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So I made a video a couple of weeks ago on intonation patterns in English and it seems
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to have gone down pretty well so I thought I'd make a video to expand on that very
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broad subject of intonation and talk more specifically about something called rising
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and falling intonation patterns in British English.
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So if we're talking about intonation, what we're talking about really is pitch and
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the use of rhythm in speech. And the pitch and the rhythm start to add feeling and intention,
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because the meaning is really revealed in the language that we're using and the construction
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of our sentences but the way we feel about what we're saying is indicated through the
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use of pitch and the use of rhythm. So I guess we're talking in a musical sense about how
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we're using our voice as a musical instrument.
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And so a rising intonation pattern would simply be a rise in the human voice; it would be
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a change in pitch; a glide in the pitch of our voice upwards. So for instance: ooo. Now
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we tend to use this rising intonation pattern when we're asking questions. So the pitch
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of our voice tends to go up. So for instance: 'when does the meeting start?', 'when
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does the meeting start?', 'start?', can you hear that: ooo, 'start?' it rises,
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it comes up in the voice. 'would you like a cup of tea?', 'would you like a cup
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of tea?'. So the question is a sort of way of sending out an invitation for some kind
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of response from whoever you're speaking to.
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I mean we do use this downward inflection, which I'll talk more about in a moment,
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for some sorts of questions, but typically speaking we tend to use this upward inflection.
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Another instance in which we would use this upward or rising inflection would be on lists:
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So if I'm saying, 'I'd like some eggs, some milk, some cheese and some bread.'
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And we would use a downward inflection 'bread' to say that we've finished the list but
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on the items before that we would use a rising inflection. So I would say, 'eggs', 'milk',
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'cheese', 'bread', 'I'd like some eggs, milk, cheese and bread.'
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So on lists and most questions we would use this rising intonation pattern.
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A falling or downward intonation pattern, would simply mean that the pitch of the voice
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drops down. So for instances: ooo, ooo. So I would say, for instance if I'm making
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a statement, 'that's wonderful' , 'that's wonderful'. That's one instance in which
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I would use a downward inflection.
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Commands is another situation so I would say, 'put that down!', 'put that down!'
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, 'go over there', 'stand against the wall', yeah, downward inflection, 'put
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that over there' downward inflection.
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So statements, commands and exclamations, those are the three instances in which we
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use this downward inflection. And we also tend to use this downward inflection (as I
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said with lists) at the end of our sentences, at the end of our content. So when we're
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indicating that we've finished what it is that we want to say, again we tend to use
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this downward inflection.
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But there is one more, there is something called a Circumflex Inflection. And you don't
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need to remember that name, it's a posh name, Circumflex Inflection. It basically
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stands for a pitch that rises, falls and then rises at the very end. And it's not often
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talked about, and yet, especially in British English, we use it a lot, and we typically
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use it when we're in the middle of our content, we're in the middle of what we're saying
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and we're indicating to the listener, I just did it, 'the listener', that we haven't
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finished what we're saying yet, and then we do. And once we do we use a downward inflection.
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So this circumflex Inflection sounds bit like this: ooo, ooo, ooo. So it goes up, down,
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up, rise, fall, rise. So if i try to do that now, while I'm talking, what it suggests
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to you, is that I haven't quite finished yet, and you'll know when I'm finished,
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because I'm going to use this downward inflection, and it falls.
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So if you're in the middle of your conversations, and you don't want anyone else to butt in
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or interrupt you, then using this circumflex inflection, will be a way to say 'hey there,
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I haven't finished what it is that I'm talking about, don't interrupt me yet, but
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now I've finished and you can reply'.
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So a rising intonation pattern would be: ooo. And we tend to use it for questions or for
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lists. A falling intonation, this downward intonation would be: ooo. And we tend to use
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that on exclamation, statements and commands and at the end of our sentences.
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But there is this extra circumflex inflection: ooo, this rise, fall, rise, that we typically
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use when we're in the middle of our conversations and at then end of each phrase, at the end
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of each segment, we use this circumflex inflection, to say that we haven't finish yet but when
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we do we use a downward inflection and it falls.
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So I hope that you found that useful. If you're on my YouTube channel then scroll down, hit
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the thumbs up or thumbs down, leave me a comment, let me know what you think of this video.
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If you're new to this channel then hit subscribe, I post weekly videos here, so you'll be
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kept up-to-date with all sorts of information about British English pronunciation, and articulation,
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and speech and intonation. These videos also end up on my website www.englishpronunciationroadmap.com
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where there is a whole load of free stuff and loads of goodies, and loads of videos,
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those over to you. I hope you enjoyed this video and I hope to see you next week.
