Phonetics and Phonology III

Definitions:
Intonation:
“Intonation involves the occurrence of recurring pitch patterns, each of which is used with a set of relatively consistent
meanings, either on single words or on groups of words of varying length.”
Alan Cruttenden
“Intonation is the linguistic use of pitch in utterances.”
Paul Tench
Tonality:
“Is the system by which a stretch of spoken text is segmented into a series of discrete units of intonation which correspond to
the speaker’s perception of pieces (or “chunks”) of information.”
Paul Tench
Tonicity:
“Is the system by which an individual, discrete, unit of intonation is shown to have a prominent word which indicates the focus
of information.”
Paul Tench
Tone:
“Is the system of contrasting pitch movements in each unit of intonation, which, among other roles, identifies the status of
information, e.g.: major, minor, or incomplete.”
Paul Tench

1. INTONATION
Characteristics of Intonation:
 Systematic: (is the characteristic that makes it possible for us to learn and teach intonation) because it is organized into a
number of sub-systems (choices) – There are rules 1
 Significant: because it conveys meaning
 Conventional: because is a system shared by the members of a certain speech community
 Characteristic: because each language has its own intonation patterns (which are used with a certain meaning)
 Inevitable: because it is always present
 Integral: (to the study of any language) because it integrates grammar, pronunciation, sounds…

The Structure of Intonation:

The system and structure relate to the nature of intonation: what intonation is like.

Intonation Unit (Tone Group)

Each intonation unit (a unit which handles one piece of information and has only one pitch movement) has a structure:
 Tonic segment: (includes the nucleus and all following words in the same unit)
- Nucleus/tonic syllable: it is obligatory, because it is that part of the intonation unit that bears the contrastive pitch
movement (the tone) and also because it has an essential prominence. The rest of the units are optional.
- Tail: the words subsequent to the tonic syllable.
 Pre-tonic segment:
- Pre-head: the part that precedes the head and contains only unstressed syllables.
- Head: the part which begins with the first stressed syllable, known as “onset” syllable.

Which is the purpose of the intonation unit?

 The purpose of the intonation unit is to have a starting point for the analysis of information.

Why is it necessary to identify so many points in the structure of intonation unit?

 Different pitch movements can contrast with each other at each point of structure, and thus produce changes of meaning. The
pitch movement in the tonic provides the basis of the tone system, and the tone has an effect on the pitch of the tail.
 So the purpose of this structure is to indicate the points or areas where intonation can vary and produce differences in meaning
(which is the essence of linguistic structures).

Which should we use when referring to the structure of the intonation unit: words or syllables?
  It seems inevitable that when we think of the content of the message contained in an intonation unit, we shall refer to words.
 However, strictly speaking, an intonation unit is a structure of sound and belongs to phonology.

How intonation belongs to phonology?

Hierarchy of Phonological Structures and Units
There are four ranks of phonological structure:
 An intonation unit is made up of one or more rhythmic units or feet;
 Each foot has a structure of syllables;
 Each syllable has a structure of phonemes.

There is a relationship of function as well as structure:

 Certain phonemes have certain functions in the syllable: vowels, in the main, function as the nuclei of syllables, consonants as
the margins.
 Certain types of syllable have their functions in feet: stressed syllables function as the nuclei of feet, unstressed syllables as
margins.
 Certain types of feet have their function in intonation units: the foot containing the tonic acts as the nucleus, the others
contribute to the head and the tail.

The nucleus at each rank is obligatory; the rest of the structure may or may not be present. Without the tonic we cannot identify
a complete unit.

The Functions of Intonation:

Functions refer to what intonation does. People in general associate only the attitudinal function to intonation, but actually
there are six major functions:

1. The Informational Function: WHAT is being said?

 It is the function that is always present – Perhaps one of the most important and least appreciated functions (it’s so basic that
people are hardly conscious of it)
 It was developed thanks to Halliday’s ideas. 2
 From the part of the speaker: it has to do with how he presents the information according to his perception. The speakers have
to present the information in pieces that are manageable not only to themselves but also to the people they are addressing.
From the part of the listener: it has to do with how he perceives the speaker’s perception of information.
 The organization of information involves decisions about:
- The division of information into manageable pieces
Tonality (presentation of info)
- The staging of those manageable pieces

- Grading the pieces of information into major and minor (important , less important)
Tone (rises, falls, and fall-rises)
- Tying them up into coherent sequences.

- What should be made prominent. This is usually discussed in terms of “new” Tonicity (the location of the
(that kind of information which was not available for the listener before) tonic)
and “given” (information already present in the listener’s consciousness) information.

