Class I (fono)

Study Notes

Intonation is the linguistically significant pattern of pitch variations in a stretch of speech.
Pitch is an auditory sensation that allows us to place the voice along a range from low to high.
A continuous movement in pitch from one level to another is called a tone.
Utterances are divided into tone units, also known as tonality.

Pitch is related to the physical phenomenon of the rate of vocal fold vibration.
Faster vibration leads to a higher pitch, and vice versa.
Pitch is essential for understanding intonation patterns.

A continuous movement of pitch from one level to another constitutes a tone.
Tone variations are graphically depicted using upward and downward sloping lines within the pitch range.

Specific tone types (e.g., low fall, high fall, low rise, high rise, fall-rise, rise-fall, mid-level) combine to convey nuanced meanings.
These tones are often shown alongside words to illustrate how the pitch changes might alter the meaning.

Utterances are divided into smaller units called tone units, intonation phrases, or intonation groups.
Tone units are separated by single vertical lines (|).
Double vertical lines (||) indicate pauses.
Examples were given, showing how these units are split apart.

The syllable carrying the tone in a tone unit is called the tonic syllable or nucleus (TS).
The TS is the essential part–there is always one.
Syllables carrying the tone in a tone group can usually be high or low.
Other accented syllables before the tonic syllable are marked with ', or ° .
The tonal movement often continues through the tail, any syllables following the TS (whether accented or not) which continues previous tonal patterns for better comprehension.

The head consists of accented syllables from the first accented syllable to the tonic syllable.
The pre-head encompasses any unaccented syllables preceding the head.
The tail comprises the syllables after the tonic syllable, with the pitch movement continuing.
Examples show how tonic syllables are represented with graphical symbols and how they are marked in the overall structure of tonality in pronunciation analysis.

Intonation is a pattern of pitch variations conveying meaning in speech.
Pitch is an auditory sense of the rate of vocal fold vibration.
Tones are continuous pitch movements within the range.
Utterances are separated into tone units.
The tonic syllable carries the tone, and understanding its placement is essential.