Prominence and Intonation
Donna M. Brinton
Professor of TESOL
Soka University of California
Overview of today’s lecture
§ Intonation units in spoken and written
English
§ Prominence
§ Emphatic and contrastive stress
§ Prominence and pitch rise
§ The basic intonation patterns of English
§ The communicative force of intonation
§ Teaching strategies
Overview of key terms
§ Intonation unit: also tone unit or thought
group
§ Prominence
§ Sentence stress
– Unmarked stress
– Emphatic stress
– Contrastive stress
§ Intonation
– Rising
– Rising/falling
– Series
Intonation unit: Definition
§ An intonation unit is a stretch of discourse
that forms a discrete grammatical or
What
the
Whatisisunit.
thedifference
differencebetween
between aaharmless
harmless
semantic
herbivore
herbivore and
and aaruthless
ruthless murderer?
murderer?
§ We segment our speech into intonation units
to express meaning.
eats,shoots
eats
shoots,and
andleaves
leaves
=3
1 intonation units
unit
Manson
Panda
Truss (2003)
More on intonation units
§ Each intonation unit…
– is set off by pauses at either end
– contains one prominent element
– has its own intonation contour
– has a grammatically and semantically
coherent internal structure.
Pandas are herbivores / not carnivores. /
Segmentation into intonation units
§ Segmentation (or division) into
intonation units depends on the
speaker, the rate of speech, and the
meaning being communicated.
Give me a break.
(normal)
Give me / a break.
(exasperated)
§ Intonation units may consist of an
entire sentence or only part of a
sentence.
I said, / give me a break.
Intonation units: In spoken English
§ In spoken English, intonation
units are signaled by either
rising or rising-falling
intonation.
§ They are typically followed by
a brief pause, noted by a diagonal slash (/).
Ask not what your country can do for you /
ask what you can do for your country.
Intonation units: In written English
In writing, punctuation is typically used to
signal division into intonation units.
Compare:
John said,
“The boss is stupid.”
(2 intonation units)
“John,”
said the boss,
“is stupid.”
(3 intonation units)
Prominence
§ Prominence refers to the highlighted
element within a given intonation unit.
§ Usually, prominence falls on the
stressed syllable of the most important
word in the intonation unit.
§ Prominence most often falls on:
– verbs
– nouns
– adjectives
– adverbs
Prominence and grammatical category
Prominence typically falls on content words
and not on function words.
Content Words
Function Words
nouns, main verbs,
adjectives, possessive
pronouns, demonstrative
pronouns,
interrogatives, negative
contractions, adverbs,
adverbial particles
Articles, auxiliary verbs,
personal pronouns,
possessive adjectives,
demonstrative
adjectives, prepositions,
conjunctions
Prominence, cont’d.
Note the prominent words in the following
dialog:
Waiter:
Customer:
Waiter:
Customer:
Waiter:
Can I help you?
Sure. / Are you still serving breakfast?
Sorry./ We only serve breakfast until
eleven.
Okay. / I’d like to see
the lunch menu then.
Here you are. / I’ll be
back in a few minutes.
Prominence, cont’d.
Prominence typically signals…
1. New information
2. Information the speaker wishes to
emphasize: emphatic stress
3. Parallel, contrasting elements within
an utterance: contrastive stress
Signaling new information
A: I have a new pet.
B: What kind of pet?
A: It’s a bird, a baby
bird, a baby pigeon.
B: Really? Is it a
homing pigeon?
A: No, just an ordinary
street pigeon. It
fell out of its nest
and lost its mother.
B: Poor thing!
“Pidgie” the baby pigeon
Brinton (2008)
Emphatic stress: There IS film…
Emphatic stress: You’re NOT fit…
Emphatic stress: I HATE to tell you…
Stress and meaning: We HAVE to talk
Contrastive stress
In contrastive stress, two parallel
elements receive prominence.
§ The Serengetti has both a dry and a
wet season. [explicit mention of
contrast]
§ I’m planning on visiting in the dry
season. [implies: not the wet season]
§ I’m hoping AtoBlack
seeRhinoceros
some black rhinos
the Serengetti
Plainsin addition to
when I’m on
there.
[implies:
the more common white rhinos]
Intonation
§ Intonation can be defined as the
melody of speech.
§ In English, we typically speak of four
pitch levels:
Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin (In press)
Intonation, cont’d.
§ Intonation consists of the rises and
falls in pitch within an intonation unit.
§ The two basic patterns are rising (æ)
and rising-falling (æè) intonation.
§ Often, longer utterances consist of a
combination of these two basic
intonation patterns (æ, æ, æ, æè).
§ We call this series intonation.
Intonation: It’s Saturday!
Intonation: School’s out
Intonation: Men!
Measuring stress and intonation
Prominence and pitch rise
The pitch rise coincides with the
prominent element of each utterance:
A: You should call your mother.
B: I called my mother.
I called her yesterday.
Fixed intonation patterns
Many idioms in English have their own
fixed intonation patterns:
Beats me!
You can say that again.
How dare you!
