University of Batna Department of English Module: Phonetics Level: Third year Teacher: Lynda Badache Third year Phonetics

programme: - Stress and intonation: 1- The concept of supra-segmentals. 2- A review of weak and strong forms of function words. 3- Rules of sentence stress 4- A detailed study of intonation patterns. The notion of accent !or sentence stress" -Realisation of primary accent. -Types of nucleus. -#ealisation of secondary accent$ a !re-nuclear " !ost-nuclear. #ulti-nuclear patterns. The domain of phonetics$ a. Acoustic phonetics ". Auditory phonetics. Pedagogical phonetics %- Use of phonetics in the training of teachers. 1- $mportance of phonetics in language teaching. 2- %asiness vs. difficulty in language. 3- Teaching pronunciation. 4- !honetic transcription. &- American vs. 'ritish pronunciation. %% Teaching the segmentals of English: 1- !erception 2- !erformance 3- (arious types of drills. %%%$ Teaching the Supra segmentals. 1- !erception. 2- !erformance. 3- (arious types of drills. %& 'orrecting pronunciation mista(es. 1- (arious methods with case studies. & Testing of pronunciation. 1- Testing the segmentals 2- Testing the suprasegmentals &% La)oratory Teaching$
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1. #onitring )students are taught how to use a language la" 2. drills for the language la" )to "e devised and taped "y the students themselves *irst Lecture:+ovem)er ,-.!rosody )and *uprasegmentals %n linguistics/ prosody is the rhythm/ stress/ and intonation of speech$ Prosody may reflect various features of the spea(er or the utterance: the emotional state of a spea(er0 1hether an utterance is a statement/ a 2uestion/ or a command0 1hether the spea(er is )eing ironic or sarcastic0 emphasis/ contrast/ and focus0 or other elements of language that may not )e encoded )y grammar or choice of voca)ulary$ Tone groups %nglish is an intonation language. This means that the pitch of the voice is used syntactically+ for e,ample- to convey surprise or irony- or to change a statement into a .uestion. The %P3 provides a group of sym"ols for stress/ length/ intonation/ sylla)ification and tone under the general heading /suprasegmentals/- reflecting a conceptual division of speech into /segmental/ and /suprasegmental/ parts. $!A0 %nternational Phonetic 3lpha"et 123ssociation Phon3ti.ue %nternationale 4hy the %P3 5 An essential 4indispensa"le 4means of phonetic- phonological transcription )description of the world languages. The )asic Principal 5 . sound 5 . sym"ol Segmental vs$ Suprasegmental Speech parameters are the segmental physiological articulatory elements upon 1hich the suprasegmental or prosodic elements !duration/ intensity/ melody/ and pitch" are superimposed$ Segmental 5 vowels- consonants- tone and phonological duration Suprasegmentals 6 4*uprasegmental features are esta"lished "y a comparison of items )segments in a se.uence.6 1ehiste )1789 *uprasegmentals.

4ea( forms: :hen we talk a"out weak forms in the phonetics of %nglish this regards a series of words which have one pronunciation )strong when isolated- and another )weak when not stressed within a phrase- e.g.
a car I bought a car /7e8 7(9:: /a8 7);:t < 7(9::

:eak forms are usually distinguished "y a change in vowel .uality from a "order position on the vowel .uadrilateral to a central position. The vowel in a weak form is usually the schwa ); . :eak forms are pronounced more .uickly and at lower volume in comparison to the stressed sylla"les. They are also not central to changes in intonation. There is a logical e,planation "ehind the occurrence of weak forms0 they are present in words which are necessary to construct a phrase yet- at the same time- do not communicate a large .uantity of information- in other words- they are not content words. <or e,ample in the following phrase0 I went to the hotel and booked a room for two nights for my father and his best friend. The most important words- those that are central to the message- can "e emphasised0 $ went to the hotel and "ooked a room for two nights for my father and his "est friend. $f we eliminate the words that are not emphasised- can we still understand the message= went father hotel booked best friend. room two nights

!erhaps it is difficult to "e certain "ut it is possi"le to predict what the missing words might "e.

