5. Describe the structure of the intonation group (tone group) in English.

An intonation group is a word or a group of words characterized by a certain intonation pattern and is generally complete from the point of view of meaning.

The intonation pattern consists of one or more syllables of various pitch levels and bearing a larger or smaller degree of prominence. Those intonation patterns that contain a number of syllables consist of the following parts:

• The pre-head (includes unstressed and half-stressed syllables preceding the head);

• The head (consists of the syllables beginning with the first stressed syllable up to the last stressed syllable);

• The nucleus (the last stressed syllable);

• The tail (the unstressed and half-stressed syllables that follow the nucleus).

6. Describe English nuclear tones. Provide the necessary examples and show the intonation patterns.

The changes of pitch that take place in the nucleus are called nuclear tones. The nuclear syllable is generally the most prominent one in the intonation pattern.

The most basic distinction among English nuclear tones is that between falling and non-falling.

In a falling nuclear tone the pitch of the voice starts relatively high and then moves downwards. The starting point may be anywhere from mid to high. The endpoint is low. There may be some upward movement before the pitch moves downwards.

In a rising nuclear tone the pitch of the voice starts relatively low and then moves upwards. The starting point may be anywhere from low to mid, and the endpoint anywhere from mid to high.

Other main types of intonation include high fall, low fall, rise-fall, high rise, midlevel rise, low rise, and fall-rise. They are variations of the two basic types of intonation.

• I’m delighted to meet you.

• Why are you complaining?

• - Is this the way to Holborn?

- I think so (but I’m not quite sure).

• What a good idea!

7. What is prosody?

Prosody – is the rhythm,stress, andintonationofspeech. Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance (statement, question, or command); the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, andfocus; or other elements of language that may not be encoded by grammar or choice of vocabulary.

8. The glottal stop.

Glottal stop, or more fully, the voicelessglottalplosive, is a type of consonantalsound used in manyspokenlanguages.

Glottal stop is a speech sound articulated by a momentary, complete closing of the glottis in the back of the throat. The glottal stop is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract.

In the informal speech of some speakers, a /t/ sound is commonly replaced by a glottal stop, a sound made by stopping the flow of air by closing the vocal cords. This change only happens at the end of a syllable and when the sound before /t/ is a vowel or sonorant /l/, /m/ or /n/. In particular, it is used:

1. Before unstressed /en/

Fountain, curtain, button, important.