Rising falling intonation
§ Rising-falling intonation typically signals
speaker certainty, finality, or
purposefulness. It is used in:
– Statements
– Commands
– Requests for specific information (Whquestion)
– “Extra” information (e.g., appositives, nonrestrictive adjective clauses)
Statements and commands
You should floss your teeth regularly.
Floss your teeth / every time you brush.
Information questions
How can I prevent cavities?
How often should I see a dentist?
What type of toothbrush is best?
“Extra” information
Dr. Samuels, my dentist, says I need
to floss more regularly.
Dr. Samuels, who is my dentist, says I
should see him twice a year.
Rising intonation
Rising intonation typically signals:
§ Lack of finality or completion (series;
conjoined sentences; restrictive relative
clauses)
§ Request for confirmation (yes/no
questions)
§ Speaker uncertainty (tag questions
expressing doubt)
Items in a series
Compare:
Eat food that has plenty of nutrients. BUT
Eat food that is low in cholesterol,
low in fat, and has plenty of nutrients.
Conjoined sentences
Despite my doctor’s advice,
I haven’t been exercising.
Although shrimp are high in cholesterol,
I still love to eat them.
Restrictive relative clauses
The doctor who saw me last week
recommended a low-fat diet.
The food that I’ve been eating
hasn’t been high enough in fiber.
Yes/no questions
Is your cholesterol level too high?
Are you overweight?
Do you get enough exercise?
Tag questions expressing doubt
You’re Dr. Jones, aren’t you?
My appointment’s at 8:15, isn’t it?
You don’t need to take blood, do you?
The communicative force of intonation
A:
B:
A:
B:
A:
B:
A:
B:
Ready? æ
No. è
Why? è
Problems. è
Problems? æ
Yes. è
What? è
Babysitter. è
Source: Allen (1971)
Teaching strategies: Prominence
Listening discrimination: Contrastive stress
Circle a) or b), depending on the meaning.
1. I'm really busy right now.
a) Don't bother me.
b) ...but my assistant could help you.
2. He likes this class.
a) ...but not his chem class.
b) ...but I don't.
3. He's interesting.
a) ...but she bores me to tears!
b) I'd love to know him better!
4. She speaks German perfectly.
a) ...but not French.
b) ...but he doesn't.
Focused reading: Prominence
Practice reading the following sayings, placing
prominence on the highlighted items in each
intonation unit.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
There's no fool / like an old fool./
Youth is the best time to be rich, / and the best
time to be poor./
The old repeat themselves, / and the young have
nothing to say./
Youth is not a time of life; / it is a state of mind./
It is better to waste one's youth, / than to do
nothing at all./
Brinton & Frodesen (2008)
Focused reading: Prominence
Practice reading the
following anecdote:
Walking in the woods one
day, Lincoln met a young
woman and said, "You are
a very beautiful lady." In
turn she said, "You are
the ugliest man I've ever
seen." To which Lincoln
replied, "That may be so,
but you could have lied,
as I did.
Pair practice: Contrastive stress
Partner A
1. The capitol of
California is Los
Angeles.
2. Florida is in the
southwest of the
U.S.
3. Dallas is in the
state of Arizona.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
Partner B
Actually, the capitol
???
of California is
Sacramento.
I???
believe that
Florida is in the
southeast of the
U.S.
???
I’m pretty sure that
Dallas is in Texas.
Pair practice, cont’d.
Partner B
Partner A
1. The language
1. ???
Sorry, but the
spoken in Thailand
language spoken in
is Chinese.
Thailand is Thai.
2. I love Spanish
2.
Actually,
enchiladas
2. ???
food, especially
are Mexican food.
enchiladas.
3. If I’m not
3. mistaken,
???
her first
name is Donna.
3. Our instructor’s
first name is Dana.
Teaching strategies: Intonation units
Listening for intonation units
Indicate the intonation units in the following
proverbs with a slash mark (/).
1. The bigger they are /the harder they fall...
2. If you can't stand the heat/get out of the
kitchen...
3. A bird in the hand/ is worth two in the bush...
4. People who live in glass houses/shouldn't
throw stones...
5. He who laughs last/ laughs best...
6. Where there's a will /there's a way...
Listening for intonation units, cont’d.
How many intonation units do you hear?
One intonation unit
Two intonation units
We have to pay John.
We have to pay, John.
I don’t understand Dr.
White.
Are you hiring Jane?
I don’t understand, Dr.
White.
Are you hiring, Jane?
I didn’t call Lee.
I didn’t call, Lee.
Grant (2001)
Pair reading practice: Intonation units
Riddle: Which animal
goes on four legs in the
morning / two at noon /
and three in the
evening?
Answer: Humans. / As babies /
they crawl on their hands and knees /
As adults / they walk upright on their two feet; /
and in old age / they need a cane to assist them.
Teaching strategies: Intonation
Using a kazoo to teach intonation
Use a kazoo to help
students hear rises
and falls in intonation
patterns:
I wanted a glass of wine.
ðNot a beer?