The words which we emphasised would "ear the stress- while many of those which we eliminated would "ecome weak formssimply "ecause they are less important in the conveyance of the message. 1ook at the sentence in transcription0
/a8 71ent t< =< h<> 7tel <n 7)>(t < 7ru:m f< 7tu: 7na8ts f< ma8 7f9:=<r <n h8? 7)est 7frend:

>ou will notice that most of the unstressed words are pronounced with the sound ?@?0 prepositions such as to and forarticles a, an, and the conAunction and. Au,iliary ver"s fre.uently have weak forms. The use of 1ea( forms is an essential part of English speech and you must learn to use the 1ea( forms of @A English 1ords if you 1ant your English to sound English$ Some 1ords have more than one 1ea( form and he follo1ing list tells you 1hen to use one and 1hen the other$ :ord :eak form %,amples
And As But than that n z bt n t )the word that is phrases like that manthat2s good is always pronounced?Bt?and never weakened. i: im i? B: )at the "eginning of word groups the forms0?hi0?-?him??hiC-? ?hD0?should "e used 0hi0 laiks it- hD0 feis iC rEd m s (only in lets) s d (d is only used before consonants.before vowels use the stron! form"du#" "hau du# ai nu$" dz m (after i) blBk n wait C gud C guld "t wai n %t=

he him his her

them us do

does

&

am are

m(else where) (before consonants) r (before vowels)

4hen 1ea( forms are +CT used :eak forms are not used for 4function6 words only in e,ceptional circumstances. )$n the e,amples "elow- underlining means a 4strong6 form. 1 4hen a DfunctionE 1ord is stressed or DcitedE: $ said Tom and Ann rather than Tom or Ann. Fow is the word 4for6 spelt= , 4hen a DfunctionE 1ord is at the end of a sentence or phrase !Dstranded": :hat are you looking at= $ know $ can. 3 &ery often/ if there are t1o or more DfunctionE 1ords at the end of a sentence/ especially a preposition follo1ed )y a pronoun/ one !usually the first one" 1ill )e in its DstrongE form: $ was looking for you. *top staring at him. F 4hen the 1ord is used as a DfullE/ meaningful/ DleGicalE form !e$g$have or do as full ver)s rather than auGiliary ver)s0that as a determiner rather than a conHunction0 there as an adver) rather than an empty su)Hect"$ $ usually have lunch at one.vs . $ have eaten already. Fe never does his homework.vs . Goes he live here= That "ag is mine.vs.*he said that she would come. $ went there.vs.There is a hole in the wall ,$ Stress and its phonetic correlates $n %nglish- the term /stress/ is used in reference to the degree of prominence of individual sylla"les of single words )le,ical stress - e.g. elephant )stressed - unstressed - unstressed vs. elephantine )unstressed= - unstressed - stressed - unstressed . 'ut not every word is actually stressed when it occurs in a sentence0 some le,ical stresses are picked out for sentential
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stress - perhaps "etter called /accent/. %.g. / Al"ert went to the zoo./ $!A sym"ols for primary stress H I and secondary stress H I may "e placed "efore vowels- or e.ually well at the "eginning of each sylla"le )thus also providing some information a"out sylla"le "oundaries 0 elephant H el$f ntI- elephantine H el$f an t $nI. 1adefoged )p. 247 - like many introductory phonetics te,t"ookssays /the nature of stress is fairly well understood. *tressed sounds are those on which the speaker e,pends more muscular energy ... so that there is an additional increase in pitch./ Gavenport and Fannahs )p. 23 - similarly- write /*tressed sylla"les are produced with more muscular effort- and are louder or longer than unstressed sylla"les./ There are some pro"lems with this view0 a $n some languages )e.g. :elsh cf. :illiams 17J2+ Khamorro cf. Khung 17J3 and even in some dialects of %nglish )e.g. 'irmingham- Tyneside- :elsh %nglish the pitch is lower on stressed sylla"les than unstressed sylla"les- and stressed sylla"les may "e shorter and quieter than unstressed sylla"les. " There are other phonetic correlates of stress too. Kf. %nglish0 StressedUnstressed /to hi v H tuw$mI m/ s. /to h v H ;I er/ s. UnstressedStressed /to hi Ht h$mI m/ /to he Ht;2h; I r/

