Prominence And Intonation In Discourse

1. Which of these statements is true?

Languages like Korean and Japanese don’t have intonation. They just sound flat.

All languages have intonation, but they don’t all have the same kind of intonation.

Answer B is best. All languages have some kind of intonation patterns. Sometimes we just don't notice it. Nobody talks with perfectly flat intonation, like a robot.

Explanation

Answer B is best. All languages have some kind of intonation patterns. Sometimes we just don't notice it. Nobody talks with perfectly flat intonation, like a robot.

2. What is intonation?

The melody or pitch pattern of a sentence.

The beat or rhythm of a sentence.

One of the segmental features of a language.

The loudest syllable in a word that is emphasized more than the others.

The best answer is A. Intonation is the up-and-down melody of language.

Not B: Rhythm only affects timing and emphasis, not melody.

Not C: Segmental features are the individual sounds of a language. (We're talking about suprasegmental features now.)

Not D: This describes a stressed syllable.

Explanation

The best answer is A. Intonation is the up-and-down melody of language.

Not B: Rhythm only affects timing and emphasis, not melody.

Not C: Segmental features are the individual sounds of a language. (We're talking about suprasegmental features now.)

Not D: This describes a stressed syllable.

3. You bought a cookbook?

Pattern "a"

Pattern "b"

Pattern "c"

Pattern "d"

Here we've changed a statement into a question by making the intonation rise at the end, like Pattern B.

Explanation

Here we've changed a statement into a question by making the intonation rise at the end, like Pattern B.

4. The store sells books, magazines, and newspapers.

Pattern A

Pattern B

Pattern C

Lists usually have intonation that goes up on each element, then down at the end, like Pattern C.

Explanation

Lists usually have intonation that goes up on each element, then down at the end, like Pattern C.

5. I bought a cookbook.

Pattern A

Pattern B

Pattern C

Pattern D

Statements also usually go down at the end, like Pattern A.

Explanation

Statements also usually go down at the end, like Pattern A.

6. Was it an expensive cookbook or a cheap one?

Pattern A

Pattern B

Pattern C

Pattern D

"Or" questions usually go up on the first part, then down on the last part, like Pattern D. ("Or" questions are a lot like lists.)

Explanation

"Or" questions usually go up on the first part, then down on the last part, like Pattern D. ("Or" questions are a lot like lists.)

7. The lines on the right represent intonation patterns. Which pattern is the most typical representation of each of these sentences? Does this store sell books?

Pattern A

Pattern B

Pattern C

Pattern D

Yes/no questions usually go up at the end, like Pattern B.

Explanation

Yes/no questions usually go up at the end, like Pattern B.

8. What did you buy at the bookstore?

Pattern A

Pattern B

Pattern C

Pattern D

WH- questions (ones that start with "who," "what," "where," "when," "why," or "how" usually go down at the end, like Pattern A.

Explanation

WH- questions (ones that start with "who," "what," "where," "when," "why," or "how" usually go down at the end, like Pattern A.

9. Which of these statements are true of thought groups? (You may choose more than one answer.)

A sentence must have more than one thought group.

A thought group has its own intonation contour.

A thought group is often also a grammatical unit, like a phrase or a clause.

All speakers of a language break their speech up into thought groups in the same way.

We pause before and after a thought group, but not in the middle of one.

The best answers are B, C, and E.

Not A: Short sentences might only have one thought group.

Not D: Different people pause in different ways. Some people talk slowly and pause more often; others talk faster and pause much less often. But everybody needs to pause sometimes, or they'll run out of breath and turn blue.

Explanation

The best answers are B, C, and E.

Not A: Short sentences might only have one thought group.

Not D: Different people pause in different ways. Some people talk slowly and pause more often; others talk faster and pause much less often. But everybody needs to pause sometimes, or they'll run out of breath and turn blue.

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10. In English, which word in a sentence usually receives prominence (focus/sentence stress)? (You may choose more than one answer.)

A word that is in contrast with another word.

A word that tells new information, not old information.

A word that the speaker wants to emphasize.

The last content word in the sentence.

It could be any of these.

Any of these answers are possible. The usual position of prominence is D, the last content word in the sentence. However, if the speaker needs to emphasize something else, a different word can be emphasized.

Explanation

Any of these answers are possible. The usual position of prominence is D, the last content word in the sentence. However, if the speaker needs to emphasize something else, a different word can be emphasized.

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