2. Falling Tones A falling pitch-change is usually associated with finality and completeness, decisiveness,
assertiveness, etc.
The High Narrow Fall The High Narrow Fall has the least degree of finality of all the falling
tones. It sounds light and airy. It is typically used in direct address (the so-called calling tone) and short comments expressing agreement,
etc.
The Mid Wide Fall The general meaning of a falling pitch-change can in full degree be
applied to the Mid Wide Fall which is the most neutral (unmarked) variety. The term neutral here means, firstly that this tone is
commonly used in the so-called unemotional speech and, secondly,
that this usage is least of all limited to a specific situation.
The High Wide Fall The High Wide Fall, alongside completeness, finality, etc., often
conveys additional connotations of an emotional kind, such as
insistence, protest, personal concern and involvement.
The Low Narrow Fall The Low Narrow Fall is the opposite of the High Wide Fall in that it
completely lacks the meaning of personal interest or enthusiasm and
often sounds phlegmatic, calm or rather dogmatic. As compared with
the High Narrow Fall, the Low Narrow Fall is much more
independent: no continuation is signaled and the utterance sounds cool and reserved rather than light and airy.
3. Falling-Rising Tones From the semantic point of view the falling-rising tone has an implicatory meaning.
Utterances with this nuclear tone give the impression that the speaker intends the hearer to
understand more than the words themselves convey. The implication expressed in an utterance may
be that of contrast, contradiction, correction, hesitation, doubt, uncertainty, warning, apology, etc.
In each case the exact implication is prompted by the context.
The falling-rising tone is commonly used in non-final intonation-groups, and then its main
purpose is to show that all or some of the information in this part of an utterance has been
mentioned in the preceding context. The fall-rise in such cases is said to have a referring meaning.
Due to the “double” pitch change and wider pitch interval of the falling element the Fall-
Rise is associated with greater prominence, which is why reference to familiar information is often
perceived as emphasis.