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Pructus Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Tail of a tone

Hello....

Below is from A Student's Grammar of English Language, by Quirk et al, p 341.
What does "tail" mean?
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The particle of a phrasal verb is normally stressed, and in final position normally bears the nuclear tone, whereas the particle of a prepositional verb is normally unstressed and has the 'tail' of the nuclear tone that falls on the lexical verb:
Which friends did she CALL on?
~ Which friends did she call up?
  

Top answer

pructus the 'tail' of the nuclear tone that falls on the lexical verb That just mean that the ending of the speaking tone runs down at the prepositional particle. You can hear the difference when you utter the two example questions. Which friends did she CALL on?

— Mister Micawber

  • pructus the 'tail' of the nuclear tone that falls on the lexical verb That just mean that the ending of the speaking tone runs down at the prepositional particle.
  • You can hear the difference when you utter the two example questions.
  • Which friends did she CALL on?
  • Which friends did she call UP?
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2 Answers
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pructus the 'tail' of the nuclear tone that falls on the lexical verb
That just mean that the ending of the speaking tone runs down at the prepositional particle. You can hear the difference when you utter the two example questions.

Which friends did she CALL on?
Which friends did she call UP?
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Thanks so much, Mister Micawber!!

Still a little vague due to the terminology, nuclear...
Grammar books don't try to explain some new words and concepts...

But I've got a sense on what this part means.
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