Analyze and explain
How many IPs would you divide this fragment into?
Sophie, is the assignment individual or group-based?
Sophie, | is the assignment individual | or group-based?
Why does the NS fall on "looking" in the following IP?
What are you looking at?
last lexical item - "at" is a preposition - prepositional verb
Why do items in a list have a rising intonation?
To convey a sense of continuation and indicate that the list is not yet complete.
True or False: In English, the nuclear stress always falls on content words rather than function words.
False - While content words are often stressed in English, there are cases where function words can also receive stress for emphasis or contrast.
True or False: English is a syllable-timed language, where each syllable takes roughly the same amount of time to say.
False (English is stress-timed.)
Spanish is syllable-timed, and Japanese is mora-timed.
Where would you place the nuclear stress in this IP? Why?
Everyone's here for the guest speaker.
GUEST - compound
Explain the use of the fall rise:
Although it was Vraining, | we went for a \ walk.
It's a dependent clause. (syntactic function)
It's a leading element (Precedes the independent clause).
Trailing elements (after the dependent close) also take a rising tone in unmarked cases (exceptions exist, such as reinforcing fall).
What are the two meanings typically associated with the rise-fall?
It shows the speaker is impressed/suprised, or it shows challenge/disapproval.
True or False: In English, word stress can help distinguish between different meanings of homographs.
True - Record (V) vs Record (N)
Why do demonstratives in final position usually carry the nucleus? (e.g.: "Look at this.")
Because they tend to convey new information.
Where would you place the nuclear stress in this IP? Why?
I thought maybe twenty people would show up.
UP. - adverbial particle
Explain the use of the falling tone:
He's probably not at home, | but I'll call him \ anyway.
Reinforcing fall.
What is the difference between using a rising or falling tone in a tag question?
rising: checking agreement // falling: insistent - the speaker expects the other person to agree.
True or False: English speakers generally use rising intonation for statements to express uncertainty or to seek confirmation.
True.
Explain the difference between the demarcative and the syntactic function and mention which of the three Ts is involved in each of them.
Both part of the grammatical function.
demarcative function: intonation used to mark the beginning and end of grammatical units. (TONALITY)
syntactic function: intonation used to distinguish grammatically ambiguous structures (statements and questions / diff clause types). (TONE)
Where would you place the nuclear stress in this IP? Why?
He told me he likes going to the cinema too.
too - tends to attract the nucleus, sometimes has its own IP
Explain NS placement in: But you should already \have the sources.
Dialogue:
Emma: Do we need to include references in the outline or only in the final draft?
Mr. Patel: Only in the final draft. But you should already have the sources.
"the sources" - synonym for "references" - old information
When can old information be reaccented?
For contrast, or to imply it has been overlooked.
True or False: Commands are never said with a rising tone.
False - A rising tone is used when talking to young children. With adults, it sounds patronizing.
When does tone concord happen? (mention at least 2 cases)
Non-defining appositions, parallel strucures, info presented in two IPs, adding info using "too" at the end, synonyms for emphasis.
Where does the nucleus go in the following statement? Why?
"I don't see the guy."
SEE ("the guy" = him, works as a function word in this context)
Explain the use of the fall-rise in this list:
He's /polite | Vfriendly | and \hard-working.
There's an implication. It's implicit, and the listener could understand that the person is "friendly enough," or "not always friendly."
What are the three types of contrast?
polarity (affirmative/negative)
modality (tense shift)
lexical (different items that are parallel in structure, e.g. two adjectives, two nouns, two pronouns, etc.)
True or False: In English, a stressed syllable is always pronounced with a higher pitch than unstressed syllables within the same word.
False: The pitch of a stressed syllable can vary depending on factors such as intonation, emphasis, or the overall context of the sentence.
Why do event sentences have a narrow focus when the verb at the end carries new information? ("What happened?"/"The phone's ringing") - 2 REASONS
Because the information in the verb is fairly predictable, so the nucleus is on the subject (unless it's a pronoun). Also, we tend to put the nucleus on nouns.