Advanced Pronunciation and Intonation

Key Points
➧ Pronunciation involves the correct articulation of sounds.

➧ Intonation refers to the rise and fall of the voice in speaking, which affects the meaning of sentences.

➧ Stress and rhythm are crucial in making your speech sound natural and understandable.

Word Stress
➧ Refers to the emphasis placed on one syllable within a word.
➧ Example the word record

When stressed on the first syllable
➧ RE-cord - it’s a noun.

When stressed on the second syllable
➧ re-CORD - it’s a verb.

Sentence Stress
➧ Focuses on emphasizing the most important words in a sentence, often the content words like nouns, verbs, and adjectives.

Example
“I didn’t say she stole the money” can have different meanings depending on which word is stressed.

Rising Intonation
➧ Typically used in yes/no questions.
➧ Are you coming?

Falling Intonation
➧ Common in statements and wh-questions.
➧ Where are you going?

Rising-Falling Intonation
➧ Often used in expressing surprise or irony.
➧ Oh, really?