Date:  Sun, 22 Oct 1995 09:04:51 -0500

From:  Natalie Maynor <maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]RA.MSSTATE.EDU>

Subject: Re: statements spoken as if it were a question



> What is the origin of the trend I've noticed of raising the tone of

> voice at the end of a sentence that is obviously a statement and making

> it sound like a question?  This is my new cat?  or



I don't know anything about its origin or history, but it's associated

with females more than with males and with Southerners more than with

Yankees. Southern females are, therefore, prime examples of it. The

videotape "American Tongues" has a funny segment on the Southern use of

question intonation as an explanation of why the South lost the war --

commands like "charGE" (rising pitch) were construed as questions rather

than commands.

  --Natalie (maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ra.msstate.edu)