$n these e,amples- the stressed sylla"les have longer- closermore rounded vowels and initial HhI- whereas unstressed sylla"les have shorter- more central- less rounded vowels and somtimes initial HhI is a"sent. The phonetics of stress- thenincludes not Aust loudness- pitch and duration- "ut also vowel .uality- lip rounding. (owel .uality differences are especially important markers of stress in %nglish. Lnstressed vowels are often said to "e /reduced/ to H;I or H$I. *ome %nglish vowelse.g. H I- are only found in sylla"les with )primary or secondary
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stress0 tonic H t n$kI vs. Ht; n$s$t$I. The aspiration of voiceless aspirated stops is stronger in stressed sylla"les than unstressed sylla"les0 e.g. H phhethr;lI vs. Hph;; thhroLlI c The phonetic realiCation of stress is rather language-specific. Tru"etCkoy )1737 pointed out that in 'ulgarian the contrast "etween close ?u? and mid ? ? found in stressed sylla"les is neutraliCed in unstressed sylla"les- where only ?u? - the closer phoneme - occurs. )$t is actually pronounced HoI in unstressed sylla"les. $n contrast- in Russian- the contrast "etween open ?a? and mid ?o? is neutraliCed in unstressed sylla"les- where ?o? is unrounded and lowered to ?a?. *imilarly- in Khamorro- mid vowel )allophones are found in stressed closed sylla"les and only close vowel )allophones occur in unstressed sylla"les- e.g. HsM su I /village/ vs. Hi su sM aI /his village/+ HtsM tsu I /word/ vs. Hi tso tsM muI /your )sg. work/+ H w3s wisI /to "rush/- Hs3nsinI /flesh/- Hn3niI /"a"y/- etc. This is the opposite of the correlation "etween stress and vowel height in the %nglish e,amples a"ove- in which stressed H uI is close and unstressed H;I is mid. $t appears then as if stress is not a well-defined phonetic feature"ut an a"stract honological feature whose phonetic realiCation is i manifold and ii language-specific. @$ Duration 1ength contrasts can "e transcri"ed "y dou"ling of letters )for simple long vs. short duration - or using length marks0 H I )in print- or- Aust as good- H0I - H I )or HNI . There is also a diacritic for /e,tra short/ sounds. %.g. 1uganda H@kkOlPI QtreasureR vs. HkOlPI Qgrow upR- $talian nonno H nonn I QgrandfatherR vs. nono H non I QninthR- or even %nglish HkkAuI Qthank you?fuck youR )depending on intonation and conte,t of use vs. HkAuI Qcue?.ueueR. Avoid confusing phonetic duration )measured e.g. in milliseconds with phonological length )e.g. long vs. short vowels and consonants . #any durational differences in %nglish are purely allophonic. Sote that the duration of the short vowel ?a? can easily e,ceed that of the long vowel ?i ? "ecause more open vowels have a longer duration in %nglish than closer vowels.

