phonetics and phonology (1)
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thorough, chalk, wrist, condemn, subtle, pneumonia, damn, debt, daughter, castle, Wednesday, whole, sign, hour, foreign, would, exhibit, write, sandwich, rendezvous, far, pneumatic, knife, might, walk, two, autumn, psychology, half, raspberry, folk, sword, debris, cord, soften, mnemonic, honour, Christmas, farm, hymn, palm, comb, knee, solemn, depot, know, gnome, knock, Holmes, cupboard, Windsor, doubt, receipt, lamb, calf, limb, calm, thumb, knight, gnat, knuckle, should, asthma, answer, island, listen, heir, fasten, exhaust, bouquet, handsome, vehicle, who, bomb ea Phonetics and Phonology
1. Phonetics – Articulatory phonetics; the articulators; production of speech sound; vowels and consonants; phonetic description of all English vowels and consonants (voice, place and manner of articulation); the IPA
Articulatory phonetics
Phonetics /f netIksƏˈ / is the study of speech sounds.
The field of articulatory phonetics is a subfield of phonetics. In studying articulation, phoneticians explain how humans produce speech sounds via the interaction of different physiological structures.
Generally, articulatory phonetics is concerned with the transformation of aerodynamic energy into acoustic energy. Aerodynamic energy refers to the airflow through the vocal tract. Its potential form is air pressure; its kinetic form is the actual dynamic airflow. Acoustic energy is variation in the air pressure that can be represented as sound waves, which are then perceived by the human auditory system as sound.[
THE ARTICULATORS
/ð ɪ ɑː t kj le t z/ ˡ ɪ Ə ɪ Ə or /ɑːˡt kjɪ ʊle t z/ɪ Ə
An articulator is a part of the mouth, nose or throat which is used in producing speech.
The main ones for the articulation of English consonants are:
a) the two lips – bilabial
b)the lower lip touching the upper teeth- labiodental
c)the tongue touching the teeth – dental
d)the tongue touching the alveolar ridge – alveolar
e)the back of the tongue touching the soft palate (or velum) – velar
These terms are used to describe the place of articulation for consonants.
The production of vowels is conditioned by the position of the tongue in the mouth.
Vowels
WHAT IS A VOWEL?
/w t zɒ ɪ vaƏ ʊ l/ Ə
A vowel is sound in which the airstream from the lungs is not blocked in any way in the mouth or throat. It is usually pronounced with vibration of the vocal cords.
Hold your hands over your ears and say the seven short vowels and five long vowels of English.
/æ/ / / /e/ / / / / /ɒ Ə ɪ ʌ/ / /ʊ
/ɑː/ /ɔː/ /iː/ /ɜː/ /uː/
You will notice that the vocal cords vibrate to produce each vowel sound.
The type of vowel sound produced depends largely on the postion of the tongue:
a)how far the tongue is raised,
b)which part of the tongue is (the front, the middle, or the back) is raised.
a)Vowels are divided into close vowels, half-close vowels, half-open vowels and open vowels (according to how far the tongue is raised).
b)A division of vowels is made into front vowels, central vowels, and back vowels (according to what part of the tongue is raised).
Výslovnost jednotlivý samohlásek – převzato z –English grammar –Anglická gramatika – H. Hnück von Wicher
1. /iː/ / / /e/ /æ/ ɪ These are front vowels.
/iː/ is defined as a close front vowel
- Čte se jako dlouhé „í“. Ústa jsou zavřená, zvuk se vytváří v přední části úst.
/ / - ɪ front vowel
- Vyslovuje se s nadzvednutým jazykem bez vibrace.
/e/ - front vowel
- Samohlásku vyslovujeme jako české „e“ s vibrací ve středu jazyka, rty jsou v klidné poloze.
/æ/ - front vowel
- Otevřené široké „e“ se vyslovuje s pootevřenými ústy, jako byste chtěli říct „a“, ale jazyk je ve vodorovné poloze a vyslovíte „e“.
2. / Ə/ /ɜː/ /ʌ/ These are central vowels.
/ Ə/ _ central vowel
- Neutrální oslabená hláska – tento znak obráceného „e“ nám říká, že se samohláska vůbec nečte a vysloví se nepřizvučně. Rty se nesmějí zaokrouhlovat.
/ɜː/ - central vowel
- Neutrální dlouhá samohláska – prodloužená podoba předchozí samohlásky. Rty se nesmějí zaokrouhlovat. Při výslovnost slov jako – girl, sir, bird – „r“ nevyslovujeme, jazyk se lehce dotýká horního patra.
/ʌ/ - central vowel
_ Neznělé „a“, jazyk je ve vodorovné pozici, ústa mírně pootevřená, vychází jimi vzduch.
3. /uː/ / /ʊ /ɔː/ /ɑː//ɒ/ These are back vowels.
/uː/ - back vowel
- Vibrace zadní části úst, zaokrouhlení úst, uvolnění ústních svalů a jazyka.
/ / - back vowelʊ
- Krátké neznělé „u“, jazyk je ve vodorovné pozici, rty nepatrně zaokrouhlené.
/ɔː/ - back vowel
- Je to znělá, dlouhá samohláska. Rty jsou zaokrouhlené, střed jazyka se nadzvedne.
/ɑː/ - back vowel
- Čte se jako české dlouhé „á“. Vibrace zadní části úst.
/ / - back vowelɒ
- Vyslovuje se bez zaokrouhlení rtů, je otevřenější než „o“ v češtině.
THE VOWEL QUADRILATERAL (VOWEL CHART)
Consonats
A consonant is a speech sound where the airstream from the lungs is either completely blocked (a plosive or a stop), partially blocked (a lateral), or where the opening is so narrow that the air escapes with audible friction (a fricative) [audible –slyšitelné; friction – tření.] With some consonants the airstream is blocked in the mouth but it can escape through the nose. These are called nasals. With the other main group of speech sounds, the vowels, the air from the lungs is not blocked and it can escape freely. There are a number of sounds where the distinction is not clear-cut, such as the sound /j/ in yes. Linguists have called these sounds approximants or semi-vowels.
There are 24 consonant phonemes in English.
Describing consonant sounds
Three things can be said about every consonant:
1. if it is voiceless or voiced,
2.the place of articulation,
3.the manner of articulation.
1.Voiceless or voiced? / v sl s ˈ ɔɪ Ə ɔː v st/ɔɪ
If the vocal cords do not vibrate, the consonant is voiceless.
If they do, the consonant is voiced.
These are voiceless: /p/ /t/ /k/ /f/ /θ/ /s/ / // / /h/ʃ ʧ
These are voiced: /b/ /d/ /g/ /v/ /ð/ /z/ / /ʒ / / ʤ
/m/ /n/ /ŋ/ /r/ /w/ /l/ /j/
2.Place of articulation /ple s v ɪ Ə ɑːtɪkjʊˈleɪʃ n/Ə
This means where the sound is produced, which articulators are used.
The main ones are:
-two lips = bilabial /ba le b l/ɪˈ ɪ ɪƏ
-the lower lip touching top teeth = labiodental / le b dent l/ˌ ɪ ɪƏʊˈ Ə
-the tongue touching the upper teeth = dental / dent l/ˈ Ə
-the tongue touching the alveolar ridge = alveolar / ælviˈ l /Əʊ Ə
-the back of the tongue touching the soft palate (velum) = velar / vi:l /ˈ Ə
3. Manner of Articulation //mæn (r) v Ə Ə ɑːtɪkjʊˈleɪʃ n/Ə
This describes the way in which the speech sounds are produced by the speech organs (the articulators).
There are different ways of producing consonant sounds:
-stopped and suddenly released = plosives
- friction = fricatives
-stopped and then slowly released = affricates
-partially blocked = a lateral
-blocked in the mouth but air escapes through the nose = nasals
Plosives /ˈplƏ sʊ vz/ɪ
These are consonant speech sounds which are produced by blocking the airstream from the lungs completely and then suddenly releasing it.
There are a total of six plosives in English. They are /p//b/ /t//d/ /k//g/
The first in each pair is voiceless.
