Vdidn’t 'know you’ve 'been to .Lon don.

V-------- — ^ ' ^ Sr-»

pre-head head nucleus tail

THE NUCLEUS. TYPES OP NUCLEI

The last stressed syllable of the intonation pattern on which

the pitch movement changes is called the n u c l e u s . The nu­
cleus is usually of the highest importance; it is on this syllable
that the whole pitch pattern centres.
There are eight nuclear tones in Modern English:
(1) The L o w ( M e d i u m ) F a 11. The voice falls from the
low (medium) pitch level to the bottom of the pitch.

xNo.
The Low Fail variant The Mid-Fall variant
(2) The H i g h F a l l . The voice falls all the way down from
a high to the lowest note possible;

vNo.

(3) The R i s e — F a l l . The voice usually rises from a me­

dium to a high pitch level and then quickly falls to a low pitch:

aN o.

(4) The L o w R i s e . The voice rises from a very low to a

medium pitch level or a little higher.

The Low Rise The Low Rise

of a narrow range of a wide range
 (5) The H i g h ( M e d i u m ) R i s e . The voice rises from
a medium or high pitch level and moves up to the top of the
voice:

T he M e d iu m R ise T h e H ig h R is e

(6) The F a l l — R i s e. The voice first falls from a medi­

um or high to a rather low pitch level then rises to a moderately
medium pitch:

»N °- \ \ N .

T he F a ll-R ise o f T he F a ll-R ise o f T he F a ll-R ise o f

a m e d iu m r a n g e a w id e r a n g e a n a r ro w r a n g e

The Fall-Rise can be pronounced within one syllable or

spread over two or more syllables, eg:

vNo.
V»
T h e F a il-R ise
w ith in o n e s y lla b le

vNe,ver.
T h e F a ll-R ise s p r e a d
o v e r tw o s y lla b le £

gen erally I ,do. -v

7 _____ » t i t t ,
T h e F a ll-R ise s p r e a d
o v e r a n u m b e r o f s y lla b le s *

* In this and similar cases the tone can be called terminal as it is spread
over the nucleus and the tail.
 vTen.

In case the vowel is followed by a noise consonant the Fall-

Rise takes place within the vowel, eg:

vFed.

vFish.
2*

If the Fall-Rise is spread over two or more syllables the fall is

completed within the stressed syllable, all the following un­
stressed or partially stressed syllables being said very low. The
rise in this case occurs from the lowest pitch level, eg

Ovccasionally, I , don’t. t
ii » i

(7) The R i s e - F a l l - R i s e . The voice rises from a very

low pitch level, moves up to the medium (or high) one, falls deep
down, them ises again, eg:

(8) The Mid-Level maintains a level pitch between high and

low; the voice neither rises nor falls, eg:

*No. ~

So the eight nuclei are:

Falling-. Low (Medium) Fall [ J; High Fall [']; Rise-Fall [A].
Rising:Low Rise [,); High (Medium) Rise [']; Fall-Rise [v];
Rise-Fall-Rise [-].
Mid-Level (>).
 Post nuclear unstressed or partially stressed syllables are
called the t a i l .
(1) After a falling nucleus the tail remains low or is said even
low er, eg

vNo, sir. xNo, .Torn.

■V
The T a il w ith an T h e T a il w ith a p a r tia lly
u n s tr e s s e d s y lla b le s t r e s s e d s y lla b le

(2) In case the tail occurs after the rising nucleus the stressed
syllable itself does not rise in pitch and each of the following
unstressed syllables is a step higher than the previous one, eg

,No, sir. ,No, .Torn.

e
The T ail w ith The Tail with
a n u n s tr e s s e d s y lla b le a p a r tia lly s t r e s s e d s y lla b le

Note. If the tail contains many syllables the rise may be con­
tinued very high, eg

Did you ,see him yesterday?

(3) With the falling-rising tone the rise occurs on unstressed

or partially stressed syllables, eg

vNo, sir. ______ «No, .Torn.

