Subject: English Diction. Week 1, Topic: Intonation || by @udyliciouz || 10% payout to @steemkidss

INTRODUCTION

Greetings my lovely kids and wonderful kids lovers. I guess you are really doing well. I am delighted to be one of your teachers. My name is Uduakobong Emmanuel alias @udyliciouz. I will be taking the kids on diction. Do you know what diction is all about?... "Speaking right". Whenever you speak a particular language right, the way it is spoken by the native speaker of that language, that is diction. We have diction in different languages, your diction in English, diction in Yoruba, diction in Igbo, diction in ibibio and so on.

This week lesson is going to be on intonation.

What is intonation?

Intonation means the rise and fall of one's tone of voice when speaking and Reading.
This means that we don't have to go flat when speaking.
Intonation is important because it adds meaning to what is said.
When probably used it helps the listener to fully understand the message being passed across.
It prevents misunderstanding of information presented by the speaker. Intonation is very important to speech as punctuation is important to writing.

There are five basic tones in English language.

1. Rise tone
2. Fall tone
3. Level tone
4. Fall-rise tone
5. Rise-fall tone

We will discuss on the first three because there are more important.

The rise tone:- This tone is pitch from the level low to high.

Uses of the rise tone

The rise to is used when

a. Initiating greetings. Example,
Good morning ma'am, its good to see you.

b. Listing items. Example, my mother is a good cook, singer, dancer and a writer
There were engineers, police officers, civil servants, students, actors and doctors in the bus.

c. Asking a Yes or no question. Example, is the lady okay? Is that your mother? Are you sure your fine? Did anyone comes home?

d. Making polite request. Example, May I have a glass of water? Please teacher may I use the restroom?

e. Expressing uncertainty. Example, would she like this?

f. Making incomplete statement. Example, when I woke up in the morning...
When I was going to the school...

g. Observing comma. Example, rice, beans, yam, ....
I have money, fame, beauty and lots more.

The fall tone: This is characterized by pitch movement from the level high to low.

Uses of the fall tone

a. Response to greetings. Example, good morning
Good Afternoon

b. Observing full stop in a sentence. Example, My mother is a nurse.

c. Giving strong commands. Example, sit down!

d. Definite statement. Example, the boy ran away.
e. Tag question. Example, you will not see your father today, will you?

The Level tone:- This tone is used to contrast the other tones. It is level, and commonly used by ordinary Nigerian speaker.

Practice reading using the right intonation

Read the following sentences with the right intonation, pronunciation and fluency.

1. I went to the seaport and saw a pot.
2. I had fun with my friends yesterday.
3. My sports wear has a spot.
4. I need a short umbrella.
5. Do give me a cup of water please.

Say them well

Wrong: We dropped at the same bus stop.
Right: We alighted at the same bus stop.

EXPLORE

Try and engage in a conversation with someone and make sure you apply the rise tone.