Phonetics
Phonetics
Phonetics
Descending
Falling
Stepping
Sliding
Scandent
DESCENDING
HEAD
Descending: the voice moves down from a medium or
high pitch level to the low one.
- Stepping – stressed syllables move down by steps, while
unstressed syllables are pronounced on the same note as
the preceding stressed one (weighty and ponderous).
- Falling – stressed syllables move down by steps, while
unstressed syllables fall down.
- Scandent – stressed syllables move down by steps,
while unstressed syllables move up.
- Sliding – the voice moves down by slides within
stressed syllables, while unstressed syllables continue to
fall (expresses the speaker’s personal involvement).
ASCENDING HEAD
Ascending: the first stressed syllable is low in the pitch,
each following stressed syllable being higher than the
preceding one.
- Rising – the voice moves up by steps, while unstressed
syllables continue to rise.
- Climbing – the voice moves up by slides, while
unstressed syllables glide up too(very emphatic).
PRE-HEAD
The Pre-head is formed by all unstressed and partially
stressed syllables which precede the head. If there is no
head in the sentence all unstressed syllables before the
nucleus are called the pre-nucleus.
Types of pre-heads: