English Phonetics
—— Sounds in
Connected Speech
Lecturer, 方 菲
Sophia Fang
Part Two
Sounds in Connected Speech
1.Strong and Weak Forms
2.Assimilation and Elision
3.Liaison
4,Length of a sound
5,Word Stress
6,Sentence Stress
7,Rhythm
8,Sense Groups and Pause
Chapter 1
Strong and Weak Forms
重读与弱读
Words have two forms
1.Form words(虚词 )
2.Pronouns(代词 ),
personal(人称代词 ),
possessive(物主代词 ),
relative(关系代词 )
indefinite pronoun(不定代词 )“some” ( denoting
indefinite quantity),
Strong Form
The strong form of a word is used
when the word is said in isolation,or in
connected speech in which the word
should be stressed; it is also used in
certain cases where the word is
unstressed positions,
Weak Form
Used only in unstressed positions,
A weak form of a word is generally
distinguished from a strong form
(1).by the difference in vowel-sounds,
(2).by the absence of a sound (vowel or
consonant),
(3).by the difference of in the length of
a vowel,
Examples,
are /a:/ /?/
them /eem/ /e?m/
and /?nd/ /?n/ /n/
am /?m/ /m/
been /bi:n/ /bin/
were /w?:/ /w?/
Very often the weak form has /?/ in it,the strong form
contains some other vowel,
e,g.,
was /w?z/,for/f?:/,them/eem/,to/tu:/
It was too difficult for them to read,
/it w?z 'tu,'difik?lt f? e?m t? 'ri:d/
A few words with /i:/ in the strong form have a weak
form with /i/;
e,g.,
the /ei:/,
the other end
/ei 'Λe?r 'end/,
1.Conjunctions 连词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
and /?nd/ /?n/ /n/
as /?z/ /?z/
but /bΛt/ /b?t/ /?/
or /?:/ /?:r/ /?/ /?r/
than /e?n/ /e?n/
that /e?t/ /e?t/
2.Pronouns 代词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
he /hi:/ /i:/ /hi/ /i/
him /him/ /im/
his /hiz/ /iz/
her /h?:/ /h?:r/ /h?/ /?/ /h?r/
me /mi:/ /mi/
them /e?m/ /e?m/
us /Λs/ /?s/
that /e?t/ /e?t/
who /hu:/ /hu/
3.Verbs 动词
3,1 Copula Verbs系动词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
am /?m/ /m/ /?m/
are /a:/ /a:r/ /?/ /?r/
be /bi:/ /bi/
been /bi:n/ /bin/
is /iz/ /s/ /z/
was /w?z/ /w?z/
were /w?:/
/w?:r/
/w?/ /w?r/
3.2 Auxiliary Verbs 助动词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
has /h?z/ /h?z/ /?z/ /s/ /z/
have /h?v/ /h?z/ /v/ /?v/
had /h?d/ /h?d/
do /du:/ /d?/ /d/
does /dΛz/ /d?z/
3.3 Modal Verbs 情态动词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
can /k?n/ /k?n/
could /kud/ /k?d/
shall /??l/ /?l/ /??l/ /l/
should /?ud/ /??d/ /?d/
will /wil/ /l/
would /wud/ /?d/ /d/
must /mΛst/ /m?st/ /m?s/
4,Articls 冠词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
a /ei/ /?/
an /?n/ /?n/
the /ei:/ /ei/ /e?/
5.Prepositions 介词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
at /?t/ /?t/
for /f?:/ /f?:r/ /f?/ /f?r/
from /fr?m/ /fr?m/
of /?v/ /?v/
6,Other Words
Word Strong Form Weak Form
there /eε ?/ /eε ?r/ /e?/ /e?r/
not /nΛt/ /nt/ /n/
to /tu:/ /tu/ /t?/
some /sΛm/ /s?m/ /sm/
The Use of Strong Forms
The strong forms are used in the
following cases,
1)When the word is stressed,e.g,
They don?t believe,do they?
/eei 'd?unt bi'li:v 'du:eei /
You must choose us or them,
/ju,m?st '?u:z 'Λs ?,'eem /
2) When the word is at the end of a
sense group or a sentence,even when
they are unstressed.e.g,
(Who is on duty today?)
---- I am./'ai ?m/
What are you looking at?
/'w?t ? ju,'luki? ?t/
3) Prepositions may have their strong
forms when they are followed by an
unstressed personal pronoun at the end
of a sense group or a sentence,
However,in this position the weak form
may also be used,For example,
I am waiting for you,
/aim 'weiti? f?,ju:/
or /aim 'weiti? f? ju:/
4) The indefinite pronoun,some” in the meaning of,a
certain quantity” is always stressed and therefore
pronounced /sΛm/,For example,
some of us / 'sΛm ?v ?s/
The adjective,some” in the meaning of,certain” always
use its strong form,even when it is unstressed,E.g,
For some reason she is absent today,
/'f?,sΛm 'ri:zn ?iz '?bsn?t t?'dei/
As an adjective in contrast to,others” it is always
stressed and therefore pronounced/sΛm/,E.g,
Some people like it,but others don?t,
/'sΛm pi:pl 'laik it b?t 'Λe?z 'd?unt/
Chapter 2
Assimilation and Elision
同化与省略
Assimilation
In connected speech,sounds,under the
influence of their neighbors,are
replaced by other sounds,Sometimes
two neighboring sounds influence each
other and are replaced by a third sound
which is different from both the original
sounds,
This process is called assimilation,
3 types of assimilation
1) Progressive(顺同化 )
2) Regressive(逆同化 )
3) Reciprocal,or double(相互同化 )
Progressive
The assimilated sound is influenced by
the preceding sound,For example,
What?s this? /'w?ts 'eis/
Attention !
? The strong voiceless consonant of a
pair replaces the weak voiced
consonant in the closely connected
speech,but do not make it a general
rule to replace the weak voiced
consonant by the strong voiceless in
other cases,
? A voiceless plosive (爆破音 ) or fricative
(摩擦音 ) is not assimilated to a voiced
plosive or fricative which follows it,
Examples,
not very /'n?t 'veri/,not /'n?d 'veri/
black door /'bl?k 'd?:/,not /'bl?g 'd?:/
this boy /'eis 'b?i/,not /'eiz 'b?i/
if they come /'if eei 'kΛm/,
not /'iv eei 'kΛm/
Regressive
The preceding sound is influenced by
the one following it,For example,,
/z/ news /nju:z/
/s/ newspaper /nju:speip?/
Reciprocal or Double
Assimilation the neighboring sounds
influence each other,For example,
/t/ /w/ twenty /twenti/
The usage of assimilation
1,Assimilation changing the work of
vocal cords(声带 ),Examples,
/z/→ /s/
is/iz/ It?s easy./its 'i:zi/
has/h?z/ What?s happened?
