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The present paper explores the textual function of intonation in indicating coherence and boundaries between successive utterances of speech. An informal listening test showed how such prosodic coupling can be used to mark coherence between sentences of a text unit. The coherence is expressed as a downdrift of F₀ peaks and valleys characterizing the whole text unit. The boundary between two text units is signalled by terminating one and beginning another downdrift ramp. The characteristic features of the downdrift pattern seem to be (1) an adjustment of F₀ values to the length of the text unit, and (2) an adaptation of the F₀ of the beginning of a succeeding sentence to that of the later part of a preceding one in the same unit. Some preliminary implications of these results for speech planning are discussed.

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