The high rise

General meaning: questioning, unofficial.

General questions with the high rise sound casual, echoed.

Pattern: (LOW PRE-HEAD +) HIGH RISE (+ TAIL)

This intonation pattern is used in questions echoing, calling for repetition or additional information. Sometimes shading into disapproval or puzzlement.

If there is no tail the voice in the nucleus rises from a medium to a high pitch.

If there are unstressed syllables following the nucleus the latter is pronounced on a fairly high level pitch and the syllables of the tail rise gradually.

The syllables of the pre-head rise from a low pitch up to the start of the high rise.

Exercise 1.

Read the following conversational situations. Use the high rise in the echoing questions. Add some shade of puzzlement or disapproval.

Remember that the low rise in the initial questions shows that the speaker is sympathetically interested.

1. ˈWould you ˏlike one? – ˈWould I ˊlike one? (It is awful.)

2. ˈIs it ˏraining? – ˈIs it ˊraining? (Don’t you see I’m wet through.)

3. ˈHave you ˈanswered his ˏletter? – ˈHave I ˊanswered it? (Haven’t I told you about it just now?)

4. ˈHave you ˏfinished it? – ˈHave I ˊfinished it, did you say? (I’ve got so much to do tonight and there is nobody to help me.)

5. ˈDid you enˈjoy the ˏconcert? – ˈDid I enˊjoy it? (Didn’t you see that I was dead tired and slept at it?)

6. ˈDo you ˈlike my ˏsong? – ˈDo I ˊlike your song? (The music leaves much to be desired.)

7. ˈDid you have a ˈmeeting ˈlast ˏnight? – ˈDid we have a ˊmeeting last night? (I think I’ve already told you about the meeting, haven’t I?)

8. ˈIs he a ˈtalented ˈyoung ˏman? – ˈIs he a ˊtalented young man? (But you know that he flunks exams every term.)

9. ˈHave they ˈchanged the ˌdecoˏration? – ˈHave they ˊchanged the decoration? (As far as I remember they weren’t going to.)

10. Wasn’t it stupid! – ˈWas it ˊstupid, I wonder? (I don’t think it was stupid.)

Exercise 2.

Read the following conversational situations, use the high-rise. Call for some additional information and develop the situation.

1. I like Barbara. – ˈDo you really ˈwant to ˈsay that you ˊlike her?

2. We had a meeting last night. – ˊShould I have been there?

3. How do you like my song? – ˈDo you ˊalways sing as flat as that?

4. I think I’ll have some more. – ˈDid you ˈreally ˊlike it?

5. He is a talented young man. – ˈAre you ˊsure?

6. I’m afraid I can’t believe it. – ˈCan’t you beˈlieve it after I have exˊplained everything?

7. I can’t force him to go there. – ˈCan’t you ˈmake him underˊstand that it is necessary?

8. They haven’t changed anything here. – ˈHaven’t they ˊtaken the furniture away?

9. I enjoyed every minute of it. – ˈDid you ˊlike the noisy crowd of the guests?

III

The high fall + the low rise

The combination of the high fall with the low rise is used in sentences expressing highly emotional reaction to the situation. It is often heard in general questions conveying a plaintive, pleading, sometimes impatient tone. All other words of the head are not stressed.

E.g. – He played very badly today.

– ˈWill he `ever be any ˏbetter d’you think?

ˈThis ˈbeing ˈSaturday ˈafterˎnoon, │ˈdo you ˈknow what `I thought of ˏdoing first Dad?

Exercise 1.

Read the following conversational situations. Use the high fall with the low rise. Make your questions plaintive, pleading, or impatient.

1. Perhaps I could help. – ˈDo you `think you ˏcould?

2. Come and have a game, Phil. – ˈWill you `stop ˏbothering me?

3. May I have another bun? – ˈDo you `really think you can ˏeat it?

4. You must follow her advice. – ˈMust I `always do as she ˏsays?

5. You must bring the book at once. – ˈWould you ˈmind `waiting until ˏevening?

6. He said he forgot to ring you up. – ˈWas that the `real ˏreason?

7. Oh, stop bothering me. `Can’t you see I am ˏtired?

8. All right, let’s go to the pictures. – ˈDo you `really ˏwant to?

9. That’s not very convincing. – ˈCan you ˈthink of a `better ˏargument?

10. She’s only working half time now. – ˎYes, │ but `need she go to work at ˏall?

11. I can’t find my book anywhere. – ˈAre you ˈsure you `didn’t leave it at the ˏInstitute?

12. What are you looking for, John? – ˈHave you `seen my new tie ˏanywhere?

13. I had an accident the other day and hurt my right shoulder. – ˈHave you any `pain ˏnow?

14. Come at six on Sunday. – ˈDo you `really ˏwant me to?

Note: In general questions with the low rise preceded by the descending scale the speaker sounds sympathetically interested or puzzled.

