93
S,//law -kutti kal"“lifti ^xo-trak/ wi ha*t-teeti l~bocltu gala % idLtfak/
■ _ » * v - * *
taken
(If you hadA the trouble3 and put on your overcoat,)
/ wi xoTbapt il-vbaab wi daxalt / ** kutti ha*tib?a mir_taah//
--7- ^ 11--— ^ - . Z I
(and pushed the door -knocked-, and entered , you would have been at ease.)
3. MR (i) and (ii) occur finally in general questions, requests, exclamations, and non-finally in statements, and listing patterns.
A. Nucleus; / 'naan / __/ (Did he sleep?)
/ 'naanu / “ (Did they !! ) /hay' naanu/ ~"
/ (Will (i r? ) /wil' kat aba/
*
/ (And the clerks,e t c ) The starting point lies somewhere below mid.
For approximately half the duration of the tone,, the pitch remains level, marking the first peak of prominence,
- It then rises smoothly, at this stage marking a secondary peak of xorominence,
- The rise reaches a point above mid.
- It is of medium duration, longer than HR and shorter than L-KR.
- In NS+o; the level and the rise are concentrated within US, - In NS+s: N£> remains level; "sH rises and has secondary pro minence, In NS+s+s: Rising and xorominence are associated with the final syllable only. This axo]olies whatever the number of
9k
syllables in the tail is. Intervening syllables occupy an inter mediate position between the level and the rise.
- NS+o gives the impression of two tonetic segments on account of its divided pitch pattern.
B. Head:
A second criterion next to the shape of the tune itself and serving to distinguish the MR nucleus is the fact that the beginning of the nucleus is higher in pitch than any immediately preceding syllable unless it hapjjens to be the H peak.
Examples:
1. // bit-?uul il„laban/saaxin //(You say the milk is hot?)
2. / £ gib^tilik 'lahrna w / 'fakha w / xu'c(aar //
(I brought you meat, fruits, and vegetables.)
3* // ?is^saaga -kaan wal'laahi // (What is the tine, please?)
If there is a head peak, it is normally level with or slightly higher than the onset of the nucleus. (1) and (3 )
- If the head has only one stressed but non-prominent syllable, it has mid to low pitch. (2 )
— Unstressed syllables are lower in xoitch than stressed ones. (c) m
95
and convey a marked degree of intensity whether of wishing for something, or of reproach, or of irritation, etc. They are used also in non-final groups such as listing patterns,
2. L-HR patterns occur frequently in conditional sentences
whose main clauses are normally left unexpressed: We may compare the following:
a */Z " -*-aw 6arot.biyya twa^ °£alna/^/If only there was a car to take
us !)
// law gara°biyya/*tiwa^x{3alna/^(If only there was a car, it
„ would take us.)
-
In (a), the result of the condition is not expressed; in (b), it is. L Nucleus: ynaam / ynaamu * kayynaamu / *wil,kataba / Exceptional: „ h a y naanu ^
'mi/J'iy . * / (Has he gone?) ^ — j*
- The starting point lies somewhere In t£j.e low region.
At the outset and for approximately less than half the dura tion of the tone, the isitch remains level and then curves upwards. - Two end-points on the pitch scale may be distinguished: (i) a mid ending giving a Low-Mid rising span, and (ii) a high ending giving a Low-High rising span (marked as in y hay’naamu above).
96
- L-MR tones are of medium duration5 L-HR tones are extremely
prolonged,
- The rising part marks a second peak of prominence much more noticeable in the case of L-HR tones.
- The distribution of the level and the rise within the syllables of the nucleus follows the same pattern described in connection with MR tones.,
- NS+o gives the impression of being two tone tic segments. - In the last example under "nucleus", high level pitch occurs
on NS and a low rise occurs on the tail syllable,in contrast to'iiij'iy. - L-HR patterns are termed "exceptional" on account of the fact that they are grammatically and contextually ear-marked, and are capable of being heavily reinforced on the durational and tonal dimensions. Lurationally, they may be immensely prolonged, chant like, and said with syllable-timed rhythm. Tonally, they may go up the scale from beginning to end with unusual breathiness marking their beginning. They often extend over long stretches of syllables,
B , Head * Examples:
1. / [^ ^?inta “gaarif waz-naha kam Vkeelu /£
. — .
T T ’J —
> , . ,
(Do you know how many kilos it weighs?)
2 . / L ‘ lissa ,badriy/^ — “ ”7 ~
97
- The H peak is higher than the onset of the nucleus whether it comes early in the head or immediately precedes the nucleus
(1 and 2 respectively).
- The onset- of the nucleus is normally lower than the preceding syllable.
