Irregular Preheads

Among the various ways in which the whole intonation-group can be made livelier and more emotional is the so-called Irregular Prehead. This term is applied to any prehead which is displaced in pitch from the normal position in the lower half or near the middle of the voice-range. The displacement can be made both upward and downward- High Irregular and Low Irregular Preheads, respectively, the former being much more typical of English speech.In the High Irregular Prehead (sometimes called High Prehead) all the syllables are said on a very high pitch, i.e. higher even than the onset syllable, which is normally the highest syllable in the intonation-group. In the text the High Prehead is indicated by a high pitch-mark (~m), e.g.: There'snо need to do it today.In the Low Irregular Prehead all the syllables are said on a very low pitch, i.e. lower even than the syllables at the end of a falling tune. It is indicated by the pitch mark

(_m).The Irregular Prehead (High or Low) is never very long, it rarely contains more than two or three syllables.

Besides unstressed syllables there may be a partially stressed syllable in the High Prehead, The identification of partial stress in the High Prehead is not always an easy thing, and this is natural, since a high pitch is generally associated with a full degree of prominence, provided the syllable is not reduced in length. In the example given above it is the Low Head which shows that 'John belongs to the prehead, since its pitch doesn't 'agree' with the pitch pattern of the head.The Low Prehead is most commonly used before a high static tone and before kinetic tones which begin on a higher pitch, e.g.: But it's incredible.The exact modal-emotional meaning of an utterance with the High Irregular Prehead depends on the nuclear tone. In tunes with the nuclear Emphatic Mid/Low Fall the High Irregular Prehead is used to express disapproval, indignation or insistence, e.g.: - Didn't you find it exciting? In tunes with the emphatic Low Rise nuclear tone the High Irregular Prehead often adds a feeling of disagreement and impatience, e.g.: -Find his address and let him know. 20Relative Prominence through Stress Reduction and Nuclear Tone-Shift

In a normal utterance the syllable bearing the nuclear tone is more prominent than the

stressed syllables in the prenuclear part. However, the difference in prominence is not really

conspicuous. It is big enough to indicate the centre of new information; however, the nuclear

word does not stand out as a special item of importance.When it is desired to reinforce the semantic weight of the nuclear word it can be done a) by reducing or eliminating the prenuclear stresses, thus giving the nucleus greater relative prominence, e.g: a) I 'can't i'magine what he looks like. I can't imagine what he looks like.b) by using the so-called nuclear tone-shift, which means displacing the nuclear tone from its normal position - on the last notional word in an utterance - to a word at the beginning or in the middle of it. The effect of a departure from final position is that of special semantic prominence or contrast.

21. Compound Tunes. Expressiveness of speech is often the result of using more than one kinetic tone in an intonation-group, since kinetic tones are by their nature more expressive and colourful than static. Intonation-groups having more than one kinetic tone are called compound tunes (as opposed to simple tunes, with one kinetic tone on the nuclear syllable), e.g.: Is it 'going to be Tine at last? Although one or more of the prenuclear stressed syllables in a compound tune have some kind of pitch-change (rising, falling, falling-rising), and the character of the pitch-change - particularly, its interval - is such as to be perceived by the listener and identified as a kinetic tone, yet the intonation-groups are not split into as many smaller groups as there are prenuclear kinetic tones in them.Comparison with the pitch patterns, discussed in the previous sections, shows that there is a clear resemblance in form and function between what has been defined as a compound tune and some of the types of heads, particularly, between the Ascending Head and the Low Rise + High Fall compound tune, the Sliding Head and the Fall + Fall compound tune, the Scandent Head and the Rise + Rise compound tunes, while other possible combinations of kinetic tones resemble the so-called heterogeneous heads.High Rise + High Rise. This compound tune typically occurs in general questions, It gives them a feeling of surprise or incredulity (compare with a similar but weaker effect of a Scandent Head + High Rise tune). The same feelings can be expressed by the High Irregular Prehead before the Emphatic Low or High Rise, but the compound tune High Rise + High Rise has a rather more friendly effect. Compare, e.g.: a) 'Aren't you " ready yet? I'll come back again in an hour then.b) ~ Aren't you //ready yet? But you ought to have done it an hour ago.A compound tune containing more than one high rising tone in the head is often used in questions addressed to young children.Low Rise + Fall. The low rising tone in the prenuclear part is most commonly used before a falling nucleus (compare it with the Ascending Head). It usually gives a feeling of: a) mystification and puzzlement to questions; b) persuasiveness and expostulation to statements and imperatives; c) wonderment to exclamations, e.g.:

Fall + Fall-Rise. The falling kinetic tone is frequently combined with a falling-rising nucleus (compare the use of the Sliding Head with the Fall-Rise). It usually serves to give special emphasis to some word (or words) earlier than the nucleus. This head- type makes the whole utterance much more expressive than would a head with static tones.Fall + Fall- A compound tune of the Fall + Fall kind gives emphasis to or expresses, contrast on some prenuclear items (note that the Sliding Head before a falling nucleus does not convey a feeling of contrast). This compound tune often imparts a feeling of insistence to special and general questions; b) dogmatism to statements', c) energy to imperatives; d) extra emphasis to exclamations, e.g.a) Why4Never didn't you say so be\fore? b) We must 44ell him and warn him immediately. That's exactly what i 4want.Fall-Rise + Fall. The falling-rising tone (divided or undivided) in the head of a tune most frequently occurs before a falling nucleus. It serves to emphasize and often to give a sense of contrast to some word (words) coming earlier than the nucleus. Such compound tunes are milder in feeling than those having a falling kinetic tone in the head. The Fall-Rise tends to raise the pitch of the nuclear tone (as it finishes with

rising element), e.g.: -a) - Will you make another attempt? - I'd rather not.