/p//b/ are bilabial plosives
/t//d/ are alveolar plosives
/k//g/ are velar plosives
Aspiration /æsp reƏˈ ɪʃ nƏ / is a little puff of air which follows a speech sound.
Tle voiceless plosives are aspirated in initial position /p/ /t/ /k/
Fricatives /ˈfr k t vzɪ Ə ɪ /
These are speech sounds which are produced by allowing the airstream from the lungs to escape with friction. This is caused by bringing two articulators (eg the upper teeth and lower lip), close together but not so close enough to stop the airstream completely.
There are nine fricatives in English /f/ /v/ /θ//ð/ /s//z/ /ʃ//ʒ/ /h/
The first in each pair, and /h/, are voiceless.
/f/ /v/ are labiodental fricatives
/θ//ð/ are dental fricatives
/s//z/ are alveolar fricatives
/ʃ//ʒ/ are palato-alveolar fricatives
/h/ is a glottal fricative
Affricates / æfr k tsˈ ɪ Ə /
These are consonant sounds which are produced by stopping the airstream from the lungs, and then slowly releasing it with friction. The first part is similar to a plosive, the second part is similar to a fricative. There are two affricates in English: / / / /ʧ ʤ
Lateral / læt r lˈ Ə Ə /
This is a speech sound which is produced by partially blocking the airstream from the lungs. The tongue touches the alveolar ridge. The air can escape on both sides of the blockage. There is one lateral in English /l/ which is a voiced alveolar lateral.
Nasals /ˈne z lz/ɪ Ə
Nasals are speech sounds which are produced by stopping the airstream from the lungs at some place in the mouth, for example by closing the lips. The air escapes through the nose. The three English nasals are /m//n/ /ŋ/. They are all voiced.
Approximants / pr ks m nts/Əˈ ɒ ɪ Ə
The airstream is allowed to pass from the lungs through the mouth with only very slight friction. There are three such sounds in English. /w/ /r/ /j/ These are voiced.
Place of articulation
BilabialLabiodent
alDental Alveolar
Palato-alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
Manner
of articulation
Plosive p b t d k g
Fricative f v ð θ s z ʃ Ʒ h
Affricate ʧ ʤNasal m n ŋ
Lateral l
Approximant
r j
The International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet is a system of symbols for representing the pronunciation of words in any language, according to the principles of the International Phonetic Association.
(The acronym IPA stands for the International Phonetic Alphabet or the International Phonetic Association).
The IPA is used by foreign language students and teachers, linguists, speech pathologists and therapists, singers, actors, lexicographers, conlangers and translators.
The IPA is designed to represent only those qualities of speech that are distinctive in spoken language: phonemes, intonation, and the separation of words and syllables. To represent additional qualities of speech such as tooth gnashing, lisping, and sounds made with a cleft palate, an extended set of symbols called the Extensions to the IPA is used.
Occasionally symbols are added, removed, or modified by the International Phonetic Association. As of 2008, there are 107 distinct letters, 52 diacritics, and four prosody marks in the IPA proper.
2. Segmental Phonology: definition of a phoneme (and an allophone); minimal pairs; systematic examination of each of the 44 phonemes of English:
a) The 12 monophtongs of English (7 short and 5 long vowels)
The 8 dipthongs
The 5 triphtongs
b) The 22 consonants of English
Phonology = the study of the distinctive sounds of a particular language. Another term, which used mainly by American linguists, is phonemics.
The variety of English examined in this course is the English pronunciation of educated speakers of the language. It is recognised, used and taught all over the world, not just in Britain. It shows no regional variation. It has often been viewed as a prestige variety of English.
This type of standard English is often referred to as Received Pronunciation (RP). It can have a number of other names such as Standard English, British English, the Queen’s English, Oxford English or BBC English.
Segment
In lingvistic the term segment may be defined as "any discrete unit that can be identified, either physically or auditorily, in the stream of speech."
Segments are called "discrete" because they are separate and individual, such as consonants and vowels, and occur in a distinct temporal order. Other units, such as tone, stress, and sometimes secondary articulations such as nasalization, may coexist with multiple segments and cannot be discretely ordered with them. These elements are termed suprasegmental. It is not clear how the concept of segment applies to sign languages.
In phonetics, the smallest perceptible segment is a phone.
In phonology, there is a subfield of segmental phonology that deals with the analysis of speech into phonemes (or segmental phonemes), which correspond fairly well to phonetic segments of the analysed speech
Phone
- one of many possible sounds in the lingvistics in the world
- the smallest identifiable unit found in stream of speech
- pronounced in a defined way
- / /
x
Phoneme
- a contrastive unit in the sound system of a particular language
- minimal unit that serves to distinguish between mening of words
- pronounced in one or more ways depending on the number of allophones
- [ ]
Allphone
- a conditioned realization (phones) of the same phoneme.
- For example, [pʰ] as in pin and [p] as in spin are allophones for the phoneme /p/ in the English language because they cannot distinguish words (in fact, they occur in complementary distribution). English speakers treat them as the same sound, but they are different: the first is aspirated and the second is unaspirated (plain). Plain [p] also occurs as the p in cap [kʰæp], or the second p in paper [pʰeɪ.pɚ]. Chinese languages treat these two phones differently; for example in Mandarin, [p] (written b in Pinyin) and [pʰ] (written p) contrast phonemically.
WHAT IS A MINIMAL PAIR?
- Any two words that differ from each other by only one distinctive sound (one phoneme) are called a minimal pair.
- For example: cat and pat are minimal pairs.
- The difference can be due to Place, Manner or Voice. Consider the following:
- In tin and din - the only difference between them is the voicing.
- Both are alveolar plosives but the first is voiceless and the second is voiced.
- In thin and fin - the difference is the place of articulation.
- The first contains a voiceless dental and the second a voiceless labio-dental fricative.
- The words tin and sin both begin with voiceless alveolars.
- The only difference is the of manner of articulation.
- The first is a voiceless alveolar plosive wheras the second is a voiceless alveolar fricative.
- The difference between two vowel sounds can also constitute a minimal pair. This is why the famous ship or sheep is the classic example of one. The only difference between the words from a phonological point of view is the short and long vowel /I/ and /i:/.
- Summary: Mininal pairs are words where one distinctive change either in Voicing, Place or Manner is made and this changes the meaning of the original word.
- Example of a series of minimal pairs:
- bin chin din fin gin kin pin sin thin tin win
- The different initial sound changes the meaning and this means that a different phoneme has been used.
- Therefore the following are all different phonemes of English:/b/, ʧ/, /d/, /f/, /k/, /p/, /s/ /θ/, /t/, /w/
44 phonemes of English - Monophtongs (long and short vowels)
Short vowels
There are seven short vowel sounds in English. There is one pure vowel sound. These are the phonemic symbols for each.
/ /ɪ /e/ /æ/ /ʌ/ / /ɒ / /ʊ / / Ə
Examples:
/ɪ/ /e/ /æ/ /ʌ/ /ɒ/ /ʊ/ / Ə/ sit set sat shut spot should surprise pin pen pan pun pond pull potatobin ben ban bun bog book believe fin fen fan fun fog full forgive
Long vowels
There are five long vowel sounds in English. These are the phonemic symbols for each.
/ɑː/ /ɔː/ /iː/ /ɜː/ /uː/
Examples:
/ɑː/ /ɔː/ /iː/ /ɜː/ / uː/
barn born bean burn boon
car court/caught key curl coot
heart hawk heat hurt hoot
bard bored/board bead bird booed
far four/for feed fur/fir food
jar jaw G germ Jew
44 phonemes of English – Diphtongs
English has eight diphthongs. These are classed as one sound, with one symbol. However, a diphthong actually involves two vowel sounds, with one vowel gliding smoothly to the other. The first vowel is louder and longer; the second, quieter and shorter. There are only three diphthongs in Czech, whereas English has eight. Glide smoothly from one sound to another; do not say two individual monophthongs. A common mistake when learning English is to use a pure vowel instead of a diphthong. Contrast: hop-hope; gone-go; bee-beer; red-rare; bore-boy
It is easier to remember them in two groups: centring and closing. They are defined by the finishing position (not the starting position).
