ABSTRACT
The technical terms 'intonation group' and 'nucleus' are terms which are used in most systems and descriptions of intonation and/or sentence-stress. For the purposes of this article I will assume their relevance and validity and will not attempt any sort of strict definition, merely some exemplification, as in (1):
(1) Mr WHITE / wants to KNOW / whether you would welcome an end to the MYTH / that private ENTerprise / is always efficient / and public Ownership / means INefficiency
My term 'intonation group' (boundaries whereof are indicated by / in the above example) appears in various systems and descriptions under a variety of alternative labels: intonational phrase, phonological clause, phonological phrase, tone unit, tone group, sense group, word group or breath group. Similarly the term 'nucleus' (marked by capitals in the above capital) is alternatively labelled as tonic, primary stress, or primary accent.