TONE A term used generally for musical and vocal PITCH and quality, and in phonetics and linguistics for a level or contour of pitch, the quality or choice of which is known as tonality. Specifically, tone is a pitch contour that begins on an accented SYLLABLE and continues to the end of a tone group: that is, up to but not including the next stressed syllable. Simple tones move only in one direction: fall and rise. In English, these tones suggest finality, the fall frequently occurring at the end of a statement, the rise at the end of a yes–no question. The compound tones fall-rise and rise–fall are non-final, suggesting that the speaker has not yet finished (see below).

Tone group and breath group

Normal speech does not consist of unorganized strings of words, but stretches of words in the utterance of which breath and tone are integral parts. The breath group is a group of words uttered on a single breath, after which the speaker either stops speaking or draws breath to continue. This group may or may not correspond to phrases and sentences as recorded in writing or print, and will consist of one or more further groups of words organized in terms of tone. Such a further group is a tone group or tone unit. Major tone groups correspond more or less closely to sentences of prose, while minor tone groups (those which phoneticians have analysed in particular detail) are phrasal or lexical. The division of tone groups in SPEECH is analogous to punctuation in writing, and in historical terms the conventions of PUNCTUATION have by and large arisen as attempts to reflect on a surface such aspects of speech as tones and pauses for breath or effect. Where a punctuation mark like a period or a comma is appropriate in writing, a tone-group boundary is usually appropriate in speech. However, the reverse is not true: if a spoken text is written down, the position of many tone-group boundaries cannot be marked by punctuation.

The constituents of the tone group

The nature of the tone group relates to the natural RHYTHM, stress, and intonation of English. Each group contains one or more stressed syllables known as the nucleus, the tonic syllable(s), or the tonic(s): for example, the capitalized syllables in YES and in OH YES it is. The nucleus is often assumed to be the most prominent syllable in the tone group, but this is not always the case. Any syllables following the nucleus form the tail: for example, it is in Yes it is, -shire in YORK-shire. If there is more than one stressed syllable, the first is referred to as the onset: the OH in OH YES it is, the NEW in NEW YORK is big. The term head is used for a group of syllables beginning with the onset up to but not including the nucleus. Any weak syllables preceding the onset are generally known as the prehead: for example, she in she WON'T. A combination of prehead, nucleus, and tail occurs in TasM Ania. The end of a major tone group is typically marked by a pattern indicating finality: for example, a fall in pitch to close a statement. Nonfinal minor tone groups are often marked by levelling off in the pitch contour, or by a rise in pitch: for example, in a list-like series, with a fall on the closing item.

Individual tones

There are five tones in English: the falling tone or fall, the rising tone or rise, the rise–fall, the fall–rise, and the level tone: (1) The fall moves from a higher to a lower pitch, and there are two subtypes. A low fall is used to end statements, give orders, ask non-emphatic wh-questions, and ask emphatic and rhetorical yes–no questions. The high fall is used in contrastive stress: for example, in John loves Mary it is on John if he is being contrasted with Bill, on loves if it is contrasted with hates, and on Mary if she is contrasted with Helen. (2) The rise moves from a lower to a higher pitch, and there are two subtypes. The low rise is used for incomplete statements (often signalling an intention to continue speaking), in listing (until the end, when the tone falls), for requests, and in expressions of politeness and interest. The high rise occurs in asking non-emphatic yes-no questions, echo questions, and emphatic why-questions. (3) The rise–fall moves from a lower to a higher pitch, then back. It is like the fall, but more emphatic or exclamatory, and may also express disagreement and irony. It is rare in RP, but common in some other varieties, such as WelshE, IrE, and IndE. In varieties which do not use it much, its actual or apparent overuse can suggest naïvety, unwarranted enthusiasm, and a patronizing attitude. (4) The fall-rise moves from a higher to a lower pitch, then back. It may express assertion and contradiction. (5) The level tone is one in which the ‘slope’ of the pitch movement is not enough for it to be classed as a rise or a fall. Its functions are similar to those of the rise. See INTONATION.