 The genre of the spoken discourse is irrelevant in this connection. It will always be subject to the speaker’s management of
information (whether rehearsed or not)

2. The Communicative Function: WHY is it being said?

 It’s a very basic function as well, because whenever we say something, we have a purpose in doing so.
 It’s also called the “discourse function”, “speech functions”, “illocution”, etc.
 It has to do with the speaker’s purpose in saying something / the intended effect he wants to produce on those who are being
addressed (whether the speaker is telling sth, asking, ordering, greeting, etc.)
 Speakers use the tone system so that generally speaking:
- A falling tone in a unit that contains major information denotes “speaker-dominance” (the speaker knows and tells,
orders, demands…)
- A rising tone in an equivalent unit denotes “speaker-deference” (uncertainty, the speaker relies on the listeners
knowledge, so it asks, requests…)

3. The Attitudinal Function: HOW is it being said?

  This is a more traditional function (it used to be considered as the primary function in older studies).
 It has to do with the mood of the speaker or the attitude shown to the addressee or the message (a piece of information can be
given politely, grumpily, warmly…).
 The effect of attitude is mainly to be found in the extent of a fall or rise and in the variations of pitch in the head and pre-head.
For example:
- A wide falling tone (falling from a higher pitch than normal, to low) usually denotes surprise, intensity, something
unexpected.
- A narrow falling tone (falling from lower than normal, to low) denotes mildness, something expected.
 But a message can also be given without any particular emotion. This style is labeled either “plain” or “neutral”. This is a useful
conception because we can then define the expression of attitude as departures from neutral patterns of intonation.
 However, intonation is not the only means available to a speaker to convey attitudes (which does not mean that intonation
alone cannot be the solely responsible for the expression of attitude). A speaker also has:
- Paralinguistic features: voice qualities, vocal effects, tempo and loudness.
- Gestures, distance and proximity, eye contact or not: which indicate kinds of relationship between speaker and
addressee and thus convey attitude
- Choice of words: affectionate words, swear words, sarcastic words…

4. The Grammatical Function: WHICH is it being said?

 It’s the only function that might not be present in all languages.
 It relates intonation to the syntax of clauses. It helps disambiguate parallel wordings of different syntactic structures.
 The speaker uses the three systems in order to make different distinctions.
 There are many cases in English where two syntactic patterns can only be distinguished by intonation (parallel wordings). For
example:
- Distinction between defining and non-defining clauses, particularly important because the distinction may not be
signaled in writing by the use of a comma (in speech the signal is obligatory) – Tonality
- Distinction between a transitive and an intransitive verb – Tonality
- Distinction related to the use of reflexive pronouns. Either being reflexive (as the object of a transitive verb which
carries the primary) or emphatic (carrying the primary and leaving the verb as intransitive) - Tonicity

The following functions deal with longer structures than single units of intonation and individual pieces of information.
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Usually, an intonation unit and a piece of information do not usually appear in isolation.

5. The Textual Structure Function: HOW do units of intonation hang together to form the text of discourse?
 Not only intonation is used to bind information together:
- The topic of a message is another factor
- The grammatical systems of reference and conjunction that show that clauses and sentences belong together
- (a third factor would be intonation)
 In intonation, this is normally signaled in the following way:
- A new item usually starts on a fairly high pitch.
- When that item comes to an end, the general pitch level of its final intonation unit is relatively low. Besides, there is
often a slackening of pace in the final few words. A noticeable pause (to combine units together and to detach the
final unit of one item from the initial unit of the next) signals the end of that item.
- (that pattern is typically of discourses which have been rehearsed or the semantic content prepared)
 The phenomenon of using intonation in this way is called phonological paragraphing. It’s quite normal, though, that the
paragraph in spoken mode has an equivalent in written mode. Brown coined the term “paratone” in contrast to “paragraph”.
 The key to phonological paragraphs is:
1. The high pitch on the onset syllable of the initial intonation unit.
2. The relatively high “baseline” of that initial unit; this means that the low pitches are relatively high, compared to
the low pitches in the final unit of the paragraph
3. There is a gradual lowering of that baseline until the final unit is reached
4. The depth of fall in the final unit is the lowest in the whole paragraph
5. There is usually a slowing down process in the final unit
6. There is a longer pause than is normally allowed between intonation units.
All this system indicates that the units belong together.
 This system can be interrupted to produce other effects:
- If a following unit is pronounced on a higher baseline against the expectations of a lower one, the effect produced is
one of contrast or surprise.
- If a following unit is pitched on the same baseline as the previous one, it usually means that the second unit is
deemed to be an addition to the first
 - If a following unit suffers a sudden drop in pitch, that has the effect of indicating that the information was deemed to
be fully expected.
- (this matches with the attitudinal function as well: high for unexpected, mid for neutral, low for fully expected)
- Glosses: is an additional meaning for low-pitched units embedded in a higher-pitched context.

6. The Identification of Speech Styles:

 It has to do with the way in which we can identify different speech styles or “genres” (a type of discourse that occurs in a
particular situation and it has a distinctive communicative function as well as recognizable patterns)
 There is something about the general sound of particular language events that identifies them. We’re referring here to the
prosodic composition. Differences in prosodic composition depend on a number of features:
- Degree of formality
- Number of participants
- Degree of privacy (private or public?)
- Degree of semantic preparation
- Whether the spoken discourse was scripted or not.
 These features register in:
- Intonation
- Loudness
- Tempo
- Paralinguistic features
- Hesitation pauses
- Rhythmically (rhythmic regularity).
 Intonation is particularly concerned in:
- The proportion of falls and rises
- The length/ number of intonation units
- Degree of textual structure (phonological paragraphing)
 (To see compared genres, refer to page 28 in Tench)
 Points to take into account:
- The recognition of phonological paragraphs is most apparent in semantically-prepared discourse
- Intonation unit boundaries correspond to punctuation in scripted discourse
- Intonation units tend to be longer in semantically-prepared discourse, except where the delivery style4is fairly slow
(lento) and loud (forte)
- There is a high proportion of falls in informal conversation: there are more individual, major, pieces of information
- Public, scripted, spoken discourse is characterized by greater pitch variation in the pre-tonic segment: intended to
relieve any impression of dull, routine repetition that could bore the herarers
- Newsreading and prayer in unison avoid paralinguistic features
- Hesitation features in those genres that are unscripted

