What Is Melodic Intonation Therapy?

Intonation, the tone of speech, is the preparation and change of the pitch in a sentence. There are five basic intonations in English: ascending (), descending (), ascending (), descending (), and flat (). In addition to lexical meaning, a sentence also has intonation meaning. Intonation meaning is the attitude or tone of the speaker. The lexical meaning of a sentence plus the meaning of intonation are considered complete meaning. Different sentences have different meanings for the same sentence, sometimes even thousands of miles away. ^[1]

[y diào]

[Chinese Pinyin] ydiào

What is intonation? Intonation is formed by the configuration of the level of voice when speaking. The impression that a person makes when speaking is 55% of body movements, 38% of intonation, and only 7% of content. Therefore, intonation is very important when speaking. If the tone of speech is flat from beginning to end, the obedient person will feel dull. Just like listening to a song, if the melody of a song is very beautiful and frustrating, everyone will feel good; if it is a tone from beginning to end, people will not be interested in listening. The same is true for speaking. If your intonation has always been like the straight line in a dead man's electrocardiogram without any fluctuations, then the interest of the listener will come to an end.

So please pay attention, you are doing

1. Refers to the level of reading or speaking. Express a certain tone and emotion.

Xia Yanzun Ye Shengtao's Wen Xin, 21: "It's just that there are many people who haven't yet perfected their intonation, and the sentences don't read well."

Wang Xiyan's "Night Banquet" 5: "The first time I taught the students after taking over, he unveiled three chapters of covenant in an impassioned tone."

Chapter 11 of Wei Wei's "Oriental" Part III: "He tried his best to keep his speech calm."

2. Refers to the tone of speech.

Liang Qichao's "Fifth Book to Cai Songpo": "Although the tone of the world does not need to be engraved, it can also be said that it is also a matter of communication, and it is also a matter of courtesy."

3. Tune.

Lu Xun's "Second Episode of the Jieting Essay Preface to the Second Episode of the Chinese New Literature Series": "Technology is naive, and often retains the writing and tone of the old novel."

Intonation is the "soul" of language. Intonation is in language

Intonation is the first characteristic to measure the standard of Mandarin, and it is also one of the main contents of Mandarin teaching. In real life, if you pay attention to it, you will find this phenomenon: some people's tones are completely correct, but Mandarin sounds like it is not authentic, and always has a little dialect tone; while some people s Mandarin is frustrated and clear. The sounds are pleasant to listen to, and they are discerned carefully, but they will find that there are some errors in the tone, and the voice is not standard. Why is that? It is because intonation plays a key role.

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Generalized intonation can include

Consider the following example:

1) A: Jean, can you bring me the newspaper?

B: Sorry? ()

Jean said "Sorry" in ascending tone, which means "I didn't hear you. Could you say that again, please?"

Let's look at the next sentence:

2) A: Jean, can you bring me the newspaper?

B: Sorry. ()

In Dialogue 2), Jean said "Sorry" in a descending tone, apparently meaning to refuse help or helpless.

Kenneth L., a famous American linguist Pike believes that the absolute height of one syllable is not important, and the relative height of one syllable to the other is very important.

There are four levels of English that can be meaningfully adjusted:

1) Extra high, which is two levels higher than normal, and is often used when feelings are particularly agitated or surprised.

2) High (high), which is one level higher than the normal tone, and is generally used for key accented words in sentences.

3) Mid, which is the normal height of the speaker's voice.

4) Low-key (low), that is, one level lower than the normal tone, which is generally the lowest point of the tone.

May wish to compare as follows:

I live in the city. (It implies that the other people present did not live in the city)

I live () in the city. (Meaning "I" is just "living" in the city, which implies "I am not working in the city" or other meanings)

I live in () the city. (It means "I live in the city", which implies "I don't live outside the city")

Therefore, it is not difficult to answer the questions asked in the following dialogue.

3) M: Linda looked very tired these days.

W: She looked OK to me ().

Q: What does the woman think of Linda? (D)

[A] She saw Linda and me.

[B] Linda said she was fine.

[C] She looked up the word for me.

[D] She considered Linda was all right.

The accent in this sentence happened to fall on the last word "me" in the sentence. Because the lady re-reads "me" in a rising tone, it means that the lady intends to contrast with the man's view, which means: in your eyes, she looks tired, but in my opinion, she is fine. This shows her indifferent attitude.

1. Special question sentences using the question words who, which, what, how, when, where, why can be used in descending or ascending order, but the meaning is different. Such as:

4) A: Mr. Smith thinks we ought to get the money in hand first.

B: Who? ()

A: Mr. Smith.

B says "Who" in ascending tone, which means that he cannot hear a certain part of the other person's conversation and asks the other person to repeat that part.

5) A: We'd like to have someone to say a word at the beginning to welcome the group.

B: Who? ()

A: We thought that you or Dr. Johnson might do it.

B says "Who" in a descending tone, which means asking who the other party wants to give a welcome speech at the opening.

