A Grammar of Spoken English Discourse - The Intonation of Increments

Key and Termination – Increments 167

The most striking fi ndings are that the majority of medial high keys are
particularizing and that one high key in Text 1 and eight in Text 2 were
classifi ed as realizing a communicative value which neither labelled the
content of a tone unit as contrary to the previously generated discourse
expectations nor particularized a lexical selection. In other words, they
functioned in a domain intermediate between increment and tone unit.
Examples (13) to (15) illustrate that the extent of information projected as
being contrary to the discourse expectations is dependent on the interac-
tion of intonation, the lexicogrammar and the co-text.
In example (13), while the lack of an increment initial high key signals
that the content of the entire increment is not projected as being contrary
to expectations, Jt’s lexical and tonal selections prior to the high key
indicate that he projected his hearer would fi nd the substantive content
of the increment contrary to expectations. The elements but actually before
September the eleventh are suspensive and do not lead to the modifi cation of
the initial state which Jt projected is modifi ed only after the production of
the increment initial nominal element this global movement. In other words,
Jt projects a context in which all the information which modifi es the state
of speaker/hearer convergence is contrary to the previously generated
discourse expectations.

(13) but \ACtually // before september the ele/VENTH //

c a+ a n

this ↑GLObal \MOVEment // with a GLObal i\↓deOLogy //

d e N p d e n

INT1

Was alREAdy in \BEing // [T2-Jt-5]

V A+ P N #

INT2 INT3 TS

In example (14) Sn produces an initial tone unit which, had it been
accompanied by end-falling tone, would have represented a minimal incre-
ment.^9 The high key in the second tone unit would have been increment
initial. Yet, Sn has chosen to project a content in which the initial tone
unit does not realize a target state. Her increment contains two distinct
information foci and Sn signals that the second alone is contrary to the
previously generated discourse expectations.