F$ Pitch/ tone and intonation Q!itchR refers to the perception of relative fre.uency )e.g. perceptually high-pitched or low-pitched . Tone refers to significant )i.e. meaningful- constrastive- phonemic constrasts "etween words signalled "y pitch differences. Tone may "e leGicalas in #andarin Khinese0 I#A transcri tion %eaning e$am le high level HmTI QmotherR high rising HmUTI QhempR low )fallingV rising HmPTI QhorseR high fall HmWI QscoldR )depends on HmaI ).uestion preceding sylla"le marker

!one number "escri tion 1 2 3 4 /no tone?neutral tone/

Fowever- as with stress- there may also "e non-pitch aspects of tone. 1e,ical tones are often related to durational- phonatory and vowel .uality distinctions as well as fre.uency distinctions. <or e,ample- #andarin Khinese tone 3 )low rise is long with creaky voice- Funanese tone 2 has "reathy or chesty voice. Ti"etan tone 1 words have voiceless initial consonants whereas tone 2 words have voiced "eginnings. 1ong vowels in tone 4 or & open sylla"les in Thai are checked "y a final glottal stop. %ntonation refers to the rise and fall of voice pitch over entire phrases and sentences- even in non-tone languages- such as %nglish0 Sentence Stress in English Definition of stress: According to Daniel Iones defined stress as "eing a degree of force with which a sound or a sylla"le is uttered. $t is a strong push from the chest .A stressed sylla"le is one to which we give prominence with a physical effort. The nature of stress:

<rom the point of view of production/ stressed sylla"les are produced with more muscular energy than unstressed sylla"les. <rom the perceptual point of view- stressed sylla"les are more prominent than unstressed sylla"les. They are louderlonger- higher in pitch and different in .uality from neigh"ouring sounds. Xf these four .ualities- the most powerful are 4pitch6 and 4length.6 Levels of stress: Primary and secondary stress: !rimary stress is the strongest type of stress. :e mark primary stress "y placing a small vertical line )R high up- Aust "efore the sylla"le concerned. *econdary stress is weaker than primary stress "ut stronger than the stress of other sylla"les. :e mark secondary stress "y placing a low mark )/ %g0The word photographic has "oth primary and secondary stress- with the primary stress falling on the third sylla"le and secondary stress on the first sylla"le. $t is transcri"ed phonemically as ?f;ut;RgrBfik? *entence stress is the music of spoken %nglish. 1ike 1ord stress- sentence stress can help you to understand spoken %nglish- especially when spoken fast. *entence stress is what gives %nglish its rhythm or /"eat/. >ou remem"er that word stress is accent on one sylla)le within a 1ord. *entence stress is accent on certain 1ords within a sentence. #ost sentences have t1o types of 1ords:

'ontent 1ords Structure 1ords !function 1ords"

'ontent 1ords are the key words of a sentence. They are the important 1ords that carry the meaning or sense. *tructure words are not very important 1ords. They are small- simple words that make the sentence correct grammatically. They give the sentence its correct form or /structureJ.

$f you remove the structure words from a sentence- you will pro"a"ly still understand the meaning of the sentence$ $f you remove the content 1ords from a sentence- you will not understand the sentence. The sentence has no sense or meaning. $magine that you receive this telegram message0 4i y ll o u SEL m '3 )ec L y # aus e %K v e LC+ t *#3+ E o 'E

This sentence is not complete. $t is not a /grammatically correct/ sentence. 'ut you pro"a"ly understand it. These 4 words communicate very well. Somebody wants you to sell their car for them because they have gone to France. :e can add a few words0 4i y ll o u SEL m '3 )ec L y # aus e %K v e LC+ t *#3+ E o 'E

The new words do not really add any more information. 'ut they make the message more correct grammatically. :e can add even more words to make one complete- grammatically correct sentence.But the information is )asically the same0 'ontent 4ords 4i y ll o u SEL m '3 )ec L y # aus e %K v e LC+ t *#3+' E o E$

4ords *unction or !Structure 1ords"

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$n our sentence- the 4 (ey 1ords )sell- car- gone- <rance are accentuated or stressed. :hy is this important for pronunciation= $t is important "ecause it adds /music/ to the language. $t is the rhythm of the %nglish language. $t changes the speed at which we speak )and listen to the language. The time )et1een each stressed 1ord is the same$ $n our sentence- there is . sylla)le "etween *%11 and KAR and @ sylla)les "etween KAR and YXS%. 'ut the time )t "etween *%11 and KAR and "etween KAR and YXS% is the same. :e maintain a constant )eat on the stressed 1ords. To do this- we say /my/ more slo1ly- and /"ecause $Rve/ more 2uic(ly. :e change the speed of the small structure words so that the rhythm of the key content words stays the same. sylla"les 2 4i y ll o u t& 1 3 %K v e 1 LC+ t *#3+' E o E$ t & )eat

