The head in English is an extremely flexible segment. It stretches from the first stressed syllable up to (but not including) the nuclear tone. Head patterns are classified into three major groups: descending , ascending and level, the main criterion in each case being how the head begins from the point of view of pitch movement.
1. Descending Heads. In descending heads the voice usually moves down from a medium or high pitch level to the low one; the stressed syllables (usually with intervening unstressed ones) forming a descending sequence. The first stressed syllable of the head is the highest, the following stressed syllables carry the pitch lower.
(a) The syllables can move down by steps. Then the head is called stepping. In the Stepping Head unstressed or partially stressed syllables are pronounced on the same note as the preceding step, eg:
I ↘don’t `want to `go to theˎcinema
(b) The head is called faIling when the stressed syllables also move down by steps but intervening unstressed syllables fall down continuing the descending direction.
I ↘don’t `want to `go to theˎcinema
(c) There are cases when unstressed or partially stressed syllables move up. They are pronounced higher than the stressed syllables. This type of descending head is called scandent eg
I ↘don’t `want to `go to theˎcinema
(d) If the voice moves down by slides within stressed syllables the head is called sliding. Unstressed or partially stressed syllables between the slides usually continue the fall. eg: I ↘don’t `want to `go to theˎcinema. If these slides are of a rather wide range and reach the bottom of the pitch we have an intonation pattern with several high falls within it.
(e) Within long intonation-groups gradually descending heads (usually stepping or falling) may be broken by the so called 'accidental (special) rise'. This happens when one of the syllables is pronounced on a higher pitch level than the preceding one. The broken descending head is very common when one particular word in a phrase should be singled out, eg: You'd get to 'know quite a ↑lot of 'interesting ˎpeople there.
2. Ascending Heads. Ascending heads are the opposite of descending ones: their first stressed syllable is low in the pitch, each following stressed syllable being higher than the preceding one; thus the stressed
syllables for an ascending sequence.
- If the voice moves up by steps and the intervening un- stressed or partially stressed syllables continue the rise the head is called rising. eg: I ↗don’t ‘want to ‘go to the `cinema.
- If the voice moves up by slides the head is called cIimbing; unstressed or partially stressed syllables glide up too. eg: I ↗don’t ‘want to ↗go to the `cinema.
3. Level Heads. In level heads all the syllables are pronounced on more or less the same note of a pitch level.
(a) If they happen to be on a high level the head is called the High level Head, eg: I ->don’t ‘want to ‘go to the ˎcinema. This head usually occurs before the high-falling, high-rising and rising-falling nuclear tones. The most frequently used type of the High level Head is the head with one strongly stressed syllable and unstressed or partially stressed syllables pronounced on the same high level. It is usually called the High Head. eg: I ->didn’t ˎknow it.
(b) If the pre-nuclear stressed or partially stressed syllables are pronounced on the medium pitch level the head is called medium level. eg: I -> don’t ‘want to go to the ˎcinema. This head can occur before any nuclear tone, but it is very common before the Mid-Level nucleus.
(c) Pre-nuclear stressed syllables pronounced on the low pitch level constitute the Low Level Head, eg: I _> don’t ‘want to ‘go to the ˎcinema. The Low Level Head generally occurs before the Low Rise and the Low Fall.
