And there was I thinking a high rising terminal was a computer in the lift
of a tower block.
Brian

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"Commander Kinsey" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 13 Jun 2021 17:00:29 +0100, JNugent
wrote:

On 13/06/2021 04:50 pm, Commander Kinsey wrote:

Why do some people raise their voice at the end of every sentence? It
sounds like they're asking a question. Glaswegians and Australians are
particularly bad for it. Are they unsure of everything they say and are
seeking confirmation?

It is known as the "rising inflection" or "high rising terminal".

It does seem to be characteristic of (some) Australians, but has been
spreading among young and presumably impressionable people in the UK
over the last few decades (possibly because of the prevalence of
Australian soap opera on TV) and in the USA (West Coast, mainly) before
that.

AIUI, linguists do indeed associate the tendency with persons lacking in
social power, authority and confidence and thereby, a lack of
self-esteem. By changing the intonation of a statement into that of a
question, they are constantly seeking reassurance and approval.

Thought so, and I'm thankful you've reassured me others think the same :-)

There's a reasonable discussion of it at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal