Modal-pragmatic meaning

Types of heads	Realization	Modal-pragmatic meaning	Tones the heads combined with	Comments
Stepping Descending	-descending overall contour - even pitch throughout a stress-group - diffuse / mixed distribution of prominence	Most typical or normal; Is used in reading aloud, formal conversation, lecturing, kind of didactic monologue. Spoken English as well.	Any nuclear tone	Fully stressed syllable beginning with the 2^nd is lower in pitch than the preceding one(unstressed/partially stressed are said on the same level)
High Head	- one peak of prominence(one fully stressed syllable) - all syllables are said on the same rather high pitch	Is commonly used in conversation	Any nuclear tone	Stepping head presents an intensification of the Hugh Head. The stressed syllable of the first important word – the onset
Broken Descending Stepping	- upward break in the middle of the head, after which a downward movement of the pitch is resumed. - stressed syllable is said on a rather higher pitch-level than the preceding one.	Is used to avoid the monotonous effect, especially when the intonation-group contains more than three stressed syllables.	Any nuclear tone	Upward break is made on words of sufficient semantic importance (words that have their inherent emotional colouring or because they express an unusual degree of some quality or quantity, some extraordinary, unexpected actions. (much, more, too, crowds, hundreds, terrifying, awful, glamorous, fantastic).
Ascending Stepping	- stressed syllables pitched higher than the preceding one(the onset is the lowest pitch).Unstressed syllables are said on the same pitch as the stressed syllable to which they are attached.	Expresses a feeling of impatience, surprise, protest, disbelief or vice versa, a note of enthusiastic approval and support	Typically combined with High falling and High rising tones.	The stressed syllables are all regarded as the fully stressed ones.
Low Head	- stressed/unstressed syllables are said in the low pitch zone - prominence is achieved by a greater force of articulation and longer duration	Conveys a cool, detached, phlegmatic, disinterested or disapproving attitude.	Is used in combination with low nuclear tones which are often of a narrow variety. Low Narrow Fall and Low Narrow Rise
Sliding+Falling variant	- formed by a sequence of slides (downward pitch movement) on each fully stressed syllable of the head.	Is wide used in lively, expressive conversation and in reading emotionally coloured texts.	Most frequently combined with the Falling-Rising Tone, any tones.	Such an effect is due to the pitch contrast between the end of the preceding stress-group and the beginning of the following: the latter is higher in pitch as a result of a downward pitch movement inside the preceding stress-group- a jump in pitch b/n the stressed syllable and the unstressed ones.
Scandent+Rising variant	- formed by a sequence of climbs(upward pitch-changes on each stressed syllables	Sounds lively and expressive; the exact modal connotation depends on the nuclear tone and type of utterance. +High Rise in general questions expresses surprise and incredulity; +Low Rise in imperative utterances has reassuring encouraging meaning, often speaking to children; falling tone express the speaker’s irritation or cheerfulness and interest.		Upward movement is realized either inside the stressed syllable or on the unstressed syllables which are then pronounced on a higher pitch than the preceding stressed syllable. Partial stresses continue the rise of the voice initiated on the preceding stressed syllable.

The head of an intonation-group stretches from the first fully stressed syllable (including it) and extends up to the nucleus.

TYPES OF HEADS

The general contour of pitch movement over the head (according to the position of fully stressed syllables to each other) The pitch movement within each stress group (according to the position of unstressed and partially stressed syllables to the preceding fully stressed one)	Two and more fully stressed syllables	One fully stressed syllable
Descending (the first fully stressed syllable is said on a high pitch); each following fully stressed syllable begins lower than the preceding stressed syllable)	Ascending (the first fully stressed syllable is said on a low pitch); each following fully stressed syllable begins higher than the preceding stressed syllable)	Level (there are no perceptible contrasts in the initial pitch height of the successive stressed syllables; may be of a high, mid, low varieties)
Stepping (an even, unchanging pitch-level over a stress-group)				High
Sliding (a downward pitch-movement over a stress-group)				Sliding
Scandent (an upward pitch-movement over a stress-group)				Scandent

The Broken Descending Stepping Head:

E.g. The second floor is completely different.

The second floor is completely different.

The second floor is completely different.

The Meaning and Usage of different types of Heads

The head is an optional but very important element because in close cooperation with the nuclear tone it expresses the modal –attitudinal meaning and the emotional colouring of an utterance.

	The Type of Head	The Usage	The Modal Meaning
	The Descending Stepping Head	The most typical, normal and frequently occurring single category of head; it is characteristic of reading aloud, formal conversation, lecturing, didactic (поучительный) monologue)	Formal, serious
	The High Head	Conversation	Informal, light, airy
	The Broken Descending Stepping Head	It is used 1) to avoid the monotony of the DSH; 2) to give special prominence to some element of the utterance Very often a Special Rise is realized on any stressed syllable beginning with the 3^rd. The upward break is usually made on words of sufficient semantic importance. They express an unusual degree of some quality or quantity, some extraordinary, unexpected actions.
	The Ascending Stepping Head	+a High Rise/a High Fall	- Adds the feeling of impatience, unexpectedness, surprise, protest, disbelief; - or a note of enthusiastic approval and support
	The Low Head /The Stepping Level Head (low-pitched)	+a Low Narrow Rise/a Low Narrow Fall	Cool, detached (бесстрастно), phlegmatic, disinterested, disapproving, casual
	The Sliding Head	Used in lively expressive conversation and in reading emotionally coloured texts	Makes the utterance sound more prominent and expressive
	The Scandent Head		Lively, expressive
+a High Rise in General questions	Expresses surprise, incredulity(недоверчивость, недоверие, скептицизм)
+a Low Wide Rise in Imperatives	Reassuring, encouraging
+ a Falling tone	Irritation, cheerfulness, interest

Дата добавления: 2015-09-29