2. TONALITY
According to Tench, tonality is the system in intonation that dives spoken discourse into its separate individual intonation units.
Each unit bears a single piece of information and represents the speaker’s management of the information of the whole message. When
trying to delimit the intonation boundaries, there are two main reasons for individual diversity:
 The imagined speed of delivery: the slower the pace, the shorter the unit
 People’s perception of the organization of information will vary

Cruttenden refers to intonational phrasing, or the way in which intonation-groups align with various portions of utterances.
Unit of Information:
 It is the semantic-phonological unit for the development of discourse, which handles not only information as propositional
content but also:
- Markers of style
- Expressions of attitudes and feelings
- Running repairs (when the speaker realizes that something they have said does not correspond to standard grammar
or that a better word could’ve been chosen)
- Phatic communion (language used for social purposes rather than to give info or ask questions)
- Politeness formulas (like please, thank you, don’t mention it)
Neutral Tonality:
According to Halliday, very often, intonation units coincide with clauses, and thus this provides a very valuable starting-point for
the description of tonality. This is so, because a single piece of information is handled in grammar typically by a single clause and in
pronunciation by a single intonation unit. This concept links up phonology with grammar and semantics.
This is by no means a rule. There’s just a tendency for the group to correspond in extent with the clause. A clause that consists
of one and only one tone group will be regarded as “neutral in tonality”.
Marked Tonality:
Involves all those cases where intonation units do not coincide with whole clauses. It occurs either when:
 More than a clause: Two (or more) clauses fit into a single intonation unit. Examples:
- When the “new” information is contained in the second clause whereas the first one only has “given” information.
For example: He did. I saw it.
- When clauses are short like a conditioned clause followed by a conditional clause and when a reporting clause is
followed by the reported clause.
- Where two verbs share the same complimenting object. For example: She washed and brushed her hair
- Tags: they may be either positive or negative. If the polarity of the tag is reverse to that of the main clause it is known
as a checking tag. If the polarity of the tag follows that of the main clause then the tag is called a copy tag. The vast
majority of tags have their own intonation unit. Since Tench, following Halliday, sees tags as a separate clause, these
are cases of neutral tonality. (Cruttenden, on the other hand, thinks they are not separate clauses).
 Checking tags :seem always to have separate intonation units for themselves. If the tone is a fall, the
speaker is pretty certain of the validity of the proposition, whereas if the speaker is less certain, the tone
rises. In both anyways there is asking for confirmation.
 Copy tags: do not necessarily require their own separate intonation unit. If we follow Tench, only in the
cases in which they are not a separate unit we may consider it as a case of marked tonality. The tone is
always rising, at it implies more of a realization of the significance of the proposition, if there is no separate
tonality for the copy, there is added a note of irritation.
 Less than a clause: Two (or more) intonation units are needed to cover a single clause (more frequent). Examples:
- Afterthoughts
- Cases related to the length and the structure of the clause concerned. The usual maximum number of stresses in a
unit is five, and this corresponds to the maximum number of elements in a single simple clause (subject, verb, direct
object, indirect object and adjunct). If a clause breaches that maximum, it seems that it is automatically 5 converted
into two or even more intonation units.
- Long noun-phrase subject: particularly where post-modification is involved or the subject is “topicalised”, that is to
say that the topical nature of the subject is emphasized.
- By phrase: in passive clauses, the agentive by phrase following the verb is commonly given a separate group,
especially if post-modified
- Lists: a list is a special kind of long clause. Each item is contained in a separate unit
- Marked theme: having a clause element preceding the subject with the effect that that element becomes the theme
instead of the subject. This a deviation to the structure of the clause. Careful: there are cases of marked theme in
which a clause is previous to the subject. This of course is a case of neutral, not marked tonality. For example: If you
go out in the evening I want you in by eleven.
- Adjuncts: are yet another case of structural deviation that affects tonality. If these adjuncts appear at the end of the
clause, they may either have an intonation unit of their own or be incorporated into the unit of the preceding clause.
However, when the adjunct is either at the beginning or the middle, they generally have their own intonation unit.
Adjuncts that affect tonality may include:
 Linking adjuncts: however, nevertheless, perhaps, of course, unfortunately…
 Vocatives (in initial position)
 Viewpoint adjuncts: technically, from a personal point of view, politically….
- (Cruttenden) Tags: because Cruttenden does not see tags as a separate clause, he mentions this case as being “less
than a clause”.
- Parenthetical clauses: those clauses which give extra information. Here, apposition is also included. Normally, these
structures have tonal harmony.