SEL m '3 )ec L y # aus e t )ea & )e t&

)ea

4hat is DSentence StressE5 4*entence Stress6 need not "e referred to as the particular an,iety an %*1 student e,periences when attempting to pronounce a particularly wordy sentence in %nglishZ *entence Stress is actually the 4music6 of %nglish- the thing that gives the language its particular 4"eat6 or 4rhythm6. $n general- in any given %nglish utterance there will "e particular words that carry more 4weight6 or 4volume6 )stress than others. <rom a speaking perspective- *entence Stress will affect the degree to which an %*1 student sounds 4natural6. $n terms of listening- it affects how well a student can understand the utterances they hear.

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4hat is D4ord StressE5 :hereas *entence Stress refers to the process where"y particular 1ords are stressed within an overall sentence:ord Stress refers to the process where"y particular sylla)les )or parts of words are stressed within an overall 1ord. $n general- *entence Stress is more of a consideration for overall fluency [:ord Stress tends to have more of a phonological and morphemic importance. 4hich do 4ord Stress5 1e teach first M Sentence Stress or

An attempt to teach *entence Stress should proceed any attempt to teach :ord Stress. 'oth are areas that can "e more or less picked up naturally ["ut *entence Stress can "e picked up and learned across all levels- whereas :ord Stress re.uires a little more focus if students are to understand the phonological and morphemic issues involved )making it thus more appropriate at later?higher levels . Xnce *entence Stress is an ongoing consideration in the classroom:ord Stress can "e introduced to demonstrate the significance of sylla"le stress on sound changes )for instance variation in thepronunciation of 4y6 depending on its position in a stressed or unstressed sylla"le . Xtherwise- :ord Stress should "e a general pronunciation issue. No1 Sentence Stress 4or(s and 4hy5 $n any given sentence in %nglish there will "e words that carry stress and others that don2t. This is not a random pattern. *tressed words carry the meaning or the sense "ehind the sentence- and for this reason they are called 4'ontent 4ords6 [ they carry the content of the sentence. Unstressed words tend to "e smaller words that have more of a grammatical significance [ they help the sentence 4functionE syntactically and for this reason they are called *unction 4ords )SXT%0 sometimes D*unction 4ords6 are referred to as 4*tructure :ords6 .

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X"viously the 4content6 of a sentence carries more significance than the particular 4way6 it is put together. An easier way to think of it is that if you take out all the 4functionE 1ords )1ithout real meaning from a sentence- the sentence will still have a certain amount of meaning and can )e understood. Going the opposite will remove the meaning from a sentence and render it o"solete. $t is logical that the meaningful units within a sentence will carry the most significance and therefore stress. Content Words include0 )#ain &er)s- +ouns3dHectives- 3dver)s- +egative 3uGiliary &er)s- Demonstratives- Ouestion 4ords Words include0 Pronouns- Prepositions3rticles/ 'onHunctions/ 3uGiliary &er)s/ !Main" &er) Dto )eE

