INTONATION

INTONATION

When we speak a language, using different kinds of sentences the pitch of our voice may sometimes
rise and sometimes fall. It is such changes in the pitch of our voice that give rise to the phenomenon
called intonation. For example, take the sentence,

                                                         Vijay is a doctor.

If you are making a statement -Vijay is a doctor. - the pitch of your voice will, generally speaking, fall, but when you are turning it into a question, -Vijay is a doctor?- the pitch of your voice will rise. Similarly, when you say 'Yes' with your pitch rising from a lower pitch, it may sound like a question. But if you say 'Yes' with your pitch falling from a higher pitch, it may sound like supporting a statement made by someone.

Apart from the pitch of the voice falling from a higher level to a lower level (falling tone) in a stressed word or a stressed syllable in a word and the pitch of the voice rising from a lower level to a higher level (rising tone), the pitch of the voice may first fall and then rise in the same position (falling-rising tone) and also first rise and then fall (rising-falling tone).  intonation cannot be learnt by reading.
There should be proper practice with a good teacher who can be a model or by listening carefully to
dialogues in films and other audio/visual media or to good audio/visual materials specially designed for this purpose.