UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS

SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS EDUCATION
M.ED ENGLISH(LANGUAGE)

2024/2025 SESSION

NAME: OLUWATOSIN EZEKIEL ERINOSHO

MATRIC NO: 170303525
COURSE CODE: ASE 812
COURSE TITLE: GENERAL LINGUISTICS AND TESL THEORIES
LECTURER IN CHARGE: PROF. O. A. ADEOSUN

TOPIC: 2.
Phonetics and Phonology
SUB-TOPIC: 2.6
Intonation patterns, functions and attitudinal meanings in the English

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TABLE OF CONTENT

1. Introduction

2. Definition of Intonation

3. Types of Intonation

3.1. The Fallen Intonation

3.2. The Rising Intonation

3.3. The Fall-Rise Intonation

3.4. The Rise-Fall Intonation

4. Functions of Intonation

5. Classroom Implication

6. Conclusion

7. References

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INTRODUCTION
Phonetics can be defined as the study of the production and perception of speech sounds. This
implies that phonetics the manner and place of articulation of sounds are part oof the concerns of
phonetics. In a simpler way, Phonetics is referred to as the study of speech sounds and their
physiological production and acoustic qualities. It is concerned with the configuration of the
vocal tracts used in speech production.
Phonology on the other hand is concerned with more complex and abstract patterns of sound
also, the structure of sound in a particular language and in other languages. It can also be said
that phonology is the study of the categorical organization of speech sounds in languages, that is,
how speech sound is used to convey meaning and how they are organized in the mind. We can
also infer that phonology is the study of speech sounds and how they vary in usage especially in
specific situations or their position in syllables, words, and sentences.
So basically, we can deduce that the major difference between phonetics and phonology is that
while phonetics deals with the production of speech sounds, phonology concerns itself with the
pattern of a particular speech sound in a certain syllable, word and sentence.
For better understanding, while a particular sound like /b/ is phonetically addressed as the sound,
phonology tends to look into how the sound /b/ varies in different position such as, at the initial,
medial and final position.
The sounds in English language are broadly divided into two parts which are vowel and
consonant sounds. The vowel sounds are the sounds produced without obstruction from the vocal
cord for example, /a, i,e/ while the consonant sounds are the English sounds produced with
obstructions from the vocal cord which could be at the lips, nose, teeth etc. We can identify that
there are twenty (20) vowel sounds in English which are divided into twelve (12) pure vowel
sounds also known as the monophthongs and eight (8) diphthongs. There are twelve pure vowel
sounds which are sub-divided into the long and the short vowel sounds. The long vowel sounds
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are easily identified by two dots /:/ known as the diacritical marks. There are five (5) long vowel
sounds while the short vowel sounds are seven (7) in number. The monophthongs are called that
because they are single sounds but the diphthongs are referred to as two sounds gliding into one
another. Triphthongs are also identified in the English sounds. The consonant sounds are twenty-
four (24) in number which can either be voiced or voiceless sounds. These twenty-four (24)
consonants sounds are grouped into plosives, fricatives, affricates, nasals, and approximants
according to the manner of articulations while they are grouped into bilabials, nasals, labio-
dental, velar, alveolar according to pace of articulation.
Phonological processes can be referred to as the different patterns of sound errors to simplify
speech as typically developing children are learning how to speak. This is different from
phonological disorder. The phonological processes become phonological disorders when the
processes are used past the typical age of elimination. There are different types of phonological
processes, some of which are assimilation, substitution processes, nasalization, syllable structure.
Stress pattern is referred to as the process through which we place emphasis on syllables within a
word, phrase, or sentence. Syllable stress, word stress, and contractive stress are few out of the
several types of stress. Word stress can as well be classified into primary, secondary and tertiary
stress. Emphasizing a specific syllable in a word or sentence is the major function of stress
pattern.