(4) After the Mid-Level nucleus the tail" stays on the same
level, eg

>No, sir. — • >No, .Torn. — o

The Tail w ith T he T ail w ith
a n u n s tr e s s e d s y lla b le a p a r tia lly s t r e s s e d s y lla b le
\
 The tail stress mark in the text:
[,] — partially stressed syllable on any level.

THE HEAD

The head in English is an extremely flexible segment. It.

stretches from the first stressed syllable up to (but not including)
the nuclear tone.
Head patterns are classified into three major groups: d e ­
s c e n d i n g , a s c e n d i n g and l e v e l , the main criterion
in each case being how the head begins from the point of view of
pitch movement.
1. Descending Heads
In descending heads the voice usually moves down from a
medium or high pitch level to thé low one; the stressed syllables
(usually with intervening unstressed ones) forming a descending
sequence. The first stressed syllable of the head is the highest,
the following stressed syllables carry the pitch lower.
(a) The syllables can move down by steps. Then the head is
called s t e p p i n g .
In the Stepping Head unstressed or partially stressed sylla­
bles are pronounced on the same note as the preceding step, eg:

I Vdon’t 'want to 'go to the vcinema.

It is interesting to note that the tone-mark [V,j on the first

stressed syllable of any type of descending heads shows the gen­
eral direction of the voice movement, its descending character.
Other stressed syllables are marked by ['] placed before the syl­
lable.
Note: W e suppose that the following notation system may be
useful in practical work because it reflects the rhythm of intona­
tion groups, though we must admit that it is rather complicated
when a comparatively long text is marked.
 In case the stressed syllable is followed by one or several
unstressed or partially stressed ones, they are marked like this:
l|..| — the dot (or dots) immediately placed after the stress
mark on the same level if it is the Stepping Head, the dots go
down if it is the Falling Head: [ (•.] or they go up, if it is the
Scandent Head: (!.•]; [V*.] — stressed and unstressed syllables
of the Sliding Head.
(b) The head is called f a l l i n g when the stressed
syllables also move down by steps but intervening unstressed
syllables fall down, continuing the descending direction, eg:

I Vdon’t “want to 'go to the ^cinema. ,

(c) There are cases when unstressed or partially stressed syl­

lables move up. They are pronounced higher than the stressed
syllables. This type of descending head is called s c a n d e n t ,
eg

1 Vdon’t *want to ‘go to the ^cinema.

x HA.
(d) If the voice moves down by slides within stressed sylla­
bles the head is called s l i d i n g . Unstressed or partially
stressed syllables between the slides usually continue the fall,
eg:

1 Vdon’t Vwant to Vgo to the .cinema.

If these slides are of a rather wide range and reach the bot­
tom of the pitch we have an intonation pattern with several high
falls within it, eg:
I Vdon’t Vwant to Vgo to the Vcinema.

(e) W ithin long intonation-groups gradually descending

heads (usually stepping or falling) may be broken by the so-
called ‘accidental (special) rise’. This happens when one of the
syllables is pronounced on a higher pitch level than the preced­
ing one. The broken descending head is very common when one
particular word in a phrase should be singled out, eg:
You'd Vget to know quite a î lo t of ‘interesting ^people

there. *“ • • ' r * —
_______T \i.

So the descending heads are:

(a) The Stepping Head;
(b) The Falling Head;
(c) The Scandent Head;
(d) The Sliding Head.
The descending heads occur before any nuclear tone except
the Mid-Level tone.

The descending head tone-and-stress marks in the text:

[V] — the first stressed syllable of all types of Descending Heads;
j'J — stressed syllables of Descending Heads

2. Ascending Heads
Ascending heads are the opposite of descending ones: their
first stressed syllable is low in the pitch, each following stressed
syllable being higher than the preceding one; thus the stressed
syllables form an ascending sequence.
(a) If the voice moves up by steps and the intervening un­
stressed or partially stressed syllables continue the rise the head
is called r i s i n g, eg:

1 /d o n ’t *want to 'go to the 'cinema. __• — * *

i . —...... .... ...1 u
The tone-mark [ / ] on the first stressed syllable of both types
of ascending heads shows the general rising direction of the
voice movement.
(b) If the voice moves up by slides the head is called
c l i m b i n g ; unstressed or partially stressed syllables glide up
too, eg:
I /d o n ’t /want to /g o to the 'cinema.