/'w?ts 'h?pnd/
used/ju:zd/ I used to,/ai 'ju:st tu/
2,Assimilation changing the position of
the lips,
Before the bilabial sounds/m,p,b/,/n,t,d/
change to /m,p,b/ respectively,For
example,
in /in/ in bed /im 'bed/
ten/ten/ ten minutes /'tem 'minits/
don?t/d?unt/don?t be late./'d?ump bi 'leit/
good/gud/ good-bye/gub bai/
3,Assimilation changing the place of
articulation,
a) Before the velar sounds /k,g/,/n,t,d/
change to /?,k,g/
in /i?/ in case /i? 'keis/
don?t /d?unt/ I don?t care,
/ai 'd?u?k 'kε?/
good /gud/ good girl
/gug 'g?:l/
b) Before /?,j/,/s,z/ change to /?,? /
respectively,
this /eis/ this shape /'ei?'?eip/
this year /'ei?'ji?/
has /h?z/ has she come
/'h?? ?i 'kΛm/
where?s yours
/'wε?? 'j?:z/
c) The combinations of sounds /tj/ and
/dj/ have changed into /?/and/? /in an
unstressed syllable,
education /,e?ukei'?n/ not/,edjukei'?n/
situation /,si?uei'?n/ not /,sitjuei'?n/
I?m glad to meet you,
/aim 'g?ld t? mi:?u/
Did you like it? /'di?u 'laik it/
Elision
Elision means the omission of a
sound or sounds,either within the
body of a word or at a junction of
words,There are two different
kinds of elisions,Historical elisions
(历史省音 ) and contextual
elisions(语境省音 ),
1.Historical Elisions(历史省音 )
A sound which exists in an earlier form
of a word is omitted in a later form,
This kinds of elisions of unstressed
vowels,especially /?/ and /i/,are
common in English,
history /'hist?ri/ → /'histri/
every /'ev?ri/ → /'evri/
university /ju:ni'v?siti/ → /ju:ni'v?sti/
family /'f?mili/ → /'f?mli/
easily/'i:zili/ → /'i:zli/
2.Contextual Elisions(语境省音 )
A sound which exists in a word said by
itself is omitted in a compound or in a
connected phrase,In rapid speaking,a
group of consonants may be dropped
out,especially /t/ and /d/,
just now /'?Λst 'nau/ or /'?Λs 'nau/
I want to /ai 'w?nt tu/ or /ai 'w?n tu/
blind man /'blaind 'm?n/ or /'blain 'm?n/
stand guard /'st?nd 'ga:d/or/'st?nd 'ga:d/
Chapter 3
Liaison(or Sound-linking)
连 音
Liaison
In English one word is not separated from
another by pausing or hesitating; the
end of one word flows straight on to
the beginning of the next,e.g,
first of all /'f?:st? ?v ? '?:l/
some of us /'sΛm? ?v? ?s/
The linking of words in connected speech
may be divided into the following types,
1) when the final sound of the word
before is a consonant you must link
the final consonant to the initial vowel
sound of the next word,It will help if
you treat the final consonant as if it
were transferred to the next words,
Examples,put it on /'puti't?n/
look at it /'luk?tit/
think of it /'θi?k?vit /
2) When the final sound of the word before is a
vowel you must link the vowel sound to the initial
vowel should of the next word,Here a short and
gentle /j/ or /w/ is used,
a) after /i:/,/i/ and the diphthongs(双元音 ) /ei,ai,
? i/,which end in /i/,we can use a very gentle /j/
as the link,
Examples,the other /ei?j?'Λe?/
he is my uncle,/hi,?j? iz mai?j? 'Λ?kl/
she ate some./ ? i,?j??t s?m/
However,we do distinguish between,my ears”
and,my years”,etc.,years”/ji?z/ has a longer
and stronger/j/ than the shorter and gentle link /j/
before,ears”,
b) After /u:/,/u/ and the diphthongs /?u,
au/,which end in /u/,we can use a
gentle /w/ as the link,
Examples,two others /'tu,?w?'Λe?z/
do it /'du,?w?it/
how old /'hau?w?'?uld/
Again we distinguish between
,two-eyed” and,too wide”
/'tu,?w?'aid/,/'tu,'waid/
3) When a word ending with,r” or,re”
goes before a word beginning with a
vowel sound /r/ is usually pronounced
as a link,
Examples,for ages /f?r 'ei?iz/
her own /h?:r '?un/
share out /'?ε? r 'aut/
far away /'fa:r? 'wei/
However,there are special circumstances in
which a final,r” is silent even when the
following word begins with a vowel,
a) When there is a /r/ in the same syllable,e.g,
a roar of laughter /? 'r?, ?v 'la:ft?/
a rare animal /? 'rε? '?niml/
nearer and nearer /'ni?r? ?n 'ni?r?/
b) when a pause is permissible between the two
words (even if no pause is actually made),e.g,
He opened the door and walked in,
/hi,'?upnd e? 'd?,?nd 'w?:kt in/
4) some English people link a final /?/ or even
/a:/ and /?:/ to an initial vowel in the same
group by inserting a /r/ sound even if there
is no letter r in the spelling,The /r/ sound
added in this way is called,intrusive r”,Its
existence should be known but not imitated,
Examples,
China and Japan /'?ain?r ?n(d) ??'p?n/
drama and music /'dra:m?r ?n(d) 'mju:zik/
law and order /'l?:r ?n(d) '?:d?/
I saw a man /ai 's?:r ? 'm?n/
Chapter 4
Length of a sound
音的长短
Length of a sound
The length of a sound is the length of
time during which it is held on
continuously in a given word or phrase,
The principal facts concerning length in
English are given in the following rules,
1.Length of Vowels
1,The vowels /i:/,/a:/,/?:/,/u:/,/?:/ are
known as the long vowels,and other English
vowels are known as the short vowels,These
vowels are longer than the others in similar
context,i.e.,when surrounded by the same
sounds,and pronounced with the same
degree of stress,the vowels in bead /bi:d/,
bard /ba:d/ board /b?:/,are longer than the
vowels in bid /bid/,bed /bed/,lad /l?d/,The
short vowels are usually half as long as the
long vowels,The English diphthongs have
about the same length as the ling vowels,
2,Long vowels are longer when final or
followed by a voiced consonant than
when followed by a voiceless consonant,
Did you see him? and What did you see?
I know him,and I don?t know,
Similarly the vowel /a:/ is longer in far
/fa:/ than in heart /ha:t/ ; the vowel /ai/
is longer in lie /lai/ or lied /laid/ than in
light /lait/,
3,Long vowels and diphthongs are longer
in stressed syllables than when followed by
an unstressed syllable or syllables,
/?:/ call /k?,l/ calling /k?,li?/
/au/ house /haus/ houses /'hausiz/,
/ei/ the same thing /e? 'seim 'θi?/
the same sort of thing
/e? 'seim s?t ?v 'θi?/,
/?:/ I heard more /ai 'h?:d 'm?:/
I heard of it in the morning
/ai 'h?:d ?v it in e? 'm?:ni?/,
4,Long vowels and diphthongs are
longer in stressed syllables than in
unstressed syllables
/?:/ record /ri'k?:d/ /'r?k?:d/
/ai/ idle /'aidl/ idea /ai'di?/,
5,Short vowels are longer before voiced
consonants than before voiceless
consonants,
/i/ pig /pig/ pick /pik/,
6,Short vowels /?/,/i/ are longer and
more distinct in an unstressed ending
syllable than they are at the beginning
of a word or in the middle of an
unstressed syllable,
/?/ better /'bet?/ along /?'l??/
forget /f?'get/
/i/ happy /'h?pi/ exam /ig'z?m/
college /'k?li?/,
7,The short vowel /?/ is quite long
when followed by voiced consonants,
especially in the adjectives ending in
“ad”,bad,sad,glad,etc,and in some
nouns,man,bag,jam,etc,Back,that
at the end of a sentence are often
pronounced with long /?/,e.g,
What ?that? When will you be back?