2. Additional questions can be read in ascending or descending tones, meaning different. A downward tone indicates that the questioner believes the content of the statement and waits for the other party to confirm it. The rising tone indicates that the questioner is not sure about the authenticity of the statement and hopes that the other party will make his own judgment. Such as:

6) A: You will finish the work, won't you? ()

B: Yes, I will.

A asks the question in descending tone, meaning: I know you will finish the work, but I want you to confirm it.

7) A: You will finish the work, won'tyou? ()

B: Yes, I will. (Or No, I won't.)

A asks the question in ascending order, indicating that A is not sure, so the answer obtained may be either positive or negative. Therefore, it is self-evident that when you hear the conversation below and choose the question you are asking, which option is correct.

8) W: Mary says she likes playing tennis.

M: But she doesn't play tennis often, does she? ()

Q: Whatdoes the man imply about Mary? (B)

[A] She plays a lot of other sports.

[B] She doesn't really like tennis.

[C] She only likes watching tennis.

[D] She has a lot of things to do.

9) A: Are you Mr. Blake?

B: Yes. ()

A: Room twenty-six.

In this example, B says "Yes" in a descending tone, indicating B's approval. This is a closed answer, which shows that if A

Intonation

No new questions to ask or new information to tell, maybe their conversation can be over.

10) A: Are you Mr. Blake?

B: Yes? ()

A: Ah, the secretary would like a word with you.

In this example, B answers "Yes" with a rising tone, which means that this is an open-ended answer, which is equivalent to "Yes. But why do you ask?" . That is to say, while B is answering A's question, he asks A a new question and asks A to answer it. With this in mind, it is not difficult to answer the questions asked in the following dialogue.

11) M: How long shall we stay at the Grand Canyon?

W: A day? ()

Q: What does the woman mean? (B)

[A] We shall stay at the Grand Canyon for one day.

[B] Shall we stay at the Grand Canyon for one day?

[C] To stay at the Grand Canyon for one day is too short.

[D] To stay at the Grand Canyon for one day is enough.

12) M: I started driving at 8:00 yesterday and arrived here at 5:30 this morning.

W: You drove all night? ()

Q: What does the woman mean?

[A] Night driving can be dangerous.

[B] You shouldn't have driven during the night.

[C] Why don't you drive all night?

[D] Did you really drive all night?

The answer is D.

Please see the following questions:

13) M: Wasn't Sam's speech great! ()

W: Are you serious?

Q: What does the man say about Sam's speech?

[A] Sam's speech wasn't great, was it?

[B] Sam's speech was great, wasn't it?

[C] Sam gave a serious speech.

[D] Sam was not serious.

The answer is B.

By the way, here is another case where a question does not indicate a doubt: When one party asks a question and the other uses a question as an answer, the question sometimes does not need to be answered, but is actually equivalent to a declarative sentence, but Don't mean it. Such as:

14) A: Are you going to watch TV again?

B: What else is there to do? ()

B asks A a question "What else is there to do?", Which means: (Apart from watching TV), what else is good?

Therefore, it is not difficult to answer the following questions.

15) M: Do you think Petty is qualified to do the job?

W: If Petty is not, who is? ()

Q: What does the woman mean? (C)

[A] Petty is not qualified for the job.

[B] Nobody is qualified for the job.

[C] Petty is well qualified for the job.

[D] Allexcept Petty are qualified for the job.

Some general interrogative sentences do not need to be answered, and their functions are equivalent to declarative sentences, but the positive structure table is negative, the negative structure table is positive, and it conveys the speaker's strong emotions. Such as:

16) W: Haven't you got anything better to do? ()

M: Ok, Mum, I'll turn off the TV and begin to do my homework.

Obviously, the mother meant to blame the son not to watch TV, but to do something more beneficial than watching TV-that is, the mother thinks the son has better things to do. In the conversation, of course, the son also understood what the mother meant, so he said that he would turn off the TV and start doing his homework. Another example:

17) M: I've observed you for ten minutes. What have you been doing?

W: Are you blind? ()

Q: What can be inferred about the woman's attitude toward the man? (B)

[A] Polite.

[B] Unfriendly.

[C] Indifferent.

[D] Cautious.

The lady said "Are you blind?" In a general question with an affirmative structure, meaning "You are not blind, can't you see?" Therefore, the lady is not very friendly.

All in all, as long as English learners establish a sense of attention to intonation, develop sensitive perception and response capabilities, and after years of English learning and accumulation, plus the knowledge of intonation we have acquired from our mother tongue, we will certainly be able to cope successfully Question of intonation. In the listening test, in addition to the vocal characteristics of the speakers we can hear, such as the speed of speech, the absolute pitch, the range of intonation, and intonation, it is complemented by the four options of lexical meaning, contextual cues, and Delineating the scope, etc., choosing the right option should not be a difficult issue. In general: general interrogative sentences should be raised, declarative sentences and special interrogatives should be lowered.

Intonation