EIGHT DIPHTHONGS
centring closing
ending in /Ə/ ending in / /ɪ ending in / /ʊ
/e / Ə / / ɪƏ /ʊƏ/ /e /ɪ /a / ɪ / / ɔɪ /a /ʊ /Ə /ʊ
Examples:
/e / - Ə bear care dare fare/fair hair/hare pear/pair tear (rip eg cloth/paper)
wear/where
/ / - ɪƏ beer dear/deer fear hear/here near peer/pier tear (from crying)
/ʊƏ/ - This sound is gradually disappearing from English and being replaced by the diphthong /ɔː/ - pure lure sure
/e /ɪ - bay day hay lay may sayway
/a / ɪ - buy/bye/by die/dye high lie my sigh tie why
/ / - ɔɪ boy boil coy coil noise ploy Roy toy
/a /ʊ - bow/bough cow how mouth now noun sow south
/Ə /- ʊ bow bone doe/dough go low lone show toe/tow tone
(and arrow)
44 phonemes of English – Triphtongs
There are five triphthongs in English. These are the phonemic symbols for each.
/eɪƏ/ /aɪƏ/ /ɔɪƏ/ /ƏʊƏ/ /aʊƏ/layer liar lawyer grower flour flowerplayer desire loyal mower shower
tire/tyre royal power
higher/hirefireinspire
44 phonemes of English - Consonants
/b/ voiced bilabial plosive Voiced in final position rub (but don‘t say rubber). Preceding vowel lengthened. Compare cap, cab.
/t/ voiceless alveolar plosive Aspirated in initial position tin but not in initial consonant clusters like stop
/d/ voiced alveolar plosive Voiced in final position bad (but not badder). Preceding vowel longer, bed
/k/ voiceless velar plosive Aspirated in initial position, cat, kitchen, cake
/g/ voiced velar plosive Voiced in final position bag. Preceding vowel lengthened egg.
------ ------------------ -------------------------------- --------------------- -----------------------------------------
/f/ voiceless labiodental fricative Spelling feet but also photo, laugh
/v/ voiced labiodental fricative voiced in final position live. Preceding vowel longer in live than life
/s/ voiceless alveolar fricative The letter S is not always /s/ but can be /z/
/z/ voiced alveolar fricative voiced in final position such his (see sheet hiss-his) and some plurals dogs
/θ/ voiceless dental fricative don’t make this alveolar, thank not sank or tank
/ð/ voiced dental fricative don’t make this alveolar, those not doze
/ʃ/ voiceless palato-alveoloar
(or post-alveolar)
fricative Cz. š íp Eng. sheep
/ʒ/ voiced palato-alveolar
(or post-alveolar)
fricative Cz. ž ena, Eng.vi s ion
----- ------------------ -------------------------------- --------------------- -----------------------------------------
/ʧ/ voiceless palato-alveolar
(or post-alveolar)
affricate Cz. č. English watch
/ʧ/ voiced palato-alveolar
(or post-alveolar)
affricate Cz. džem English jam
------ ------------------ -------------------------------- --------------------- -----------------------------------------
/n/ voiced alveolar nasal Syllabic in sudden, reason (after
/s/,/z/,/ʃ/,/ʒ/ can be /Ən/)
/m/ voiced bilabial nasal lengthens preceding vowel him.
/ŋ/ voiced velar nasal Exists in Cz. banka, Eng bank, bang
------ -----------------------
---------------------------------------
---------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
/l/ voiced alveolar lateral two allophones: clear /l/ in look ,live, let; dark /l/ in cold, noble, pool
------ ------------------ ------------------------------- --------------------- -----------------------------------------
/r/ voiced palato-alveolar approximant Cz “r“ is rolled. Compare rock- rok
/w/ voiced bilabial approximant rounded lips not labiodental /v/
whale/wail and veil, wine and vine
/j/ voiced palatal approximant Cz jachta Eng yacht
------ ------------- ----------------------------------------
---------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
/h/ voiceless glottal fricative Czech “h“ is voiced
3. Voicing and aspiration – their importance for Czechs; pronunciation of final letter –s in plurals and – ed in simple past tense of regural verbs
Voiced and Voiceless Consonants
Vibration of the vocal cords determines whether a sound is voiced or unvoiced. If the vocal cords are apart, then air can escape without hindrance. Sounds produced in this way are said to be voiceless. Try whispering! When you whisper, your glottis (the space betwen the vocal cords) is wide open and, therefore, all the sounds produced are voiceless. However, if the vocal cords are very close together, the air will blow them apart as it forces its way through. This makes the cords vibrate, producing a voiced sound. Compare whispering and humming!
Voicing is important in a language like English because the meaning of a sound often depends on whether that sound is voiced or not. For example, 'big' carries a very different meaning from 'pig'.
Voiceless Consonant p t k f θ s ʃ ʧ
Voiced Equivalent b d g v ð z ʒ ʤ
Other consonants:
- - - - - - - h
w m n ŋ r l j -
Voiceless
Voiced
1. Voicing is only a feature of consonants. (By definition, all vowel sounds are voiced.)
2. When a final consonant is voiced the preceding vowel or diphthong sounds longer. Compare: ‘bag‘ - ‘back‘ ‘bad‘ - ‘bat‘ ‘live‘ - ‘life‘ ‘buzz‘ - ‘bus‘ (‘eyes‘ – ‘ice‘ etc)
3.There is progressive assimilation of voice with ‘s‘plurals. (viz. dále)
4.Assimilation of voice is also important in past tenses. (viz. dále)
5.The Czech ‘h‘ sound is voiced. It is represented by the symbol / / ɦ in the IPA. Compare this sound with the English /h/, which is voiceless. Compare these Czech and English words: Havaj- Hawaii, herink – herring, Hongkong -Hong Kong, Jan Hus - John Huss.
The final letter –s
The final letter S can be pronounced in three different ways.
The letter S can sound like:
/s/ or /z/ or /Iz/
Tle pronuncation all depends on the sound before the “s“.
The rules
All final -s letters are usually /z/
Except:
After /p//t//k/ /f/ /θ/ /s/
After /s/ /z/, / / ʃ / /ʒ / / / / ʧ ʤ /Iz/
Past tense of regular verbs– the ending (výpisky - Dušková)
Koncovka –ed má tři výslovnostní varianty /t/, /d/a /Id/:
/t/ - po neznělých souhláskách, kromě sloves končících na souhlásku t (např. grasp, check, laugh, surpass, punish)
/d/ - po znělých souhláskách, kromě souhlásky d po vokalickém zakončení slovesného základu (např. prove, mention, betray)
/Id/ - po t nebo d
Practise:
Voiceless /s/ Voiced /z/ / I / hiss of a snake it’s his/ i:/ cease all fighting seize the opportunity
fleece jacket fleas in the bedsniece not nephew kneespeace in our time peas and pototoes
/ɔː/ of course, you’re right the cause of deathgorse bushes agauze to cover woundsMorse code Yorkshire moors source of evil saws wood/painful sores
/ ɑː/ arse (!) the three Rs (Reading, writing, arithmetic) pass parse a sentence
/ ʌ / bus and tram buzz of a bee/ uː / juice Jews and Christians
loose trousers lose your keysmoose a cow moos
it’s no use crying to use a dictionary
/ ɜː / hearse at a funeral it’s herspurse for your money a cat purrsworse not better a helicopter whirrs overhead
/ aɪ / ice and snow blue eyeslice in his hair lies are always wrongrice and fish rise early
the price of the goods first prize in the competitiondice in a game everyone dies
/ eɪ /a race against time raise your hands God’s grace I always graze my knees to trace a line plates on trays/ Əʊ /a close (friend) (adj) (to) close (one’s eyes) (vb) adose of medicine doze in the afternoon
gross income grows/ aʊ /house to house the homeless/ ɪƏ / fierce dog he fears God
Aspiration
In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and
unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say tore ([tʰɔɹ]) and then store ([stɔɹ]). One should either feel a puff of air or see a flicker of the candle flame with tore that one does not get with store. In most dialects of English, the t is aspirated in tore and unaspirated in store.