Tonality Contrasts in Grammar:

One of the functions of tonality was the “grammatical function”, that is to say, disambiguating parallel wordings that contrast in
syntactic structure.
 Defining and non-defining items
 Apposition: apposition is the relationship between two or more items which are either identical in reference or else the
reference of one must be included in the reference of the other. By using intonation we may differentiation between
 - Defining apposition and non-defining apposition.
- Apposition and object complement, direct object
Apposition may take the form of:
- Clauses: They put it where it was light, where everybody could see it
- Noun phrases: They called Susan, a waitress
- Predicates: They summoned help, called the police and fire brigade
- Complements: She is better, very much better
- Adjuncts: Thirdly, and lastly, they would not accept his promise
 Verb Phrases: which can be either simple or complex (with more than one lexical verb). The differentiation may be seen in
terms of either a sentence being the predicate of only one clause or rather two clauses (one being the “purpose clause). For
example: He came to hear about it --- He came, to hear about it.
 Negative domain: if a main clause has a negative and is followed by because and a reason or by so (that) and a result, then
intonation performs the crucial role of differentiating the syntactic structures and meanings. For example: I didn’t come,
because he told me --- I didn’t come because he told me. In the first case, “come” is negativized, but in the second, “because he
told me” is negativized. The second, is a case of marked tonality (one intonation unit covering two clauses) and the effect
achieved is that the negative was transferred to the following clause.
 Report clauses: Indirect speech is rendered as one intonation unit (the main reporting verb and the rankshifted clause as the
direct object). In direct speech, it would be rendered in speech as two intonation units.
 Clause complements: Differentiation between:
- Intransitive and transitive verbs
- Transitive verbs and subjects left to the end. For example: They’ve left the others --- They’ve left, the others.

Factors which determine the division into intonation-groups:

According to Cruttenden, there are certain factors that influence intonational phrasing.
 The speaker’s perception of the organization of the info
 Length constraint: no more than seven stresses
 Speed of delivery (the slower the pace, the shorter the unit)
 Probabilistic correlations with syntactic units. This is a central point in Halliday’s theory.
 6 for the
Intonation-groups are basically some sort of unit of performance, planning and presentation made by the speaker
listener.

Intonation Unit Boundaries:

How do we know where the boundaries between units of intonation lie?
Crystal claims that there are certain regular patterns of features, but two principal ones:
 There is a perceivable pitch change at some point following the tonic syllable
 There is either a slight pause or a change of pace in the flow of syllables

When this criteria does not apply, we have to appeal to the grammatical or semantic criteria.

3. TONICITY

Tonic Syllable:
According to Tench, the tonic syllable is the indispensable minimum in an intonation unit. It is from this point that we can
describe when units are abandoned by the speaker (they lack a tonic syllable). The definition would be the following: the tonic syllable is
the most prominent, or salient, of the stressed syllables in any given intonation. There are seven features which appear to be significant
for the identification of tonic syllables:
 The role of pitch:
- The pitch peak: refers to the highest pitched syllable
- The maximum pitch range: one syllable will exhibit greater movement than others
- Kinetic tone: usually there is one syllable with a degree of movement, even if all the others are fairly stable at a fixed
pitch level.
 The role of loudness:
- Loudness peak: refers to the loudest syllable within a given intonation unit
- Decrescendo: an observable decrease in perceived loudness in the succession of syllables following a tonic syllable
  The role of timing: which is much less pronounced than either pitch or loudness.
- Tempo marking: refers to the relative speed of delivery in the syllable concerned; the tonic syllable is marked by an
absence of quickening. Occasionally, the syllable before a tonic is so long that it can be described as a drawl.
- Pause: there might be one slight pause preceding the tonic syllable

As it can be seen, the three traditionally labeled prosodic features: pitch, volume and duration, together provide the basis of
the way which speakers produce tonic syllables and learners identify them.
Different combinations of these features produce different reactions:
 If six, or all seven, features combine, maximal prominence is produced which learners interpret as strongly contrastive.
 In general, however, we use four features to project the tonic syllable. These features are kinetic tone, decrescendo, either
pitch peak or maximum pitch range, and, fourthly, either loudness peak, tempo marking or pause. This is the phonetic basis of
tonicity.

Therefore: the tonic syllable is that syllable in a given intonation unit which is made most prominent by a combination of pitch,
volume and length.
The function, according to Halliday, is to form the focus of information: what the speaker decides to make the main point or burden
of the message. The tonic represents the focus of each unit of information.

Nuclearity: (Ortiz Lira)

Nucleus has been defined according to formal and functional criteria. In general, definitions can be classified into three main
groups:
 Phonetic definitions: concentrate on the type of prominence displayed by the nuclear syllable. A phonetic definition would be
“The syllable carrying maximal prominence”
 Distributional definitions: refer to position in the intonation group. A distributional definition would be “The last prominent
syllable”
 Functional definitions: are of a more phonological nature, say what the nucleus does. A functional definition would be “The
centre of an intonation contour with which the comment of the utterance would be associated (Danes)

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Neutral Tonicity:
The system of tonicity is the range of choices in the position that the tonic syllable can have in a given intonation unit. The neutral
form of the tonicity system, is to have the tonic syllable within the last lexical item in the intonation unit. Whatever the “genre” of the
spoken discourse might be, there is generally a high proportion of tonics falling on the last lexical item.
When we say that the item concerned must be a lexical item, we mean that it must have semantic significance. It may often contain
more than a single word (compounds, phrasal verbs or idioms). According to Hallyday, the LLI rule, follows the normal structure of given
and new information in a clause, i.e.: the given information comes first, and the new comes afterwards (the tonic syllable usually comes
at the end)

Marked Tonicity:
Is the choice of tonicity that is not neutral. Marked tonicity typically takes two forms:
 The tonic accompanying a non-final lexical item
 Accompanying a grammatical item (See Wells page 140)

