语音概念、语调

1 1. In the word ‘syllable’, there are three syllables. 2. In the word ‘visited’, there are three syllables. 3. In the word ‘pronounce’, there are two syllables. 4. The word "banana" has 3 syllables. 5. Unstressed syllables often have a reduced vowel sound/ә/ or //. 6. Stressed syllables are usually longer，louder and higher in pitch. 7. Stressed syllables can be divided into open syllable, closed syllable, r(e) syllable and

combinations of letters. 8. English is a stress-timed language. 9. The frequent occurrence of unstressed syllable is one of the fundamental characteristics of

spoken English. 10. The most frequently used vowel sounds in spoken English is //. 11. Sound changes in connected speech refer to weak forms of function words，linking，

incomplete explosion and assimilation. 12. One of the most remarkable features of English pronunciation is many common English form

（function/grammatical/structural）words have two or more pronunciations in speech. 13. Information (lexical/content)words carry message and are usually stressed in an English utterance. 14. Function/grammatical/structural/form words虚词如冠词art.,连接词conj.,介词prep.,助动词aux.v.和人称代词. are usually unstressed in an English utterance. 一般弱读, 15. Rhythm in English speech is based on stress． 16. A rhythm unit(节奏单位)is formed by a stressed syllable, together with unstressed syllables which may come before the stress and after it. 17. In normal speech, the stressed syllables follow each other at roughly equal intervals of time. 18. The groups of words which are closely connected in meaning and in grammar are called sense groups． 19. A sense group is a tone-group (语调群) in intonation． 20. Intonation units are also called intonation-groups, tone groups or tone-units. 21. An intonation unit usually corresponds to a sense group. 22. . The last stressed syllable is usually the nucleus of the intonation unit. 23. The part of an intonation unit that extends from the first stressed syllable up to the nucleus is called the "head" of the intonation unit. 24. Different pitches may indicate different meanings for the same utterance. 25. Intonation refers to the total pattern of pitch changes, i.e., the rising and falling of the voice when a person is speaking, within an utterance. 26. Intonation is used to convey our feelings and attitudes. 27. In speech，the falling intonation is used to indicate completeness and definiteness. 28. Rising intonation indicates incompleteness and uncertainty or questioning. 29. Falling-rising intonation is said to indicate hesitation, contrast, reservation or doubt. 30. The most common position for the nucleus is on the last information word of the intonation unit. 31. For contrastive purpose, any word may be the nucleus. 2

32. Falling tone is usually used in ordinary statements，WH questions(special questions)，imperative sentences(strong commands)，exclamatory sentences，the final part of the alternative questions，the former part of the disjunctive questions，the latter part of the disjunctive questions when the speaker is certain about what is said，rhetorical questions，short questions used as responses，main clause. 33. Rising tone is usually used in the yes – no questions (general questions) showing great doubt or uncertainty，complete statements which are intended as questions，the preceding alternatives in alternative questions，tag questions of some disjunctive questions，repetition – questions，enumeration（listing），non-final groups，adverbials at the beginning of sentences，polite requests，tag questions after commands (in fact a form of invitation)，some statements intended to be soothing or encouraging，some special questions which sound more friendly and concerned. 34. Falling-rising tone is used in statements when contrast is implied，statements which imply reservation，statements which show disagreement or contradiction or correction of what someone else has said，warnings，hesitation.

Functions & uses of Intonation 1. Falling tone is used in the following types of sentences. §1) Ordinary statements a. She’s a very good actress. ↘ b. He was here a moment ago. ↘ c. This is John. He’s from America. ↘ §2) WH questions (special questions): a. What did you think of the show? ↘ b. Which is your favourite subject? ↘

§3) Imperative sentences (strong commands) a. Stand up! ↘ b. Be quiet! ↘ c. Out! ↘ §4) Exclamatory sentences a. What a beautiful day! ↘ b. How nice of him! ↘ c. Wow! What a beautiful girl over there! ↘ §5) The final part of the alternative questions: a. Is she American(↗) or British? ↘ b. Which is yours(↘), the blue one(↗) or the red one? ↘ c. How shall we go? (↘) By bus(↗), by train(↗) or by plane? ↘ ※ Both/All parts of the alternative questions use falling tone in special situation: e.g. 你去还是不去？ ↘ §6) The former part of the disjunctive questions: