6. Intonation in other sentence types

6.1 Exclamations

Exclamations (= expression of surprise, anger or excitement) virtually always have a fall. We call this tone meaning the exclamatory fall. It can be seen as sub-type of the definitive fall.

Some exclamations have special grammatical form. In English these begin with what or haw, and in writing usually have an exclamation mark:

• What a pity!

• What a good idea!

• How odd!

• What pretty eyes she has!

• How very nice of him!

Other exclamation may be interjections, statements, or yes-no interrogatives. But they are all said with an exclamatory fall:

• Wow!

• Dreadful!

• I don't believe it!

• Welcome to Brighton!

• You were marvelous, darling!

• Isn't she pretty!

• Wasn't it awful!

• Will you be going to Oak Hill?

Will I heck!

• He's feeling a bit annoyed.

Is he just.

Exclamations are thus the simplest kind of utterance for the student of EFL. The rule is: if it’s an exclamation, say it with a fall. Exclamatory falls are excellent drill material for anyone who wants to practice producing falling tones. (It is not true that every sentence written with an exclamation mark necessarily takes a fall. In particular, commands may be written with an exclamation mark and pronounced with a fall-rise.)

6.2 Commands

The default tone for commands is the definitive fall:

• Stop that noise!

• Stand up when you answer.

• Tell me the truth.

In short commands (as with statements) a rise is often used to encourage the other speaker to continue:

• I've got something to tell you.

• Go on.

The warnings we often use an implicational fall-rise:

• Watch you!

• Wait for me!

• Do be careful!

The implication here is something like this:

Do as I say, or something bad will happen.

If said with a fall tone, these would indeed be not so much warnings as straight-forward commands:

• Wait for me!

• Do be careful.

Like negative statements, negative commands often have a fall-rise without necessarily implying a warning:

• Don't start until you're ready.

• Don't forget the salt.

Commands said with the interested rise (with a high prenuclear pattern) sound soothing and kindly. We use this tone when speaking to children, for example. To adults, it can sound patronizing.

• Come to Daddy.

• Don't worry.

• How take your time.

The differences in these tone meanings can be seen when we compare them on the same sentence:

Now move a long, please. (firm, authoritative)

Now move a long, please. (urgent, warning)

Now move a long, please. (routine, friendly)

6.3 Interjections and greetings

The categories of interjection and exclamation partly overlap. So, not surprisingly, the default tone for interjections is exclamatory (or definitive) fall:

• Thank you.

• Oh, good!

• Sure.

However, many short interjections can be said with an encouraging rise, inviting the other person to speak or to continue speaking:

• Hullo. (answering the phone)

• Good morning. (- How can I help you?) (bank clerk to the next customer)

• - I've bought a new hat, darling.

- Uh-huh. (Tell me about it.)

• - Oh Marry.

- Yes?

The interjection oops, whoops (uttered when you have just made a mistake or dropped something) seems always to have a rise (including under ‘rise’ its variant, the mid level).

In other cases a rise on an interjection signals no more than a routine acknowledgement:

• - Here's your change love.

- Thank you.

• - You'll need this form.

- Right.

The difference in meaning between a definitive fall and an encouraging rise can be seen in the following pair of examples:

(i) Unscrew the cylinder head.

Right. (I will.)

(ii) Unscrew the cylinder head.

Right. (And what next?)

The fall on right in (i) implies the potential completion of the conversational interchange, where as the rise in (ii) can be taken by the first speaker as an invitation to issue a further instruction. It means something like ‘please continue speaking’.

Not all encouraging rises on interjections mean ‘please continue speaking’. In the following examples the meaning is more ‘please continue with your course of action’:

• - It's me exam tomorrow.

- Good luck.

• - Would you like me to do it now?

- Yes please.

In calling someone by name, we normally use a rise or fall-rise if trying to get their attention. A fall, on the other hand, is a straightforward greeting (or, of course, an exclamation):

• Professor Jones: I wonder if I could have a word.

• Professor Jones: I wonder if I could have a word.

• Professor Jones! How nice to see you!

• Peter? (– Is that you? – It’s me!)

• Peter! (Fancy seeing you!)

For most greetings, both falls and rises are perfectly possible and acceptable. A definitive fall is more formal, an encouraging rise more personal:

(i) Hello!

(ii) Hello.

(i) Good morning!

(ii) Good morning.

Variant (i), with a fall, means just ‘I am greeting you’, whereas variant (ii), with a rise, expresses an added interest in the person addressed, ‘as I greet you, I am acknowledging you’.

A vocative after hello or hi usually has its own rising tone. In this case hello may be stress-shifted so that the accent falls on the first syllable:

• Hi, Kevin.

• Hello, Margaret.

• Hello, Tim.

One or two greetings are tonally restricted. Whereas hello may have any tone, hi (if said with an ordinary tone, not a stylized one) can only have a fall. The same is true of hey. Likewise cheers, in its British sense of ‘thank you’, always has a fall:

• Hi!

• Hi, Julia.

• Hi, Ashley.

• Hey, you! I want to talk to you.

• Cheers, mate.

Said with a fall, thank you has the straightforward meaning ‘I am thanking you’; with a rise, it suggests as ‘I thank you, I am acknowledging you’. This is, however, a routine kind of acknowledgement. To express genuine gratitude, it is necessary to use a fall, variant (i):

(i) Thank you. (straightforward)

(ii) Thank you. (routine acknowledgement)

For saying farewell, goodbye and its equivalents often have a rise. Since goodbye signals the completion of a conversation exchange, you might expect it normally to be said with a definitive fall; but in practice a rise is much more frequent. Why? Because it is an encouraging rise, expressing good will and acknowledgement of the other person. The same applies when a television presenter signs off.

• I am off now. Goodbye.

• Good night. See you tomorrow.

• So long then.

• That's it from me.

But to get rid of an unwelcome guest you would say:

Good bye.

Strangely, the informal see you tends to have a fall-rise rather than a rise:

See you.

APPENDIX