2.Length of consonants
1,Final consonants (except the plosive)
are longer when preceded by a short
vowel than when preceded by a long
vowel or by a diphthong,
/l/ hill /hil/ heel /hi:l/
hole /h?ul
/m/ dim /dim/ deem /di:m/
dame /deim/,
2,The sounds /m,n,?,l/are longer
when followed by voiced consonants
than when followed by voiceless
consonants,
/n/ b end /bend/ bent /bent/
/m/ symbol /'simbl/ simple /'simpl/
/l/ cold /k?uld/ colt /k?ult/,
Chapter 5
Word Stress
单词的重音
Word stress is concerned with the
stressing of individual words of two
or more syllables when they are
pronounced in isolation
Simple words consisting of two or more
syllables and a weak stress on the remaining
syllable or syllables,
'happy,re'port,'hospital
In certain word of more than two syllables we
find a secondary stress (次重音 ) besides the
principal stress (主重音 ),
?admi'ration ?maga'zine ?repre'sent
There are also a good many words which
contain two or more syllables that have an
equally strong stress on two of these syllables,
Such word are said to have double stress or
level stress (双重音或平级重音 ),
'Chi'nese,'four'teen,'un'known
General Rules
of
Word Stress
1,Most English word of two or three
syllables,the stress falls on the first
syllable,e.g,
'apple 'carry 'problem
'holiday 'primary
2.Words of three or more syllables,the
stress normally falls on the third syllable
form the end,
'family 'recognize
de'mocracy phy'losophy
e'conomy
3.Words of two or three syllables with one of the
following prefixes (前缀 ),the stress usually falls on the
syllable following the prefix
a- a'bove a'long be- be'come be'low
com- com'bine com'pare con- con'tain con'nect
de- de'tect de'sign em- em'bark em'ploy
en- enc'ourage en'gage es- es'cape es'pecial
ex- ex'change ex'cuse im- im'portant im'ply
in- in'form in'tend ob- ob'tain ob'serve
per- per'mit per'form pre- pre'pare pre'pay
pro- pro'pose pro'mote sub- sub'mit sub'ective
trans- trans'form tran'slate
4,Words with the following suffixes,the stress
nearly always on the syllable preceding the
suffix
-ian mu'sician poli'tician -ic a'tomic demo'cratic
-ical 'physical po'litical -id 'solid 'stupid
-ial 'social 'partial -ion revo'lution dis'cussion
-ify 'simplify 'beautify -ible 'possible 'terrible
-ient suf'ficient 'patient -ience 'patience ex'perience
-ity possi'bility responsi'biity -ish 'foolish 'punish
-eous cou'rageous 'hideous -ious 'conscious de'licious
-ive 'native pro'gressive -ant im'portant de'pendant
Note,The following suffixed do not influence
the place of word-stress,-ed,-es,-er,-est,-or,
-ary,-ory,-ment,-ous,-cy,-ry,-ty,-al,-ure,-
ute,-ble,-ar,-ly,-less,-ness,-ful,-ing,
'prision-'prisoner move-'movement
'conquer-'conqueror 'carry- 'carrying
'custom-'customary 'beauty-'beautiful
'proper-'property 'sorrow-'sorrowness
quick-'quickly help-'helpless
5,Some suffixes attract the primary stress (主重音 )
onto themselves,There is a secondary stress on the
first syllable in words with such suffixes,Suffixed of this
kind are as follows,-ain,-ee,-eer,-ier,-ade,-ival,-itis,
-mental (-ental),
Examples,
'refuge-,refu'gee
em'ploy-,employ'ee
'engine-,engi'neer
'mountain-,mountai'neer
'fundament-,funda'mental
'accident-,acci'dental
'lemon-,lemo'nade
6,Words formed through the combination of a prefix or
a suffix with a distinct meaning of its own usually have
double stress,One stress falls on the root syllable,the
other on the suffix or the prefix,
'Chi'nese 'thir'teen
'il'legal 'dis'loyal
'half-'finished 'un'known
'co'exist 'non-'essential
'misin'terpret 'semi-of'ficial
Note,But there is no stress on the prefix
(1) if the word which is formed by means of the
strong prefix is in common use,e.g.,
im'possible,un'uaual,
(2) if the word to which it is addes is not in
common use,e.g.,un'bounded,un'wieldly
used),
(3) if the word does not correspond to the
meaning which it has without the prefix,e.g.,
over'come,mis'give (not commected in
meaning with the verb 'to come' and the
verb 'to give'),
*The semantic factor in English word-stress gives way to
the rhythmical factor,Since there is a tendency to
alternate stressed and unstressed syllables,a double-
stressed word may lose one of its stresses if a stressed
syllable immediately precedes or follows,e.g,
'thir'teen,
but 'thirteen 'hundred
or 'just thir'teen
'sea'side
but 'seaside 'sports
'unknown
but the 'unknown 'soldier
Chapter 6
Sentence Stress
句子的重音
What?s sentence stress?
It refers to the stress that falls on certain
word or words semantically important
(语义上重要的 ) in a sentence,
Two main functions
1.To indicate the important words in the
sentence.For example,
I could hardly believe my eyes,
/ai k?d 'ha:dli bi'li:v mai 'aiz/
2,to serve as the basis for the rhythmical
structure of the sentence For example,
Very good,Not very good
/'veri 'gud/ /'n?t veri 'gud/
Content words & Form words
实词 与 虚词
content words(实词 ),nouns,adjectives,
numerals,principal verbs,adverbs,
demonstrative,interrogative,emphasizing
pronouns and the absolute form of the
possessive pronouns,are usually stressed,
form words,auxiliary and modal verbs,verb to
be,monosyllabic prepositions,monosyllabic
conjunctions and articles,personal pronouns,
possessive pronouns (except absolute ones,
mine hers …,),reflexive pronouns are usually
unstressed,
Examples
I am 'reading a 'very 'interesting 'novel,
'Who was 'that on the 'phone?
You must 'do it your'self,
'Twenty is e'nough,
'Dress yourself more 'neatly
They 'help each other,
The 'book that I have 'just 'read is 'here,
Any word in a sentence may be logically
stressed if it implies special emphasis or
contrast,
Example
We 'heard 'John 'talking,(plain statement of fact)
We 'heard John talking,(implied contrast,but we didn?t
see him,.)
We heard 'John talking,(implied contrast-,but we
didn?t hear Mary,.)
'We heard John talking,(implied contrast-,but others
didn?t”.)
We heard John 'talking,(implied contrast-,but we
didn?t hear him singing,.)
special cases for stressed form words
1) Auxiliary and modal verbs,as well as the link verb to be,are
stressed in the following cases,
(a) At the beginning of a sentence,e.g,
'Are you on 'duty today? 'Have you 'finished your
homework?
(b) When they are final,used as short answers to general
questions,e.g,
'Have you 'read the book? 'Yes,I 'have,
'Are you on 'duty today? 'Yes,I 'am,
However,they are not stressed when used as answers to
special questions,e.g,
'Who is on 'duty today? 'I am,
'Who has a 'rubber? 'Tom has,
(c) In contracted negative forms,e.g,
He 'won?t be 'late,It 'doesn?t matter,
(d) Verb,to be” is stressed when final and preceded by the
subject which is unstressed,e.g,
'Here you are,I 'don?t 'know where she 'was
(e) The auxiliary verb,to be, is stressed in emphatic
constructions,e.g,
'Do come again,He 'did 'write to me,
(f) Modal verbs,ought to”,“must” (repressing strong certainty and
expectation),“should” (meaning ought to) and,may”
(indicating possibility) are always,e.g,
You 'ought to 'do it 'now,He 'must be a 'teacher,
It 'should be 'fine tomorrow,It 'may be 'fine tomorrow,
(g),Will” and,would” expressing determination or desire always
receive sentence-stress,e.g,
Of 'course,we 'will do our 'work 'well,
I ′will work ′hard,
2) Prepositions are usually stressed in the following cases,
(a) If they consist of two or more syllables and are followed by an
unstressed personal pronoun at the end of a sense-group,e.g,
The 'dog ran 'after him,
'Tell me a'bout it,
Note,Prepositions consisting of one syllable in this position are
usually unstressed,They may have either strong forms or weak
forms,
e.g,'Here is a 'letter for you,/f?:/ or /f?/
(b)If they are at the beginning of the sentence or after verb,to be”
and followed by an unstressed syllable,they may be stressed,
e.g,
'In the countryside,he 'made 'many 'friends,
It?s 'in my 'pencil-box,
3) Conjunctions are usually stressed if they stand at the beginning
of a sentence and are followed by an unstressed word,e.g,
'If he comes,please 'ring me 'up,
'When I got there,there was 'no one 'in,
Some content words are not stressed in certain cases,The most
important of them are as follows,
a) A word that has just been used is not stressed,as it is a known
message,e.g,
'How many 'times? 'Three times,
Soon the 'man was 'joined by a'nother man,
'There?s Mr,Smith and 'Miss Smith,
b) The word,street” in manes of streets is never stressed,e.g,
'Wall Street 'Fleet Street
c) In exclamatory sentences such words as,what”,“how” etc,are usually not
stressed in order to give emphasis to the adjectives (or adverbs),e.g,
What a 'good 'comrade!
