An Introduction to French Pronunciation

148 Intonation
20.3 Declarative Sentences
20.3.1 Declarative sentences are those that neither ask a
question nor express a command but make a statement. They
may be either affirmative (e.g. Mon frère dit qu’il arrivera
demain) or negative (Je ne veux pas voir ce film) – this is of no
consequence from the point of view of intonational patterns.
For our present purposes, declarative sentences can be
subdivided into three types, according to whether they consist
of (i) one rhythmic group (20.3.2), (ii) two rhythmic groups
(20.3.3), or (iii) more than two rhythmic groups (20.3.4).
They have in common the fact that they all end with a falling
intonation. Furthermore, all except those consisting of only
one group, and even some of these (see the end of 20.3.2),
begin with a rising intonation.
20.3.2 Declarative sentences consisting of no more than two
syllables have a falling intonation, i.e. the utterance starts on
a relatively high note and ends on a lower one. This does not
however mean that each syllable is pitched clearly on a different
note (as in singing). Rather, the voice glides down from
the higher pitch to the lower. Consequently, a falling intonation
can be heard even in the utterances of a single syllable:
J’arrive. C’est ça. Bien!
Longer utterances may have a rising-falling intonation, i.e.
the pitch first rises to a peak before falling to a lower level at
the end of the group. If the first part of the group includes
a syllable that could have been stressed (but, of course, by
definition, if it is not at the end of a rhythmic group it is not
then stressed), that syllable may well represent the peak, e.g.:
Je pars demain. Mon frère arrive. Ils viennent tout de suite.