The main function is to carry those cases of narrow focus that do not coincide with final lexical items:
 Contrast (narrow focus) (grammatical items, an unstressed part of a compound)
 Avoiding a tonic on a repeated item
- Reading football scores
- Announcement of telephone numbers: uttered in two groups of three or four. If the final digit is identical to the final
digit of the first group, it is treated as given.
- When a clause ends in a common intransitive verb of motion or happening (although it is a lexical item, it does not
take the tonic). Example: “The ‘doctor is coming”, An ‘accident has happened. We say that the verb in such cases is
semantically empty because it does not add extra information.
 LLI (Last lexical item) rule: according to Wells, the general tendency is for the nucleus to be towards the end of the IP. Besides,
it tends to fall on a truly lexical item. Usually, we only accent content words (nouns, adjectives, most verbs and most adverbs –
except for here, there, now, which are not truly lexical items
Tonicity by Default:
According to Tench, cases of tonicity by default, are those cases in which the speaker places the focus on an item so as to avoid
potentially misleading options that would make it sound as if the utterance were in narrow focus.
 In the following two cases, the intonation unit only consists of given information, but the units are treated as if they contain the
same information structure of given and new as the original
- Echo: is an identical wording of a part, usually for the sake of expressing disbelief or surprise, or checking against
mishearing.
- Repetition: a person responds to a request for a repetition
 The following cases are of intonation units which only consist of given information:
- For contrast: Tom, Dick and Harry all got firsts | but Tom | was given the prize
- Insists (Cruttenden): (Why haven’t you invited the Robinsons?) But I haven’t invited them!

Focus:
According to Allan Cruttenden, focus is the highlighting chosen by the speaker for his utterance. When dealing with this topic,
we should take into account the scope of focus (in which we will generally find new information). There are two kinds of focus:
 Broad focus: refers to instances of intonation units containing only new information. The tonic simply indicates the end of the
new information (it is not that the speaker concentrates only on the nucleus). Broad focus conforms to patterns of neutral
tonicity, except when dealing with the so called “exceptions to the LLI rule” (a number of constructions in broad focus in which
the nuclear accent goes on a lexical item preceding the last). The general explanation, according to Transformational Grammar,
is that in the original and simpler version of such sentences, the LLI was the noun (so when we move it, it retains the nucleus).
These exceptions are:
- Event sentences: (non-pronominal subject + intransitive predicate)
 According to Cruttenden, the verb is one which denotes appearance or disappearance (human subjects) or
misfortune (non-human subjects). Both, the noun and the verb are new information, but only the noun is
stressed. For example: The water’s running – The baby’s crying – There’s a bus coming
 They generally answer questions like: What’s happened? What’s the matter?
 Exceptions to this would be the following:
 Names since to be much less accentable than other NPs in identical contexts

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Sentences with human subjects + agentive verbs (noun and verb are accented): It’s just my
daughter| shivering
 Quantifiers and pronouns: Everybody has escaped
 Definitional sentences: Milk is animal
 Generic entities: Ice melts
 When the predicate is complemented: Our dog’s mysteriously disappeared
 Spanish: the Spanish version would have generally predicate + argument (the accent, thus, goes on the LLI)

- Noun + Infinitive
 The noun is the object of the verb. Examples: I’ve got letters to write – I’ve got all these shrimp to clean
 The noun is more important than the infinitive, because the verb seems quite obvious for the context.
However, there are cases in which this is not that obvious: I’ve got an essay to write (obvious) vs. I’ve got an
essay to correct. (not obvious)
- Wh-questions ending with a verb
 The nuclear accent normally goes on the noun representing the object of the verb, rather than on the verb.
Examples: How’s the homework going? – How much sugar do you add?
 Cruttenden notices that if the verb has further complementation, the nuclear accent will not go on the
object. Example: Which programme do you use to make drawings with?
- Final relative clauses:
 The clause is just a modifier, so it is less important. Examples: Just look at the tie he’s wearing – What about
that story you were telling me?
 This would be so, except the relative clause is too long.
- Noun + adjectives/ participles:
 These are constructions containing predicative adjectival adjuncts. Examples: Don’t let the dog loose – He
had one of his ribs broken.
 A typical construction is the type of utterance indicating causation: Get the fire going.
- Subject + passive verb:
 In these cases, it is obvious that the verb is not important. Examples: Classes have been cancelled – My
house was painted
- Transitive verbs + object + verbal particle
  It consists of a transitive phrasal verb followed by a direct object and a verbal particle. Examples: Keep your
head down – Don’t forget to put the clock back
- Indirect questions:
 The nuclear accent goes on the objects of the verbs, provided they are full NP objects and not pronominal
ones. Examples: You can’t imagine how much effort Mark put into it – I wonder how long the video lasts
- Objects of general reference:
 Objects tend to be deaccented when they are substantives practically equivalent to pronouns / nouns which
have a wide denotation. Examples: Let’s go around to my place vs. Let’s go around to my office.
 English treats negative indefinites rather like other arguments: I saw nobody.
 Exceptions are to be found: I think you’re a very considerate person – That’s the principle of the thing
- Final vocatives:
 Final vocatives do not take pitch accent
 In Spanish, there are two main options: they can be deaccented or accented (marked version)
- Final reporting clauses
 Final reporting clauses are incapable of carrying nuclear accent
- Final adverbials
 Non-sentence adverbials
 Time and place: minor information points, in final position they do not carry the nucleus except
for contrast.
 Courtesy: like please and thanks when they are in final position
 Degree: down-toners reject the nuclear accent when final (practically, a bit. Intensifiers do
(completely, slightest)
 Proper functioning: generally reject the nuclear accent (ok, properly)
 Sentence adverbials
 Generally occur as afterthoughts and do not attract the primary. However, reinforcement
adverbials to attract it.
- Fossilised expressions: such as: In my opinion – On second thoughts – As far as I’m concerned.
- Any- in negative statements:
 Negative statements with any may have a broad focus version with an accent on the preceding verb
- Verbs of belief and verbs of saying:
 9
If the subject happens to be right, the main accent goes on the introductory verb and the predicate is taken
to be given information; if the subject is wrong, the predicate becomes new information and gets nuclear
accent. Example: (Manchester United two, Leeds United two) I thought it would be a draw. (Manchester
United two, Leeds United one) I thought it would be a draw.

