Stress / Intonation Signal
What does the voice highlight or signal?
意味
Meaning expressed by pitch, stress, rhythm, pauses, melody, sentence accent, or intonation contour.
見分け方
Listen for which word is emphasized and whether the sentence sounds like a statement, question, surprise, or contrast.
例
rising tone|word stress|sentence stress|pause
really? | I said JOHN | yes, but...
You bought this?
Visual guide
words: You bought this voice layer above: stress -> highlights a word rise -> question/surprise pause -> boundary Meaning rides above words.
Same words, new signal: YOU bought this? = not me? You BOUGHT this? = not borrowed? You bought THIS? = this item? Contour: fall: You bought this. rise: You bought this?
言語別ビュー
母語の仕組み
Intonation helps signal questions, emotion and contrast, especially in casual speech.
これを買った？
You bought this?
学習言語では
English stress and intonation affect focus, questions, emotion, contrast, and naturalness.
I didn't say he stole it.
stress changes the implied meaning
Learners may sound flat, unclear, or accidentally emphasize the wrong information.
Same block, different coding
Both languages use this block strongly, but they signal it differently. Focus on form changes, not only meaning.