The information conveyed by a sentence is expressed not only by proper words and grammar structures, but also by intonation. The term intonation implies variations of pitch, force of utterance and tempo. Variations of pitch are produced by significant moves of the voice up and down. The force component of intonation is measured by the degree of loudness of syllables that determines the prominence of words. The tempo is determined by the rate of speech and the length of pauses. An approach to the study of intonation is based on its two functions: The constitutive function. The distinctive function. The Constitutive Function. Intonation forms sentences. Each sentence consists of one or more intonation groups. An intonation group is a word or a group of words characterized by a certain intonation pattern and is generally complete from the point of view of meaning, eg: He’s nearly sixty. As a →matter of ˏfact | he’s →nearly ˎsixty.
