Intonation is an integral part of communication for all speakers. But can sign languages have intonation? A new study shows that signers use their faces to create intonational ‘melodies’ just as ...

We have intensively discussed speech sounds in this class. The aim has been to improve on how we pronounce words. Today, we are building on what I hope has been achieved by looking at the concept of ...

Raúl Sánchez and Dan Bullock are linguistics and communications specialists and NYU professors. They say improving vocalics, aka nonverbal aspects of speech, is key for effective communication. Vocal ...

A spoken language is more than just words and sounds. Speakers use changes in pitch and rhythm, known as prosody, to provide emphasis, show emotion, and otherwise add meaning to what they say. In a ...

Adults learning another language often tend to continue using the intonation of their native language. This causes them to make mistakes in the new language: incorrect intonation can change the ...