English voiceless plosive consonants are aspirated for most native speakers when they are word-initial or begin a stressed syllable, as in pen, ten, Ken. They are unaspirated for almost all speakers when immediately following word-initial s, as in spun, stun, skunk. After s elsewhere in a word they are normally unaspirated as well, except when the cluster is heteromorphemic and the
stop(=plosive) belongs to an unbound morpheme; compare dis[t]end vs. dis[tʰ]aste. Word-final
voiceless stops optionally aspirate.
4. Word stress: its significance; stress patterns.
WORD STRESS
English word stress is free, which means it is not tied to any particular position in the word – unlike Czech, where the stress is always on the first syllable. However, English stress is fixed in the sense that each word has a regular stress pattern, ie the stress falls on a particular syllable of a given word.
Thus in English, the stress falls regularly on the first syllable of the words finish, answer, afterwards; on the second syllable in behind, result, together, impossible; on the third in understand, education; on the forth in articulation, qualification immunisation.
In most English words there is only one main stress, but it may be accompanied by secondary stress in polysyllabic words. These are words of more than one syllable. (eg examiˡnation, photoˡgraphic).
Any four factors pitch, length, loudness and quality make a syllable more prominent than its neighbours.
1. PITCH Pitch is an auditory sensation that places sounds on a scale from high to low. Every syllable has pitch, however, any syllable that is articulated with a noticably different pitch will be said to carry stress. This can go either way: if all the syllables are said in a low pitch except one, then that higher pitch syllable will be recognised at carrying the stress of the word.Pitch also plays a central role in intonation.
2. LENGTH Length seems to play a role in stress. Generally, if one syllable has a longer length than the others in the word then it is recognised as the one carrying stress. Length is one of the more important determiners of stress.
3. LOUDNESSIt seems obvious that if one syllable is articulated louder than the others then it will have achieved some prominence from the other syllables. This prominence would then make that syllable the stressed syllable. However, it is very difficult to make a sound louder without affecting the LENGTH , PITCH or QUALITY of that syllable. If you could only change the loudness of a sound then the perceptual change is not as great as you would expect.
4. QUALITYA syllable will carry prominence if it contains a vowel that is different in quality from the surrounding vowels. This effect is usually achieved by having a strong vowel in the midst of weak ones. The prominence of the strong vowel is contrasted with the weaker vowels.
In a sequence of identical syllables, such as /lelelele/ you can change, one or usually a combination, of these factors to produce a stressed syllable.
It is difficult to change just one of these without affecting at least one of the others. What is clear though is that the syllable with these features is more prominent than the others. It is stressed.
The rules concerning stress are rather complicated. There are also a number of exceptions. It is therefore best to learn the stress-pattern of each word individually, when you learn the word itself. Correct stressing of individual words is essential for good understanding.
Stress and syllables
1. One syllable words• Obviously, these present no problems because, when pronounced in isolation, they receive
the primary stress. (There is no other syllable competing with it.)
/kIŋg//bʌs/ /gəʊt/ /stænd/
2. Two syllable words• The choice is still quite simple; either the first or the second syllable will be stressed.
It is usually the case with verbs that, if the second syllable of the verb contains a long vowel
or diphthong, or if it ends with more than one consonant, then the second syllable is stressed:
/ əˡtrækt/ /əˡraIv/ /əˡgəʊ/ /əˡbaʊt/
• If the final syllable contains a short vowel and one or no final consonant, then usually, the first syllable will be stressed.
/ˡəʊpən/ /ˡentə/
• Two syllable adjectives are stressed in the same manner.
/ˡhɒləʊ/ /əˡfreId/ /kəˡrekt/
• Nouns generally use a different rule. If the second syllable contains a short vowel, then the stress usually comes on the first syllable - otherwise it will be on the second syllable.
/ˡmʌŋki//ˡprɒdʌkt/ /dIˡzaIn/ /ˡpeIpə/
3. Three syllable and more words
Determining stress becomes very complicated from this point on. The rules start to become quite arbitrary with more exceptions than can easily be explained away. One general hint to remember is that weak syllables never carry stress. Therefore, any syllable with a schwa in it will never be the stressed syllable.Despite the large amount of research done on the subject of stress, it is still one area of which we have little understanding.
Main Stress Patterns
1.Some stress-fixing prefixes , mainly of Latin origin attract the main stress.
ab- abdicate, abstract; ad- advent, adverse, a- apathy, atheism;
col- com- con- collocate, compact, concord; de- dedicate, desecrate;
dis- discord, dislocate; en- envoy, ensign; ex- excavate, exercise;
im- , in- immigrate, imminent, insect, injury; ob- oblong, obstinate;
per- permanent, perjury; pre- prefix, prejudice, pretext;
pro- promise, proverb; sub- subject, substance; sur- surcharge, surplus;
sym- symmetry, symphony; trans- transcript, transport, transfer.
2.Stress fixing suffixes occur in words which were borrowed from Modern French, stress in French being on the final syllable.
-ade parade, charade, promenade; -ache, moustache, panache; -ain,( in verbs) attain, disdain, ascertain; -aire questionnaire, millionaire;
-ale, morale, locale; -aque, opaque; -ee, payee, refugee, referee;
-een, canteen; -el, hotel, lapel; -eer, career, engineer, pioneer; -ese, Chinese, Japanese, journalese; -ess, princess, lioness -esque, picturesque, grotesque; -ete, compete, complete, delete; -etta, –etti, -etto, vendetta, confetti, libretto; -ette, brunette, cigarette, usherette; -illa, gorilla, flotilla, guerilla; -ice, police, advice; -ine, machine, sardine, magazine, routine, submarine; -ique, physique, unique, antique, technique; -iste, artiste,
-oon, cartoon, balloon, harpoon.
3.Suffixes which attract stress on the syllable immediately preceding it.
These are –ial, -ian, -ic,-id, -cient, -eous,- ify, -inal, -ious, -ion, -tion, -ity, -itude, -itive, -itant,- logy,-latry, -graphy, -or, -tor, -ual, -ular.
For example: emotion, curiosity, insipid,ˡmodify, original, habitual, apology, spectator, economic, orthography, exclusive, opinion, familiar, technician, sufficient.
4. Antepenultimate stress (third from last) is used in the pronunciation of many longer words of Greco-Roman origin where the main stress falls on the third syllable from the end, thus preserving the classical dactylic rhythm (stress + unstressed + unstressed). For example: character, original, majority.
5.Disyllabic words received from Old French between 11th and 15th centuries adapted themselves to the Anglo-Saxon stress system. These take the main stress on the first syllable. For example: supper, punish, language. Words borrowed from Modern French which are in general use in English follow the stress patterns of native words and shift the main stress to the first, eg coupon, chateau, debut.
6.Words adopted directly from Latin in the period of humanism and Renaissance preserve the stress of Latin words. This is the same with words from Old French eg nobility, intact, tradition, impure.
7.The secondary stress occurs in long words but it never falls on the syllable immediately after the main stress. It usually falls on the root syllable of the foundation word. For example: qualification is derived from to qualify, instrumental is derived from instrument.
Compound Words
Compound words are a combination of two or more words but which function as a single vocabulary unit regardless of spelling. Some may be hyphenated, others written together and some separate. Examples are the compound adjective self-made, or the compound nouns flower-shop, police station.)
The primary stress is usually on the first element, daybreak, computer virus.
1. Compounds Functioning as Nouns
90% of compounds are compound nouns made up of three categories.
i) ˡN(OUN) + N(OUN) (75% of compound nouns).
birthday, dinner-table, sheepdog, airport, alcohol abuse, bomb factory, bottle bank, guidebook, toilet roll, control freak, police force, shopping centre, mountain bike, laptop, wheel clamp, lager lout, breadcrumbs, keyboard, bar code.