What 'lovely 'weather!
How 'hard they are 'working!
d) The word,so” is not stressed if it replaces a noun or a noun clause and is used
as the object of a verb,e.g,
I ′think so,
I ′hope so,
but,′Let it be ′so,
e) The word,most” is not stressed when it means,very” or,extremely” except for
special emphasis,e.g,
It is a most ′interesting ′book,
“More” and,most” forming comparatives and superlatives are often stressed,
and the stress on the adjective may be weakened,e.g,
This ′exercise is ′more difficult than ′that one,
It is the ′most interesting ′book I?ve ′ever ′read,
Very frequently,however,the adjective takes strong stress,and,more” and
“most” are completely unstressed,e.g,
This ′exercise is more ′difficult than ′that one,
It is the most ′interesting ′book I?ve ′ever ′read,
f) Demonstrative pronouns,this”,“that”,having the meaning of,it” and
“the”,is not stressed,
He?ll ′never for′get that ′day when he ′joined the ′Party.(that=the)
′When did you ′read this? (this=it)
g) Demonstrative pronoun,this” in, this morning” (afternoon,veening) is
not stressed,
He ar′rived this ′morning,
Shall we ′have a ′meeting this afternoon?
h) Adverb,enough” proceeded by an adjective or another adverb is not
stressed,e.g,
The ′book is ′easy enough for us to ′read,
He ′ran ′fast enough,
i) Adverbs of degree followed by strongly stressed words often lose their
stress,e.g,
It?s rather too ′late,
It?s much ′better than I expected,
She is a little ′better today,
It?s only just ′midinight,
Chapter 7
Rhythm
节奏
Rhythm
Rhythm in English speech is based on
stress,A rhythm unit(节奏单位 )is
formed by a stressed syllable,together
with unstressed syllables which may
come before the and/or after it,It is
formed by the recurrence of stressed
syllables at more or less regular
intervals of time and by the alternation
of stressed and unstressed syllables,
The unstressed syllables before the stress are said very
quickly,so they are very short,as short as you can
make them; but the stressed syllable is as long as
before,so there is a great difference of length between
the unstressed syllables and the stressed one,e.g,
I?m here,/aim 'hi?/
I was here,/ai w?z 'hi?/
I was in here,/ai w?z in 'hi?/
She is home,/?i:z 'h?um/
She is at home,/?i:z ?t 'h?um/
But she is at home,/b?t ?i:z ?t 'h?um/
Unstressed syllables after the stress are not
said specially quickly,They share with the
stressed one the amount of time which a single
stressed syllable would have,So the following
words all take about the same time to say
nine ninety ninetieth
/'nain/ /'nainti/ /'naintiiθ/
good better excellent
/`gud/ /`bet?/ /`eks?l?nt/
Here are other examples,
I can do it,/aik?n 'du,it/
In a minute,/in ? 'minit/
It was better,/it w?z 'bet? /
He was a worker,/hi,w?z ? 'w?:k?/
The stressed syllables follow each other nearly at
roughly equal intervals of time,and the unstressed
syllables (whether many or few) occupy almost the
same period of time between the stressed syllables,
I 'think he 'wants to 'go,
? ○ ? ○ ? ○
I 'think that he 'wants us to 'go,
? ○ ? ? ○ ? ? ○
I 'think it was an 'excellent af'fair,
? ○ ? ? ? ○ ? ? ? ○
The difference
Chinese is a syllable-timed language (以
音节计时的语言 ),
English is a stress-timed language(以重音
计时的语言 ),
Enjoy the following sentence,
'Break,'break,'break,
On thy 'cold gray 'stones,O 'Sea!
A poem for practice
'Give a 'man a 'pipe he can 'smoke,
'Give a 'man a 'book he can 'read;
And his 'home is 'bright with a 'calm
de'light,
Though the 'room is 'poor in'deed,
Influence of rhythm
upon word-stress
another characteristic feature of the
rhythm in English speech,
the alternation of stressed and
unstressed syllables
Examples,
Chinese /'?ai'ni:z/
They are having a Chinese lesson,
/eei ? 'h?vi? ? '?ai'ni:z 'lesn/
They speak Chinese,
/ eei ?spi:k ?ai?ni:z /
Upstairs /'Λp 'stε? z/
He lives in an upstairs room,
/hi,'livz in ?n 'Λp stε? z 'ru:m/
He went upstairs,
/hi,wentΛp 'stε? z /
Second-hand /'sek?nd'h?nd/
It is a second-hand bookshop,
/its ? 'sek?ndh?nd 'buk??p/
It was bought second-hand,
/its w?z 'b?:t sek?nd'h?nd/
The influence of rhythm
on sentence-stress
Under the influence of the alternation of
stressed and unstressed syllables,Words
with full lexical meaning may lose their
stress in a sense group
Examples,
He left London,/hi,'left 'lΛnd?n/
Tom left London,/'t?m left 'lΛnd?n/
Very good! /'veri 'gud/
Not very good! /'n?t veri 'gud/
How many? /'hau 'meni/
How many pens do you have?
/'hau meni 'penz d? ju,'h?v/
He put on his hat,/hi,'put ?n iz 'h?t /
He put his hat on,/hi,'put iz 'h?t ?n /
He put it on,/hi,'put it '?n /
Take off the map,/'teik ?f e? 'm?p/
Take the map off,/'teik e? 'm?p ?f /
Take it off,/'teik it '?f /
Sum Up
1) The regular recurrence of stressed syllables,which
results in,
(a) the pronunciation of each rhythmic group in a
sense-group in the same period of time,irrespective
of the number of unstressed syllables in it;
(b) the influence of this feature of English speech
rhythm upon the tempo of speech (语速 ) and the
length of sounds,especially vowels,
2) The alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables,
which results in the influence of rhythm upon word-
stress and sentence-stress,
Way to improve your rhythm
beat the rhythm with your hand,one beat for
each stressed syllable and with exactly the
same time between each pair of beats,
?○ ? I?ve 'read it,I 'told him,
○ ?○ 'Try a'gain,'Have a 'drink,
○ ??○ 'Where have you 'been?
?○ ?○ ? It is ?time,
?○ ?○ ? It?s 'time for 'dinner,
○ ?○ ? 'Peter 'answered,
Chapter 8
Sense Groups and Pause
意群与停顿
Sense Groups
When we talk,we don?t talk in single
words but in groups of words spoken
continuously,These groups of words
which are closely connected in meaning
and in grammar are called sense
groups,A sense group is a tone-group
(语调群 ) in intonation,
Pause
We may make a short pause after each
sense group,but not during the
group,Pauses help to make reading or
speaking easier and to convey one?s
ideas more clearly,
1) In cutting speech up into small groups，
speed at which you are speaking is one of the
factors,The following sentence may be read in
either way,
a) 'All of the 'students in 'this class 'study
'English,
b) 'All of the 'students in 'this class ︱ 'study
'English,
2) The following sentences get progressively longer and
it would be convenient to cut up the longer ones into
small groups according to their grammatical structure,
Note,the single bar (/) is used to mark pause,
(1)'All of them 'study 'English,
(2) 'All of the 'students in,this department / study
'English and 'other subjects,
(3) 'All of the 'students in,this department / study
'English and,other subjects / for a 'course of 'four
'years
3) Short pauses may be made between tone-groups
within a sentence,but they are not always necessary,
Examples,
a) 'If he,comes,︱ 'tell him to 'do it
b) ?On the,table,︱ there were 'no 'books,
c) I 'go to 'bed 'early,︱ as a 'general,rule,
d) 'Usually︱ he 'takes the 'bus to 'work,
e) 'Last,Wednesday︱ I 'wanted to 'get to 'London 'early.
