The Author’s Words Following Direct Speech The author’s words which follow the direct speech are usually pronounced as an
unstressed or half-stressed tail of the preceding intonation group.
e.g. “I’m →
not ˎ
ready,” he said. “Is →
this for ˏ
me?” he asked with surprise. If the tail gets longer it may form a separate intonation group. In this case it is stressed
and is pronounced with the same nuclear tone as the preceding intonation group but on a
lower pitch level.
e.g. “I’m ˎ
sorry,” | a
gain re
peated the ˎ
landlord. If the author’s words form two or more intonation groups, the first of them doesn’t
form a separate intonation-group. The second and the third are always stressed and
pronounced each on a lower pitch level. The nuclear tone of the final intonation group is
usually that of the sentences in the Direct speech. The non-final intonation-groups may be
pronounced either with the Low-Rising tone or with the Low-Falling tone according to
their semantic importance.
e.g. “What a ˎ
pity!” was all I said | when he
broke a ˎ
glass.
103
“
Do you '
think '
that’s ˏ
fair?” she asked, | ˏ
looking at me with sur ˏ