Exceptions to STRESSED NOUN + UNSTRESSED NOUN
►man-made items chocolate ˡbiscuit, apple ˡpie, brick ˡwall, cotton ˡwool
►where N1 is a name Christmas ˡpudding (but ˡChristmas cake because cake is ˡN+N ˡchocolate cake, ˡfruit cake), Mexican ˡwave, Molotov ˡcocktail.
► where N1 is a value 100% ˡeffort dollar ˡbill, pound ˡcoin
ii) ˡA(djective)+ N, ˡNs+N, ˡN+V, ˡV+N, ˡN+Ving, ˡVing+N
ˡbuilding society, ˡshop lifting, ˡskateboarding, ˡwindsurfing
but CˡD compact ˡdisc
2. Compounds Functioning as Adjectives or Verbs
There are not as many of these.
Adj. initial: ˡbloodthirsty, ˡsea-sick, ˡtrustworthy,
Adj. final: skin-ˡdeep, user-ˡfriendly, red ˡhot, easy ˡgoing, overˡdue
Verbs: ˡbabysit, ˡsidestep, ˡsidetrack, but outˡnumber, overˡsleep underˡgo
Variable Stress
Some speakers disagree over correct stress in words such as
controversy, ice-cream, kilometre, formidable.
Stress affects meaning: greenhouse, blackbird, blackboard.
There are many pairs of words with identical spelling but one is a noun or adjective and the other is a verb. The stress is usually on the first syllable of the noun or adjective and on the second in the verb.
Why is Word Stress Important?
Word stress is not an optional extra that you can add to the English language if you want. It is part of the language! English speakers use word stress to communicate rapidly and accurately, even in difficult conditions. If, for example, you do not hear a word clearly, you can still understand the word because of the position of the stress.
Think about the two words photograph and photographer. Now imagine that you are speaking to somebody by telephone over a very bad line. You cannot hear clearly. In fact, you hear only the first two syllables of one of these words, photo... Which word is it, photograph or photographer? Of course, with word stress you will know immediately which word it is because in reality you will hear either PHOto... or phoTO... So without hearing the whole word, you probably know what the word is ( PHOto...graph or phoTO...grapher). It's magic! (Of course, you also have the 'context' of your conversation to help you.)
5. Suprasegmental Phonology:
a) Economy of articulary effort, progressive and regressive assimilation of voice, elision, liason (in particular, avoiding the glottal stop before words beginning with vowel)
b) Shwa; weak and strong forms; sentence stress; stress-timed rhytm
c) Forms and functions of intonation, pitch range
5a)
ECONOMY of ARTICULATORY EFFORT
In connected English speech, every speaker “economises“ to a greater or lesser extent. As you know, not every letter is pronounced anyway. The letter r before a consonant is not pronounced, for example. The letter l, in calm or talk is also silent.
Neither is every phoneme which occurs in individual words, pronounced in connected speech. CONSONANT CLUSTERS are simplified. The /t/ or /d/ sound can often be left out. See the brackets in the dialogue below: you mus(t) never; you shouldn’(t) give.
If a word begins with a vowel, the previous word is linked to it. That’s◡interesting.
If the first word ends in a vowel sound, then a linking /w/ or /j/ is inserted, depending on the final vowel of the first word. If a word ends in a letter ¨r“ and the following word begins with a vowel, the final /r/ is pronounced.
Practice
Without looking back at the dialogue, decide what the linking sounds are in these phrases:
1. It◡isn’t◡as◡easy◡ / /◡ as that.
2. Opening presents can be◡/ /◡a problem
3. It’s very rude to◡ / /◡ open a present◡ immediately.
4. These◡are◡ / /◡ a symbol◡of death.
5. You shouldn‘(t) give◡anyone◡an◡even number◡/r/◡of things.
6. You◡/ /◡always buy glasses◡in sets◡of 5◡or 7
7. We◡/ /◡ often give flowers
Progressive and regressive assimilation of voice
If a sound changes with reference to a following segment, it is traditionally called "regressive assimilation"; changes with reference to a preceding segment are traditionally called "progressive".
ASSIMMILATION occurs when a phoneme changes its quality due to the influence of a neighbouring sound. It is usually progressive in English and regressive in Czech. eg in polevka, the v is voiceless /f/
because of the /k/. Progressive assimmilation of voice occurs in inflectional endings: –s plurals, 3rd singular and in the past –ed form.
Elision
Elision is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to pronounce. Sometimes, sounds may be elided for euphonic (=libozvučný) effect.
- of identical consonants . Give Vera a sharp pencil. Please stop pushing!
Mainly /t/ and /d/ are elided. I don’t know = I don(t) know or even I dunno in rapid speech.
You an(d) me; nex(t) please; ol(d) man; don(t) jus(t) stan(d) there!
- Consonant to vowel . In usual speech, English has a consonant-vowel pattern. (CV).
Linking lets the speaker keep this pattern.
It’s an interesting idea becomes - it sa ninteresti ngidea. Have a seat = ha va seat.
- Vowel to vowel linked with /j/ or /w/.
- /r/ to vowel . The letter r is pronounced /r/ before a vowel.
Liasion (insertion of consonants)
Liaison is the pronunciation of a latent word-final consonant immediately before a following vowel sound.
Example: more (r)and more / not (t)at all
Practise:
3. Link /r/ to a following vowel.
A: We’ve been waiting for◡ /r/◡ an hour◡ /r/◡ and◡a half.
B: Tell them that your◡ /r/◡aunt◡is very ill. A doctor◡ /r/◡ ought to see her◡ /r/◡ at◡once.
A: There isn’t◡a doctor◡ /r/◡ available. They’re◡ /r/◡ all busy.
B: Ask◡a receptionist to hurry◡/j/◡ up.
A: I’ve asked her◡ /r/◡over◡ /r/◡ and over◡ /r/◡ again. The more◡ /r/◡ I ask,
the longer◡ /r/◡ I wait.
4.Link vowels /i:/, / /,/e /,/a /, / / ɪ ɪ ɪ ɔɪ to a following vowel using /j/.
very◡/j/◡ interesting
the story is very◡/j/◡ interesting
The end◡of the story is very◡/j/◡ interesting.
a lovely◡/j/◡ ice cream
I always◡enjoy◡/j/◡ a lovely◡/j/◡ ice cream.
a day◡/j/◡ or two
stay◡/j/◡ at home for◡ /r/◡a day◡/j/◡ or two
I ought to stay◡/j/◡ at home for◡ /r/◡a day◡/j/◡ or two.
5.Link vowels /u:/, /Ə /,ʊ /a / to a following vowel using /w/.ʊ
I couldn’t do◡ /w/◡ anything◡about it.
Let’s go◡ /w/◡ into the next room.
Do you know◡ /w/◡ everyone here?
I’ve moved to◡a new◡ /w/◡ office – next to◡ /w/◡ Oxford Circus station.
I knew◡ /w/◡ I would be late.
Are you◡ /w/◡ in the same place?
You◡ /w/◡ always say that.
It was so◡ /w/◡ exciting.
I don’t know◡ /w/◡ all the students, but I know◡ /w/◡ all the teachers.
How◡ /w/◡ old is he?
There was snow◡ /w/◡ and◡ice◡everywhere.
We travelled through◡ /w/◡ Africa.
I don’t know◡ /w/◡ anything◡ about him.
5b)
Schwa
An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in some languages, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel. Such vowels are often transcribed with the symbol <ə>, regardless of their actual phonetic value.
Schwa is the most common vowel sound in English, a reduced vowel in many unstressed syllables, especially if syllabic consonants are not used:
• like the 'a' in about [əˈbaʊt]
• like the 'e' in taken [ teˈ ɪkən]
• like the 'i' in pencil [ pˈ ɛnsəl]
• like the 'o' in eloquent [ˈɛləkwənt]
• like the 'u' in supply [səˈplaɪ]
• like the 'y' in sibyl [ sˈ ɪbəl]
Weak and strong forms
Some very common English words can be pronounced in two different ways. These are called weak and strong forms of the same word. Almost all the words which have these two forms of pronunciation are in a category called FUNCTION WORDS. These are words which do not have a dictionary meaning. (Those words are called LEXICAL WORDS).