DEFINITION OF INTONATION
Intonation describes how the voice rises and falls in speech. It refers to the way in which the
voice changes in pitch to convey meaning. The meaning of an utterance is affected by intonation.
It plays a crucial role in conveying meaning, emotion, and emphasis. Intonation can affect the
interpretation of a sentence, such as distinguishing between a statement and a question.

Essentially, intonation is a prosodic element of human speech phonetically defines the human
speech as well as helps to express grammatical emotional and semantic meanings of sentences or
phrases.

The subject matter of intonation is a very complicated phenomenon; hence it varies in definition
among linguists. The meaning of intonation as it varies from linguists to linguists, has been given

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definition in two approaches as suggested by a class of linguist and phoneticians. These two
approaches are known as the “narrow definition and the “broad” definition.

Narrowly, intonation as discussed by the English and American phoneticians was defined as the
rise and fall of voice.

Uzbek and Russian scholars provided the broad definition of intonation as a complex unity of
such components as accent, voice timbre, tempo of speech, rhythm and pausation in pitch
variations. This definition of intonation is the only controversial approach that has been able to
point out the actuality and importance of the chosen problem.

According to Wikipedia, “Intonation is defined as the variation in pitch used to indicate the
speaker’s attitudes and emotions, to highlight or focus an expression, to signal the illocutionary
act performed by a sentence, or to regulate the flow of discourse.

Traditionally, intonation is referred to as the variation in the pitch of the voice. Languages such
as English is a language that is often accompanied by stress and rhythm to produce meaning.
This implies that meanings of statements are often derived in the stress and rhythm of the speech
which are the basis of intonation. A statement can be a request or a question depending on the
intonation of the speaker. In English Language, intonation distinguishes a type of sentence or
phrase from another. The use of different intonations used by a person use to say “the bottle of
wine is over there” will determine the grammatical function of the statement. For example; if it is
said with a medium speech and ended in a fallen pitch (lower one) we would agree that the
statement is an assertion, but if the same speaker makes the same statement using a rising
intonation, we would agree that the statement becomes a question.

Attitudinal meaning expresses the mood and emotions of a speaker, their attitude to the certain
situation and also to the listener or other interlocutor. For example, when speaker uses a falling
tone, it is a normal question; it is neither polite nor impolite. When it is said with a rising tone,
on the other hand, as in it expresses politeness, even deference.

Basically, intonation is capable of showing the attitudes of the speaker as regards the subject of
discussion and towards the hearer. Therefore, through intonation, excitement, interest,
annoyance, happiness, sadness, doubt, surprise, or indifference can be conveyed by the person
speaking.
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Types of Intonation

The nuclear or the tonic syllable is the basic factor of intonation. This is the stressed syllable in a
short sentence that stands out more than the other stressed syllables. This nuclear syllable can be
any of the stressed syllables, and it depends on the where the speaker wants the focus of the
listener to be. A lower pitch is referred to any speech that comes after the nuclear syllable for the
lower tune and at a higher tune for the rising pitch.

Different writers across the globe and ages have identified various patterns of intonations but
only four will be discussed for the purpose of this discourse. And the four types are:

1. The falling intonation

2. The rising intonation

3. The fall-rise intonation

4. The rise-fall intonation

These four intonation patterns express various specific sentence types.

1. Falling Intonation

Falling intonation is when the voice falls or lowers in pitch (gets deeper) towards the end of a
sentence. This type of intonation is one of the most common and usually happens at the end of
statements. Falling intonation can also occur at the end of some kinds of questions, such as those
beginning with "who", "what", "where", "why", and "when."

The falling intonation is also known as the descending intonation, it involves the decent of pitch
of the voice from a higher level to a lower level. The falling intonation is expressed in the
following types of sentences.

Examples.

1. Statements: such as, factual, declaratives, statements without implication. Examples:

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  I'm going to the store.

 The weather is beautiful to day.

 I love pi zza.

 The car is painted green.

 The day is bright.

2. Wh-questions (information questions):

 Where is the lib rary?

 What time is it?

 Why are you late?

 When is the train arri ving?

 Which flight are you travelling with?

