9. The high dive

STATEMENTS

The example I ^‛like ,chocolate has already been given to illustrate the compound Fall plus Rise tune. It also illus­trates very clearly one of the ways in which the High Dive tone group is used. Notice first that the example is a plain statement: it conveys none of the reservations which are evi­dent if we use the Fall-Rise in this sentence: I ˇlike ,chocolate. Here the Fall-Rise on like expresses a clear contrast between like and some other idea; so the speaker might continue '... but it tends to make me fat.' No such reservation is con­veyed by the Fall plus Rise of the High Dive; no ifs or buts are associated with it. The difference between the attitudes of the High Dive and the Switchback in this sentence are brought out by the following contexts:

I've got some chocolate here. 'Oh ^‛good. I ^‛like ,chocolate. 'Pass it ^‛over.

I've got some chocolate here. 'Oh ^‛dear. I ^vlike ,chocolate, | but it 'makes me ^‛fat.

If I ^‛like ,chocolate is a plain statement with no reservations, why not use the High Drop and say I 'like ^‛chocolate! The High Drop is commonly used for plain statements. The answer

again lies in the differing contexts in which the two are used:

I've got some chocolate here. 'Oh ^‛good. I ^‛like ,chocolate. 'Pass it ^‛over.

I've got some toffees here. You can ^‛keep them. I 'like^‛chocolate.

In the second example chocolate is the most important word in the last word group because it is new and contrasts directly with toffees; and that is why chocolate has the High Fall nu­clear tone. In the other context however chocolate is not the most important word: it is not new, and what the speaker wants to make clear is mainly his liking for it. That is why the High Fall is on like. But why the Low Rise on chocolate. Why not simply say I ^‛like ,chocolate, leaving chocolate unaccented? There seem to be two reasons for this. Firstly the speaker wants to give some importance to chocolate, not to lose it alto­gether : it is as if he were acknowledging the topic of conversa­tion—chocolate—but being careful at the same time not to make the word chocolate seem as important as like. Secondly, by using the High Dive, the speaker is able to avoid creating the impression, as he might if he used the High Drop, that he is bringing the conversation to an end, at least so far as choco­late is concerned; and so, by using the Low Rise, he en­courages his listener to feel that the conversation can continue. So in general we can say that, in the High Dive, the Fall is used to mark the most important idea in a plain statement, while the Low Rise indicates some less important but not completely negligible idea that follows the main idea; and in addition we can say that the Low Rise constitutes an appeal to the listener and invites him to say something more about the subject of the previous conversation. So in the example

I'm going to Sheffield tomorrow. ′Really? || My ^‛mother came from ,Sheffield.

mother, which is new, is clearly more important than Sheffield, which has already been mentioned, and the way is open for the conversation to continue. Contrast this with

You come from Sheffield, don't you? ˇNo, || myˇmother,came from,Sheffield, |(but notˇme.||)

Here Sheffield is completely unimportant since, with no effect at all on the general meaning of the utterance, the phrase came from Sheffield can be replaced by the empty word did:

ˇNo, || my ˇmother ,did, | (but ↘not ^vme. || )

Notice also that, as the context shows, there is a reservation here which is entirely absent from the previous example with the High Dive.

Now consider the following:

I'm going to Sheffield tomorrow. ′Really? || 'Sheffield's where my ^‛mother ,came from.

This last sentence, with its High Drop intonation, says very much the same thing as the High Dive on the sentence My mother came from Sheffield: in both the High Fall is on mother, marking it as the most important word; and Sheffield is accented (and therefore not negligible) by the Low Rise of the High Dive and by its position at the beginning of the High Head in the High Drop. So the relative importance of the two words is the same in both sentences. By contrast the balance is different in

So yours is a Leeds family. ↘Not enˇtirely. || My 'mother ˚came from ^‛Sheffield.

Here Sheffield is entirely new and the most important word, as the High Fall nuclear tone points out.

We use the High Dive then whenever the first part of a word group contains the most important idea, and the second part an idea of subsidiary importance. Often the High Fall occurs on the last important word of the subject of the sen­tence and the Low Rise on the last important word of the predicate.