FUNCTION WORDS are CONJUCTIONS (and, but, as, that ), ARTICLES (the, a, an ), PRONOUNS (he, she, you, we, you, us, them ), PREPOSITIONS (to, at, from), and some AUXILIARY VERBS (have, has, does,) and MODAL VERBS (must, should, could). One example of a function word with two forms of pronuncation is that. The strong FORM of the word is /ðæt/. The weak FORM is /ðət/.
there are two good reasons why using weak forms correctly is important.
1.Although a speaker of English can understand strong forms, it sounds very unnatural and foreign if someone uses only strong forms. It can sound rather like a robot speaking, where one word is artificially attached to the next to make a long string composed of individual words.
2.Learners of English - particularly those who are not aware that there are two forms of words - may have difficulty understanding native speakers of English. All native speakers use weak forms all the time in connected speech. In rapid informal speech a) there reduction in the length of sounds, b) vowels or consonants may disappear altogether. Leaving out a sound or sounds in speech is called ELISION. For example the weak form of in “a cup of tea“ can be pronounced:
/ə k p ʌ əv ti:/ or /ə k p v ti:/ʌ or /ə k p ʌ ə ti:/
The most important words which have strong and weak forms are:
strong form weak form
a /e /ɪ (unusual) / / Əam /æm/ / m/ Əan /æn/ (unusual) / n/ Əand /ænd/ / nd, n/ Ə Əare /ɑː(r)/ / (r)/ Əas /æz/ / z/ Əat /æt/ / t/ Əbe /biː/ /b / ɪbeen /biːn/ /b n/ ɪbut /b t/ʌ /b t/ Əcan /kæn/ /k n/ Əcould /k d/ʊ /k d/Ədo /duː/ /d / Ədoes /d zʌ / /d z/ Əfor /fɔː(r)/ /f (r)/ Əfrom /fr m/ ɒ /fr m/Əhad /hæd/ /h d, d/ Ə Əhas /hæz/ /h z, z/ Ə Əhave /hæv/ /h v, v/ Ə Əhe /hiː/ /h , /ɪ ɪ
her /hɜː(r)/ /h (r), (r)/ Ə Əhim /h m/ ɪ / m/ ɪhis /h z/ ɪ / z/ ɪis / z/ ɪ /z,s/ must /m stʌ / /m st, m s/ Ə Ənot /n t/ ɒ /nt/of / v/ ɒ / v/ Əour /'aʊ (r)Ə / /ɑː(r)/ Saint /se nt/ ɪ /s nt/ (GB only )Əshall / æl/ ʃ / l/ʃƏshe / iʃ ː/ / /ʃɪshould /ʃ d/ʊ / d/ ʃƏsir /sɜː(r)/ /s (r)/ Əsome /s mʌ / /s m/ Əthan /ðæn/ /ð n/Əthat (conj) /ðæt/ /ð t/Əthe /ðiː/ /ð , ð / Ə ɪthem /ð m/Ə /ð m/Əthere /ðe (r)/Ə /ð (r)/Əto /tuː/ /t /Əus / s/ʌ / s/Əwas /w z/ɒ /w z/Əwe /wiː/ /w /ɪwere /wɜː(r)/ /w (r)/Əwho /huː/ /h /ʊwould /w d/ʊ /w d, d/ Ə Əwill /w l/ ɪ / l, l/Əyou /juː/ /j /ʊyour /jɔː(r)/ /j (r)/ Ə
Sentence stress
“Many years ago scientists tried to develop machines that produced speech from a vocabulary of pre-recorded words; the machines were designed to join these words together to form sentences. For very limited messages, such as those of a “talking clock”, this technique was usable, but for other purposes the quality of the speech was so unnatural that it was practically unintelligible. In recent years, developments in computer technology have led to big improvments in this way of producing speech, but the inadequacy of the original “mechanical speech” approach has many lesson to teach us about pronunciation teaching and learning. In looking at connected speech it is useful to bear in mind, the difference between the way humans speak and what would be found in “mechanical speech”.” From Roach’s English Phonetics and Phonology p134
Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or "beat". You remember that word stress is accent on one syllable within a word. Sentence stress is accent on certain words within a sentence.
Most sentences have two types of word:
• content words
• structure words
Content words are the key words of a sentence. They are the important words that carry the meaning or sense.
Structure words are not very important words. They are small, simple words that make the sentence correct grammatically. They give the sentence its correct form or "structure".
If you remove the structure words from a sentence, you will probably still understand the sentence.
If you remove the content words from a sentence, you will not understand the sentence. The sentence has no sense or meaning.
syllables
2 1 3 1
Will
you SELL my CAR because I've GONE to FRANCE.
t1bea
t1bea
t1 beat t1
beat
Rules for Sentence Stress in English
The basic rules of sentence stress are:
1. content words are stressed
2. structure words are unstressed
3. the time between stressed words is always the same
The following tables can help you decide which words are content words and which words are structure words:
Content words - stressed
Words carrying the meaning Example
main verbs SELL, GIVE, EMPLOY
nouns CAR, MUSIC, MARY
adjectives RED, BIG, INTERESTING
adverbs QUICKLY, LOUDLY, NEVER
negative auxiliaries DON'T, AREN'T, CAN'T
Structure words - unstressed
Words for correct grammar Example
pronouns he, we, they
prepositions on, at, into
articles a, an, the
conjunctions and, but, because
auxiliary verbs do, be, have, can, must
ExceptionsThe above rules are for for what is called "neutral" or normal stress. But sometimes we can stress a word that would normally be only a structure word, for example to correct information. Look at the following dialogue:
"They've been to Mongolia, haven't they?""No, THEY haven't, but WE have.
Note also that when "be" is used as a main verb, it is usually unstressed (even though in this case it is a content word).
Stress Timing
The English language is often referred to as stress-timed. This means that stress in a spoken sentence occurs at regular intervals and the length it takes to say something depends on the number of stressed syllables rather than the number of syllables itself.
Try saying the sentences below:
1 2 3 41 and 2 and 3 and 4 1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 41 and then a 2 and then a 3 and then a 4
The four sentences take about the same length of time to say. You will notice the numbers are stressed, and the unstressed words in between are said much more quickly in order to keep the rhythm of the language. In other languages, which are not stress-timed the stress would fall more equally on each word and syllable.
Practise:
a) CATS CHASE MICEb) The CATS CHASE the MICE c) The CATS CHASE all the MICE
d) The CATS have CHASED all the MICEe) The CATS didn’t CHASE any of the MICE
5c)Intonation
Exploring Language:How Intonation Works
The full description of intonation patterns is very complex. Here, only some fundamental points will be explained.
• Within each tone group, there will be the normal English combination of stressed (strong) and unstressed (weak) syllables.
o It was the best car for them to buy.
• Within the tone group, one syllable will be even more strongly stressed than the other stressed syllables. This is called the nuclear syllable.
o It was the best car for them to buy. (Buy is the nuclear syllable.)
• The nuclear syllable carries the main focus of information. It also carries any new information.
o We looked at the hatchback. (Hatchback is new information.)
o The hatchback was old. (Hatchback is given information. Old is new information.)
• The usual position for the nuclear syllable is on the final lexical word in the tone group.
o It had a lot of rust in it.
• However, the nuclear syllable can appear in other positions if the sense requires it.
Normal placement:
o Linda was wearing that black skirt.
Contrastive placements:
o Linda was wearing that black skirt. (not a red one)
o Linda was wearing that black skirt. (a particular skirt referred to already)
o Linda was wearing that black skirt. (not just carrying it)
o Linda was wearing that black skirt. ( you said she wasn't)
o Linda was wearing that black skirt. (it wasn't Jill wearing it)
• The nuclear syllable sounds louder than the other stressed syllables. It also has a change of pitch.