︱ So I 'caught a,train︱ a'bout an 'hour before
my,usual︱ one︱ and I 'got to,work︱ a'bout 'half
past 'eight,
—— Sounds in
Connected Speech
Lecturer, 方 菲
Sophia Fang
Part Two
Sounds in Connected Speech
1.Strong and Weak Forms
2.Assimilation and Elision
3.Liaison
4,Length of a sound
5,Word Stress
6,Sentence Stress
7,Rhythm
8,Sense Groups and Pause
Chapter 1
Strong and Weak Forms
重读与弱读
Words have two forms
1.Form words(虚词 )
2.Pronouns(代词 ),
personal(人称代词 ),
possessive(物主代词 ),
relative(关系代词 )
indefinite pronoun(不定代词 )“some” ( denoting
indefinite quantity),
Strong Form
The strong form of a word is used
when the word is said in isolation,or in
connected speech in which the word
should be stressed; it is also used in
certain cases where the word is
unstressed positions,
Weak Form
Used only in unstressed positions,
A weak form of a word is generally
distinguished from a strong form
(1).by the difference in vowel-sounds,
(2).by the absence of a sound (vowel or
consonant),
(3).by the difference of in the length of
a vowel,
Examples,
are /a:/ /?/
them /eem/ /e?m/
and /?nd/ /?n/ /n/
am /?m/ /m/
been /bi:n/ /bin/
were /w?:/ /w?/
Very often the weak form has /?/ in it,the strong form
contains some other vowel,
e,g.,
was /w?z/,for/f?:/,them/eem/,to/tu:/
It was too difficult for them to read,
/it w?z 'tu,'difik?lt f? e?m t? 'ri:d/
A few words with /i:/ in the strong form have a weak
form with /i/;
e,g.,
the /ei:/,
the other end
/ei 'Λe?r 'end/,
1.Conjunctions 连词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
and /?nd/ /?n/ /n/
as /?z/ /?z/
but /bΛt/ /b?t/ /?/
or /?:/ /?:r/ /?/ /?r/
than /e?n/ /e?n/
that /e?t/ /e?t/
2.Pronouns 代词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
he /hi:/ /i:/ /hi/ /i/
him /him/ /im/
his /hiz/ /iz/
her /h?:/ /h?:r/ /h?/ /?/ /h?r/
me /mi:/ /mi/
them /e?m/ /e?m/
us /Λs/ /?s/
that /e?t/ /e?t/
who /hu:/ /hu/
3.Verbs 动词
3,1 Copula Verbs系动词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
am /?m/ /m/ /?m/
are /a:/ /a:r/ /?/ /?r/
be /bi:/ /bi/
been /bi:n/ /bin/
is /iz/ /s/ /z/
was /w?z/ /w?z/
were /w?:/
/w?:r/
/w?/ /w?r/
3.2 Auxiliary Verbs 助动词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
has /h?z/ /h?z/ /?z/ /s/ /z/
have /h?v/ /h?z/ /v/ /?v/
had /h?d/ /h?d/
do /du:/ /d?/ /d/
does /dΛz/ /d?z/
3.3 Modal Verbs 情态动词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
can /k?n/ /k?n/
could /kud/ /k?d/
shall /??l/ /?l/ /??l/ /l/
should /?ud/ /??d/ /?d/
will /wil/ /l/
would /wud/ /?d/ /d/
must /mΛst/ /m?st/ /m?s/
4,Articls 冠词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
a /ei/ /?/
an /?n/ /?n/
the /ei:/ /ei/ /e?/
5.Prepositions 介词
Word Strong Form Weak Form
at /?t/ /?t/
for /f?:/ /f?:r/ /f?/ /f?r/
from /fr?m/ /fr?m/
of /?v/ /?v/
6,Other Words
Word Strong Form Weak Form
there /eε ?/ /eε ?r/ /e?/ /e?r/
not /nΛt/ /nt/ /n/
to /tu:/ /tu/ /t?/
some /sΛm/ /s?m/ /sm/
The Use of Strong Forms
The strong forms are used in the
following cases,
1)When the word is stressed,e.g,
They don?t believe,do they?
/eei 'd?unt bi'li:v 'du:eei /
You must choose us or them,
/ju,m?st '?u:z 'Λs ?,'eem /
2) When the word is at the end of a
sense group or a sentence,even when
they are unstressed.e.g,
(Who is on duty today?)
---- I am./'ai ?m/
What are you looking at?
/'w?t ? ju,'luki? ?t/
3) Prepositions may have their strong
forms when they are followed by an
unstressed personal pronoun at the end
of a sense group or a sentence,
However,in this position the weak form
may also be used,For example,
I am waiting for you,
/aim 'weiti? f?,ju:/
or /aim 'weiti? f? ju:/
4) The indefinite pronoun,some” in the meaning of,a
certain quantity” is always stressed and therefore
pronounced /sΛm/,For example,
some of us / 'sΛm ?v ?s/
The adjective,some” in the meaning of,certain” always
use its strong form,even when it is unstressed,E.g,
For some reason she is absent today,
/'f?,sΛm 'ri:zn ?iz '?bsn?t t?'dei/
As an adjective in contrast to,others” it is always
stressed and therefore pronounced/sΛm/,E.g,
Some people like it,but others don?t,
/'sΛm pi:pl 'laik it b?t 'Λe?z 'd?unt/
Chapter 2
Assimilation and Elision
同化与省略
Assimilation
In connected speech,sounds,under the
influence of their neighbors,are
replaced by other sounds,Sometimes
two neighboring sounds influence each
other and are replaced by a third sound
which is different from both the original
sounds,
This process is called assimilation,
3 types of assimilation
1) Progressive(顺同化 )
2) Regressive(逆同化 )
3) Reciprocal,or double(相互同化 )
Progressive
The assimilated sound is influenced by
the preceding sound,For example,
What?s this? /'w?ts 'eis/
Attention !
? The strong voiceless consonant of a
pair replaces the weak voiced
consonant in the closely connected
speech,but do not make it a general
rule to replace the weak voiced
consonant by the strong voiceless in
other cases,
? A voiceless plosive (爆破音 ) or fricative
(摩擦音 ) is not assimilated to a voiced
plosive or fricative which follows it,
Examples,
not very /'n?t 'veri/,not /'n?d 'veri/
black door /'bl?k 'd?:/,not /'bl?g 'd?:/
this boy /'eis 'b?i/,not /'eiz 'b?i/
if they come /'if eei 'kΛm/,
not /'iv eei 'kΛm/
Regressive
The preceding sound is influenced by
the one following it,For example,,
/z/ news /nju:z/
/s/ newspaper /nju:speip?/
Reciprocal or Double
Assimilation the neighboring sounds
influence each other,For example,
/t/ /w/ twenty /twenti/
The usage of assimilation
1,Assimilation changing the work of
vocal cords(声带 ),Examples,
/z/→ /s/
is/iz/ It?s easy./its 'i:zi/
has/h?z/ What?s happened?