Exercise 2.

Compare the intonation of the general questions in the following conversational situations. Explain the meaning of the general questions.

1. Perhaps I could help.

– ˈDo you `think you ˏcould?

– ˈDo you ˈthink you ˏcould?

2. Come and have a game, Phil.

– ˈWill you `stop ˏbothering me?

– ˈWill you ˈstop ˏbothering me?

3. May I have another bun?

– ˈDo you ˈreally ˈthink you can ˏeat it?

– ˈDo you `really think you can ˏeat it?

4. You must follow her advice.

– ˈMust I `always do as she ˏsays?

– ˈMust I ˈalways ˈdo as she ˏsays?

5. You must bring the book at once.

– ˈWould you ˈmind `waiting until ˏevening?

– ˈWould you ˈmind ˈwaiting until ˏevening?

6. He said he forgot to ring you up.

– ˈWas that the `real ˏreason?

– ˈWas that the ˏreal reason?

7. Oh, stop bothering me. `Can’t you see I am ˏtired?

Oh, stop bothering me. ˈCan’t you ˈsee I am ˏtired?

8. All right, let’s go to the pictures.

– ˈDo you `really ˏwant to?

– ˈDo you really ˏwant to?

9. That’s not very convincing.

– ˈCan you ˈthink of a `better ˏargument?

– ˈCan you ˈthink of a better ˏargument?

10. She’s only working half time now.

– ˎYes, │ but `need she go to work at ˏall?

– ˎYes, │ but ˈneed she ˈgo to ˈwork at ˏall?

11. I can’t find my book anywhere.

– ˈAre you ˈsure you `didn’t leave it at the ˏInstitute?

– ˈAre you ˈsure you ˈdidn’t ˈleave it a t the ˏInstitute?

12. What are you looking for, John?

– ˈHave you `seen my new tie ˏanywhere?

– ˈHave you ˈseen my ˈnew ˈtie ˏanywhere?

13. I had an accident the other day and hurt my right shoulder.

– ˈHave you any `painˏnow?

– ˈHave you any ˈpainˏnow?

14. Come at six on Sunday.

– ˈDo you `really ˏwant me to?

– ˈDo you ˈreally ˏwant me to?

Exercise 3.

Read the following conversational situations. Use either the low rise or the combination of the high fall with the low rise according to the speaker’s attitude to the situation.

1. Perhaps I could help.

– Do you think you could? (impatient)

– Do you think you could? (interested)

2. Come and have a game, Phil.

– Will you stop bothering me? (neutral)

– Will you stop bothering me? (plaintive)

3. May I have another bun?

– Do you really think you can eat it? (interested)

– Do you really think you can eat it? (impatient)

4. You must follow her advice.

– Must I always do as she says? (impatient)

– Must I always do as she says? (neutral)

5. You must bring the book at once.

– Would you mind waiting until evening? (pleading)

– Would you mind waiting until evening? (neutral)

6. He said he forgot to ring you up.

– Was that the real reason? (sympathetically interested)

– Was that the real reason? (impatient)

7. Oh, stop bothering me. Can’t you see I am tired? (pleading / impatient)

Oh, stop bothering me. Can’t you see I am tired? (neutral)

8. All right, let’s go to the pictures.

– Do you really want to? (sympathetically interested)

– Do you really want to? (impatient)

9. That’s not very convincing.

– Can you think of a better argument? (impatient)

– Can you think of a better argument? (interested)

10. She’s only working half time now.

– Yes, but need she go to work at all? (sympathetically interested)

– Yes, but need she go to work at all? (impatient)

11. I can’t find my book anywhere.

– Are you sure you didn’t leave it at the Institute? (sympathetically interested)

– Are you sure you didn’t leave it a t the Institute? (impatient)

12. What are you looking for, John?

– Have you seen my new tie anywhere? (neutral)

– Have you seen my new tie anywhere? (plaintive)

13. I had an accident the other day and hurt my right shoulder.

– Have you any pain now? (sympathetically interested)

– Have you any pain now? (highly emotional)

14. Come at six on Sunday.

– Do you really want me to? (plaintive)

– Do you really want me to? (interested)

IV