Function

EGamples: 'ontent 4ords *unction 4ords Main &er)s go, talk, Pronouns I, you, he ,they writing +ouns student, desk Prepositions on, under, with 3dHectives big, clever 3rticles the, a, some 3dver)s quickly, loudly 'onHunctions but, and, so +egative can't, don't, 3uGiliary can, should, 3uG$ &er)s aren't &er)s must Demonstrati this, that, &er) Dto )eE is, was, am ves those Ouestion who, which, 4ords where $ am tal(ing to the clever students. >ou2re sitting on the des(- "ut you arent listening to me. Fe2s 1riting 2uic(ly- so it2s difficult for him to hear me. 3 +ote on Sentence Stress and English DrhythmE
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$t is important to remem"er that an %nglish sentence will have a certain num)er of )eats. *tressed )content" 1ords always take up an entire D)eat6- while 4unstressedE function words fall "etween the )eats [ irrespective of ho1 many function 1ords have )een grouped together . The time "etween "eats is al1ays the same. <or this reason- function 1ords are often spoken faster and 1ith less volume [ they are literally "eing 4s2uee?edE into the gap "etween regular stressed )eats. $n the e,amples "elow- all of the function words )or groups of function words take the same amount of time to pronounce- irrespective of the num"er of sounds or sylla"les they include. Going a simple rhythmic clap or thump in time to the spoken sentence will demonstrate how this happens. EGamples: $ am Beat . tal(ing to the Beat , clever Beat @ students$

Beat . Beat , Beat @ Beat F >ou2r sitting on the des( "ut you arent listeni to me. e ng

Fe2s

Beat . Beat , Beat @ 1ritin 2uic(l so it2s difficu for g y lt to

Beat F himhear me.

Sentence Stress and #hythm Sentence stress

Sentence stress is the governing stress in connected speech$ 3l 1ords have their individual stress in isolation$ 4hen 1ords are connected into though groups/ and thought groups into sentences/ content 1ords (eep their stress and function 1ords lose their stress$ The most important 1ords in the sentence receive stronger stress$ The las
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stressed 1ord in the sentence receives the strongest stress 1ith the help of falling or rising intonation$ %f it is necessary for (eeping the rhythm/ the stress in some 1ords can )e shifted or 1ea(ened in a certain 1ay/ for eGample: +e1 PC#Q +E4 Por( '%Ty 3*ternoon SLEEP in the after+CC+

