Nuclear Placement and Different Nuclear Tones (part of Intonation)

Name, describe and give an example for each of the patterns for different nuclear placements.

1. In neutral speech (where the speaker doesn't emphasize anything in particular) the nucleus is placed on the last lexical item (noun, verb, adjective, adverb) which contains new information (info that has not been mentioned or referred to before) e.g. do you like mushrooms? the nucleus placed on the first syllable of mushrooms as mushrooms is the last lexical item in the utterance which conveys new info. This approach is called broad focus. 2. Narrow focus approach is where the nucleus is not placed on the last lexical item in the utterance as it has been mentioned before. Instead, the nucleus is placed on the first syllable of the last lexical item which conveys new information e.g. I'm not that keen on mushrooms. The nucleus is placed on 'keen' because it is the last lexical item which conveys new information as mushrooms has been previously mentioned. 3. Contrastive/Empathetic nuclei placement is when the nucleus is placed on the syllable which the speaker wants to emphasise the most to the listener. This can differentiate the meaning of the same utterance. e.g. 'I'm not going to wash your jumper'.

What is a fall-rising nuclear tone?

A fall-rising nuclear tone is when the speakers voice pitch at first falls either directly on the nucleus and then rises again directly on the nucleus or falls on the nucleus and then rises over the tail of the tone unit. It is transcribed as a backwards then forwards slash (V) placed before the nucleus of the tone unit.

What is a falling nuclear tone?

A falling nuclear tone is where the speakers voice pitch decreases either directly on the nucleus or continues to fall over the tail of the tone unit. It conveys a sense of finality and is the most common nuclear tone. It is associated with exclamations & WH questions. It is transcribes as a backwards slash put just before the nucleus.

What is a rising nuclear tone?

A rising nuclear tone is where the speaker voice pitch increases either directly on the nucleus or continuing to increase over the tail. It conveys a sense of uncertainty and is often used to indicate politeness. It is transcribed as a forwards slash written before the nucleus.

What is a tone unit and a nucleus?

A tone unit is a boundary within speech in which the variation of pitch patterns, change. The nucleus of a tone unit is the last lexical item (noun, verb, adjective and adverb) which conveys new information. Also, the nucleus is the most emphasized part of the tone unit which is done so by perceptual prominence.

What is the nuclear placement dependant on?

Depending on what the speaker wants to emphasize in the tone unit/ utterance, depends on where the nucleus is placed but there are some patterns as to where the nucleus can be placed.

Name at least two (there are 4) other nuclear tones apart from the basic ones.

High Fall (↑) is when the speakers voice pitch starts quite high and then falls to a considerably low pitch. This indicates excitement and assertiveness. Low Fall ( little backwards comma in front of the nucleus) is when the speakers voice pitch starts quite low and falls even lower. It indicates lack of enthusiasm and interest. Mid Level (>) is when the speakers voice pitch starts and finishes on the same level of pitch. This indicates disinterest/little or no emotion, in British English dialect. High Rise (double ended arrow) is when the speakers voice pitch goes from quite low to very high rapidly.

What is a high-rise nuclear tone?

High-rise nuclear tone is where the speakers voice pitch goes from quite low to fairly high very quickly). Use to express polite contradiction in US accents of english. US accents would put the high-rise nuclear tone on 'really' and 'p.m.'

What is a low-rise nuclear tone?

Low-rise nuclear tone is where the speakers voice pitch starts quite low and only slightly rises in pitch. Used to express disinterest in US dialects of english.

What is a mid-level nuclear tone?

Mid-level nuclear tone is where the speakers voice pitch starts and finishes on the same pitch level. Used to express disinterest/little or no emotion. Transcription symbol is >

List the different types of nuclear tones and what they indicate.

Rise which indicates uncertainty and or politeness. Fall which indicates non-finality and definiteness and is the most common nuclear tone. Fall-Rise which indicates the speaker has more to say, often occurs when reading items off of a list and to link a relative clause which occurs at the start of a phrase with the main clause.

Give examples of how different dialects of English vary nuclear tones.

To express enthusiasm, UK and US accents of english will use High fall nuclear tone, but US accents will have a different placement of the nucleus i.e. The film was really good - UK nucleus will be 'really' US nucleus will be on 'good'. To express lack of interest/boredom, UK and US accents of English will use low fall nuclear tone and will again have different nucleus placement. (UK - 'really' US 'good) To express no emotion/disinterest, UK english accents would use mid-level nuclear tone whereas US accents of English would use low rise tone. (Does his slight really get in at 6 p.m.? I thought it landed at 7) To express polite contradiction, UK english accents would use fall rise tone on really. Where as US accents of english would use high rise tone on 'really' and 'p.m.'