WEEK 4 Lesson
SUBJECT – English Language
TOPIC – Speeches : Intonation, Stress and Rhythms
CLASS – JSS 2
MEANING OF INTONATION, STRESS AND RHYTHMS.
Intonation is the rise and fall of the voice in a speech or the variation in pitch. Intonation conveys the attitude or mood of the speaker to his audience (person’s he is speaking to), or to the topic of conversation (the issue being discussed). For instance, whether the speaker is boastful, angry, impatient, polite or impolite is signalled through the intonation pattern he uses. It is the change in the level of pitch (high or low the voice is) that makes speech interesting.
Stress can be defined as an extra force of breath used in pronouncing a syllable in a given word. It also refers to the pitch of voice used in pronouncing a syllable.
When we say a word, some part of it is heard to be louder than the other. That same part is said with greater energy than the other part. It is this force that makes that part of the word sound louder. For instance, when you say “table” – /teibl/, the first part of the word is said with greater force than the second part. This force which makes that part of the word sound louder is what we call stress.
While rhythm refers to the sense of flow or regular movement communicated by the pattern of stress (that is arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllable in a word. It means the re-occurrence of stresses and pauses amounts to the beats. Overall rhythm is determined by the metrical variations, that is, it is the beats recorded in the poem.
IDENTIFICATION OF INTONATION PATTERN IN STATEMENTS, QUESTIONS AND COMMANDS.
Intonation is about how we say things. Without intonation, it is impossible to understand the expression and thoughts that go with words.
There are two basic intonation patterns namely : the rising tune and falling tune.
The tune is said to be rising when the voice is sustained in a rising pitch, while falling tune is experienced when the voice pitch falls or relaxes.
The rising tune is used when we are making polite request, interrogative sentence, enumeration /listing of things, formal/polite greetings, polar questions or yes/no questions etc. While the falling tune is used at the end of commands /order or imperative sentence, at the end of statements, wh questions, interjections, and exclamations.
For example, the intonation patterns for
- Statements – use falling tune
- Questions –
(i) wh questions – use falling tune
(ii) polite questions or yes/no questions – use rising tune
- Commands – use falling tune
MAKING STATEMENTS, ASKING QUESTIONS AND GIVING COMMANDS USING DIFFERENT INTONATION PATTERNS.
STATEMENTS
- The students are working hard
- Emeka will be here any time
- Mr Amadi is a handsome man
- The students in the library stole the books
- It will rain today
QUESTIONS – (i) (wh) questions
- Why did you come here?
- Whose bag is this?
- Who are you?
- What is your name?
- How is your family?
POLAR QUESTIONS or YES/NO QUESTIONS
- Are you tired?
- Are you hungry?
- Do you want to eat?
- Do you want to go home?
- Is that your house?
COMMANDS
- Get out of here
- Open the door at once
- Don’t touch the food
- Be careful
- Let’s go home
IDENTIFICATION OF CORRECT POINTS OF PAUSES IN DIFFERENT SENTENCES.
A pause is a temporary stop, break or rest as in speaking or reading.
Examples :
- There are children, old men, women, young men and babies.
- He collected the book, the eraser, the bag, some of the dresses, his shoes and left the house.
- One, two, three, and four.
- If you work hard and do well in your examinations, you will be awarded a scholarship.
ASSIGNMENTS
Read page 214 and 215 of New Concept English book 2 for junior secondary school and answer the questions on Exercise 215. From numbers 2-6. Number 1 has already been done for you.
SUBMIT VIA WHATSAPP TO 0806 067 1900, OR AT THE SCHOOL’S SECURITY POST
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