INTONATION OF ENGLISH

AND VIETNAMESE
QUESTIONS

By: Bui Thi Nhinh

Nguyen Thi Minh Huyen
Tran Thu Giang
Tran Thi Hong Hanh
Vu Thi Tuyet
Group: NNAK2
For: Dr. Pham Thi Van Dong
 INTONATION
OF ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE QUESTIONS
 PART A: INTRODUCTION
 PART B: DEVELOPMENT
 1. Tone
 2. Intonation unit
 3. Intonation of Vietnamese and English questions
 3.1 Intonation of English questions
 3.2 Intonation in Vietnamese questions
 3.3 Different intonation in English and Vietnamese questions
 3.3.1 Yes/No Questions
 3.3.2 Wh-Questions
 3.3.3 Alternative Questions
 3.3.4 Declaration Questions
 3.3.5 Tag Questions
 4. Implications in Language Teaching and Learning
 PART B: CONCLUSION
 REFERENCES
 PART B: DEVELOPMENT
1. Tone
1.1 The falling tune – The glide down
1.2 The first rising tune – The glide up
1.3 The second rising tune – The take off
1.4 The falling rising tune – The Dive
2. Intonation unit
 1. Tone
 1.1 The falling tune – The glide down
A fall in the voice from a fairly high pitch to a very low one.
 It was so good.
 1.2 The first rising tune – The glide up
A rising ends with a rise in the voice.
Do you want some coffee?
 1.3 The second rising tune – The take off
The take off ends with a rise in the voice
Words and syllables before the rise are low.
I didn’t go to the market.
 1.4 The falling rising tune – The Dive
A fall from high to low then arise to about the middle of the voice.
Don’t touch that dog.
I love this hat. (I must admit)
 3. Intonation
of Vietnamese and English questions

3.1 Intonation of English questions

3.2 Intonation in Vietnamese questions
3.3 Different intonation in English and
Vietnamese questions
3.1 Intonation of English questions

3.1.1. Yes/No questions

3.1.2 Tag questions
3.1.3 WH-Questions
3.1.4 Others types
 3.1.1. Yes/No questions
be answered with a yes or no,
normally carry up-rise intonation.

Would you like to go Haven’t you called him yet?

swimming?
He been talking to you?
Would you do the same thing?
You play football?
Does he run every day?
He’s already talked to him?
Do you like winter sports?

Didn’t he tell you about it?

 3.1.2 Tag questions
Rising intonation: asking for information.

Tom will give me back, won’t he?

Falling intonation: expecting the listener to agree
with the information in the stem.
Sarah is beautiful, isn’t she?
Tame polarity tag questions, both the stem and the
tag are positive. A low pitch that jumps up on the tag
and then falls indicates the speaker has reached a
conclusion
Turn down the TV, will you!
You understand what I’m talking about,
 3.1.3 WH-Questions
 glide down in the end of sentences

How long did the meeting last

 Information wh- questions have up-fall or down-rise intonation

How can they do that?

 The repeat wh- word and a higher rise in the intonation patterns
signal a greater egree of surprise on the part of the asker.

When did she get in?

She got in when?

 The elaborate please wh- word is always stressed, and questions
consisting of two or more words carry up-fall intonation.

A: That guy just picked my pocket!

B: Which guy?
 3.1.4 Others types
 Alternative questions :alternatives are stressed except the last .

Would you prefer coffee, tea, or milk?

 Echo questions: a higher rise

A: Saras will be leaving for Japan in August.

B: She’ll be leaving for where?

 Exclamatory questions : falling intonation.

Don’t you look great!

 Rhetorical questions

A: Have you heard the news about Alan?

B: Who hasn’t?
 Display questions: wh- information intonation and stress on the
wh- word.
 3.2 Intonation in Vietnamese questions
In Vietnamese questions, the tone is followed by the words with its mark.
 3.2.1. No tone mark: fall slightly.
a, ă, e, ê, o, ô …
 3.2.2. Rising tone (dấu sắc): rise
á, ế, é, ố, í, ú, ứ …
 3.2.3. Falling (dấu huyền): start at a fairly low level and falls gradually
à, ề, è, ồ, ì, ù …
 3.2.4. Low glottal (dấu nặng): start a little below the middle of the
voice range, falls immediately and very abruptly to a lower level
ạ, ẹ, ệ, ị, ụ, ộ, ọ, ự …
 3.2.5. Rising glottal (dấu ngã): start just a little above the middle of
the normal speaking voice range, dips down a very little, then rises
abruptly.
ã, ẽ, õ, ỗ, ĩ, ũ, õ …
 3.2.6. Falling-rising (dấu hỏi): begin mid-range and falls quickly; if a
final syllable, the vowel ends in a rising tone.
ả, ẩ, ẻ, ể, ổ, ỏ, ỉ, ủ …
In Vietnamese questions, the tone is
followed by the words with its mark.
Bạn học tiếng Anh ở đâu?