- The intonation of the first example may be altered so as to give an MR (ii) tone and a different meaning in the following way:
3* / £ ?inta % gaarif / waz naha kaam ''keelu // x . — . . ^ ‘
(You know how many kilos it weighs?— Shall I tell you?-)
( i ) C ont extual:
The following is a sequence of declarative sentences, the last being a sentence-fragment:
ft
’‘sayyid hay-Xuut ik^koora//- sayyid 'X^-at //'% goon // (Sayyid is going to kick the ball. S,kicked it. Itfs a goal.) These sentences may, quite naturally, form part of an announcer's commentary on a televised football match, a marked feature of the week-ends not to be missed by football fans. Being no exception, Nabiil, a supporter of one of the contesting teams, may react tothis item of news in several ways, as can be detected from his possible comments to Gaad, a supporter of the opposing team.
(a)
Nabiil may have "promised” Gaad a spectacular defeat* If the announced goal marks the end of the match, he will be extremely disappointed by the fact that his team scored only one goal0 His
98
disappointment may not take a violent form, but only find
expression in the subdued tone of resignation with which he mutters his final comment:
// na“tiiga nij1 batw taala // goon //
(It is not a bad result. One goal. -It could have been worse.V) (b)
If the natch has just started and Gaad's team is in the lead for the moment, Nabiil, in anticipation of any fuss Gaad may be inclined to make, nay simply shrug his shoulders and say challeng- ingly:
/ L '"-tawwil baalak // da “hittit A-goon //
(Be x>atient. It is only a goal, -The game hasn’t finished yet.1) (c)
Nabiil may have expected the kick to be counted as a foul, and not as a goal. He will then be astonished by the referee's decision. His astonishment and exasperation will get the better of him and his immediate reaction will be:
/ L v goon // mag" ?uula *dii //
(Is this a goal.’ Is that possible.') (ii) Tonal:
(a) HFR
HFR tones are used finally in expressions of sympathy or consolation, and non-finally in phrases introducing hesitant or doubtful answers or comments in which some reservation is implied,
---
A. Nucleus: naan/ \ /
99 /ma naanu / /na n"' kasaru /
Spread: / " ?anrak ya *siidi/ ^ (Have it your wayjthen.) - The fall starts from a point below the upper line.
- It ends within the mid pitch region.
- The rise begins where the fall ends. It reaches a point bolow the top line.
- It is of a short duration evenly distributed over the falling and rising parts. N syllables bearing this tone show less than their normal duration.
The rising part is marked by some degree of prominence.
The distribution of the fall and the rise within the syllables of the nucleus is similar to the distribution of the level and the rise within the MR and LR nuclei except that non-final unstressed syllables tend to drift slightly downwards after the fall, and then
Join the rise if long tails are involved.
- In the last example above, an HER tone is spread over a phrase giving the configuration shown.
B. Head:
Examples:
1 * / ba—gatti gawa been ma rocddij /^/
(I sent two letters; but he didn!t answer.)
100
- The nucleus stands out as the pattern peak*
- The stressed syllables of the head occupy the upper and lower mid regions,
- In 1, unstressed syllables move slightly downwards away from the low-pitched stressed syllable, then up towards H peak and
In 2, they move up towards H peak, start again lower than the low- pitched stressed syllable and then move towards N.
(b) MFR
1. Two kinds of MFR patterns occur in the material: one with (I) a contracted type of tone (A-), and the other with (ii) a full type (v )• The contracted type is more frequently used, and is the one described below. The full type differs in that in it, the drop in pitch comes very near to the bottom iDitch and is followed by a rise to a point lower than the initial point of the tone:
/[_ magv nuuna // ( Is she really mad?)
\ /
2. Type (i) is common in certain exclamatory proverbs and phrases, but never with interrogative force:
Proverbs: // ?i(3~«3abri //
(It is better to be p a t i e n t I t is no use grumbling,) Set-phrases generally initiated by negative particles:
// wala y A-himmak//(Never miiad,-Don't worry-) // bala A-dawJa //[(Stop fussing.)
Reduplicated phrases:
101
// ~daxxan A-daxxan //(Do smoke„“invitation to
smoking in defiance of a "No Smoking" notice-) Type (ii) is common in non-final position,and in final x>osition with interrogative force• Nucleus; / A-naan/ — —— - / V / A-naamu/ A . /ma *-naanu/ A . p * /na A~katabu/ * ♦ 4
- The fall starts from a point above mid. An appreciable rise from a noticeably lower pitch is characteristic of this tone* - The fall, or rather drop, of pitch, reaches a point half way between lines 1 and 2.
- From that point, the xoitch becomes level for some time.