3. Commands:

 Stop!

 Come here!

 Open the door!

 Sit down!

 Go a way!

4. Exclamations:

 Wow!

 Ama zing!

 Incredi ble!

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  What a news!

 How beautiful the house is!

Examples of attitudinal functions of falling intonation

Affirmation

A falling tone can indicate affirmation or certainty, such as when someone answers "Yes" to a
question.

 Observation

A falling tone can indicate that a statement is an observation, such as "The weather is beautiful,
isn't it?"

 Finality

A falling tone can indicate that something is final, such as when ending a list.

 Doubt

A falling tone can indicate doubt or uncertainty, such as when someone says "You may be
right".

Surprise

A falling tone can indicate surprise, such as when someone says "You were a first."

2. Rising Intonation

Rising intonation describes how the voice rises at the end of a sentence. Rising intonation is
common in yes-no questions. It majorly expresses the graduation of the pitch of the voice from
low to high pitch level. This type of intonation performs the following functions;

Examples

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1. Yes-no or polar questions:

 Are you going to the party?

 Do you want some coffee?

 Can you help me?

 Is the book yours?

2. Polite requests:

 Could you please pass the salt?

 Would you mind opening the window?

 Excuse me, do you have the time?

 May I use the teacup?

3. Question tags

 You're going to the store, aren't you?

 She likes pizza, doesn't she?

 It is raining, isn't it?

 The books are yours, aren’t they?

4. Listings:

 We need eggs, milk, and bread.

 I visited Paris, Rome, and London.

 She bought some salt, sugar, coffee and milk.

 He bought a bag, a cap and a sunglass.

5. Expressing uncertainty or surprise:

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  You're leaving already?

 I didn't know you could play the piano.

 You bought the expensive wristwatch?

 Did it rain here?

6. Statement with implication/indifference, doubt, hesitation

 They can do what they want(indifference)

 It shouldn’t be as expensive as that(doubt)

 It isn’t small (but not big enough)

7. parting/farewell greetings

 See you later.

 Take care.

 Bye.

 Keep in touch.

Rising intonation can also be used to signal incompleteness: For example, in a list or when
pausing for effect. Also, it can show enthusiasm or excitement specially in exclamations.

By understanding and using rising intonation effectively, you can make your speech more natural
and expressive, also improve your communication skills.

3. Fall-Rise Intonation

The Fall-rise intonation describes how the voice falls and then rises. We use fall-rise intonation
at the end of statements when we want to say that we are not sure, or when we may have more to
add. This intonation is used in the following statement:

1.warning/Threat

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  Watch your steps.

 Be mindful of the tiles.

 Mind the glass.

2. Tag questions:

 They are lazy, aren’t they?

 She will not come, will she?

 You can play guitar, can’t you?

3. Encouragement and wishes

 Keep it up, you can do better.

 I wish today is Saturday.

 It will be good if you put in more effort.

4. Rise-fall intonation

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This is a pattern of speech that involves the voice rising and then falling. It indicates a sequence
of rising and falling tune. It can be used in a variety of situations which includes the following:

1. Enumeration with emphasis.

 Dele went to the museum, the beach, the park and the restaurant.

 We need an egg, a loaf of bread and a cup of tea.

2. Strong approval or disapproval

 Is she good for the job? Yes she is.

 Can he be trusted? No

3. Strong approval or disapproval

 Get out

 Sit down

4. Double questions

 Did she pay or got it on loan?

 Is he a good or bad leader?

5. Compound sentence with two different sides:

 When the bus comes, the queue will reduce.

 While the parents were praying, the children were eating.

FUNCTIONS OF INTONATION

Generally, the roles or functions of intonation in English Language can be discussed under three
broad roles and they are;

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 1. Grammatical Function

The process through which different types of sentences are distinguished is the
grammatical function of intonation.

For example: 1. Bola is coming early (statement)

2. Bola is coming early? (question)

These two examples above are grammatically distinguished by the tone of each sentence,
the first sentence is a fallen tone which is what makes it a statement while the second
sentence is a rising tone which makes it a question.

