intonation- the rising and falling sounds of the voice when
speaking.
Language conveys very specific information,
such as how to get somewhere or what someone is doing. It can be also
used beyond the exact meaning of the words to indicate how the speaker
feels about what he is saying, or how he personally feels at that
moment.
Generally speaking, if English is not your first language, this is where
you start running into difficulty. Even if you pronounce each word
clearly, if your intonation patterns are non-standard, your meaning will
probably not be clear. Also, in terms of comprehension, you will lose a
great deal of information if you are listening for the actual words
used.
This is the starting point of standard intonation. When we say that
we need to stress the new information, it's logical to think, "Hmmm,
this is the first time I'm saying this sentence, so it's all new
information. I'd better stress every word." Well, not quite. In standard
English, we consider that the nouns carry the weight of a sentence, when
all else is equal. Although the verb carries important information, it
does not receive the primary stress of a first-time noun.
Dogs eat
bones.
After the information has been introduced, or is being repeated
through the use of pronouns, the intonation shifts over to the verb.
Notice how the intonation changes when a sentence changes from nouns
to pronouns:
