48 A Grammar of Spoken English Discourse
2.3.5 Summary
This section has suggested a number of points which need to be integrated
into Brazil’s description if the grammar is to be a complete grammar of
spoken English discourse. These points are:
- The recognition of the increment as an independent semantic unit. The
communicative value realized by an increment is not equal to the sum of
the communicative values realized by the tone units which make up the
increment. - The initial key and the fi nal termination in an increment attach com-
municative value to an increment and not just to the tone unit they are
contained in.
The following chapter continues the outward evaluation of Brazil’s
grammar of speech by situating the premises which underlie his
description within the wider literature.