According to Cruttenden, a number of attempts have been made to explain nucleus placement as regards the exceptions:
- Syntactic explanation: this explanation is made in terms of transformations and suggests that the exceptions are the
result of movement transformations between deep and surface structure. This explanation accounts for examples
such as: Wh-questions ending with a verb, Noun + infinitive and non-nuclear final adverbials (they have moved from
initial to post-verbal position, though it does not make much sense when we consider the fact that they are
afterthoughts). It certainly cannot account for nucleus placement in event sentences (the subject never was to the
right of the verb, even in deep structure).
- Semantic explanation: it is related to the informational aspects of accenting. For example, in the case of the noun +
infinitive, only semantically richer verbs demand the primary accent. Again, it cannot account for the cases of event
sentences, for example: The water’s running (in which the subject is undoubtedly a semantically rich item)
- Grammatical approach: this is a more promising grammatical approach. This approach looks for a hierarchy of
acceptability within syntactic classes. Lexical items are more likely to be accented than grammatical items, but within
the different classes of lexical items, nouns are certainly more accentable than the other classes.

Why is it important to know these exceptions?

- Because it makes you sound more native-like and helps you become a better listener as well
- Since we’re going to be teachers, it has training implications
- Contrastive analysis is very important because Spanish always follows the LLI rule, so there might be negative transfer

 Narrow focus: again, the tonic indicates the end of the new information. Narrow focus refers to those cases In which just a
portion of the intonation phrase is new information. Narrow focus necessarily assumes an element of given information. Old
(given) information is, according to Cruttenden, that information which the speaker assumes to be already in some way in the
consciousness of the listener and which is hence not in need of highlighting. (verbatim repetition, paraphrastically repetition or
when the information follows as a logical assumption from what has been said before…). Given information is recoverable
either from: the linguistic context, the physical situation or general knowledge. When narrow focus is located at the end of the
 intonation unit, it happens to conform to neutral tonicity (the tonic accompanying the last lexical item). When narrow focus
occurs elsewhere, it conforms to marked tonicity. Examples:
- Narrow focus – Marked tonicity: (Have you had a good day?) I’ve had a ‘bloody horrible day
- Narrow focus – Neutral tonicity: (What have they given Bill?) They’ve given him an ‘awesome price

The Tonicity of Final Adjuncts:

 When adjuncts occur in the initial position: they gain semantic prominence and become the marked theme the clause.
 When they occur at the end, they are often least prominent, but not always:
- Certain verbs require adjuncts of place as their complements and do take the nucleus. Example: The books are here –
Put the books here vs. We’ve got some books here.
- If the speaker wishes to make a contrast referring to time or place, the adjunct would take the primary.
- In the case of comment adjuncts, they take the primary too, if the speaker wishes to produce an emphatic effect
- Adjuncts of manner, if they occur in final position, they are likely to take the tonic.
- Final adjuncts, can also have an intonation unit all to themselves (in which case obviously take the primary)
- (Careful, because some adjuncts can have two different functions, and the different functions follow different tonicity
patterns: “naturally” – He can speak English naturally vs. He can speak English naturally.

Tonicity and Grammar:

There are cases in which tonicity can be used to make a syntactic contrast in parallel wordings:
 Reflexive vs. empathic pronouns (also affecting the verb – making it transitive or intransitive): He asked himself – He asked
himself
 Vocatives vs. Adjuncts: Shoot John – Shoot John
 Comment adjuncts vs. Manner adjuncts

More about tonicity: read Wells pages 109-112, 177-182

4. TONE 10
According to Tench, tone has been defined as the contrastive pitch movement on the tonic syllable. We do not talk about absolute
pitch as one might in music, but rather about levels and movements of pitch within an individual0s range of voice. Thus, we have a kind of
five-point “scale”: high – mid-high – mid – mid-low – low.

