Gordon College

Olongapo City
College of Education, Arts and Sciences
Communication Arts and Letters Department
2nd Semester A.Y 2014-2015

Suprasegmentals are concerned with those features of pronunciation that cannot be segmented because they extend
over more than one segment or sound. Such features include stress, rhythm, and intonation (also called pitch contour or
pitch movement).
The student of English speech must improve his rhythm and intonation beside his sounds. English rhythm is
dependent on the following factors:
Emphasis and Subordination
Phrasing
Blending
Intonation
Emphasis and Subordination
Emphasis is the prominence or importance we give to certain syllables. This is more commonly called stress.
Subordination means the reduced prominence or unstressing we give to other syllables.
The elements of stress are:
1. loudness or intensity
2. heightened tone or pitch
3. increased duration
In English, we consider two types of stress:
1. Syllable stress/ Word stress has three degrees, from the most prominent to the weakest:

primary

` mid

weak

primary

secondary ` tertiary

legendary
2. Sense stress is the prominence given to word groups and sentences due to its meaning. It has four
degrees:

weak

intellectual curiosity

In English, words that carry idea or thought are stressed. They are sometimes called content
words. Generally, the following carry idea or thought
a. nouns baby, boy, school, radio, university
b. verbs (except auxiliary or helping verbs) run, jump, write, cry, study
c. adjectives beautiful, dark, dirty, famous
d. adverbs fast, slowly, very, lazily
e. demonstratives this, that those, these
f. interrogatives what, where, why, when (when they start questions)

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The Neutral Vowel

The or schwa as it is generally called is considered the neutral or indefinite vowel. This is because the
vocal organs do not assume a definite position but change position depending on the preceding and succeeding
sounds.
It appears only in
a. unstressed or unaccented syllables (CO in correct and DERN in modern)
b. unstressed words (an, of, the for)
In English, there are words that do not carry a thought or meaning but merely serve as connectives that
should be subordinated or unstressed. They show grammatical relationships and are called function words. The
following are function words that should be subordinated or unstressed:
a. articles the, a , an
b. auxiliary verbs (linking verbs as well) have, has, had, are, be, is
c. prepositions for, of, to, in
d. pronouns he, she, it, them, us, his, hers
e. conjunctions and, but, or
Phrasing
Phrasing is the grouping together of words that convey a thought. Phrases are separated from each other by
pauses which are longer than those ordinarily found between words. We can think of pauses as oral punctuation.
Punctuation marks in a sentence are oftentimes good indications of oral words groupings. The student must remember,
however, that this is not always so. Punctuation marks are an indication of grammatical relationships. Pauses are guided
by meaning. Sometimes one finds a comma in a sentence where no oral pause is necessary. For example (One vertical
line indicates a normal pause; while two vertical lines indicate a long pause):
That man is my brother. // He is, however, / only my step brother.
There are no definite rules that govern the grouping of words. We depend only on the meaning and intent of the
speaker. Generally, however, parts of speech closely related to each other are not separated unless there is a special
reason. Thus, an adjective is generally not separated from its noun, or an adverb from its verb, or a preposition from its
object.
1. I saw a beautiful girl / crossing the street. //
2. She thinks the owner of the car / is unaware of the theft. //
3. Upon hearing the news over the radio / he anxiously awaited word / about the survivors. //

Pauses are made in a sentence for the following reasons:

1. To make the meaning clear
You cant be a good speaker / unless you have a good voice. //
2. To emphasize a particular idea
The term/ intelligibility / means distinct articulation. //
3. For a special effect such a suspense
And then they heard a strange sound/ which seemed to come closer closer and closer. //
( indicates a short pause)

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4. Occasionally, to enable the speaker to catch his breath when saying a long sentence. In this case, the pause
must not come between words closely connected together grammatically.
The state may require us / to subordinate our private interest / to the interests of the community. //
Blending
Blending connects together the sounds from one word to another within a phrase in the same way that they are
connected from one syllable to another in a long word. In the vernaculars, we tend to pronounce each syllable
separately with a more or even less even accent. This results in a somewhat staccato rhythm. Compare Ako ay aalis
with She is an actress. Students very often insert what is known as the glottal attack (very much like the maragsa
accent of Tagalog) before words beginning with a vowel. This is considered a voice production fault in English. In order
to avoid the glottal attack, we must blend.
More specifically: within a thought group, words should be connected together, especially words beginning with
a vowel. These in particular should be blended to the previous word. In this way, the smooth rhythm of English can be
achieved.
1. The evening is almost over.

2. Take care not to open the umbrella unless necessary.

As a mechanical aid to blending during drill work, the student may consider the last sound of the first word part
of the second word. Thus:
Many people are affected by the new ordinance.

Many people lare raffected by the new wordinance.

My uncle arrives at eight.

My yuncle larrives sat teight.