/'w?ts 'h?pnd/
used/ju:zd/ I used to,/ai 'ju:st tu/
2,Assimilation changing the position of
the lips,
Before the bilabial sounds/m,p,b/,/n,t,d/
change to /m,p,b/ respectively,For
example,
in /in/ in bed /im 'bed/
ten/ten/ ten minutes /'tem 'minits/
don?t/d?unt/don?t be late./'d?ump bi 'leit/
good/gud/ good-bye/gub bai/
3,Assimilation changing the place of
articulation,
a) Before the velar sounds /k,g/,/n,t,d/
change to /?,k,g/
in /i?/ in case /i? 'keis/
don?t /d?unt/ I don?t care,
/ai 'd?u?k 'kε?/
good /gud/ good girl
/gug 'g?:l/
b) Before /?,j/,/s,z/ change to /?,? /
respectively,
this /eis/ this shape /'ei?'?eip/
this year /'ei?'ji?/
has /h?z/ has she come
/'h?? ?i 'kΛm/
where?s yours
/'wε?? 'j?:z/
c) The combinations of sounds /tj/ and
/dj/ have changed into /?/and/? /in an
unstressed syllable,
education /,e?ukei'?n/ not/,edjukei'?n/
situation /,si?uei'?n/ not /,sitjuei'?n/
I?m glad to meet you,
/aim 'g?ld t? mi:?u/
Did you like it? /'di?u 'laik it/
Elision
Elision means the omission of a
sound or sounds,either within the
body of a word or at a junction of
words,There are two different
kinds of elisions,Historical elisions
(历史省音 ) and contextual
elisions(语境省音 ),
1.Historical Elisions(历史省音 )
A sound which exists in an earlier form
of a word is omitted in a later form,
This kinds of elisions of unstressed
vowels,especially /?/ and /i/,are
common in English,
history /'hist?ri/ → /'histri/
every /'ev?ri/ → /'evri/
university /ju:ni'v?siti/ → /ju:ni'v?sti/
family /'f?mili/ → /'f?mli/
easily/'i:zili/ → /'i:zli/
2.Contextual Elisions(语境省音 )
A sound which exists in a word said by
itself is omitted in a compound or in a
connected phrase,In rapid speaking,a
group of consonants may be dropped
out,especially /t/ and /d/,
just now /'?Λst 'nau/ or /'?Λs 'nau/
I want to /ai 'w?nt tu/ or /ai 'w?n tu/
blind man /'blaind 'm?n/ or /'blain 'm?n/
stand guard /'st?nd 'ga:d/or/'st?nd 'ga:d/
Chapter 3
Liaison(or Sound-linking)
连 音
Liaison
In English one word is not separated from
another by pausing or hesitating; the
end of one word flows straight on to
the beginning of the next,e.g,
first of all /'f?:st? ?v ? '?:l/
some of us /'sΛm? ?v? ?s/
The linking of words in connected speech
may be divided into the following types,
1) when the final sound of the word
before is a consonant you must link
the final consonant to the initial vowel
sound of the next word,It will help if
you treat the final consonant as if it
were transferred to the next words,
Examples,put it on /'puti't?n/
look at it /'luk?tit/
think of it /'θi?k?vit /
2) When the final sound of the word before is a
vowel you must link the vowel sound to the initial
vowel should of the next word,Here a short and
gentle /j/ or /w/ is used,
a) after /i:/,/i/ and the diphthongs(双元音 ) /ei,ai,
? i/,which end in /i/,we can use a very gentle /j/
as the link,
Examples,the other /ei?j?'Λe?/
he is my uncle,/hi,?j? iz mai?j? 'Λ?kl/
she ate some./ ? i,?j??t s?m/
However,we do distinguish between,my ears”
and,my years”,etc.,years”/ji?z/ has a longer
and stronger/j/ than the shorter and gentle link /j/
before,ears”,
b) After /u:/,/u/ and the diphthongs /?u,
au/,which end in /u/,we can use a
gentle /w/ as the link,
Examples,two others /'tu,?w?'Λe?z/
do it /'du,?w?it/
how old /'hau?w?'?uld/
Again we distinguish between
,two-eyed” and,too wide”
/'tu,?w?'aid/,/'tu,'waid/
3) When a word ending with,r” or,re”
goes before a word beginning with a
vowel sound /r/ is usually pronounced
as a link,
Examples,for ages /f?r 'ei?iz/
her own /h?:r '?un/
share out /'?ε? r 'aut/
far away /'fa:r? 'wei/
However,there are special circumstances in
which a final,r” is silent even when the
following word begins with a vowel,
a) When there is a /r/ in the same syllable,e.g,
a roar of laughter /? 'r?, ?v 'la:ft?/
a rare animal /? 'rε? '?niml/
nearer and nearer /'ni?r? ?n 'ni?r?/
b) when a pause is permissible between the two
words (even if no pause is actually made),e.g,
He opened the door and walked in,
/hi,'?upnd e? 'd?,?nd 'w?:kt in/
4) some English people link a final /?/ or even
/a:/ and /?:/ to an initial vowel in the same
group by inserting a /r/ sound even if there
is no letter r in the spelling,The /r/ sound
added in this way is called,intrusive r”,Its
existence should be known but not imitated,
Examples,
China and Japan /'?ain?r ?n(d) ??'p?n/
drama and music /'dra:m?r ?n(d) 'mju:zik/
law and order /'l?:r ?n(d) '?:d?/
I saw a man /ai 's?:r ? 'm?n/
Chapter 4
Length of a sound
音的长短
Length of a sound
The length of a sound is the length of
time during which it is held on
continuously in a given word or phrase,
The principal facts concerning length in
English are given in the following rules,
1.Length of Vowels
1,The vowels /i:/,/a:/,/?:/,/u:/,/?:/ are
known as the long vowels,and other English
vowels are known as the short vowels,These
vowels are longer than the others in similar
context,i.e.,when surrounded by the same
sounds,and pronounced with the same
degree of stress,the vowels in bead /bi:d/,
bard /ba:d/ board /b?:/,are longer than the
vowels in bid /bid/,bed /bed/,lad /l?d/,The
short vowels are usually half as long as the
long vowels,The English diphthongs have
about the same length as the ling vowels,
2,Long vowels are longer when final or
followed by a voiced consonant than
when followed by a voiceless consonant,
Did you see him? and What did you see?
I know him,and I don?t know,
Similarly the vowel /a:/ is longer in far
/fa:/ than in heart /ha:t/ ; the vowel /ai/
is longer in lie /lai/ or lied /laid/ than in
light /lait/,
3,Long vowels and diphthongs are longer
in stressed syllables than when followed by
an unstressed syllable or syllables,
/?:/ call /k?,l/ calling /k?,li?/
/au/ house /haus/ houses /'hausiz/,
/ei/ the same thing /e? 'seim 'θi?/
the same sort of thing
/e? 'seim s?t ?v 'θi?/,
/?:/ I heard more /ai 'h?:d 'm?:/
I heard of it in the morning
/ai 'h?:d ?v it in e? 'm?:ni?/,
4,Long vowels and diphthongs are
longer in stressed syllables than in
unstressed syllables
/?:/ record /ri'k?:d/ /'r?k?:d/
/ai/ idle /'aidl/ idea /ai'di?/,
5,Short vowels are longer before voiced
consonants than before voiceless
consonants,
/i/ pig /pig/ pick /pik/,
6,Short vowels /?/,/i/ are longer and
more distinct in an unstressed ending
syllable than they are at the beginning
of a word or in the middle of an
unstressed syllable,
/?/ better /'bet?/ along /?'l??/
forget /f?'get/
/i/ happy /'h?pi/ exam /ig'z?m/
college /'k?li?/,
7,The short vowel /?/ is quite long
when followed by voiced consonants,
especially in the adjectives ending in
“ad”,bad,sad,glad,etc,and in some
nouns,man,bag,jam,etc,Back,that
at the end of a sentence are often
pronounced with long /?/,e.g,
What ?that? When will you be back?