Examples

Who could help me? ^‛John would be the ,best chap.

Is this mine? ^‛No, | the 'small ^‛red one's ,yours.

Who's next? The 'little old ˚man in the ^‛corner's been waiting ,longest.

On the other hand the main verb may be the most import­ant feature, with the complement less so.

Examples

Turn it clockwise. I've ^‛tried ,doing it ,that way.

D'you like my hat? ^‛Lovely. || I've 'always ^‛wanted one like ,that.

I won't eat it. 'Plenty of ˚little ˚boys would ^‛love a,nice ,rice ,pudding.

An interesting case is the following:

She's wearing a wedding ring. I ^‛thought she was ,married.

Wedding ring implies marriage, so married here is less import­ant than thought; and the High Fall on thought implies that the speaker's opinion was correct. But notice what happens when his opinion turns out to be wrong:

She's wearing an engagement ring. I 'thought she was ^‛married.

Now the High Fall is on married, the really important word because of the difference between being engaged and being married; and the clear indication is that the speaker was wrong. In the following examples, the speaker's judgment is confirmed correct:

Examples

He's gone bankrupt. I ^‛heard he was in ,trouble.

I can't understand it. I ^‛told you you'd ,find it ,difficult.

I entirely agree. I 'rather ^‛hoped you ,would.

The same reasoning applies to knowing, where the speaker's certainty, expressed by the verb, is underlined by the into­nation.

Examples

It won't work. I ^‛knew it ,wouldn't be ,any ,good.

They went bankrupt. I 'somehow ^‛knew they'd ,burn their ,fingers.

Expressions of gladness, regret and surprise usually have the High Dive, with the High Fall on the appropriate emotive word, provided that the subject of the emotion is obvious to both the speaker and the listener.

Examples

John's arrived. I'm ^‛glad he was ,able to ,come.

We must go. I'm ^‛sorry you ,can't stay ,longer.

If there is an extra intensifying word, like too, very, extremely, the High Fall takes place on that.

Examples I'm ^‛so ,glad you could ,come.

I'm ^‛awfully ,sorry you ,can't stay ,longer.

I'm ^‛so ,sorry.

The last example is a really heartfelt expression of regret. The intensifying use of do and other special finites is treated in the same way.

Examples

He's a fool. I ^‛do think you're ,being un,kind.

The car broke down. We ^‛were ,sorry ,not to ,see you.

QUESTIONS

The use of the High Dive with questions of any kind is unusual. When it occurs, the High Fall is normally placed on the wh-word or the special finite, and the effect is of consider­able emotion. This emotion may take the form of plaintive-ness, despair or the like.

Examples

Oh, no! ^‛What have you , done ,now?

Shut up! ^‛Have you ,quite ,finished?

Or it may be a matter of gushing warmth.

Examples

Mummy! Mummy! ^‛What's the ,matter, darling?

What's up, John? ^‛Could you ,possibly ,help me?

This use is perhaps better avoided by the foreign learner.

COMMANDS

For commands, unlike questions, the High Dive is quite common. The High Fall takes place on the main verb in affirmative commands, on don't in negative commands, and on do or please used as intensifies. The effect is of pleading or persuading rather than ordering.

Examples

I'll be back by midnight. ^‛Try ,not to be ,any ,later.

But you were wrong. Now ^‛don't ,start ,all ,that again.

I'm going to see John. ^‛Do try and per,suade him to,come.

Will you be all right? ^‛Please don't ,worry about ,me.

All commands with the High Dive are much more like re­quests than orders; this is no doubt why commands occur quite commonly with the High Dive.

INTERJECTIONS

The High Dive is used with the same kind of interjections as the Low Bounce and its effect is similar to that of the Low Bounce, but much more intense.

Examples

I'll see you tomorrow. ^‛Right you ,are.

I've managed it at last. ^‛Well ,done.

Do make up the fire. ^‛All ,right. || (Don't go on about it I was just going.)

The intensity expressed by the High Dive here may be used for extra encouragement, as in the first two examples; or it may be a form of protest, as in the last two examples. It is probably preferable for the foreign learner to use this intensity sparingly and to stick to the Low Bounce for such expressions.