Terminal junctures/ Terminals

Terminal junctures/ terminals are methods of closure.
Three methods:
1. Fading terminal /
2

3
1
Im going home

2. Rising terminal /
2

/ - rapid fadeaway of the voice into silence

/ - short, slight rise in pitch from the last level heard

3
3
Are you there

3. Sustained terminal /

/ - sustaining of the last-heard pitch

3
2
All the occupants of the car
2
3
1
seemed dazed by the shock

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Pitch
Pitch is the relative height of speech sounds as perceived by a listener.
Four pitch levels:

4 extra high (emotionally charged; reserved as substitute for level 3 to express

emphasis or excitement; sparingly used)
3 high
2 normal (the point of departure; the natural level)
1 low

Pitches combine into patterns to make meaningful melodies.

231
233
Intonation interplay of stress, pitch, and junctures
232
Intonation
Intonation may be defined as the rise and fall of the voice in connected speech. In English speech, stress and
intonation are very closely related to each other. An increase if stress is generally accompanied by a change in the pitch,
more often in an upward direction. Some of the common Filipino mistakes in intonation are accompanied by mistakes of
stress.
Average/ Normal pitch (2) generally used with unstressed words and syllables. It is indicated by a line
below the syllable.
BELIEVE
THERE IS A
Above average pitch (3) generally used with stressed syllables. It is indicated by a line above the line.
____
___
BELIEVE
GOD
Below average pitch (1) generally used at the end of a sentence with a downward intonation. It is
indicated by a line far below the syllable.
GOD
THIS IS A PENCIL
____
___
High pitch (4) generally indicates great emotion like suspense and fear and is seldom used.
____
HOW WONDERFUL!

Two types of pitch changes or movements:

1. Shift a pitch change between two syllables.
BELIEVE

WONDERFUL

2. Inflection or Syllable Glide a pitch change within a syllable.

GOD

TODAY

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Kinds of Intonation Contours/ Patterns:

1. 231

Occurs in
statement or declarative sentence
2
3
1
We drove to the lake
command
2
3
1
Go to your room
wh- or information question
2
3
1
Who is your friend
2. 233
Occurs in
yes-no question in statement form
2
3
3
Hes gone
yes-no question in question form
2
3
3
Is he gone
initial grammatical unit
2 3
3
2
3
3
In short
If youll wait
3. 232
or
Occurs in
initial phrase or clause
2
3
2
Under the circumstances
or
2
3
2
when you leave
or
statement to indicate that speaker as more to say
2
3
2
Shes a nice girl
or
4. 32
This is a call
3
2

Harry
5. 33
On an individual question word, this contour signals a repetition of some of the preceding
message
2
3
1
Jane has a new piano teacher
3
3
Who
6. 31
On an individual question word, this contour constitutes a request for further information
2
3
1
Jane has a new piano
3
1
Who
7. 23
Used on a stressed word, phrase, or clause in a series except the last item
2
3
3 2
3 2
3
1
She prefers oranges
apples
and cherries
8. 12 or 33
Accompanies the name of the person whom you are addressing
2
3
1 1
2

What did you put on the table

Jane
2
3
3 3
3

Are you coming

Jane
9. 233 231

10. 233 233

5

Signals a choice of two possibilities

3
3 2 3
1
Do you want tea tea
or coffee
Proposes a yes-no question

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3
3 2 3
3
Do you want tea tea
or coffee

Practice Exercises
A. Emphasis and Subordination. Read the following words with the correct stress.
about
forward
requested
along
pavement
relentless
compel
center
accountant
select
famous
capricious
pronounce
method
together
contribute
commemorate
organize
negotiate
communicate

altogether
anesthesia
elocution
overanxious
approbation

contribution
commemoration
organization
negotiation
communication

B. Emphasis and Subordination. Read the underlined the syllables with a louder voice and a higher tone than the
rest.
1. The boy carried his books to school.
2. The big boy carried his books to school.
3. The big boy carried his heavy books to school.
4. The big boy slowly carried his heavy books to school.
5. The big boy slowly carried his heavy books to school yesterday.
C. Phrasing. Read the followings sentences with the correct phrasing.
1. We speak in phrases / not in words //
2. Breathe for the next phrase / while you pause after the last one. //
3. He forgot about the quiz / and there was no more time to study / so he decided to be absent //
D. Blending. Read the following sentences and connect the words that should be blended using the blending or
liaison sign ( ). Do not forget to weaken the unstressed syllables.
1. Is it raining hard today?
2. I saw a man crossing the street.
3. People are often misled by appearances.
E. Intonation. Read these sentences with the correct intonation. Do not forget to draw a line to indicate the
appropriate intonation contour/ pattern.
1. Do you believe in studying every day?
2. For breakfast, I usually have fruit, bacon, and eggs.
3. The Philippines is a beautiful country.
Reference:
Mata, L.S. & Soriano, I.S. (1998). English pronunciation for the Filipino College student (3rd ed.). Quezon City: Ken, Incorporated. pp. 19 45.

Handout in Speech and Oral Communication

Prepared by Rudy P. Esposo II