Tone-unit and its structure

What is a tone-unit (intonation unit)?

• Intonation units are an important component of
American English pronunciation and speech. An
intonation unit is a segment of speech. It can be as
small as a single word, or as long as a sentence. 

\ those
'give me \those
 Intonation units and emotion

Individual speakers alter the number of intonation units they use. Some of this
is based on individual patterns and habits, but speakers also alter intonation
units based on emotion. A faster speaker will generally use fewer intonation
units and may be seen as being more urgent, frantic, excited, and anxious. A
slower speaker may have more intonation units and may be perceived as being
more emphatic, determined, and insistent.
The following examples show that similar sentences can have a different number
of intonation units. The end of each intonation unit is marked with a hash ( / )
and the pitch words are bolded.
A minor intonation phrase boundary is transcribed with a single │; a major
intonation phrase boundary is transcribed with a ││. The major boundary
indicates the beginning of a new topic:
He washed │ and fed the dog ││ Then he turned to his own meal
Two sentences with identical grammatical
structure may be comprised of differing
numbers of intonation units when
spoken, based on the intent or emotional
state of the speaker.

• He washed and fed the dog

• He washed│and fed the dog
There is no single determiner as to where
intonation units begin and end or how many
a single sentence contains, but there are
clues!!!
Clues to identify tone-units (intonation boundaries)

Intonation units:
• begin with faster speech,
and end with slower speech
• include a single pitch word
• end with a pitch boundary
a) Coordinated structures are usually separated by intonation phrase
boundaries:
You could put it over there │or leave it where it is ││
b) Items in enumerations are often produced as separate intonation phrases.
However, also possible to produce such lists as a single intonation phrase:
I`ll buy tomatoes │lettuce │ a cucumber │ and some carrots ││
Her trousers are red blue green and yellow ││
c) 'Heavy' subjects that consist of noun phrases with many words are typica11y
produced as separate intonation phrases in English:
The inhabitants of our beautiful village │ do not care for this bypass ││
d) Tags in questions tend to be separated by intonation phrase boundaries:
We should do it now │ shouldn't we ││
You didn't see him │ did you ││
e) Non-defining relative clauses are often separated by intonation phrase boundaries.
Defining relative clauses, conversely, tend not to be separated by intonation phrase
boundaries in speech:
My neighbor │ an old woman of about 90 │ has given me this present ││
My partner │ who lives in Munich │ is 35 years old ││
My daughter who lives in Munich came to see me ││
f) Furthermore, clause-modifying adverbials in English are commonly separated by an
intonation phrase boundary. This applies to adverbials preceding the main clause as well
as to the post-modifying adverbial:
Unfortunately │ there wasn't enough time for us to see the museum ││
During the last year │ not a single bird has been sighted ││
The fight against global warming has begun │ apparently ││
g) Vocatives (an utterance element used to call someone or attract someone's attention) and
imprecations ( the calling on a higher power or an expletive), when in initial position, tend
to be
produced as separate intonation phrases:
Gillian and Tom │ we are leaving ││
For heaven's sake │leave him alone││
h) When a subject or an object of a clause is 'topicalised' in English, it is usually produced
as a separate intonation phrase, too. Topicalisation means that the element is in some way
emphasized, often by moving it to the beginning of the utterance:
Quite interesting │ the film │ wasn't it ││
Always looks pretty │ Jean does ││
i) Syntactic structures that topicalize sentence elements are cleft sentences and pseudo-
cleft sentences. These structures are also typically produced as separate intonation phrases
in speech:
It was Tom │ who was late again ││
What I have also wanted to know │ is what you did last Friday ││
Practice time! Mark where an intonation phrase
boundary is appropriate in the following utterances:
a. I'm not absolutely sure to be honest
b. She seemed to spend most of the day in bed with a
crime novel
c. He usually leaves at nine doesn't he
d. No that's not acceptable
e. I went to buy a jacket, a skirt and a pair of shoes
 The Head

• Consider the following one-syllable utterance:

• \ those
• We can find the same tonic syllable in a long utterance (still of one tone-unit):
• 'give me \those
• The rest of the tone-unit in this example is called the head. Notice that the first syllable has a stress mark: this
is important. A head is all of that part of a tone-unit that extends from the first stressed syllable up to (but not
including) the tonic syllable. It follows that if there is no stressed syllable before the tonic syllable, there cannot
be a head. In the above example, the first two syllables (words) are the head of the tone-unit. In the following
example, the head consists of the first five syllables:
• 'Bill 'called to 'give me \these
• As was said a little earlier, if there is no stressed syllable preceding the tonic syllable, there is no head.
• This is the case in the following example:
• in an \hour
• Neither of the two syllables preceding the tonic syllable is stressed. The syllables 'in an' form a pre-head, which
is the next component of the tone-unit to be introduced
The pre-head

• The pre-head is composed of all the unstressed syllables in a tone-unit

preceding the first stressed syllable. Thus pre-heads are found in two
main environments:
• i) when there is no head (i.e. no stressed syllable preceding the tonic
syllable), as in this example:
• in an \hour
• ii) when there is a head, as in this example:
• in a 'little 'less than an \hour
• In this example, the pre-head consists of 'in a', the head consists of
"little 'less than an', and the tonic syllable is '\hour'.
The tail

• It often happens that some syllables follow the tonic

syllable. Any syllables between the tonic syllable and
the end of the tone-unit are called the tail. In the
following examples, each tone-unit consists of an
initial tonic syllable and a tail:
• \look at it /what did you say \both of them were here
 Practice time!

Where do you live?

Where have you been?
I`ll be there soon.
The film was wonderful.
How much did you pay?
Answers
• WHERE do you LIVE?
• H N
• WHERE have you BEEN?
• H N
• I`ll BE there SOON.
• PH H N
• The FILM was WONderful.
• PH H N T
• HOW much did you PAY?
• H N