Parentheses, consisting of a word, word combination or a clause show the speaker's attitude towards the idea expressed in the sentence, connect the sentence with another one or summarize what is said in the sentence, eg:
Personally, I never touch the stuff. He is a nice chap, I think.
At the beginning of a sentence parentheses are frequently arranged by the low rising or mid-level tone into a separate intonation group, eg:
> Well, | Vwhat's the 'matter with xyou, Mr. Walker? To ~* crown it ,all | I had an x accident the .other .day.
To attach more importance to the parentheses they can be pronounced with the Low Fall or the Fall-Rise, eg:
As I xsay, | it's been "* one of those xdays | when Vevery-
thing 'seems to go xwrong. For my xown ,part, | I should xlove it.
Parentheses of no semantic importance for the sentence do not form an intonation group or even remain unstressed, eg:
vWell I 'don't ^know. or Well I ~* don't xknow.
In the middle or at the end of the sentence parenthetical words and phrases are generally pronounced as the unstressed or partially-stressed tail of the preceding intonation group, eg:
A V walking 'holiday de'pends upon the vweather, of course. You vknow, of course | he's my , brother.