The head

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 3 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

ü The syllables can move down by steps. Then the head is called stepping

In the Stepping Head unstressed syllables are pronounced on the same note as the preceding step

ü The head is called falling when the stressed syllables also move down by steps but intervening unstressed syllables fall down, continuing the descending direction

ü 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

ü 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.

ü 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.

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 form an ascending sequence.

ü If the voice moves up by steps and the intervening unstressed or partially stressed syllables continue the rise the head is called rising.

ü If the voice moves up by slides the head is called climbing; unstressed or partially stressed syllables glide up.

3. Level Heads

in level heads all the syllables are pronounced on more or less the same note of a pitch level.

ü If they happen to be on a high level the head is called the High Level Head

ü If the pre-nuclear stressed or partially stressed syllables are pronounced on the medium pitch level the head is called medium level.

ü Pre-nuclear stressed syllables pronounced on the low pitch level constitute the Low Level Head

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