The Sliding Head. The Scandent Head.

The Sliding Head. SH

The Sliding Head is formed by sequence of slides, i.e. downward pitch movements, associated with each fully stressed syllable of the head. The stress syllable in the SH may start not on the same pitch or form a gradual ascent or descent. Descent seems to be the most frequent.

In the Descending SH each preceding stressed syllable starts on a higher pitch than the following one. It may has a jumpy, or wave-like character. Such an effect is due to the pitch contrast between the end of the preceding stress-group and the beginning on the following.

Partially stressed syl. behave in the same way as the unstressed ones. *When a full stress is given only to the 1^st notional word and the other prenuclear notional words are given partial stresses, the pirch pattern of the head is falling rather than sliding.

The difference between the SH and its Falling is that in the Steppimg and the Sliding H semantic prominence if Diffuse, or balanced, ie distributed evenly and this emh-zes the meaning of the whole ytter, increasing its overall prominence. In the Falling and High heads semantic prominence is concentrated on the 1^st semantic item. The degree of prominence achieved is at the same time greater in the Sliding and Falling Heads as compared with the Stepping and the High Heads. This accounts for their wide use in lively. Expressive conversation and in reading emotionally colored texts.

The SH and its variant, the Galling Head, are combined with the F-R Tone, and they occur with any the other nuclear tones as well.

The Scandent Head. ScH

The head of utterance is sometimes formed by a sequence of climbs, ie upward pitch-changes associated with each of the stress syllables. These upward pitch movements are realized either inside the stressed syllable or on the unstressed syllables which are pronounced on a higher pitch than the preceding str syll.

*The initial points of the stressed syll most typically take the same level above or below the middle of the voice-range.

The stressed syll may also form a descending or an ascending contour.

--Utterances pronounced with the Scandent Head sound lively and expressive.

--Combined with the Low Rise in general Q the ScH often express surprise and incredulity.

--Combined with the LR in imperative utterances this head has a reassuring, encouraging meaning and it is often used in speaking to children.

-- The ScH before a Fall may express the speaker’s irritation or cheerfulness and interest.

The modal meaning of the Rising Head is practically the same as that of the Ascending Head.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16