Intonation “words”
There are several intonation patterns that can convey
meaning by themselves, even without real words. The sound
a speaker makes might be just a hum or a vowel sound, but
its “melody” means something. For example, if we say /m/
with a quick rising intonation, listeners understand that we
mean “What?” even if we haven’t actually said the word.
Here are some examples in English:
INTONATION
PATTERN SOUND MEANINGPOSSIBLE
SPELLINGYes. Mm hmm.Uh huh.No. Huh uh.I hear you. I’m
thinking about it. Hmm.What? I don’t
understand Huh? Hmm?I understand. Oh!I don’t know. (none)Some of these patterns are the same across many languages.
(For example, the rising intonation that means “What?” is
common in many languages). But others vary from language
to language, so it’s good for students to be aware of them. A
certain intonation pattern may not mean what they expect it
to mean.Does my language have intonation too?
Yes, all languages have some kind of intonation. None are
spoken in a $at monotone. But of course, not all languages
have the same patterns of intonation. Each language has its
own characteristic “melody” to !t di"erent purposes or
di"erent kinds of sentences. If you listen to a conversation in
your own language and try to hum along with the rises and
falls in pitch as the speakers talk, you’ll start to recognize its
melody. And if you listen to the speech of someone who is
just learning your language, you might notice that their
intonation doesn’t sound quite natural.Sometimes we don’t notice the intonation of our own
language. It’s so familiar that we don’t realize it’s there, but it
is. Hearing the intonation of your own language is kind of
like tasting water. We drink water every day, and we’re so
used to its taste that we might think that it has no taste. But
if we go to a new place where the water is a little di"erent,
maybe with a di"erent mineral content or more or less
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