Match each spoken English utterance on the left with its correct standard Received Pronunciation (RP) intonation contour pattern on the right.
- "You haven't seen my keys, have you?" (uttered with genuine doubt, seeking information)Rising tune on the tag syllable to signal genuine inquiry
- "Which candidate won the departmental election?" (uttered as a direct information request)Falling tune on the nucleus to signal a definitive Wh-question
- "Are we travelling by air, road, or rail?" (uttered as a complete list of choices)Rising tunes on non-final items followed by a falling tune on the final item
- "He is very intelligent..." (uttered with an implied reservation or contrast)Fall-rise tune to convey incomplete thought or unspoken qualification
Answer
The correct pairings match each utterance to its standard RP intonation contour based on pragmatic context and grammatical structure: the doubtful tag question pairs with a rising tune on the tag; the direct Wh-question pairs with a falling tune; the alternative question pairs with rising tunes on non-final items and a falling tune on the final item; and the statement expressing reservation pairs with a fall-rise tune.
Each utterance strictly follows standard Received Pronunciation intonation rules: doubtful tag questions take a rising tune to indicate open inquiry; direct Wh-questions take a falling tune; alternative questions rise on non-final options and fall on the last; and statements conveying reservation take a fall-rise tune.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Standard Intonation Contours and Pragmatic Functions in RP English