In a variety of ways, this tone conveys an impression that something more is to follow. A typical occurrence in a dialogue between two speakers whom we shall call A and B might be the following:

A (wishing to attract B's attention): Excuse me.

B:/ yes

(B's reply is, perhaps, equivalent to 'what do you want?') Another quite common occurrence would be:

A: Do you know John Smith?

One possible reply from B would be /yes, inviting A to continue with what she intends to say about John Smith after establishing that B knows him. To reply instead yes would give a feeling of "finality", of "end of the conversation"; if A did have something to say about John Smith, the response with a fall would make it difficult for A to continue.

We can see similar "invitations to continue" in someone's response to a series of instructions or directions. For example:

A: You start off on the ring road ...

B: /yes

A: turn left at the first roundabout ...

B: /yes

A: and ours is the third house on the left.

Whatever B replies to this last utterance of A, it would be most unlikely to be / yes again, since A has clearly finished her instructions and it would be pointless to "prompt" her to continue.

With 'no', a similar function can be seen. For example:

A: Have you seen Ann?

If B replies o (without using high pitch at the start) he implies that he has no interest in continuing with that topic of conversation. But a reply of /no would be an invitation to A to explain why she is looking for Ann, or why she does not know where she is.

Similarly, someone may ask a question that implies readiness to present some new information. For example:

A: Do you know what the longest balloon flight was?

If B replies / no he is inviting A to tell him, while a response of o would be more likely to mean that he does not know and is not expecting to be told. Such "do you know?" questions are, in fact, a common cause of misunderstanding in English conversation, when a question such as A's above might be a request for information or an offer to provide some.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

قسم صناعة الشبابيك يشرع بإدامة شباكين قديمين لمرقد الإمامين العسكريين (عليهما السلام)

فرقة العباس (عليه السلام) تختتم خدماتها المقدمة للزائرين في سامراء

موكب العتبتين المقدستين يحيي ذكرى استشهاد الإمام الهادي (عليه السلام) في سامراء

العتبة العسكرية المقدسة تكرّم وفد العتبة العباسية المقدسة لمشاركته في تقديم الخدمات للزائرين

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

كنز غذائي على طبقك.. ماذا تفعل السبانخ بجسمك؟

ما لا يتوقعه أحد.. "سر غذائي" في الجبن الدسم

لتحسين الهضم والنوم.. هذا أفضل وقت لتناول العشاء

10 طرق بسيطة وغير مألوفة لحرق المزيد من السعرات يوميا

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

سابقة بعالم الطيران.. طائرة تقرر الهبوط بنفسها بعد ظرف طارئ

"الإنفلونزا الخارقة" تكتسح دول العالم.. وتثير قلقا كبيرا

مرحلة ما قبل الأعراض.. دواء جديد يستهدف "شرارة" الزهايمر

إزالة ثاني أكسيد الكربون من الغلاف الجوي.. ما دور المحيطات والبحار؟

المزيد