Introducing English Linguistics

FINE... so I
got a per
EMPtory), but also boundaries not separating major grammatical
categories, such as the boundary between the two repetitions of I’m (I’m 
I’m just hanging 
ON) and between an adjective and noun within a noun
phrase (a per
EMPtory  command)
oh well you KNOW I  might get TERRibly  you KNOW I`m  I`m just
hanging ON now  and could take you on PERmanently  we may need
YOU
 to do some work in the EVEning  so I said FINE  being oBLIging 
so I got a perEMPtory  coMMAND  over the PHONE  RIGHT 
(London-Lund S.1.5.223–234)
There are many other features of intonation that can be described.
Speech is filled with pauses, which are distinct from tone unit boundaries.
The tone and tempo of speaking is also important: speakers can vary the
loudness of what they say, and the tempo (fast, slow) at which they speak.
In declarative sentences, the pitch falls after the tonic syllable is reached:
The sounds of English
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We are LEAVing now
In a yes/no question, the pitch rises at the end of the tone unit:
Are we LEAVing now
Rising intonation can also be used to end a declarative sentence, but with
differing effects:
We are LEAVing now
The effect of this pattern of intonation is not to simply inquire whether
the group is leaving, but rather to express concern or disappointment
over the group’s departure.
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INTRODUCING ENGLISH LINGUISTICS
Summary
The study of sound can be focused on either individual segments
(phonemes) or suprasegmentals (features such as stress or pitch cover-
ing segments larger than phonemes). Like all languages, English has a
distinctive set of speech segments called phonemes: consonants and
vowels that make up the inventory of sounds in English. It is possible
to determine which sounds in English are distinctive by examining
minimal pairs: words that differ by a single phoneme. All English
phonemes can be described in terms of their place of articulation –
where the tongue and lips are positioned when a sound is articulated –
and manner of articulation: where the air flows in the oral or nasal
cavities and the degree to which the airstream is obstructed or allowed
to flow freely. Phonemes can also be voiced or unvoiced, depending
upon whether the vocal cords vibrate or not. 
The study of sound, however, is also suprasegmental: it extends
beyond single phonemes to syllables, words, phrases, and clauses. All
words in English contain one or more syllables, and one of these sylla-
bles will carry the primary stress. Intonation also serves to segment
speech into grammatical structures, though the correspondence
between grammar and intonation is closer in more carefully prepared
speech than in spontaneous dialogues.