4.4 The Rising-Falling Tone

The Rising-Falling tone is a bi-directional complex tone. It comprises two elements – a rise and a fall, which can be realized within one syllable: the voice rises form a mid to a high pitch and then immediately falls to the bottom of the voice range,

e.g.: Nice.

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The fall and the rise may also be distributed between two syllables. According to the number of the syllables involved in the pitch change two structural variants of the nuclear Rise-Fall (RF) are distinguished: one-syllable type is realized on monosyllabic words,

e.g.: Fine.

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Two-syllable type is spread over two syllables. The first one, which is stressed, carries a sharp and short rise from the mid to the top of the normal voice range, from where the second syllable falls without stress to the bottom,

e.g.: Never!

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Three-syllable type involves three syllables. The first one also takes a greater importance and it is pronounced on a steady pitch level. The other two are not so prominent and while the second is pronounced on the top, the third syllables goes to the bottom. All the other unstressed syllables that follow (if any) are said on a low steady pitch. They form a tail.

e.g.: Perfectly!

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It is necessary to determine the beginning of the tail in sentences with the nuclear rising-falling tone which is marked by a low pitch sign ( _ ) or, if the syllable happens to be partially stressed, by a low stress. Compare:

e.g.: How should ^I _know it? How should ^I know it?

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The difference between the three structural variants is not confined to the form of the rising-falling tone. There is a certain functional difference as well: the more syllables are involved, the greater prominence they get.

The RF is used in a lively, emotional conversation. It shows that the speaker is impressed, either favourably or unfavourably, or expresses his quizzical attitude to the situation. For example: I am ^ sure he knew that.

Speech Exercises

Ex. 1 Read out the phrases reproducing the indicated variants of the Rise-Fall.

No. Tree. Smooth. Lot. Try. Ten. Can you. Always. That one. Nicely. Never. Goodness. You can. Tell me. Ask them. Certainly. Give me one. I won’t do that. Show me one. They all denied it.

Ex. 2 Read out the mini-dialogues making sure B’s part sounds emotionally coloured.

1 A: I’m going to give everything up. – B: It’s a silly thing to do. 2 A: I quarreled with Ann the other day. – B: I’m sur prised at you. 3 A: Do you know how to fix the problem? – B: Perfectly. 4 A: How do you like the strawberry flan? – B: It’s de licious. 5 A: Is it a big house? – B: Huge. 6 A: Shall we be in time? – B: We’ll be a head of time. 7 A: Can you manage it alone? – B: I’m sure I can. 8 A: I wouldn’t put up with it. – B: Wouldn’t you? 8 A: It’s pretty chilly waiting here. – B: Bitterly cold. 9 A: When did he come back? Twelve? – B: Later.

Ex. 3 Choose the appropriate reply for the given context.

1 They are leaving in an hour. (In an hour. In an hour)

They are leaving in a few minutes. (In an hour. In an hour)

2 He can speak three foreign languages. ( Three. Three)

He can speak two foreign languages. ( Three. Three)

3 This spoon is made of gold. ( Gold. Gold)

It’s a silver spoon. ( Gold. Gold)

4 Does she weigh as much as 80 kilogrammes? ( More. More)

She weighs 80 kilogrammes. ( More. More)

Ex. 4 Give an emotionally coloured answer.

1 A: I’ll make it soon, I promise. – B: Yes, but how soon? 2 A: You should apologize immediately. – B: Why should I? 3 A: Harry left without saying goodbye. – B: Did he? 4 A: She has bought a mink coat. – B: Mink. 5 A: I wouldn’t speak to her any more. – B: Wouldn’t you? 6 A: Can she cancel the appointment. – B: I’m sure she can. 7 A: I was very cross with him. – B: Anyone would be. 8 A: You can’t go in there. – B: Can’t I? 9 A: I could show it to him. – B: Well, will you then? 10 A: She’s won again. – B: I knew she’d win.

Unit 5 Utterance stress