Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cornfed]

Just now in a class the issue of rising intonations came up. My co-teacher had learned in school that most standard questions had rising intonations, but "Wh" questions actually had falling intonations. I said I had never heard of such a thing, it was probably old fashioned, and that essentially all questions were said with a rising intonation whether they were "Wh" questions or not. Am I right?

[Ut videam]

It's not that simple.

"Checking" questions (i.e., confirming information that one already has) tend to rise at the end.

Questions whose answers are not known tend to rise on the stressed word and fall from that point on.

The text English Pronunciation in Use has an excellent explanation, diagrams, and exercises on this topic.

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[jackson7]

This may be much more simple, but it is an easy way to teach intonation. Yes/No questions usually if not always rise. (Questions that start with Are/Am/Is and Do/Does). Done.

[meangradin]

intonation is easy in a general sense, but can become rather complex when studied specifically. in its most general form, "rising intonation" is normally used at the end of questions which do not begin with an interrogative word (basically, they can be answered merely by yes and no). The voice normally goes up on the last sentence stress, just as in the "rising falling" pattern.. The difference lies in the fact that with the rising intonation, the syllables that follow the the rise are also pronounced on the same high note.

compare:

Are you feeling ok? The rise is after feeling
how are you feeling? The rise at the begining of "feel", then drops for the "ing"

Hope this helps you, but i do suggest you purchase a good pronunciation book and study it, as there are over 14 intonation patterns

[bacasper]

[Cornfed]

You know, now I think of it the co-teacher did have a point. However, some people definitely do use a rising inflection at the end of all direct questions. (In fact some younger people have adopted the annoying habit of using a rising inflection at the end of all sentences.) Not sure how I'll teach it.

[bacasper]