So the ascending heads lire:

(a) The Rising Head;
(b) The Climbing Head.
The ascending heads are usually associated with the High
(Medium) Fall or the High (Medium) Rise.

Tone-and-stress marks used in the text:

( / ) — the first stressed syllable of the Rising Head
[ ’] — stressed syllables of the Rising Head

3. Level Heads
In level heads all the syllables are pronounced on more or
less the same note of a pitch level.
(a) If they happen to be on a high level the head is called the
H i g h L e v e l H e a d , eg:

I “* don’t ’want to ‘go to the vcinema.

This head usually occurs before the high-falling, high-rising

and rising-falling nuclear tones.
The most frequently used type of the High Level Head is
the head with one strongly stressed syllable and unstressed or
partially stressed syllables pronounced on the same high level.
It is usually called the H i g h H e a d, eg:

I didn’t vknow it.

Note: The tone-mark [ ] above the first stressed syllable of

both types of high level heads shows that the tone sounds on a
high level note. Other stressed syllables have the common
stress mark: [ ’].
(b) If the pre-nuclear stressed or partially stressed syllables
are pronounced on the medium pitch level the head is called
m e d i u m 1e v e 1, eg:
 I -»don’t Want to I 'go to the vcinema.
x Ilx x

Note: The tone-mark [-* ] in the Medium Level Head is

placed before the first stressed syllable.-
This head can occur before any nuclear tone, but it is very
common before the Mid-Level nucleus.
(c) Pre-nuclear stressed syllables pronounced on the low
pitch level constitute the L o w L e v e l H e a d , eg:

I .»don’t 'want to 'go to the xcinema.

*I

Note: The tone-mark ( _»] in the Low Level Head is placed

under the first stressed syllable.
The Low Level Head generally occurs before the Low Rise
and the Low Fall.
So the level heads are:
(a) The High Level Head;
(b) The Medium Level Head;
(c) The Low Level Head.

Tone-and-stress marks in the text:

[ “* ] — the first stressed syllable of the High Level Head
[ , -♦ ]— the first stressed syllable of the Medium Level Head
[ _» ' ) — the first stressed syllable of the Low Level Head
['] — other stressed syllables of the level heads

Heads

Descending Ascending Level

The Stepping Head The Rising Head The High Level Head
The Falling Head The Climbing Head The High Head
The Sliding Head The Medium Level Head
The Low Level Head
 Unstressed or partially stressed syllables which precede the
head are called the p r e - h e a d . In short intonation groups
where there is no head and these syllables precede the nucleus
they are called the p r e - n u c l e u s .
There are two types of pre-head or pre-nucleus: low and
high.
(a) If u n stre sse d or p a rtia lly stre sse d sy lla b les are
pronounced lower than the first stressed syllable of the head,
the pre-head is called l o w.
In low pre-nucleus these syllables are lower than the start of
the nuclear tone, eg:
I don’t Vwant to ‘go to the xcinema. I don’t xwant it.

The L o w P re -H e a d T he L o w P re -N u c le u s

The Low Pre-Head may occur before any head and the Low
Pre-Nucleus is usually heard before all the nuclear tones.
(b) If u n stre sse d or p a rtia lly stre sse d sy llab les are
pronounced higher or on the same level as the first stressed
syllable of the head the pre-head is called h i g h . In High Pre-
Nucleus these syllables are higher than the start of the nuclear
tone or on the same level, eg:
“ I don’t Vwant to 'go to the vcinema. “ I don’t 'want it.

T h e H ig h P r e - H e a d . T h e H ig h P re -N u c le u s

The High Pre-Head usually occurs before descending and

high or medium level heads. The High Pre-Nucleus can be
heard before almost any nuclear tone.
So the pre-heads may be:
(a) The Low Pre-Head,
(b) The High Pre-Head.
The pre-nuclei may be:
(a) The Low Pre-Nucleus,
(b) The High Pre-Nucleus.