2.Length of consonants
1,Final consonants (except the plosive)
are longer when preceded by a short
vowel than when preceded by a long
vowel or by a diphthong,
/l/ hill /hil/ heel /hi:l/
hole /h?ul
/m/ dim /dim/ deem /di:m/
dame /deim/,
2,The sounds /m,n,?,l/are longer
when followed by voiced consonants
than when followed by voiceless
consonants,
/n/ b end /bend/ bent /bent/
/m/ symbol /'simbl/ simple /'simpl/
/l/ cold /k?uld/ colt /k?ult/,
Chapter 5
Word Stress
单词的重音
Word stress is concerned with the
stressing of individual words of two
or more syllables when they are
pronounced in isolation
Simple words consisting of two or more
syllables and a weak stress on the remaining
syllable or syllables,
'happy,re'port,'hospital
In certain word of more than two syllables we
find a secondary stress (次重音 ) besides the
principal stress (主重音 ),
?admi'ration ?maga'zine ?repre'sent
There are also a good many words which
contain two or more syllables that have an
equally strong stress on two of these syllables,
Such word are said to have double stress or
level stress (双重音或平级重音 ),
'Chi'nese,'four'teen,'un'known
General Rules
of
Word Stress
1,Most English word of two or three
syllables,the stress falls on the first
syllable,e.g,
'apple 'carry 'problem
'holiday 'primary
2.Words of three or more syllables,the
stress normally falls on the third syllable
form the end,
'family 'recognize
de'mocracy phy'losophy
e'conomy
3.Words of two or three syllables with one of the
following prefixes (前缀 ),the stress usually falls on the
syllable following the prefix
a- a'bove a'long be- be'come be'low
com- com'bine com'pare con- con'tain con'nect
de- de'tect de'sign em- em'bark em'ploy
en- enc'ourage en'gage es- es'cape es'pecial
ex- ex'change ex'cuse im- im'portant im'ply
in- in'form in'tend ob- ob'tain ob'serve
per- per'mit per'form pre- pre'pare pre'pay
pro- pro'pose pro'mote sub- sub'mit sub'ective
trans- trans'form tran'slate
4,Words with the following suffixes,the stress
nearly always on the syllable preceding the
suffix
-ian mu'sician poli'tician -ic a'tomic demo'cratic
-ical 'physical po'litical -id 'solid 'stupid
-ial 'social 'partial -ion revo'lution dis'cussion
-ify 'simplify 'beautify -ible 'possible 'terrible
-ient suf'ficient 'patient -ience 'patience ex'perience
-ity possi'bility responsi'biity -ish 'foolish 'punish
-eous cou'rageous 'hideous -ious 'conscious de'licious
-ive 'native pro'gressive -ant im'portant de'pendant
Note,The following suffixed do not influence
the place of word-stress,-ed,-es,-er,-est,-or,
-ary,-ory,-ment,-ous,-cy,-ry,-ty,-al,-ure,-
ute,-ble,-ar,-ly,-less,-ness,-ful,-ing,
'prision-'prisoner move-'movement
'conquer-'conqueror 'carry- 'carrying
'custom-'customary 'beauty-'beautiful
'proper-'property 'sorrow-'sorrowness
quick-'quickly help-'helpless
5,Some suffixes attract the primary stress (主重音 )
onto themselves,There is a secondary stress on the
first syllable in words with such suffixes,Suffixed of this
kind are as follows,-ain,-ee,-eer,-ier,-ade,-ival,-itis,
-mental (-ental),
Examples,
'refuge-,refu'gee
em'ploy-,employ'ee
'engine-,engi'neer
'mountain-,mountai'neer
'fundament-,funda'mental
'accident-,acci'dental
'lemon-,lemo'nade
6,Words formed through the combination of a prefix or
a suffix with a distinct meaning of its own usually have
double stress,One stress falls on the root syllable,the
other on the suffix or the prefix,
'Chi'nese 'thir'teen
'il'legal 'dis'loyal
'half-'finished 'un'known
'co'exist 'non-'essential
'misin'terpret 'semi-of'ficial
Note,But there is no stress on the prefix
(1) if the word which is formed by means of the
strong prefix is in common use,e.g.,
im'possible,un'uaual,
(2) if the word to which it is addes is not in
common use,e.g.,un'bounded,un'wieldly
used),
(3) if the word does not correspond to the
meaning which it has without the prefix,e.g.,
over'come,mis'give (not commected in
meaning with the verb 'to come' and the
verb 'to give'),
*The semantic factor in English word-stress gives way to
the rhythmical factor,Since there is a tendency to
alternate stressed and unstressed syllables,a double-
stressed word may lose one of its stresses if a stressed
syllable immediately precedes or follows,e.g,
'thir'teen,
but 'thirteen 'hundred
or 'just thir'teen
'sea'side
but 'seaside 'sports
'unknown
but the 'unknown 'soldier
Chapter 6
Sentence Stress
句子的重音
What?s sentence stress?
It refers to the stress that falls on certain
word or words semantically important
(语义上重要的 ) in a sentence,
Two main functions
1.To indicate the important words in the
sentence.For example,
I could hardly believe my eyes,
/ai k?d 'ha:dli bi'li:v mai 'aiz/
2,to serve as the basis for the rhythmical
structure of the sentence For example,
Very good,Not very good
/'veri 'gud/ /'n?t veri 'gud/
Content words & Form words
实词 与 虚词
content words(实词 ),nouns,adjectives,
numerals,principal verbs,adverbs,
demonstrative,interrogative,emphasizing
pronouns and the absolute form of the
possessive pronouns,are usually stressed,
form words,auxiliary and modal verbs,verb to
be,monosyllabic prepositions,monosyllabic
conjunctions and articles,personal pronouns,
possessive pronouns (except absolute ones,
mine hers …,),reflexive pronouns are usually
unstressed,
Examples
I am 'reading a 'very 'interesting 'novel,
'Who was 'that on the 'phone?
You must 'do it your'self,
'Twenty is e'nough,
'Dress yourself more 'neatly
They 'help each other,
The 'book that I have 'just 'read is 'here,
Any word in a sentence may be logically
stressed if it implies special emphasis or
contrast,
Example
We 'heard 'John 'talking,(plain statement of fact)
We 'heard John talking,(implied contrast,but we didn?t
see him,.)
We heard 'John talking,(implied contrast-,but we
didn?t hear Mary,.)
'We heard John talking,(implied contrast-,but others
didn?t”.)
We heard John 'talking,(implied contrast-,but we
didn?t hear him singing,.)
special cases for stressed form words
1) Auxiliary and modal verbs,as well as the link verb to be,are
stressed in the following cases,
(a) At the beginning of a sentence,e.g,
'Are you on 'duty today? 'Have you 'finished your
homework?
(b) When they are final,used as short answers to general
questions,e.g,
'Have you 'read the book? 'Yes,I 'have,
'Are you on 'duty today? 'Yes,I 'am,
However,they are not stressed when used as answers to
special questions,e.g,
'Who is on 'duty today? 'I am,
'Who has a 'rubber? 'Tom has,
(c) In contracted negative forms,e.g,
He 'won?t be 'late,It 'doesn?t matter,
(d) Verb,to be” is stressed when final and preceded by the
subject which is unstressed,e.g,
'Here you are,I 'don?t 'know where she 'was
(e) The auxiliary verb,to be, is stressed in emphatic
constructions,e.g,
'Do come again,He 'did 'write to me,
(f) Modal verbs,ought to”,“must” (repressing strong certainty and
expectation),“should” (meaning ought to) and,may”
(indicating possibility) are always,e.g,
You 'ought to 'do it 'now,He 'must be a 'teacher,
It 'should be 'fine tomorrow,It 'may be 'fine tomorrow,
(g),Will” and,would” expressing determination or desire always
receive sentence-stress,e.g,
Of 'course,we 'will do our 'work 'well,
I ′will work ′hard,
2) Prepositions are usually stressed in the following cases,
(a) If they consist of two or more syllables and are followed by an
unstressed personal pronoun at the end of a sense-group,e.g,
The 'dog ran 'after him,
'Tell me a'bout it,
Note,Prepositions consisting of one syllable in this position are
usually unstressed,They may have either strong forms or weak
forms,
e.g,'Here is a 'letter for you,/f?:/ or /f?/
(b)If they are at the beginning of the sentence or after verb,to be”
and followed by an unstressed syllable,they may be stressed,
e.g,
'In the countryside,he 'made 'many 'friends,
It?s 'in my 'pencil-box,
3) Conjunctions are usually stressed if they stand at the beginning
of a sentence and are followed by an unstressed word,e.g,
'If he comes,please 'ring me 'up,
'When I got there,there was 'no one 'in,
Some content words are not stressed in certain cases,The most
important of them are as follows,
a) A word that has just been used is not stressed,as it is a known
message,e.g,
'How many 'times? 'Three times,
Soon the 'man was 'joined by a'nother man,
'There?s Mr,Smith and 'Miss Smith,
b) The word,street” in manes of streets is never stressed,e.g,
'Wall Street 'Fleet Street
c) In exclamatory sentences such words as,what”,“how” etc,are usually not
stressed in order to give emphasis to the adjectives (or adverbs),e.g,
What a 'good 'comrade!