Beyond this, a choice seems to exist depending on the grammatical structure of the substrate. In the above statement types, a slight drop of pitch may follow the level part. In commands and requests, this drop can be replaced by a rise:
/L
t friBkut // (be quiet,-urging-) A w *- This tone is a lively one, remarkably quick, and of a moderate duration. Nuclear syllables bearing it are vigorously articulated. - The final drop has some prominence, though not quite so notice-
in
able as the final rise in / ’^iskut / above, or the full type (v>.
102
B. Head:
1 , // na "huwwa ka-maan biyA~2aakir //
(-Talking about Him- he studies hard.)
2. // -?oc{3li "sayyid A-yani //
x f % * X-' .
(Sayyid is rich, -He can afford to-)
- The H peak is level with or slightly higher than the onset of N. - It occurs initially in (l) and finally in (2).
- A noticeable feature of this pattern is the juxtaposition between the pitch of the nucleus and that of the syllable that cones innediately before it. The pitch of the latter is very low.
(c) JCjFR
IFR tones occur in contexts sinilar to those in which LR tones do. -k* Nucleus i /^ynaam / / naanu / /hay,.;naanu /
/
A/
/* hay %,naanu/ / N,katabu / / **■- The fall starts from a point slightly below mid. The j)itch noves down rapidly reaching a point at the bottom pitch line
before it reverses its direction. In some cases, the fall reaches a point below the bottom pitch line wherein it becomes breathy.
1 °3
- The pitch then rises evenly at first, "font its rate speeds up towards the end* The rise ends within the mid or high pitch regions.
- This tone exhibits a very long duration comparable with that of the IE.
- The rising movement is narked by a degree of prominence which nay be equal to that of the falling part.
- N syllables bearing this tone are strongly articulated and have long durations.
The distribution of the fall and the rise within the syllables of the nucleus is similar to that stated in connection with other ER tones.
B. Head; Examples:
1* / [^ huwwa saami — lissa ma v namj'iy / ^
* V . *
(Hasn't Saami slept yet?)
2, // huw-wanta bass illi b^tifham // *
*
/ *
(Is it only you that understands?)
- In these examples, the stressed syllables of the head are both higher in pitch than the onset of the nucleus.
- In 1, the first syllable is slightly higher in pitch than the second stressed syllable. The reverse occurs in 2.
10k
IV. Rising-Falling Tones: (i) Contextual:
/L
eeh ra^yak fil bad^laadi ya na^biil // ga"N niila // m ± S " kida /[_ (What do you think of this suit, Nabiil? Smart] IsnTt it?)The sequence above contains a particle interrogative incorporating a vocative piece, then a sentence fragment, and ends with a non particle interrogative, Judging by the addressive piece it con tains, the listener is Nabiil, To round off the picture, we may add that it has been siooken by Gaad while the two are idling about looking at shop windows on a hot summer day. The following con textual possibilities have been selected to show some typical reactions that might be "triggered off" by the quoted utterance:
(a)
Gaad may have spotted a suit that comes up to his ideal of what a smart suit should look like. If the suit makes the same impression on Nabiil, he will express his admiration in a similar way, but perhaps a little more emphatically:
/L
~Hii mij ga^niila w^bass / di g"' naan / £ (Not only is it smart, it is "smashing" I )(b)
Nabiil^ eyes might not have landed on the suit pointed out by Gaad. He may take Gaad!s comment to refer to another one which is poorly designed. As a result, he will look critically at Gaad, wave his hand impatiently, and remark:
105
/ [^ bit'N‘hocg2jar // -ba?a dii ga'"' niila //
(Are you joking? You call this smart?)
(c)
Gaad will soon put Nabiil righto The latter will realize that he has made a mistake. Pointing at the correct suit this time, he will slowly utter the words:
// ~ ?a // ?il badla iii // ii haaga tanya /,/ (I see. You mean this one. This is different.)
1. HRF tones occur in almost all types of sentences for which
" HF and MF would be regarded as suitable. They are specially common in negative commands and exclamations expressing various degrees of intensity. Although they also ax>pear in a great many contexts in which L-HR patterns occur, they are not possible in unfinished conditional sentences in which LR tones would be common. We may compare the following:
BF /^/ Nlaw gara,biyya twajB^jsalna / £
(If only there was a car, it would take us.) HRF // law gara-biyya twa^"' ^oclna /^/
(If only there was a car, it would take us.) L-HR+IF // .,,law gocra*biyya/ * tiwoc,s N^alna //
(If only there was a car, it would take us.) L-HR
/z
// law gara.biyya twa^’^alna(If only there was a car to take us.1) (ii) Tonal;