English Pronunciation Tip of the Day
Tip 77
Category:
Intonation
Author: JAM
Nucleus (2)
In Tip 74 we introduced the concept of the intonation nucleus and we saw some examples which show that the nucleus is not always on a particular syllable in English. The place of the nucleus varies according to the context in which the utterance is made. Here is a simple example (the nucleus is indicated by underlining):
| Dialogue 1
Fred: Would you like a drink? Sid: I'd love a coffee. |
Dialogue 2
Fred: Would you like a coffee? Sid: I'd love a coffee. |
In Sid's reply in dialogue 1 the word coffee signals a piece of new information which is not contained in Fred's question. In dialogue 2 Fred mentions coffee and so it is old information by the time Sid makes his reply. Old information does not usually receive the nucleus which is why the nucleus is love in Sid's reply in dialogue 2.