Important role in intonation in speech

by Lynda Stucky

f you have ever learned another language you know how difficult it is to master. There are different pronunciations of sounds, different grammar rules and some intonation or inflection changes that are complicated and difficult to remember in speech. Unless you are one of the lucky people who is very talented at learning other languages easily, you may find yourself applying the rules of your language to the new language you are trying to learn.

One of the most difficult tasks for foreigners to learn is the stress patterns and melody of English. Inappropriate stress can change the entire word or sentence so much that the message is unrecognizable to the listener. When we were babies, we listened carefully to the speech patterns of the people in our environment. We began babbling by imitating the melody of speech we heard the adults around us use. Learning pitch patterns as a child is easier than learning new patterns as an adult. However, mastering intonation will greatly benefit the non-native speaker's intelligibility in conversation.

Our inflection rises when we ask a question and falls when we make a statement. Intonation is the part of speech that creates emphasis, tone, variety and new meaning by making changes in pitch and loudness.

Consider the following sentence. Try to say it in a very staccato way by giving each syllable the same amount of time. Make the sentence in a monotone voice (no changes in pitch or loudness).

"The issue was discussed."

Now, say the sentence and lengthen the vowel in the first syllable of "issue" (ISsue) and the second syllable in "discussed" (disCUSSED). Really exaggerate the length of those vowels. Also, get higher in pitch when you say them. You have just modified the melody of speech!

No matter what country a person comes from, there will be differences between languages. Here are some other examples that often create challenges to overcome for non-native English speakers.

1. Mandarin Chinese relies on tone differences to make different words. One word may have four different tones and each tone has four different meanings. In English that happens some but not as often. (Consider PROject and proJECT.)

2. Some languages have more pitch changes on individual vowels in words to indicate different word meanings.

3. In Japanese, some tone differences signify a change in the grammar of the sentence.

4. Some languages place equal stress on every syllable with limited variation in loudness or pitch so it is more of a monotonic language.

The task of learning the melody of American English comes easily to those of us who grew up speaking it. But for a non- native speaker, it takes time, practice and perseverance. In order to be better understood in the workplace, on the telephone or giving presentations, the melody of speech is a critical piece in order for the listener to understand the speaker's message. It is even considered to be more important than pronunciation of sounds. Mastering this aspect of speech will greatly benefit the communication effectiveness between two speakers.

Six rules of Subject Verb agreement

There are a few of us who could use some quick lessons in the use of subject and verb in English. You may have read a lot of rules and completed many sets of exercises to get them right, but here are six simple rules that will make it easy to comprehend and retain the lesson learnt.

Rule 1 - A singular subject uses a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb.

How simple can it get?

Ex -The boy plays. ( Singular subject, singular verb)

The boys play. ( Plural subject, plural verb)

Rule 2 - When you use some or all in a sentence, the verb can be either singular or plural depending on whether the subject can be counted or not.

Ex- Some of the chairs in the conference room are wobbly. ( You can count the chairs.)

Some of the tea from the teapot has spilt on the carpet. ( Tea is a non count subject.)

You can count tea if it were served in tea cups and thus if you say ” Six of the tea cups are cracked”, you will be right!

Rule 3 – When you use each, everyone, someone, anyone then the verb is always singular.

Each of you is responsible for the outcome.

Everyone in class has to have completed the exercise by Thursday.

Someone has to pick me up at the station tomorrow.

Rule 4 – When you use together with, along with or as well as even though they behave like conjunctions and link two phrases, the form of the verb will depend on the first subject.

If the first subject is singular, then the verb used is singular too.

The teacher ( First subject)along with the students ( Second subject) was at the marathon.

The students( first subject)together with the teacher( second subject) were at the celebrations after the marathon.

Rule 5 – When you use neither or either without the or and nor then the verb will always be singular. For ex -

Neither of the dresses she showed me was out of the world.

Will you prefer tea or coffee?

Either of them is ok.

Rule 6 - When neither or either is used in a sentence with the or and nor then the verb will always take the form of the second subject.

Neither Rajen nor his colleagues (second subject is plural) were at the meeting.

Either the engineers or Nair ( Second suject is singular) is representing the company at the conference.