2. Attitudinal Function

A prominent role in intonation is the role played by attitude. This is especially

when we are speaking to the native speakers of English. It requires that our
intonation should be carefully taken into consideration as it determines our
attitude.

For Example: 1. When can we go to school? (Fallen tone)

2. When can we go to school? (Rising tone)

From the examples above, the first sentence in a fallen tone is a normal question in a normal
manner which is neither polite nor impolite. But the second sentence which is in a rising tone
expresses politeness and even deference.

3. Accentual Function

The position or location of the tonic syllable is the major focus of the accentual
function of intonation. By this we mean that, the speaker can change the meaning
of a sentence by shifting the focus. Focus shifting is the major role of the
accentual function of intonation.

For Example: Kunle goes to church every Sunday.

a. Kunle goes to church every Sunday.

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 b. Kunle goes to church every Sunday.

From the above examples, we can infer that from the first, the sentence has every as the tonic
syllable which can be the answer to the question such as ‘which Sunday does Kunle go to
church?’ The second sentence indicates that the tonic syllable is on ‘church’ which can provide
an answer to a question such as ‘where does Kunle go every Sunday?’

Classroom Implication

It Is important to note that intonation as an integral aspect of the suprasegmental part of English
Language is majorly realized in spoken conversation than in written words. But,
notwithstanding, there are implication of this discourse in the classroom, some of which are
discussed below:

1. Meaning and Clarity

The meaning of words can change through intonation, a good example is when a statement -
which would naturally take a falling tone, is expressed using a rising tone. Such statement
becomes a question due to the change in the tone.

2. Expressing Emotion and Attitude

Intonation helps in conveying the attitude of the speaker which could be surprise, sarcasm,
interest. Intonation as a topic in English Language helps the students to sound more natural
and emotionally expressive while speaking.

3. Listening Comprehension

The knowledge of intonation patterns the ability of the learners in the understanding of the
native speakers and helps them to identify nuances.

4. Fluency and Naturalness

The constant use of intonation assists in attaining more natural rhythm and stress pattern,
which in turns is a support system for students to more fluent and confident.

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In the classroom activity, some exercises on intonation which could contain listening drills,
mimicry, dialogue practice, and use of visual aids such as pitch contour lines could be adopted
to engage the students which will in turn help then become not just a better speaker but a
better listener.

CONCLUSION

The learning of intonation pattern is not as easy as it appears especially when it is on the
second language. Hence, constant practice is required in order to use it effectively. Also, it is
of necessity to state that English Language is a rhythmic and stress patterned language which
draws its meaning from intonation.

The tone of a word or speech determines the grammatical, attitude and accentual function of
the word or sentence.

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REFERENCES

 Carr, P. (2019). English Phonetics and Phonology: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Wiley-
Blackwell.
 Gussenhoven, C., & Jacobs, H. (2011). Understanding Phonology (3rd ed.). Hodder
Education.
 Johnson, K. A. (2011). Acoustic and Auditory Phonetics (3rd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
 Schiller, N. O., & Meyer, A. S. (2005). Phonetics and Phonology in Language
Comprehension and Production: Differences and Similarities. Phonetica, 62(1), 55–58.
 Wikipedia contributors. (2025, May 10). Intonation (linguistics). Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intonation_(linguistics) (Wikipedia)
 Wikipedia contributors. (2025, May 10). International Phonetic Alphabet. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet (Wikipedia)
 Wikipedia contributors. (2025, May 10). Prosody (linguistics). Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosody_(linguistics) (Wikipedia)
 Carley, P., & Mees, I. M. (2021). An introduction to intonation. In American English
Phonetic Transcription (pp. 113–116). Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003008088-20 (Grafiati)
 Xu, Y. (2019). Prosody, tone, and intonation. In The Routledge Handbook of Phonetics
(pp. 314–356). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429056253-13 (Grafiati)

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