162 A Grammar of Spoken English Discourse
until we in the \WEST // go OUT with sufFICient \CONfi dence //
c N p d N V A+ P+ e N
in our OWN po\↓SITion [Jt-56]
p e+ e+ N #As in example (4) above, Jt adds to the content of the initial tone unit
until target state has been achieved. The initial high key does not project
as surprising the fact that the ideology cannot be defeated. It projects that
fact that it is only until we in the West go out with suffi cient confi dence in our own
position that the ideology is going to be defeated is information which the hearer
will fi nd contrary to the discourse expectations. Somewhat surprisingly
seven readers did not select high key, indicating their projection that the
content of example (5) was not contrary to the previously created discourse
expectations.
The remaining 25 increment initial high keys which signalled that the
content of the increment was contrary to the previously generated discourse
expectations were as follows. Five were in tone units which were coterm-
inous with relational or projecting clauses; fi ve in tone units which were
nominal groups; ten in tone units which were not coterminous with any
syntactic unit and fi ve were in tone units which contained circumstantial
elements e.g. example (6).
(6) but ↑ACtually be\FORE september the eleventh //
c a+ a n
this GLObal \MOVEment // with a GLObal ide\OLogy //
d e N p d e n
was alREADy in BEING... in \↓BEING // [Tr-6]
V A+ (P) (N) P N #The initial state prior to example (6) contains the information that policy
changed as a result of the September 11th attacks. There is nothing in the prior
co-text which creates the expectation that Tr will refer to a time frame
prior to September the 11th. His initial high key projects that he will
present information contrary to expectations.^5 It is only, however, when
the target state has been achieved that the hearer knows that the global
movement with the global ideology pre-existed September the 11th and can infer
that the speaker projects a surprising modifi cation of the state of conver-
gence; namely that it would have been better had policy changed prior to
September the 11th.