1. ESSAY
PROSODY
MADE BY:
LAURA SELENE GUERRERO ROJAS
UNIVERSIDAD LA GRAN COLOMBIA
FACULTAD CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACION
LIC. EN INGLES
GRUPO: 48
PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY
BOGOTA D.C
2015
2. Prosody
Middle English, from Latin prosodia accent of a syllable, from Greek prosōidia song
sung to instrumental music, accent, from pros in addition to + ōidē song — more at
pros-, ode.
Prosody, the study of all the elements of language that contribute toward acoustic and
rhythmic effects, chiefly in poetry but also in prose. The term derived from an ancient
Greek word that originally meant a song accompanied by music or the particular tone or
accent given to an individual syllable. Greek and Latin literary critics generally
regarded prosody as part of grammar; it concerned itself with the rules determining the
length or shortness of a syllable, with syllabic quantity, and with how the various
combinations of short and long syllables formed the metres
Prosody is one of the most important factors of English language, because it refers to
the energy that we put in the words in order to express one or several ideas, for
example; who you are, what you do or even what you feel. Prosody has aspects such as:
pitch, stress, intonation and rhythm. Those factors used properly, help us to be
understood when we speak and can be a perfect tool to express what we want to.
First of all, is necessary to take into account those factors, and the correct use of them.
For that, I will give you, a short explanation about those concepts and how they can be
used in order to speak English accurately.
The pitch in prosody refers to the vibration produced by the vocal folds, and the level of
highness of lowness in our tone of voice.
Stress, refers to the energy that we put in a word in order to make that word more
important than others when speaking.
3. Intonation
The rising and falling sounds of the voice when speaking.
Language conveys very specific information, such as how to get somewhere or what
someone is doing. It can be also used beyond the exact meaning of the words to indicate
how the speaker feels about what he is saying, or how he personally feels at that
moment.
Generally speaking, if English is not your first language, this is where you start running
into difficulty. Even if you pronounce each word clearly, if your intonation patterns are
non-standard, your meaning will probably not be clear. Also, in terms of
comprehension, you will lose a great deal of information if you are listening for the
actual words used.
This is the starting point of standard intonation. When we say that we need to stress the
new information, it's logical to think, "Hmmm, this is the first time I'm saying this
sentence, so it's all new information. I'd better stress every word." Well, not quite. In
Standard English, we consider that the nouns carry the weight of a sentence, when all
else is equal. Although the verb carries important information, it does not receive the
primary stress of a first-time noun.
Falling intonation
Falling intonation describes how the voice falls on the final stressed syllable of a phrase
or a group of words. A falling intonation is very common in wh-questions.
Where’s the nearest p↘ost-office?
What time does the film f↘inish?
We also use falling intonation when we say something definite, or when we want to be
very clear about something:
4. I think we are completely l↘ost.
OK, here’s the magaz↘ine you wanted.
