Who can explain this to me?

[elina_p79]

Hello everybody! It is very nice being here. This is my first post and i would start by asking you to comment on some quotes.

"There is a great deal of difference between No said in a clipped, definite tone (Nope) and No said in a drawled, meditative tone
(N-o-o-o)."
Can you explain this to me please?

And the last one:

What articulatory processes can be found to underline /pli:s/? Note that there are some variants in pronunciation, including ones that do not conform to the norm.

I am writting a test in 2 day and i would be thankfull if anybody of you could give me some help.
thanx in advance

[MrPedantic]

Hello Elina, welcome to Using English!

1. No

It's difficult to know exactly what the author meant, without more context; but he seems to want to distinguish between a brusque "no", which is usually a simple negative, and a "no" where the vowel "o" is deliberately lengthened, which is usually a doubtful negative.

For instance, if you ask me whether I like tofu, I will say "no" in a brusque, definite, no-nonsense fashion, because I certainly don't like tofu.

If however you say to me "MrQ wasn't very amusing this evening, was he?", I might reply "No-o-o-o", in a "meditative tone", because it's true that MrQ wasn't very amusing; but I also know that there were extenuating circumstances, and so don't entirely blame him (his cat was run over by a bus yesterday).

2. Please

This seems to mean "how do you pronounce 'please' in a way that emphasises its meaning?"

For instance, children often lengthen the "-ee-" sound, in an ingratiating way, e.g.

"Can I have another £50, please, Dad? "
"No, you can't. Now go away."
"Ple-e-e-e-ease!"

Let me know if it's still unclear!

Have a pleasant Wednesday,

MrP

[elina_p79]

Hello! Thank you very much for your reply. I should explain these quotes in phonetic or phonological terms. The meaning of them is clear to me but i do not know what are the appropriate phonetical and phonological terms to describe them. Any idea?