The two most common pitch movements are:rising pitch yésfalling pitch yès
It is also possible to havea fall-rising pitch y s
a rise-falling pitch yês
Compare these replies:
o Q: When would it suit you to come?A: Nów? (The intonation expresses a question: would it be OK if I came now?)
o Q: When would it suit you to come?A: Nòw. (The intonation expresses a statement: I'll come now.)
The effects of the rising or falling pitch can be seen very clearly on sentences with tag questions.
o They're coming on Mònday / arèn't they. (statement anticipating the listener's agreement)
o They're coming on Mònday / arén't they? (question seeking an answer, yes or no)
o A falling tone is used to show completeness. A rising tone can indicate incompleteness.
A falling tone is normally used when a person is about to stop talking.
If they finish the tone group with a rising tone, we are likely to understand that they wish to continue speaking and are seeking feedback, by word or gesture.
A falling tone is used at the end of a list to show that the list is complete.
o Would you like tea / coffee / fruit juice / or lemonade / (That's all I'm offering.)
o Would you like tea / coffee / fruit juice / lemonade / (There might be other drinks as well that I haven't named.)
• Intonation shows the speaker's attitude. It is by changing the pitch that we can indicate certainty, uncertainty, enthusiasm, boredom, and so on. We can say "yes" so that it almost means "no". As listeners, we become skilled at detecting fine shades of meaning in other people's speech. We can say they sounded unhappy, tired, sneering, self-satisfied, sarcastic, and so on. These attitudes are picked up from very fine variations in pitch and loudness.
These nuances can be tested by asking someone to express different attitudes or emotions using only "mmmmm". enthusiasm? boredom? uncertainty? anger?
The variations in pitch can be quite difficult to analyse objectively. Just as we can distinguish very fine differences in taste that are difficult to analyse scientifically, so it is often very difficult to determine and describe the exact changes in pitch that produce these different responses.
Some listeners find it easy to discern whether the pitch movement on a nuclear syllable is rising or falling, but others find the distinctions almost impossible to hear. It is fruitless - and distressing - to ask such people to try to say something with a predetermined rise or fall. It is better to ask them to say something to express a certain attitude. If they are asked to express finality or certainty, the result is most likely to be a fall. If they are asked to say something in a questioning way, it is most likely to be a rise. If they are asked to express uncertainty, it will probably be a fall-rise. Fortunately, the ability to hear and interpret intonation in everyday speech does not depend on the ability to analyse it or replicate it in class.
Although intonation is an important feature of spoken English, it is represented in written English only rather crudely by the use of such punctuation devices as full stops, commas, question marks, and exclamation marks. Skilful writers can convey shades of meaning in various ways. Some resort to a simple method of adverbials.
"How are you today?" he asked cheerfully. laconically. bitterly. wistfully.
Tone Groups (= tone units, intonation groups, or sense Gross)
= A stretch of speech identified as the domain of a unit of intonation. E.g. I'll do it, but I'll need some help would normally have two tone groups: I'll DO it / but I'll need some HELP. The division is shown by ‘/’ and might …
Because tone groups are said on a single breath, they are limited in length and average about two seconds, or about five words.
An understanding of tone groups is important to understanding the difference between written and spoken language. In written language, the basic unit is the sentence; in spoken language, it is the tone group. We break up spoken language into tone groups because we need to breathe, and so there is a physical reason for this structure. But there is also the need to think; that is, tone groups also have a cognitive basis. While we are speaking one tone group, we are planning the next one, and so the tone group carries only one idea at a time. Thus the pace of the tone groups, and the information they convey, matches the speaker's thoughts.
From time to time, it is necessary to pause and draw breath, and also to plan.
These planning pauses are often marked by um or er, which are technically called voiced hesitations.
• The teacher thinks the student is an idiot.
o / The teacher thinks / the student is an idiot./Meaning: The teacher thinks (that) the student is an idiot.
o / The teacher / thinks the student / is an idiot. /Meaning: "The teacher," thinks the student, "is an idiot."
Intonation practice
1. Fall on complete, definite statements.This is the most common pattern in English.
Dialogue. (Practise with /p/)A: Can I help you?B: I hope so. I have a complaint. I bought a pullover in your shop. It was a beautiful pullover
and very expensive.
2. Fall on Wh-questions.
Practice with /w/A: William heard something wonderful last week. B: What did he hear last week?
3.Alternative Questions –or questions. The question rises on the first and falls on the second.
These have a falling tune at the end. The parts of the words which are underlined are louder, or stressed.
Would you like coffee or tea?
Would you like pork or beef?
4. Question Tags – falling.
The speaker is certain of what he/she says. He/she expects the other person to agree with him/her. She looks terrible in blue, ..….The brown raincoat is very large, …..
5.Question Tags – rising. The speaker is not certain. He/she is asking for confirmation. The voice rises on the question tag.
Tim Fitzwilliam isn’t English, is he?6. Rise on Echo Questions.
A: Have we got any postcards?B: Postcards? Yes, I think they are in the drawer with the envelopes. 7. Correcting.
a) The voice falls on the correct word, to emphasise it. For example: A: Her birthday is on the tenth of December.B: No, it isn’t. It‘s on the fifth of December.
b) The voice falls and then rises on the incorrect information. Then it fall on the correct information to emphasise it.
For example: Her birthday isn’t the tenth of December. It‘s the fifth.
8. Polite RiseBecause a rise sound less definite than a fall it can be used to sound polite, especially when
beginning a conversation. Itis common when answering the phone.
Practise this telephone conversation.A: Cavendish Manufacturing Company. Can I help you?B: I‘d like to speak to the Managing Director, please.A: The Managing Director? That’s Anna Cavendish. I’ll put you through.
9. Yes/No Short Answers.For example: Yes, it was.
The voice often falls on ‘Yes‘, which could be a complete answer, and also on ‘it was‘, which is also a complete, definite statement. The speaker often goes on to give a more detailed answer, also with a fall.
10. Rise in subordinate clause or non-final phrase, fall in main clause
For example: Before I read this book, I thought stress was an executive disease. One day, our teacher asked us to write a story.
11. Statement implying ‘but …..‘
The voice falls and rises. The fall marks the important information; the rise implies that though the speaker may have made a positive statement, he/she is going to qualify it. He/she may actually say ‘but …..‘ or may simply imply it.
For example: A: Did you have a good holiday?
B: The weather was very good….(but everything else was awful).
Pitch range
What is it? Meaning and emphasis is created in most languages by varying the pitch and inflection of the voice. This property specifies the degree of variation from the average pitch of the voice being used to render the content. A voice with a small pitch-range will sound monotone, while a voice with high pitch range values will sound very animated.
Another defin ition: The perceived pitch of a human voice is determined by the fundamental frequency, and typically has a value of 120Hz for a male voice and 210Hz for a female voice. Inflexions and changes in pitch are used in human language to convey additional meaning and emphasis. Thus, a highly animated voice, or one that is heavily inflected, displays a high pitch range. The pitch-range property specifies the range over which these variations may occur.
6. Phonology and orthography: rules and patterns, silent letters, homophones.
Phonology is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use.
The writing systems of some languages are based on the phonemic principle of having one letter (or combination of letters) per phoneme and vice-versa. Ideally, speakers can correctly write whatever they can say, and can correctly read anything that is written. However in English, different spellings can be used for the same phoneme (e.g., rude and food have the same vowel sounds), and the same letter (or combination of letters) can represent different phonemes (e.g., the "th" consonant sounds of thin and this are different). In order to avoid this confusion based on orthography, phonologists represent phonemes by writing them between two slashes: " / / "
The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific writing system (script) to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example for Kurdish, Uyghur or Serbian, there can be more than one orthography. Orthography is derived from Greek orthós ("correct") and gráphein ("to write").
While "orthography" colloquially is often used synonymously with spelling, spelling is only part of orthography. Other elements of the field of orthography are hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks and punctuation. Orthography describes or defines the set of symbols (graphemes and diacritics) used, and the rules about how to write these symbols.
English orthography is the alphabetic spelling system used by the English language. English letters, as you know, may be pronounced in a number of different ways.