Where do you study English?

Ông ấy thích cái áo nào?

Which shirt does he want?

Anh ấy đi xe máy hay xe buýt?

Does he goes by motorbike or by bus?

Bài tập này đã làm một lần rồi đúng không?

This exercise they have done once already, haven’t them?

 3.3 Different intonation
in English and Vietnamese questions
3.3.1 Yes/No Questions

In English In Vietnamese

no rising intonation
rising intonation some particles are added, such as
“có… chưa”, “có…không”, “phải …
không”, “à”, “ạ”, “hả”.

Do you speak Chinese? Anh đọc cuốn sách này chưa?

Is she hard-working? Bạn có đi xem phim với mình

không ?
 3.3 Different intonation
in English and Vietnamese questions
3.3.2 Wh-Questions

In English In Vietnamese

falling tone no falling intonation

How are you? Khi nào anh đi làm?

Where are you from? Tại sao anh đi đến đấy?

 3.3 Different intonation
in English and Vietnamese questions
3.3.3 Alternative Questions

In English In Vietnamese

A rising tone for every choice except no intonation pattern

the last - falling tone.

Should I phone you or send an

email?
Anh hay em chở con đi học hôm nay
Shall I do it or will you do it
?
yourself?
 3.3 Different intonation
in English and Vietnamese questions
3.3.4 Declaration Questions

In English In Vietnamese

a rising tone at the end no intonation pattern

You are going to the cinema tonight? Cậu đi xem phim tối nay phải không?

He will speak to them today? Cậu ta sẽ nói với họ hôm nay ư?

 3.3 Different intonation
in English and Vietnamese questions
3.3.5 Tag Questions
In English In Vietnamese

Rising intonation to ask for no intonation pattern

information.
Falling intonation to expect the
listener to agree

She is a good teacher, isn’t she?

Peter plays guitar, doesn't he?

Anh mệt, phải không?”
 4. Implications in Language
Teaching and Learning
For teachers:
Knowing the similarities and differences between the two
languages
provide students with encouragement and reinforcement
assist students in asking, giving and receiving questions
Give many opportunities to practise, to role-play
imaginatively in a variety of contexts in which different
social factors are taken into account
For students:
Pay attention to the differences to remember the lesson
and in order to learn effectively.
 PART C: CONCLUSION
 To sum up, we know that how important the intonation of
the questions is because we use questions in most of
conversations in our daily life and understanding intonation
is understanding questions and having the right responses.
There are many differences between English and Vietnamese
question types. In English, each type has each intonation but
in Vietnamese, intonation is followed by the diacritical over
the vowel. Conducting a contrastive analysis of a certain
aspect between two languages can bring about many
applications in teaching and learning languages. As we can
see, it is useful not only for teachers but also for learners
when they can find something similar of different from their
mother tongue.
 REFERENCES

 Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman
grammar of spoken and written English. Essex: Pearson Education.
 Brazil, D. & M. Coulthart, C. Johns 1980. Discourse Intonation and Language
Teaching.. Harlow (Essex): Longman.
 Halliday, M. A. K. 1967. Intonation and Grammar in British English. The Hague:
Mouton.
 Roach, P. 1983. English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Coursebook.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 Le Quang Thiem, Nghiên cứu đối chiếu các ngôn ngữ, NXB ĐH Quốc Gia Hà Nội.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_question
 http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.com/pdf/elt/products/file8-2.pdf
 http://www.phon.ox.ac.uk/~esther/Grabe_et_al.pdf
 http://vietnamese-learning.com/26/yes-no-questions-in-vietnamese
 http://vietnamese-learning.com/92/vietnamese-negative-questions
 http://vietnamese-learning.com/96/vietnamese-tag-questions