+ote: 'apital letters sho1 stressed sylla)les/ the )ac(slash sho1s falling intonation$ Emphatic stress may )e used in the sentence/ usually to compare/ correct or clarify things$ Emphatic stress singles out the 1ord that the spea(er considers the most important and in this case even a function 1ord may )e stressed strongly/ for eGample: Tina gave the )oo( to R3++$ % said that RM3S gave the )oo( to 3nn$ RNE gave her the )oo($ Sentence stress is not Hust a phonetic peculiarity of English$ Sentence stress has a very important function of mar(ing the 1ords that are necessary for understanding an utterance$ 4hen native spea(ers of English listen to their conversation partners/ they listen for stressed 1ords/ )ecause stressed 1ords provide important information$ %t is often difficult to understand the meaning of the sentence in 1hich even one content 1ord is missing$ %t is also difficult to understand the sentence in 1hich an important 1ord is not stressed or a function 1ord is stressed$ Unstressed function 1ords ma(e sentences grammatically correct$ They are not very important in terms of the information that they provide and their meaning is usually understanda)le from their immediate surrounding in a sentence$ Even if you donKt get some 2uic(ly pronounced function 1ords/ the meaning of the 1hole sentence 1ill )e clear to you$ *or eGample/ a message from your friend says/ JMissed train
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)ac( Sunday$J Pou 1ill understand that it means J% missed my train and 1ill )e )ac( on SundayJ/ right5 Cnly content 1ords are 1ritten in the message/ )ut the meaning is clear$ %n the same 1ay you should listen for stressed content 1ords in speech to understand the meaning of the 1hole utterance/ and you should stress content 1ords yourself for other people to understand you$ Sentence stress and rhythm Sentence stress is the main means of providing rhythm in speech$ #hythm is the (ey to fluent English speech$ %magine a metronome )eating the rhythm$ The stressed sylla)les are li(e the )eats of the metronome: regular/ loud/ and clear$ The unstressed sylla)les )et1een the )eats are shortened/ o)scured and Hoined together$ Loo( at this sentence: Qevin sent a letter$ LetKs mar( the stressed sylla)les: QE&in SE+T a RLETter$ The pattern of stress here is stressed unstressed stressed unstressed stressed unstressed/ 1ith e2ual num)er of alternating stressed and unstressed sylla)les$ Try to pronounce this sentence rhythmically/ itKs easy to do )ecause the alternation of one stressed and one unstressed sylla)le is easy to reproduce$ Be sure to ma(e the stress in the stressed sylla)les strong/ much stronger than normal #ussian stress$ QE&in SE+T a RLETter$ LetKs ma(e this sentence a little longer: Qevin decided to send a letter to his relatives in the village$ Mar( the stressed sylla)les and the fall: QE&in de'%Ded to SE+D a LETter to his #ELatives in the R&%Llage$ +o1 1e have one/ t1o or several unstressed sylla)les in the intervals )et1een the stressed sylla)les/ )ut 1e have the same amount of time for each interval )ecause the stressed sylla)les/ li(e the )eats of the metronome/ have to occur
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regularly$ 3nd the sentence is not very long/ so 1e 1onKt need noticea)le pauses )et1een the thought groups$ No1 do 1e fit all the unstressed sylla)les in the intervals )et1een the stressed sylla)les 1ithout )rea(ing the rhythm that 1e had in JQevin sent a letterJ5 The rules of reduction and lin(ing 1ill help us to do it: .$ 3ll vo1el sounds in the unstressed sylla)les in this sentence 1ill )ecome very short and most of them 1ill )e pro)a)ly pronounced as the neutral sound$ %n a num)er of other cases/ the neutral sound may )e dropped/ for eGample/ can T(nU/ B3Qery TK)ei(riU/ MEMory TKmemriU$ By the 1ay/ the neutral sound T<U is the most common vo1el sound of English and deserves your special attention. ,$ The final consonant of one 1ord 1ill )e )lended 1ith the initial sound of the neGt 1ord/ for eGample/ Jn thJ 1ill lose part of their articulation at the Huncture/ Jd tJ 1ill )lend into one sound !or JdJ may )e dropped"$ @$ The sound ThU in the 1ord JhisJ may disappear$ This often happens in the 1ords li(e Jhis/ him/ herJ$ F$ The unstressed sylla)les 1ill )ecome a stream of sounds Hammed together$ They 1ill )e lo1er in pitch and much less distinct than the stressed sylla)les$ Sentence stress and intonation Sentence stress is the (ey component of English intonation$ %ntonation organi?es 1ords into sentences/ distinguishes )et1een different types of sentences and adds emotional coloring to utterances$ LetKs sum up the functions of sentence stress$ .$ Sentence stress organi?es separate 1ords into sentences )y ma(ing content 1ords stressed and function 1ords unstressed$ ,$ Sentence stress ma(es the utterance understanda)le to the listener )y ma(ing the important 1ords in the sentence stressed/ clear and higher in pitch and )y shortening and o)scuring the unstressed 1ords$ @$ Sentence stress organi?es the 1ords in the sentence rhythmically/ ma(ing the stressed sylla)les occur at regular
1)

