In this case there are no stressed syllables before the tonic: ‘I said’ is the pre-head
Here we have added a stressed syllable, ‘told’, before the tonic, which is called the head. Notice how the intonation rises from the pre-head
Here we have added syllables after the tonic, this is called the tail. Note how it tends to follow the intonation pattern of the tonic.
This is obviously not the only possible realisation of this sentence. If we put the main stress on ‘told’, it changes the pattern completely
In a similar way a rising tonic syllable will condition its tail: here ‘when’ is the tonic syllable
Again when we come to complex tone we find the tail following the tonic syllable: for a fall-rise the fall occurs on the tonic and the rise at the end of the tail
No matter how many syllables there are in the tail, the rise finishes on the last
While diagrams are immediate and clear, a more practical system of symbols has been developed to denote innotation
Stressed syllables in the head are noted with a vertical tick
I want to go to the dentist´s.
Stressed syllables in the tail are noted with a dot
I want to go to the dentists to•morrow
•morning
Double vertical lines divide tone units
I want to go to the dentists to•morrow
•morning Ive got a terrible toothache
Exercises
Divide the following utterances into tone units and decide where the tonic or nucleus might fall in each tone unit:
1. The first student to finish can go early
2. Sadly, Maurice has gone away
3. The person who was watching me left a ticket behind
4. Alan couldn't make it so Ken took his place
Answers
//The first student to finish// can go early//
//Sadly// Maurice has gone away//
// The person who was watching me //left a ticket behind//