I wanted a glass of wine.
ðNot a bottle?
Gilbert (1991)
Kazoo practice: Listening
I’d like a small scoop of a)
vanilla ice cream.
b)
I’m going to Paris next a)
month.
b)
She has three love
a)
birds.
b)
I have a Mercedes
a)
SUV.
b)
She lived in Cincinnati a)
in 1996.
b)
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
Not
a big scoop?
chocolate?
to Rome?
this month?
just two?
cockatiels?
a sedan?
a BMW?
in Cleveland?
in 1997?
Listening discrimination, cont’d.
Statement or Question
Uncertain or Certain?
1. He left already…
2. Sally's moving...
3. John missed his flight...
4. It's snowing in Tucson...
æ
è
Listening discrimination, cont’d.
Tag Questions
Questioning or Confirming Tag?
1. Your name's George, isn't it?
2. It's going to rain tomorrow, isn't
it?
3. You wanted to go, didn't you?
4. We should offer to help, shouldn't
we?
æ
è
Listening discrimination, cont’d.
Alternative Choice Questions
Open or Closed Choice?
1. Are you coming Friday or
Saturday?
2. Can you meet us at 8 or 9?
3. Would you like beer or wine?
4. Are you going to Spain or
Portugal?
æ
è
Paired dialogue practice
Practice reading the dialogue with a partner. Decide
if you should using rising or rising-falling intonation.
Tired
æ è Yes
æ
è
Yes
æ è Student
æ
è
Why
æ è Musician
æ
è
Roommate
æ è Pianist
æ
è
Roommate
æ è Drummer
æ
è
Grant (2007)
Paired dialogue practice
Practice reading the dialogue with a partner. Decide
if you should using rising or rising-falling intonation.
Tired
æ
Yes
è
Yes
è
Student
æ
Why
è
Musician
è
Roommate
è
Pianist
æ
Roommate
æ
Drummer
è
Grant (2007)
Dialogue: Expressing emotions
John:
Mary:
John:
Mary:
John:
Mary:
John:
Mary:
Hi, Mary.
Hi.
Did you have a nice
weekend?
What?
Grouchy Mary
I asked if you'd had
a nice weekend.
Why?
What do you mean, why?
I mean, why do you want to
know?
Expressing emotions, cont’d.
John:
Mary:
John:
Mary:
John:
Mary:
John:
Want to know what?
Look, first you asked me if I'd had
a nice weekend. Then, I
asked you why you wanted to
know. What's the problem?
Don't you speak English?
Let's just forget the whole thing.
Forget what?
What I asked you.
What did you ask me?
I've forgotten . . . See you Mary.
(John walks away.)
White (1977)
Expressing emotions, cont’d.
Situation #1: Jill is the same age as Ann. They
are friends. Jill is genuinely pleased to hear
from Ann, who just returned from a cruise.
Ann
************
Jill So, you're back from your trip?
Ann Yes, I got back two days ago.
Jill It's nice of you to call. I hadn't
expected to hear from you so soon.
Ann Oh well, I thought I'd just call and see
how you were doing.
Jill Fine, just fine.
Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin (1996)
Expressing emotion, cont’d.
Situation #2: Lee is Ann’s mother. She's a bit
upset that her daughter Ann hasn't bothered to
call her after her cruise.
Ann
************
Lee So, you're back from your trip?
Ann Yes, I got back two days ago.
Lee It's nice of you to call. I hadn't
expected to hear from you so soon.
Ann Oh well, I thought I'd just call and see
how you were doing.
Lee Fine, just fine.
Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin (1996)
Expressing meaning, cont’d.
Situation #3: Joe and Ann have been in a
serious relationship for over a year. Joe is the
jealous type. He's furious that Ann hasn’t called
since her cruise.
************
Ann
Joe So, you're back from your trip?
Ann Yes, I got back two days ago.
Joe It's nice of you to call. I hadn't
expected to hear from you so soon.
Ann Oh well, I thought I'd just call and see
how you were doing.
Joe Fine, just fine.
Celce-Murcia, Brinton, & Goodwin (1996)
Sources
Allen, V. F. (1971). Teaching intonation: From
theory to practice. TESOL Quarterly, 5(1), 7381.
Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Goodwin, J.
M. (1996). Teaching pronunciation.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Goodwin, J.
M. (In press). Teaching pronunciation (2nd
ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sources
Gilbert, J. B. (1991). Gadgets: Non-verbal tools
for teaching pronunciation. In A. Brown (Ed.),
Teaching English pronunciation: A book of
readings (pp. 308-322). London: Routledge.
Grant, L. (2001). Well said: Pronunciation for
clear communication (2nd ed.). Boston: Heinle
& Heinle.
Grant, L. (2007). Well said intro. Boston: Heinle
& Heinle.
Sources
Truss, L. (2003). Eats, shoots & leaves: The
zero tolerance approach to punctuation. New
York: Gotham Books.
White, M. (1977). Is anybody listening?
Adventures in techniques of teaching aural
comprehension. TESL Talk, 8(4), 47-56.