語調的魔力：不同語調說同一句話 意思大不同！

Intonation and Meaning in English 語調與語義

① 語調影響詞義：

project: /prə'dʒekt/ - 動詞；/'prɒdʒekt/ - 名詞
record: /rɪ'kɔ:d/ - 動詞；/'rekɔ:d/ - 名詞

② 語調影響句義：

例：you.re hungry.
如果用falling intonation（降調）：表示make a statement
如果用rising intonation（升調）：表示ask a question

③ 語調影響說話人的意思：

In England, people don't mean what they say, and they don't say what they mean.
有時，一句話的表面意思並不是說話人真正表達的想法，所以我們需要依靠語調去判斷。

例：No.
降調：no and that's the end of it
升調：a question or go on
先降後升：no, but...
平調：一般是家長回答孩子

-Are you doing anything tonight?
-No. ( / )
Means: No, I'm not doing anything tongiht. Go on. Would you like to invite me to dinner?

-Can you lend me a pound?
-No. ( )
Means: No, definitely not. And it's the end of the conversation.

-Are you using the car?
-No. ( / )
Means: No, I'm not using the car, but neither will you. or You can't borrow it. or But I might need it later on.

-Can I borrow the car?
-No. ( — )
Means: 這個場景可能是十幾歲的兒子問父親，而父親顯然已經無數次聽到這樣的問題，都有點懶得回答no了。於是就用了一個平調的no告訴兒子：上次不行，這次不行，下次再問還是不行。

語調的重要性：

通過上面這3方面的講解，大家應該已經瞭解到爲什麼語調那麼重要：If you get the intonation wrong, you may find the people you're talking to don't understand your meaning. 如果對方沒有理解你的意思，再向你進行確認，這算是運氣好的了；可是如果他直接會錯了意呢？那你只能後果自負了。