Describes how the voice rises and falls in speech. The three main patterns of intonation in English are: falling intonation, rising intonation and fall-rise intonation.
Intonation has several functions. It allows the speaker to convey emotions and attitudes in speech, such as finality, joy, sadness, etc. Intonation also allows the speaker to stress certain words. In addition, intonation can help the speaker convey the grammar of the spoken words by pausing at certain points, for example, or by raising the voice to ask a question. In addition, intonation can help the speaker convey what he or she expects of the listener(s) in discourse by, for example, seeming to ask a question or by conveying when something is new information in contrast to information the listener already knows.
