L* — THE LOW Pitch Accent
The Low pitch accent—symbolized as L*—is also relatively common. Unlike H*, which can be high in a speaker’s range or merely locally high, an L* will always be in the lower part of a speaker’s range.
Here is an example from the previous page. There is a very prominent H* on brilliant; science and student are both also pitch accented, but with L*s.
L* is most often found before high boundary tones. Just as the combination of an H* and a low boundary tone creates a falling inflection, the combination of an L* pitch accent and a high boundary tone creates a rising inflection. The most common sentence type we find this pattern in is yes/no questions.
In this example and those that follow, a high boundary tone will be marked with H].
The example above ends with a high level boundary tone, which we will mark as H—]. Don’t worry right now about the difference between H] and H—]. We’ll get to that later.
Similar rising inflections (created by the combination of an L* pitch accent and a high boundary tone) also show up regularly in connected speech as a way of indicating that the speaker isn’t finished yet, or is checking with the listener to make sure they are following or understanding. This is sometimes called “uptalk,” though not all examples of this “non-final” intonation pattern would necessarily be categorized as uptalk. Here are various examples of this “non-final” intonation pattern, involving L* pitch accents and high boundary tones:
Here are some more examples of L* pitch accents from different speakers on varied utterances. As you listen to them and look at the accompanying pitch tracks, try to repeat them back, matching the movement of pitch as closely as you can. Try also to observe and feel out the similarities between them—the underlying category that is L*.
EXERCISES
Before we move on to consider ↓H*, the Downstepped High Pitch Accent, let’s do a little bit of practice producing an L* pitch accent on the following phrases and sentences. We’ll use H] to mark high boundary tones. Remember the combination of the L* pitch accent and a high boundary tone will create a rising inflection.
Let’s try this out first on some yes/no questions:
an apple?
L* H]
a cantaloupe?
L* H]
a watermelon?
L* H]
Are you sure?
L* H]
Is it safe?
L* H]
Did they leave?
L* H]
Can we eat now?
L* H]
Is it over finally?
L* H]
Did Jack tell you that?
L* H]
He said he loved you?
L* H]
Now let’s try using some L* pitch accents and high boundary tones in “non-final” intonation. One of the most common places we might find this is in questions where two or more options are presented. In the following practice sentences, speak the first choice with a rising inflection (L* followed by H], a high boundary tone), and the second choice with a falling inflection (H* followed by L], a low boundary tone).
Do you want pasta or rice?
L* H] H* L]
Do you like the blue one or the green one?
L* H] H* L]
Chicken or fish?
L* H] H* L]
Shall we sit outside or inside?
L* H] H* L]
Is it too hot or just right?
L* H] H* L]
In the following practice sentences, where there are now three choices being offered, speak the first two choices with rising inflections, and the final choice with a falling inflection.
Do you want pasta, rice, or chickpeas?
L* H] L* H] H* L]
Do you like the blue one, the green one, or the purple one?
L* H] L* H] H* L]
Chicken, fish, or vegan?
L* H] L* H] H* L]
Shall we sit outside, inside, or just go home?
L* H] L* H] H* L]
Is it too hot, too cold, or just right?
L* H] L* H] H* L]
Non-final intonation is also traditionally taught as being useful for lists in general, as in the following example:
We need some milk, some eggs, some butter, and a thing of coffee.
L* H] L* H] L* H] H* H* L]
This certainly works—it clearly communicates that the items belong to a list. In actual practice, though, Americans are as likely to simply use a series of H* pitch accents in list like this:
I need milk, eggs, butter, and coffee.
H* H*. H* H* L]
Note that in this pattern, there is only one longer intonational phrase instead of the series of shorter ones created by dividing up the whole list into separate IPs.
Hopefully you have something of a feel for the low pitch accent now, as well as a sense of how it combines with high boundary tones to create rising inflections, and some of the places we are likely to find these contours. We will go into much more detail about these later, and have lots more practice. For now, however, let’s take a look at the last of our three basic pitch accents, the Downstepped High Pitch Accent.