Building on the discussion of suprasegmentals in Chapters 6and 7, this chapter introduces the concept of intonation. The chapter begins by defining intonation both articulatorily and acoustically, with a focus on the relationship among pitch, tone, and intonation. The chapter then provides an overview of methods of analysing intonation, including acoustic analysis and theTone and Break Indices (ToBI) System. The chapter next examines intonational systems in different varieties of English by first describing GAmE and SSBE sentence intonation and pitch accent patterns, to provide a framework through which to examine other varieties. The intonation and pitch accent patterns from different varieties is then discussed, as is the pitch range of different varieties. The chapter then examines two global phenomena in detail – High Rising Terminal on declarative statements, or uptalk; and creaky voice, also commonly called vocal fry. The chapter ends with exercises to check your understanding of the content of the chapter, as well as to expand your knowledge through an analysis of the intonation and pitch accent patterns in your own variety of English.

This chapter gives an overview of critical issues in contemporary research on the phonetics of intonation, arising from a survey of historical and recent trends in the field. We begin with a brief introduction to some of the key concepts to be used in the description of intonation in the chapter, which is based primarily on the Autosegmental Metrical framework. In the subsequent historical overview, we place this tone-based framework in its historical context, comparing it with the British tune-based tradition, before outlining more recent developments arising out of studies of typological variation of intonation, which have influenced our understanding of both the forms and the meanings of intonation. Three critical issues in the study of intonation are then reviewed: defining the phonetic variables of intonation, the relationship of intonation to other linguistic structures, and intonational variation and change. A sampling of recent research subsequently highlights work that relates to these critical issues. Key considerations for the teaching of intonation are then reviewed, before some closing comments on future directions for intonation research.