English Pronunciation Tip of the Day
Tip 90
Category:
Intonation
Author: JAM
Nuclear tones: High Fall
Nuclear tones are pitch patterns attached to the nucleus of the intonation pattern and to any following syllables (=the tail). We will look at the form of just one such nuclear tone in this tip and leave the others for later. The High Fall nuclear tone starts high in the speaker's pitch range and falls to low pitch by the end of the nucleus. If there is a tail then all syllables in it are low and fairly level in pitch. Here are a couple of diagrams, with associated sound clips, indicating the pitch movement of the High Fall nuclear tone, (1) has no tail (2) has a tail:
| 1 |  |
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| 2 |  |
Notice how the High Fall nuclear tone is indicated:
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