HEAD

The Head is a part which begins with the

first stressed syllable up to the last
stressed syllable (the nucleus) but not
including it.
TYPES OF HEADS:

Descending

Falling

Stepping

Sliding

Scandent
DESCENDING
HEAD
 Descending: the voice moves down from a medium or
high pitch level to the low one.
 - Stepping – stressed syllables move down by steps, while
unstressed syllables are pronounced on the same note as
the preceding stressed one (weighty and ponderous).
 - Falling – stressed syllables move down by steps, while
unstressed syllables fall down.
 - Scandent – stressed syllables move down by steps,
while unstressed syllables move up.
 - Sliding – the voice moves down by slides within
stressed syllables, while unstressed syllables continue to
fall (expresses the speaker’s personal involvement).
ASCENDING HEAD
 Ascending: the first stressed syllable is low in the pitch,
each following stressed syllable being higher than the
preceding one.
 - Rising – the voice moves up by steps, while unstressed
syllables continue to rise.
 - Climbing – the voice moves up by slides, while
unstressed syllables glide up too(very emphatic).
PRE-HEAD
 The Pre-head is formed by all unstressed and partially
stressed syllables which precede the head. If there is no
head in the sentence all unstressed syllables before the
nucleus are called the pre-nucleus.
 Types of pre-heads:

 - Low pre-head – all initial unstressed syllables are

pronounced lower than the first stressed syllable of the
head.
 - High pre-head – all initial unstressed syllables are
pronounced higher or on the same level as the first
stressed syllable of the head (very emphatic).
TAIL
 The tail is formed by post nuclear unstressed and
partially stressed syllables.
 Types of tails:

 - Low – after a falling nucleus the tail remains low.

 - Rising – after the rising nucleus all unstressed syllables

gradually rise in pitch.
 The changes of pitch that take place in the nucleus are
called nuclear tones. The nucleus and the tail form
the terminal tone – the most significant part of the
intonation group.
MATCH THE SENTENCES HALVES
The tail contains unstressed and half-
stressed syllables preceding the
head
The head is the last stressed syllable
presenting the change in the pitch
direction
The nucleus consists of unstressed and half-
stressed syllables following the
nucleus.
The pre-head includes syllables from the first
stressed up to the last stressed one