When a sentence begins with a question word such as who, what, where, when, how and it is spoken with rising contour, it usually follows which type of intonation?

When a sentence begins with a question word such as who, what, where, when, how and it is spoken with rising contour, it usually follows which type of intonation?

• A. Falling intonation
• B. Rising intonation
• C. Flat intonation
• D. Failing intonation

Answer: (D)

When a sentence starts with a question word (who, what, where, when, how) and is spoken with a rising contour, the pitch climbs toward the end, signaling that the speaker is asking for information and expects a response. That rising pattern is the rising intonation. The other patterns don’t fit this description: falling intonation typically marks a more definite, concluding statement or a question with a stronger sense of finality; flat intonation sounds unvaried; a nonstandard term like “failing” isn’t used to describe English intonation.

When a sentence starts with a question word (who, what, where, when, how) and is spoken with a rising contour, the pitch climbs toward the end, signaling that the speaker is asking for information and expects a response. That rising pattern is the rising intonation. The other patterns don’t fit this description: falling intonation typically marks a more definite, concluding statement or a question with a stronger sense of finality; flat intonation sounds unvaried; a nonstandard term like “failing” isn’t used to describe English intonation.