206 A Grammar of Spoken English Discourse
More evidence, which can only be gleamed from the examination of a
larger corpus, is required to enable an analyst to examine the relationship
between tonality and strings of elements which may at times realize a chunk
and at other times realize a concatenation of orthographic words e.g.
look after. It is still premature, except in the cases explicitly mentioned
in Chapters 4 and 5, to make any defi nitive claims as to when or if incre-
ments should be coded according to a principle analogous to Sinclair’s
idiom principle.
In Chapter 4 it was proposed that the co-occurrence of the overt realization
of a textually or situationally mandated lexical element with a prominent
syllable realized additional communicative value. As no instances of such
lexical elements were found in the corpus, a larger corpus is required to
investigate if the original proposal is sound. Chapter 7 has shown that pitch
sequence endings tend to coincide with the endings of increments.
However, data from a myriad of diverse genres such as news reading;
informal conversation; sports’ commentary; public service announcements;
and debates etc., is needed in order to examine the relationship between
increments and pitch sequences. With the exception of Tench (1990: 510ff.)
it is regrettable that to date little attention has been focused on the
communicative pressures imposed by the expectations produced by differ-
ent genres in how speakers tend to use the meaning making resource
of intonation.
Since the publication of Brazil (1995) the importance of heads (the
fronting of N elements which anticipate the main subject of the clause) and
tails (the slot available at the end of the chain where speakers can insert
lexical items which amplify, extend or reinforce what has been said) to
how hearer’s comprehend discourse has been recognized (see Carter and
McCarthy 1997). A fully descriptive grammar needs to be able to codify
features of unscripted conversation such as heads and tails and detail the
additional communicative value they bring to the increment. Such features
can only be investigated in a conversational corpus.
8.3 Implications of the Research
Brazil (1995) demonstrated that narrative retelling could usefully and ele-
gantly be described by a grammar of increments. Each increment realized
a target state which was simultaneously the initial state for the following
increment until the speaker has achieved the ultimate telling. By segmenting
discourse into purposeful driven increments Brazil’s grammar represents