 Primary tones: are the basic contrastive pitch movements on the tonic (the pitch movements in the tail are an extension to the
tone itself). The primary tones of English (the fall, the rise, and the fall-rise) function in the organization of information, like
tonality and tonicity. But whereas tonality and tonicity produce contrasts in grammar, the tone system produces contrasts in
the communicative function (commanding, telling, asking…). In general terms, falls dominate in both frequency and function.
- Neutral fall: from mid-high to low
- Neutral rise: from low to mid-high
- Fall-rise: from mid-high to mid-low and then mid. (It’s considered a rising tone because of the end)
 Secondary tones: are the finer distinctions of the primary tones, the degree to which the pitch of the voice rises, falls or
combines a fall and a rise. Secondary tones also cover the pitch movements in the pre-tonic segment. These tones do not
function in the organization of information. Their role is in the expression of attitudes.
- High fall: from high to low
- Low fall: from mid-low to low
- High rise: from low to high
- Low rise: from low to mid-low

Tones and the Status of Information:

The division of the whole information intonation units concerns tonality; the realization of focus in terms of given and new
information by the placement of the tonic syllable concerns tonicity; finally, the recognition of a status accorded to each piece of
information is represented in speech by the choices in the tone system. Halliday referred to “major” and “minor” information and various
kinds of dependence that one unit of information might have on another.
 Falls and rises:
- When a rise goes first followed by a fall in the second, the function of the rise is to indicate incomplete information.
The fall indicates completeness.
 - When we have a fall in the first and a rise in the second we’re not talking about completeness or incompleteness.
There we have what Halliday termed major and minor information. The main piece of information is contained in the
first unit, and the second contains an extra piece of information.
- Therefore: a fall can represent either major or complete and a rise) either minor or incomplete. (where it can also be
used its variation by keeping a mid-level pitch)
- Primary information major and complete
- Minor information: minor and incomplete
 Adjuncts: when they have their own unit at the end (minor, circumstantial information)
 Fall-rise:
- It can be distinguished from a sequence of a fall + a rise in the sense that a single fall-rise has only one tonic syllable
and the rise component ends at high level whereas the fall + rise has two tonics and the rise ends at approximately
mid level (phonetic explanation). They are also different in the sense that a fall-rise relates to one piece of
information in one intonation unit, whereas the fall + rise relates to two pieces of information in two intonation units
(semantic explanation)
- It can also indicate incompleteness
- The fall-rise has different meanings depending on whether it precedes a fall or whether it itself is final:
 Fall-rise + fall:
 In the kitchen | you’ll find a surprise - The fall-rise indicates a case of marked theme (whereas, if we
would’ve used the rise, it would only have indicated incompleteness). The fall-rise highlights the theme
itself.
 My brother | wouldn’t even dream of it – In this case, though it is not a case of marked theme, the fall-rise
can also highlight a neutral theme. (noun phrase subjects)
 Fall-rise in final position:
 It indicates some kind of implication. Halliday said that “there is a but about it”. The fall-rise conveys some
insinuation in making the statement, expecting the hearer to understand more than is said. The point of
using the fall-rise is that the additional thought does not need to be expressed overtly. There’s a contrast
between what is expressed and what is not.
 Reservation: According to Wells, something is left unsaid (perhaps some kind of reservation or
implication). Leaving the reservation unexpressed may lead the other speaker to pick up on the
implication and ask for the reservation to be spelt out. Example: He was only joking (but he hurt
me)-- –-- What do you think of Matt? – He’s very talkative – But…? – Utterly boring 11
 Tentativeness: it means that the speaker is tentative about what he says. The speaker makes a
statement, but at the same time implies something like “but I’m not sure”: Is this the way to
Buenos Aires? – I think so (but I’m not quite sure)
 Polite corrections: She’s coming on Wednesday – On Thursday . (The use of the fall would be too
rude)
 Partial statements: which can involve subtle implications
 Partial agreement: when we want to say that something applies partly, to
some extent, but not completely: So you both live in London? – I do (but Mary
lives in New York)
 Partial disagreement: I hear you passed all your exams – Most of them
 Negative statements: the implication is that the corresponding positive statement is not true.
There is a contrast, implicit or explicit, between a negative and a positive. The positive part may be
left implicit. I don’t want to sound rude (but is that your dog?) ---- She has refused to pay – Oh I
don’t think that’s true. The fall-rise has a special function in a negative sentence: It indicates that
the scope of negation includes the word bearing the nucleus, but not the main verb (unless the
main verb itself bears the nucleus)The fall does not restrict the scope of the negation in this way.
This can be seen in the use of
 Any-words: They don’t admit any students – With a fall it would mean that all
students are excluded, but with a fall-rise, it would mean that some students
are admitted (since they are special in some way)
 Negativization of a reason or result: I didn’t come because he told me – He
didn’t go so that he could get promotion – Both imply some other unspecified
reason and result
 Fossilized expressions

Tones and the Communicative Functions:

