The Intonation of American English

The Intonation of American English
Author: Kenneth Lee Pike
Publisher: Praeger
Total Pages: 224
Release: 1979
Genre: Humor
ISBN:

This study explains the structure of the English intonation system in relation to the structural systems of stress, pause, and rhythm.

The Intonation of English Statements and Questions

The Intonation of English Statements and Questions
Author: Christine Bartels
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2014-04-04
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1135685029

English sentence prosody provides cues to both focus structure and speaker attitude. Taking the phonological model of intonation developed by Pierrehumbert (1880 et seq.) as point of departure, this work illuminates the communicative function of English pitch contours by (1) giving a detailed survey of phrase-final contours found in statements and questions, and (2) investigating what attitudinal features determine choice of phrasal tones in these utterance types. This comprehensive study will be of interest to linguists in a number of fields, ranging from prosody to semantics, pragmatics, and discourse analysis.

American English

American English
Author: Zoltan Kovecses
Publisher: Broadview Press
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2000-09-26
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1460403096

This book is a cultural-historical (rather than purely linguistic) introduction to American English. The first part consists of a general account of variation in American English. It offers concise but comprehensive coverage of such topics as the history of American English; regional, social and ethnic variation; variation in style (including slang); and British and American differences. The second part of the book puts forward an account of how American English has developed into a dominant variety of the English language. It focuses on the ways in which intellectual traditions such as puritanism and republicanism, in shaping the American world view, have also contributed to the distinctiveness of American English.

The Intonation Patterns of American English

The Intonation Patterns of American English
Author: Lorna D. Sikorski
Publisher:
Total Pages: 115
Release: 2014
Genre:
ISBN: 9781883574260

Intonation: Perhaps the most important issue for you to work on! No other program we know of tackles this key element of true fluency in American English so practically. Here are more than 100+ pages of varied exercises to help you control of the musical aspects of American English ¿ the pitch and stress. This series covers: word lists for the eight major word patterns, basic falling and rising sentence rules, unique word reduction guidelines and drills for emphatic intonation.

Intonation and Its Uses

Intonation and Its Uses
Author: Dwight Bolinger
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 498
Release: 1989
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780804715355

This is the second and concluding volume of the author's magnum opus on intonation, the summation of over forty years of investigation and reflection. The first volume, Intonation and Its Parts: Melody in Spoken English, was published in 1986. Intonation, or speech melody, refers to the rise and fall of the pitch of the voice in speech; it has intimate ties to facial expression and bodily gesture, and conveys, underneath it all, emotions and attitudes. Most of the first volume was devoted to explaining the basic nature, variety, and untility of intonation, using, as in the present volume, hundreds of examples from everyday English speech, presented much in the manner of musical notation. The present volume looks at how intonation varies among speakers and societies in terms of age, sex and region; how it interacts with grammar; and how it has been invoked to explain certain questions of logic. The discussion of variation shows the degree to which intonation can be conventionalized and yet embody a universal core of feelings and attitudes, renewed with each generation. The remainder of the book demonstrates that no explanation of those apparently more arbitrary phenomena with which intonation interacts is adequate if it ignores that emotive undercurrent. In examining recent proposals for a defining relationship between intonation and grammar or logic, the author shows that such relationships are inferential and based on attitudinal meanings. For example, a given intonation does not mean 'factuality', but rather 'speaker confidence', from which factuality is inferred. In general, the author shows intonation operating independently in its own sphere, but as nevertheless indispensable to interpreting other more arbitrary parts of language.

British or American English?

British or American English?
Author: John Algeo
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 13
Release: 2006-08-10
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1139457322

Speakers of British and American English display some striking differences in their use of grammar. In this detailed survey, John Algeo considers questions such as: •Who lives on a street, and who lives in a street? •Who takes a bath, and who has a bath? •Who says Neither do I, and who says Nor do I? •After 'thank you', who says Not at all and who says You're welcome? •Whose team are on the ball, and whose team isn't? Containing extensive quotations from real-life English on both sides of the Atlantic, collected over the past twenty years, this is a clear and highly organized guide to the differences - and the similarities - between the grammar of British and American speakers. Written for those with no prior knowledge of linguistics, it shows how these grammatical differences are linked mainly to particular words, and provides an accessible account of contemporary English in use.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Author: Kate Woodford
Publisher:
Total Pages: 1550
Release: 2003
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 9780521824231

The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary is the ideal dictionary for advanced EFL/ESL learners. Easy to use and with a great CD-ROM - the perfect learner's dictionary for exam success. First published as the Cambridge International Dictionary of English, this new edition has been completely updated and redesigned. - References to over 170,000 words, phrases and examples explained in clear and natural English - All the important new words that have come into the language (e.g. dirty bomb, lairy, 9/11, clickable) - Over 200 'Common Learner Error' notes, based on the Cambridge Learner Corpus from Cambridge ESOL exams Plus, on the CD-ROM: - SMART thesaurus - lets you find all the words with the same meaning - QUICKfind - automatically looks up words while you are working on-screen - SUPERwrite - tools for advanced writing, giving help with grammar and collocation - Hear and practise all the words.