What is “intonation” (also known as prosody )?
Intonation is a general term that describes pitch changes in conjunction with emphasis at the word or syllable level (known as “word stress” and “syllable stress”, respectively) that are used to enhance or convey meaning. These elements are used to direct the listener to the critical portions of the message being spoken. They also help to convey implied or unspoken messages to the listener, such as humor, sarcasm and other sentiments. In fact, intonation can often provide the bulk of the message during conversation (at least 70% of the intended message according to some researchers). Pitch Pitch actually refers to changes in speaking pitch (i.e. frequency) that are used to enhance meaning for words, phrases and sentences. Many trainers divide the possible pitches into four distinct targets (although there may be more or less, depending on the speaker). Motion between the pitches can occur in a step wise fashion, with distinct changes in pitches between syllables or words or as a glide
