Misrepresenting Tonicity

Martin & Zappavigna (2019: 9, 8):

The phonological system of TONICITY highlights a peak of informational prominence by positioning the major pitch movement of a tone group (its tone) on one or another of its salient syllables (its culminative salient syllable in the unmarked case). In example (4) the vlogger claps on the syllable realising the tone group’s major pitch movement – hair (Fig. 8).

Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, TONICITY is concerned with tonic prominence, not with the major pitch movement (TONE) of the tone group.

[2] To be clear, tonic prominence (phonology) realises the focus of New information (grammar).

[3] To be clear, in the unmarked case, tonic prominence falls on the salient syllable (the tonic syllable) of the last foot (the tonic foot) of a tone group; but there are many unmarked cases.  The 'culminative' syllable is the tonic syllable, wherever it occurs in a tone group.

[4] To be clear, in Cléirigh's model of linguistic body language, the clap on the tonic prominence is the expression plane realisation of the focus of New information in the grammar.