Basic Nuclear Tones
.docBasic Nuclear Tones
Rising Tones
The rising type of pitch-change in English has two structural varieties: a) the rise of the voice takes place on the stressed syllable; b) the rise is carried by the unstressed syllables following the stressed one while the latter is pronounced on a steady pitch. The 2 varieties are mutually exclusive:
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Occurs when the nuclear syllable is the last syllable of an intonation group (when there is no tail) No.
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Is found in intonation-groups having a tail. I suppose so.
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№ |
Variety |
Stress mark |
Meaning |
Usage |
Example |
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Mid Wide Rise |
m |
incompleteness |
general, alternative (the first part) and disjunctive (the second part) questions |
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High Narrow Rise |
m |
surprise, incredulity |
interrogative repetitions |
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Low Wide Rise |
m |
incompleteness |
in unfinished parts of sentences (indicating that continuation is going to follow) |
After they passed the roundabout│she reversed into a drive ∫on the left. |
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Low Narrow Rise |
m |
lack of interest, non-assertiveness |
casual remarks, afterthoughts |
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Falling Tones
The falling type of nuclear pitch-change in English is realized by a downward movement of the voice on the stressed syllable, while the syllables of the tail (if there are any) form a level series on the pitch to which the nucleus has fallen, or they may continue the fell slightly to a still lower pitch. The difference, however, is not relevant since it can hardly be perceived by the listener.
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№ |
Variety |
Stress mark |
Meaning |
Usage |
Example |
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Mid Wide Fall |
m |
unemotional speech |
least of all limited to a specific situation. |
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High Wide Fall |
m |
completeness, finality |
Protest, personal concern, involvement, insistence |
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High Narrow Fall |
m |
light, airy |
in direct address, short comments expressing agreement |
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Low Narrow Fall |
m |
phlegmatic, calm, dogmatic |
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