intervals and Hamming together the unstressed sylla)les )et1een the stressed sylla)les$ F$ Sentence stress organi?es the 1ords in the sentence into logically connected thought groups )y Hoining the unstressed sylla)les to the main stressed sylla)le in the group and mar(ing the end of the thought group 1ith a slight pause/ if necessary$ A$ %f necessary/ sentence stress singles out the most important 1ord in the sentence )y giving it emphatic stress$ V$ Sentence stress mar(s the end of the sentence )y giving the strongest stress to the last stressed sylla)le 1ith the help of falling or rising intonation$ %tKs not possi)le/ of course/ to learn sentence stress and rhythm Hust )y tal(ing a)out them$ Listening and repeating should )ecome the most important part of your 1or( on pronunciation$ Pou should al1ays choose the teGt)oo(s that come 1ith corresponding listening materials$ 4hen you practice repeating sentences after the recorded spea(er/ al1ays mar( sentence stress and reduced unstressed 1ords$ Beginning students usually find it useful to practice stress and rhythm 1ith audio files in 1hich speech is not too fast and sentence stress is very clear/ for eGample/ childrenKs songs and nursery rhymes/ short rhythmical poems/ fol( songs/ etc$ 'haracteristics of intonationWstress English is a strongly stressed language/ in that certain sylla)les/ )oth 1ithin 1ords and 1ithin phrases/ get a relative prominence:loudness during pronunciation 1hile the others do not$ The former (ind of sylla)les are said to )e accentuated/stressed and the latter are unaccentuated/unstressed$ Stress can also )e used in English to distinguish )et1een certain ver)s and their noun counterparts$ *or eGample/ in the case of the ver) contract/ the second sylla)le is stressed: :(Xn$ 7trY(t:0 in case of the corresponding noun/ the first sylla)le is stressed: :7(Xn$trY(t:$ &o1els in unstressed

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sylla)les can also change in 2uality/ hence the ver) contract often )ecomes !and indeed is listed in CGford English Dictionary as" :(<n$7trY(t:$TZ@U %n each 1ord/ there can )e only one principal stress/ )ut in long 1ords/ there can )e secondary stress!es" too/ e$g$ in civilisation :[s8$v<$la8$7?e8$\n]:/ the .st sylla)le carries the secondary stress/ the Fth sylla)le carries the primary stress/ and the other sylla)les are unstressed$
TZFU

Nence in a sentence/ each tone group can )e su)divided into sylla)les/ 1hich can either )e stressed !strong" or unstressed !1ea("$ The stressed sylla)le is called the nuclear sylla)le$ *or eGample: That | was | the | best | thing | you | could | have | done! Nere/ all sylla)les are unstressed/ eGcept the sylla)les:1ords best and done/ 1hich are stressed$ Best is stressed harder and/ therefore/ is the nuclear sylla)le$ The nuclear sylla)le carries the main point the spea(er 1ishes to ma(e$ *or eGample: John had not stolen that money$ !$$$ Someone else had$" Iohn had not stolen that money$ !$$$ Someone said he had$ or$$$ +ot at that time/ )ut later he did$" Iohn had not stolen that money$ !$$$ Ne ac2uired the money )y some other means$" Iohn had not stolen that money$ !$$$ Ne had stolen some other money$" Iohn had not stolen that money$ !$$$ Ne had stolen something else$" 3lso did not tell her that$ !$$$ Someone else told her" % did not tell her that$ !$$$ Pou said % did$ or$$$ )ut no1 % 1ill"

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% did not tell her that$ !$$$ % did not say it0 she could have inferred it/ etc" % did not tell her that$ !$$$ % told someone else" % did not tell her that$ !$$$ % told her something else" This can also )e used to eGpress emotion: !h/ really5 !$$$% did not (no1 that" Ch/ really5 !$$$% dis)elieve you$ or$$$ That is )latantly o)vious" The nuclear sylla)le is spo(en more loudly than the others and has a characteristic change of pitch$ The changes of pitch most commonly encountered in English are the rising pitch and the falling pitch/ although the fall rising pitch and:or the rise falling pitch are sometimes used$ %n this opposition )et1een falling and rising pitch/ 1hich plays a larger role in English than in most other languages/ falling pitch conveys certainty and rising pitch uncertainty$ This can have a crucial impact on meaning/ specifically in relation to polarity/ the positiveMnegative opposition0 thus/ falling pitch means/ Jpolarity (no1nJ/ 1hile rising pitch means Jpolarity un(no1nJ$ This underlies the rising pitch of yes:no 2uestions$ *or eGample: When do you want to be "aid# $ow# !#ising pitch$ %n this case/ it denotes a 2uestion: J'an % )e paid no15J or JDo you desire to pay no15J" $ow% !*alling pitch$ %n this case/ it denotes a statement: J% choose to )e paid no1$J"

2,