What 'lovely 'weather!
How 'hard they are 'working!
d) The word,so” is not stressed if it replaces a noun or a noun clause and is used
as the object of a verb,e.g,
I ′think so,
I ′hope so,
but,′Let it be ′so,
e) The word,most” is not stressed when it means,very” or,extremely” except for
special emphasis,e.g,
It is a most ′interesting ′book,
“More” and,most” forming comparatives and superlatives are often stressed,
and the stress on the adjective may be weakened,e.g,
This ′exercise is ′more difficult than ′that one,
It is the ′most interesting ′book I?ve ′ever ′read,
Very frequently,however,the adjective takes strong stress,and,more” and
“most” are completely unstressed,e.g,
This ′exercise is more ′difficult than ′that one,
It is the most ′interesting ′book I?ve ′ever ′read,
f) Demonstrative pronouns,this”,“that”,having the meaning of,it” and
“the”,is not stressed,
He?ll ′never for′get that ′day when he ′joined the ′Party.(that=the)
′When did you ′read this? (this=it)
g) Demonstrative pronoun,this” in, this morning” (afternoon,veening) is
not stressed,
He ar′rived this ′morning,
Shall we ′have a ′meeting this afternoon?
h) Adverb,enough” proceeded by an adjective or another adverb is not
stressed,e.g,
The ′book is ′easy enough for us to ′read,
He ′ran ′fast enough,
i) Adverbs of degree followed by strongly stressed words often lose their
stress,e.g,
It?s rather too ′late,
It?s much ′better than I expected,
She is a little ′better today,
It?s only just ′midinight,
Chapter 7
Rhythm
节奏
Rhythm
Rhythm in English speech is based on
stress,A rhythm unit(节奏单位 )is
formed by a stressed syllable,together
with unstressed syllables which may
come before the and/or after it,It is
formed by the recurrence of stressed
syllables at more or less regular
intervals of time and by the alternation
of stressed and unstressed syllables,
The unstressed syllables before the stress are said very
quickly,so they are very short,as short as you can
make them; but the stressed syllable is as long as
before,so there is a great difference of length between
the unstressed syllables and the stressed one,e.g,
I?m here,/aim 'hi?/
I was here,/ai w?z 'hi?/
I was in here,/ai w?z in 'hi?/
She is home,/?i:z 'h?um/
She is at home,/?i:z ?t 'h?um/
But she is at home,/b?t ?i:z ?t 'h?um/
Unstressed syllables after the stress are not
said specially quickly,They share with the
stressed one the amount of time which a single
stressed syllable would have,So the following
words all take about the same time to say
nine ninety ninetieth
/'nain/ /'nainti/ /'naintiiθ/
good better excellent
/`gud/ /`bet?/ /`eks?l?nt/
Here are other examples,
I can do it,/aik?n 'du,it/
In a minute,/in ? 'minit/
It was better,/it w?z 'bet? /
He was a worker,/hi,w?z ? 'w?:k?/
The stressed syllables follow each other nearly at
roughly equal intervals of time,and the unstressed
syllables (whether many or few) occupy almost the
same period of time between the stressed syllables,
I 'think he 'wants to 'go,
? ○ ? ○ ? ○
I 'think that he 'wants us to 'go,
? ○ ? ? ○ ? ? ○
I 'think it was an 'excellent af'fair,
? ○ ? ? ? ○ ? ? ? ○
The difference
Chinese is a syllable-timed language (以
音节计时的语言 ),
English is a stress-timed language(以重音
计时的语言 ),
Enjoy the following sentence,
'Break,'break,'break,
On thy 'cold gray 'stones,O 'Sea!
A poem for practice
'Give a 'man a 'pipe he can 'smoke,
'Give a 'man a 'book he can 'read;
And his 'home is 'bright with a 'calm
de'light,
Though the 'room is 'poor in'deed,
Influence of rhythm
upon word-stress
another characteristic feature of the
rhythm in English speech,
the alternation of stressed and
unstressed syllables
Examples,
Chinese /'?ai'ni:z/
They are having a Chinese lesson,
/eei ? 'h?vi? ? '?ai'ni:z 'lesn/
They speak Chinese,
/ eei ?spi:k ?ai?ni:z /
Upstairs /'Λp 'stε? z/
He lives in an upstairs room,
/hi,'livz in ?n 'Λp stε? z 'ru:m/
He went upstairs,
/hi,wentΛp 'stε? z /
Second-hand /'sek?nd'h?nd/
It is a second-hand bookshop,
/its ? 'sek?ndh?nd 'buk??p/
It was bought second-hand,
/its w?z 'b?:t sek?nd'h?nd/
The influence of rhythm
on sentence-stress
Under the influence of the alternation of
stressed and unstressed syllables,Words
with full lexical meaning may lose their
stress in a sense group
Examples,
He left London,/hi,'left 'lΛnd?n/
Tom left London,/'t?m left 'lΛnd?n/
Very good! /'veri 'gud/
Not very good! /'n?t veri 'gud/
How many? /'hau 'meni/
How many pens do you have?
/'hau meni 'penz d? ju,'h?v/
He put on his hat,/hi,'put ?n iz 'h?t /
He put his hat on,/hi,'put iz 'h?t ?n /
He put it on,/hi,'put it '?n /
Take off the map,/'teik ?f e? 'm?p/
Take the map off,/'teik e? 'm?p ?f /
Take it off,/'teik it '?f /
Sum Up
1) The regular recurrence of stressed syllables,which
results in,
(a) the pronunciation of each rhythmic group in a
sense-group in the same period of time,irrespective
of the number of unstressed syllables in it;
(b) the influence of this feature of English speech
rhythm upon the tempo of speech (语速 ) and the
length of sounds,especially vowels,
2) The alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables,
which results in the influence of rhythm upon word-
stress and sentence-stress,
Way to improve your rhythm
beat the rhythm with your hand,one beat for
each stressed syllable and with exactly the
same time between each pair of beats,
?○ ? I?ve 'read it,I 'told him,
○ ?○ 'Try a'gain,'Have a 'drink,
○ ??○ 'Where have you 'been?
?○ ?○ ? It is ?time,
?○ ?○ ? It?s 'time for 'dinner,
○ ?○ ? 'Peter 'answered,
Chapter 8
Sense Groups and Pause
意群与停顿
Sense Groups
When we talk,we don?t talk in single
words but in groups of words spoken
continuously,These groups of words
which are closely connected in meaning
and in grammar are called sense
groups,A sense group is a tone-group
(语调群 ) in intonation,
Pause
We may make a short pause after each
sense group,but not during the
group,Pauses help to make reading or
speaking easier and to convey one?s
ideas more clearly,
1) In cutting speech up into small groups，
speed at which you are speaking is one of the
factors,The following sentence may be read in
either way,
a) 'All of the 'students in 'this class 'study
'English,
b) 'All of the 'students in 'this class ︱ 'study
'English,
2) The following sentences get progressively longer and
it would be convenient to cut up the longer ones into
small groups according to their grammatical structure,
Note,the single bar (/) is used to mark pause,
(1)'All of them 'study 'English,
(2) 'All of the 'students in,this department / study
'English and 'other subjects,
(3) 'All of the 'students in,this department / study
'English and,other subjects / for a 'course of 'four
'years
3) Short pauses may be made between tone-groups
within a sentence,but they are not always necessary,
Examples,
a) 'If he,comes,︱ 'tell him to 'do it
b) ?On the,table,︱ there were 'no 'books,
c) I 'go to 'bed 'early,︱ as a 'general,rule,
d) 'Usually︱ he 'takes the 'bus to 'work,
e) 'Last,Wednesday︱ I 'wanted to 'get to 'London 'early.
︱ So I 'caught a,train︱ a'bout an 'hour before
my,usual︱ one︱ and I 'got to,work︱ a'bout 'half
past 'eight,
