Intonation

Back to: English Language Primary 6

Welcome to today’s class!!

We are happy to have you in our class!!

In today’s English class, we will be learning about intonation. 

Have you ever wondered why two people will say the same thing but it will be understood in different ways?

For instance, try showing how much you need to use the bathroom, would you sound like this…….I need to visit the bathroom NOW

 

Intonation

 

Intonation refers to how the voice can change pitch, that is its volume in order to pass a particular message. In other words, intonation stands as a replacement punctuation in spoken language.

You can tell a lot about the meaning behind someone’s words by assessing their intonation. The same sentence can hold a very different meaning in different contexts, and the intonation used will heavily influence this meaning.

If you are the type who often sings, or listens to music, you would have noticed how a sound could go from low to high.

Imagine your best music star performing on the stage filled with people. Imagine them in a very happy mood. 

This is why pitch refers to how high or low a sound is. 

We are able to make our voices get higher or deeper (change the pitch of our voices) by altering the shape of our vocal cords (or vocal folds). When our vocal cords are stretched out more, they vibrate more slowly as air passes through them. 

This slower vibration causes a lower or deeper sound. When our vocal cords are shorter and thinner, the vibration is faster, creating a higher-pitched sound.

Summarily, you must know that intonation comprises several components, including stress and inflection, pitch consists of lower or higher sounds. 

Evaluation

• How is pitch different from intonation?

Reading Assignment

Write out the lyrics of your favorite song and identify the pitch in each verse

Weekend Assignment

Mention two ways of identifying intonation

Thank you for joining today’s class. We hope you learned a lot. We can’t wait to have you in our next class where we will be learning all about Essays.

Don’t forget to drop your questions and contributions in the comment box. See you in the next class!

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