Key and Termination – Increments 173
percentage of end-falling, and a decrease in the percentage of fall-rises
which co-occur with increment fi nal high termination compared to their
distribution in fi nal position across the corpus.
There are 48 high terminations in increment fi nal position all of which,
it is proposed, realize the communicative value of inviting active hearer
intervention of the proposition expressed by the entire increment. Of the
48 high terminations, 17 (35.4 per cent) were found in increments coterm-
inous with tone units which cannot be used to establish an independent
communicative value for increment fi nal high termination. Example (20)
consists of an increment which is coterminous in extent with three tone
units and so illustrates the communicative value realized by increment fi nal
high termination:
(20) so they rea–LIZED // well THERE S a possi↑/\BILity now //
c N V a N V d N+ A
we can set the LEbanon against \↑ISrael now // [T2-Sn-40]
N V V' d N P N A #The initial state prior to the production of example (20) projects a state
of speaker/hearer convergence where Sn has described an existential
terrorist threat and provided examples of the threat and illustrated its
injurious consequences. Increment 20 tells that the terrorists have realized that
there is a possibility that they can ferment trouble between Lebanon and Israel. This
is highly signifi cant information for it provides further evidence of the
danger faced and implies that the myriad of terrorist problems ultimately
emanate from the same source. It is clear from the content of the incre-
ment that Sn is not inviting an adjudicative yes or no. Rather, she appears
78%8%10%0%4%Fall
Rise
Fall-rise
Level
Rise-FallFigure 7.2 The co-occurrence of tone and increment fi nal high termination