Commands

Command with a fall - Firm, authoritative

The default tone for commands is the definitive fall:

^▸Stop that ⤵noise!
^▸Tell me the ⤵truth.

In short commands (as with statements) a rise is often used to encourage the other speaker to continue:

For warnings we often use an implicational fall-rise:

^▸Watch ⤵⤴out!
^▸Wait for ⤵⤴me!

The implication here is something like this:

^▸Do as I ⤵⤴say, | or ^▸something ⤵bad will happen.

If said with a fall tone, these would indeed be not so much warnings as straight-forward commands:

^▸Wait for ⤵me!
^▸Do be ⤵careful.

Like negative statements, negative commands often have a fall-rise without necessarily implying a warning:

^▸Don't start until you're ⤵⤴ready.

Commands said with the interested rise (with a high prenuclear pattern; see

) sound soothing and kindly. We use this tone when speaking to children, for example. To adults, it can sound patronizing.

^▸Come to ⤴Daddy.
Now ^▸take your ⤴time.

The differences in these tone meanings can be seen when we compare them on the same sentence:

Now ^▸move a⤵long, please (firm, authoritative)
Now ^▸move a⤵⤴long, please (urgent, warning)
Now ^▸move a⤴long, please (routine, friendly)

Last update at: 2023/09/04 09:27:01

On this page