Here we’re referring to the purpose for a given utterance intended by the speaker. Sometimes it is difficult to state whether a
tone is indicating information status or a communicative function. The phonetic answer states that a rise is operating in its informational
capacity when it belongs to an intonation unit that is dependent upon another. The same is true of the non-final fall-rise (highlighting of
a theme). In this case, the rise is usually confined to a neutral rise. When a rise is operating in its communicative capacity, it is operating
in an independent intonation unit, which is often separated from preceding and following units by a pause or silence. In this case we
don’t only use a neutral rise. It should be noted that: as regards the speaker’s perception of the communicative function might be
accurate or not and the speaker may even sometimes lie (a speaker can ask a question even when they know the answer – rhetorical
question) . Also, there is always more than one way to intone an utterance (what appears on the surface as a statement can be intoned as
a question). Finally, clause types and communicative functions do not always match. That is why we say that tones realize the
communicative functions rather than the clause types.
 All the communicative functions can be grouped into three kinds relating to knowledge in respect to:
- Information, reality and belief:
 A fall indicates the speaker’s dominance (knowledge) – A rise indicates their deference to the presumed superior
knowledge of the addressee.
 Falling tones: statements, answers, explanations, reports, agreement, acknowledgement, descriptions, suppositions,
hypotheses, deductions, affirmations, disagreement, expressions of doubt (I doubt if he would come) and hope,
possibility (I might be able to play), conductive questions ( these are polar questions, but instead of making a question
you want to guide the listener to talking a course of action or agreeing to an idea- Are you satisfied now – This is an
opinion in disguise), guesses (which also take the form of a polar – Have you heard all this before – The choice of a fall
indicates the speaker’s guess that the other person has indeed heard all this before), exclamations (which often take
the form of a negative polar interrogative – Isn’t it hot), denials (which may also appear in polar interrogative form as
well – Have I ever let you down), prompts (Do you believe | that prices can be curtailed – again like a polar, but its real
intentions are to get someone to comment on a matter), lead-ins (again a polar, but it is not really a question – Do you
know about Mr Evans = “Let me tell you about….), repeat questions (Do you want a cup of tea (rising) – Pardon?
(rising)– Do you want a cup of tea (falling) =“What I said was…”), alternative questions (Do you speak French (rising) –
No – Do you speak German then (falling)), list question (the fall is the final item), second-attempt question (The
questioner steps back in the pursuit of finding a basis to proceed)
 Rising tones: yes/ no questions, appeals, requests, concessions (I might be able to play – you concede the possibility),
contradictions (Oh no I didn’t – the other person may have grounds for making an assumption), challenges (Your
grandfather’s travelling to Timbuktu - is a concession to the other person’s statement of fact, but there is an element
of enquiry about it too: Are you sure of your facts?), echo questions (often used when an interrogative clause is being
challenged)
- Suasion: 12
 The fall indicates dominance in the realm of suasion: influencing people’s actions are indicating the speaker’s
authority. This explains the difference between a request (with a rising) and a command (with a falling, because the
person has the authority to command). Thus, a rise indicates deference to the other person’s authority and decision:
they don’t decide, and must ask.
 Command vs. request
 Prohibition (fall) vs. plea (rise)
 Advice and recommendation (fall) vs. suggestion and invitation (rise, because it is just alternative courses of actions
which are being suggested) – However if the lexical verbs: suggest, invite, request, plead are used, they’re not
accompanied with a rise because those utterances would be really announcements (derive from a speaker’s decision).
 Promises take a fall: the speaker has decided on a course of action and seeks to guarantee it – I’ll let you know
tomorrow
 Threats take a fall: like a promise but a negative effect on the person addressed – Don’t you dare tell lies
 Offers take a rise: offers a course of action but allows the other person to decide – Another cup of coffee
 Warnings also take a rise: though the speaker warns, is the person warned who has to take the decision – Careful! –
Again, if offers and warnings are announced by using the lexical verb they take a fall.
 Appeals take a rise: attempts by a speaker to get the other person to reconsider a course of action – It’s not so bad
(Response to “The coffee tastes awful”) – If it is introduced by the lexical verb appeal it takes a falling
- Social exchanges:
 These kinds of communication do not involve either the provision or elicitation of information, nor are they primarily
intended to influence other people’s action; they are simply intended to establish and maintain relationships
between people.
 Falling tone: greetings (focusing the attention on the speaker’s feelings), thanking (speaker’s feelings), welcomes,
toasts and congratulations (speakers’ feelings towards somebody else’s success or happiness), praises, appreciations,
approvals and disapprovals, summons (Elizabeth! – with a rise they sound like enquiries)
 Rising tone: farewells (except the parting is regarded as only temporary, and thus takes a fall, but it can be also be
interpreted as a dismissal or like mocking), greetings (focusing on the other person’s feelings), thanking (other people’s
feelings), greetings on the phone, good wishes, expressions of regret (the feelings of the other person are in focus),
apologies, expressions of sympathy (That’s a pity- except it takes the form of an exclamation), forgiveness (following
 the pattern of a request), granting forgiveness or reassurance, request for attention (fall-rise), Introductions (first rise
to address to the other person, and falling to make the announcement)
 Back channel: it is the means by which one person indicates a degree of attention to what another is saying. Usually takes the
form of signals like yes, no, oh, mm, spoken quietly and with a narrow range of pitch. A falling indicates agreement and a rising
a wish for the current speaker to continue. A mid-level pitched tone (the alternative of the rise) may simply mean: “I’m still
listening”.

Tonal Sequences (Cruttenden)

The three types of sequence that are most frequent in English are:
1. Rising tone on a non-final group + falling tone in a final group: the rising may be low-rise, high-rise, fall-rise, or mid-level, and
typically occurs on an adverbial, a noun-phrase subject, a subordinate or a co-ordinate clause. The second tone may be varied
where the sentence itself is not a straightforward statement (for instance, a question). This is the most common sequence.
2. Falling tone on the first group + low-rise: the low-rise typically occurs on an adverbial, or on a tag question of the reversed
polarity kind. The second tone of this sequence may be a fall-rise when the adverbial involves a particularly emphatic
restriction: I do it that way| usually
3. Falling tone on the first group + falling tone on the second: frequent on structures involving reversed polarity tags or
on structures involving adverbials of the reinforcing type (Ann said she’d help us as much as she could| naturally).

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