Betty wanted to get a better water heater in the later meeting on Saturday. Analysis

Read the following sentence out loud.

Bob brought a tall bottle of water all along the long wall of Holland.

Read the sentence again, pronouncing all underlined vowels as an AH sound. For
instance, hop on pop would sound like hahp ahn pahp.
Bob brought a tall bottle of water all along the long wall of Holland.

Read the following paragraph out loud, stopping at each period and comma.
Hello, my name is ______. I’m taking American Accent Training. There’s a lot to learn, but I
hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation
pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice all of the time.

Read the following groups of words out loud:

All, long, caught

Cat, matter, laugh

Take, say, fail

Get, egg, any

Ice, I’ll, sky

Cat, matter, laugh

Eat, me, seen

Work, girl, bird

Come, front, indicate

Smooth, too, shoe

Took, full, would

Told, so, roll

Out, horse, round

Boy, oil, toy