Theory of phonetics

The falling tone
1) The falling tone of any level and range expresses “certainty”, “completeness”, “independence”. Thus a straight-forward statement normally ends with a falling tone since it asserts a fact of which the speaker is certain. It has an air of finality, e.g. Where’s Tom? – He is at \school.
A rising tone	1) A rising tone of any level and range on the contrary expresses “uncertainty”, “incompleteness” or “dependence”. A general question, for example, has a rising tone, as the speaker is uncertain of the truth of what he is asking about, e.g. I hope he’ll come. – Isn’t he ′going to /visit you? 2 ) Parenthetical and subsidiary information in a statement is also often spoken with a rising tone, or a mid-level tone, because this information is incomplete, being dependent for its full under-standing on the assertion, e.g. I ’m not sure if I can accept your invitation. – If you >like we can go to the ′restaurant with your \aunt. 3) Encouraging or polite denials, commands, invitations, greetings, farewells, etc. are generally spoken with a rising tone. W hat shall we do now? – Do ′give it /up. C an you stay with us? – Not to / day.
A falling-rising	1) A falling-rising tone may combine the falling tone’s meaning of “assertion”, “certainty” with the rising tone’s meaning of dependence, incompleteness. At the end of a phrase it often conveys a feeling of reservation: it asserts some-thing and at the same time suggests that there is some-thing else to be said, e.g. Do you play computer games? – \ Some / times. (but not usually) 2) At the beginning or in the middle of a phrase it is a more forceful alternative to the rising tone, expressing the assertion of one point, together with the implication that another point is to follow, that is the continuation is implied, e.g. T he students who ′work v hard | will ′get a \grant. 3) The falling-rising tone consists of a fall in pitch followed by a rise. If the nucleus is the last syllable of the intonation group the fall and rise take place on one syllable – the nuclear syllable. Otherwise the rise occurs in the remainder of the tone unit: Do you mind it? – v Yes. What shall I do to solve the problem? – You could say “\I’m / sorry.”