For example the letter "a" is pronounced in five different ways in these five words:
cat career car caught care Kate
English has 44 sounds, consisting of 20 vowels and 24 consonants, as exemplified in the following words and graphemes:19 vowels as in at, aim, fair, cart, autumn, end, eel, term, it, tie, on, toe, oil, too, fort, up, due, out, couldand the unstressed, barely audible half vowel (or schwa) as in 'flatten, decide, abandon;and the 24 consonants b, ch, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, ng, p, r, s, sh, t, v, w, y, z, voiced th (this), unvoiced
th (think), and zh (as in vision).
Because several English sounds have more than one regular spelling, depending on their position in a word (cute, cue), the letters which follow it (cat, kept) or the sounds which precede it (seek, peck),the basic English spelling system comprises 91 rules (or patterns) as exemplified in the following words:Cat; plate, play; air; car; sauce, saw; bed;c/at/ot/ut, crab/clap, kite/kept, comic, pick, seek, risk; chat, catch;dog; end; eel, funny; herb; fish; garden; house; ink; bite, by; jug, gentle, bridge, oblige;lips; man; nose, ring;pot, want, quarrel; bone, old, toe; coin, toy; food; good; order, wart, quarter, more;out, now; pin; quick; rug;sun, face, idiocy; shop, station, cautious, facial, musician;tap, delicate; this, thing; cup; cube, cue;van, have, river;window; fix; yes; zip, wise; vision, treasure,8 endings (doable, fatal, single, ordinary, flatten, presence, present, other)and 2 prefixes (decide, invite)and the consonant doubling rule (bitter - biter).
SILENT LETTERS
Note the differences between English orthography and phonology. All of the words in the box have consonant letters in them which are not pronounced. They are silent letters. Here are three reasons why English has so many silent letters:
Old English was 90% phonemic (words sound the same as they look). But from the beginning of the 15th century, we began to borrow words from other languages. Because grammar and usage rules are different in other languages, adopted words did not follow the rules of English pronunciation.
The English language 'borrowed' the Latin alphabet, and so we have only got 26 letters to represent around 41 different significant sounds. This means that we must attempt to use combinations of letters to represent sounds.
In the Middle English Period William Caxton brought the printing press to England. As time passed, pronunciation continued to change, but the printing press preserved the old spelling. That's why today we have words that end in a silent 'e', or have other silent letters in the middle, like 'might'. In fact, modern day English is only 40% phonemic
Silent P Silent B_____________ pneumonia /nju:ˈməʊnIə / subtle / ˈsʌtl /
pneumatic /nju:ˈmætIk/ debt /det/
psychology /saIˈkɒləʤi/ comb /kəʊm/
raspberry /ˈrɑ:zbəri/ or /eri/ doubt /daʊt/
cupboard /ˈkʌbəd/ lamb /læm/
receipt /rIˈsi:t/ limb /lIm/
thumb /θʌm/
bomb /bɒm/
Silent T Silent D__________________ castle /ˈkɑ:səl/ or /ˈkɑ:sl/
soften /ˈsɒfən/ or /ˈsɒfn/ sandwich /ˈsænwIʤ/
Christmas /ˈkrIsməs/ Windsor /ˈwInzə/
depot /ˈdepəʊ/ handsome /ˈhænsəm/
listen /ˈlIsən/ or /ˈlIsn/
fasten /ˈfɑ:sən/ or /ˈfɑ:sn/
bouquet /bəʊˈkeI/
Silent M Silent TH mnemonic /nəˈmɒnIk asthma /ˈæsmə/
Silent K Silent G(H) ________ knife /naIf/ thorough / ˈθʌrə/
knee /ni:/ daughter /ˈdɔ:tə/
know /nəʊ/ sign /saIn/ gnat /næt/
knock /nɒk/ foreign /ˈfɒrən/ or /ˈfɒrIn/knight /naIt/ might /maIt/knuckle /ˈnʌkl/ gnome /nəʊm/
Silent L Silent N chalk / ʧɔ:k/ condemn /kənˈdem/
would /wʊd/ damn /dæm/
walk /w ɔ:k/ autumn /ˈɔ:təm/
half /hɑ:f/ hymn /hIm/
folk /fəʊk/ solemn /ˈsɒləm/
palm /pɑ:m/
Holmes /həʊmz/
calf /kɑ:f/
calm /kɑ:m/
Silent S Silent H rendezvous /ˈrɒndIvu:/ hour /aʊə/
debris /ˈdebri:/ exhibit /IgˈzIbIt/
island /ˈaIlənd/ honour /ˈɒnə/heir /eə/exhaust /Igˈzɔ:st/
vehicle /ˈvi: Ikl/Silent R Silent W far /fɑ:/ wrist /rIst/
cord /k ɔ:d/ whole /həʊl/
farm /fɑ:m/ write /raIt/two /tu:/ sword /sɔ:d/
answer /ˈɑ:nsə/who /hu:/
HOMOPHONES
Homophones are words that have exactly the same sound (pronunciation) but different meanings and (usually) spelling.
accessary, accessory ad, add ail, ale air, heir aisle, I'll, isle all, awl allowed, aloud alms, arms altar, alter arc, ark aren't, aunt ate, eight auger, augur auk, orc aural, oral away, aweigh awe, oar, or, ore axel, axle aye, eye, I bail, bale bait, bate baize, bays bald, bawled ball, bawl band, banned bard, barred bare, bear bark, barque baron, barren base, bass bay, bey bazaar, bizarre
be, bee beach, beech bean, been beat, beet beau, bow beer, bier bel, bell, belle berry, bury berth, birth bight, bite, byte billed, build bitten, bittern blew, blue bloc, block boar, bore board, bored boarder, border bold, bowled boos, booze born, borne bough, bow boy, buoy brae, bray braid, brayed braise, brays, braze brake, break bread, bred brews, bruise bridal, bridle broach, brooch bur, burr but, butt
buy, by, bye buyer, byre calendar, calender call, caul canvas, canvass cast, caste caster, castor caught, court caw, core, corps cede, seed ceiling, sealing cell, sell censer, censor, sensor cent, scent, sent cereal, serial cheap, cheep check, cheque choir, quire chord, cord cite, sight, site clack, claque clew, clue climb, clime close, cloze coal, kohl coarse, course coign, coin colonel, kernel complacent, complaisant complement, compliment
coo, coup cops, copse council, counsel cousin, cozen creak, creek crews, cruise cue, kyu, queue curb, kerb currant, current cymbol, symbol dam, damn days, daze dear, deer descent, dissent desert, dessert deviser, divisor dew, due die, dye discreet, discrete doe, doh, dough done, dun douse, dowse draft, draught dual, duel earn, urn eery, eyrie ewe, yew, you faint, feint fah, far fair, fare farther, father fate, fête
faun, fawn fay, fey faze, phase feat, feet ferrule, ferule few, phew fie, phi file, phial find, fined fir, fur fizz, phiz flair, flare flaw, floor flea, flee flex, flecks flew, flu, flue floe, flow flour, flower foaled, fold for, fore, four foreword, forward fort, fought forth, fourth foul, fowl franc, frank freeze, frieze friar, fryer furs, furze gait, gate galipot, gallipot gallop, galop gamble, gambol gays, gaze genes, jeans gild, guild gilt, guilt giro, gyro gnaw, nor gneiss, nice gorilla, guerilla grate, great greave, grieve greys, graze grisly, grizzly groan, grown guessed, guest hail, hale hair, hare hall, haul hangar, hanger hart, heart haw, hoar, whore hay, hey heal, heel, he'll hear, here heard, herd he'd, heed heroin, heroine hew, hue hi, high higher, hire him, hymn ho, hoe
hoard, horde hoarse, horse holey, holy, wholly hour, our idle, idol in, inn indict, indite it's, its jewel, joule key, quay knave, nave knead, need knew, new knight, night knit, nit knob, nob knock, nock knot, not know, no knows, nose laager, lager lac, lack lade, laid lain, lane lam, lamb laps, lapse larva, lava lase, laze law, lore lay, ley lea, lee leach, leech lead, led leak, leek lean, lien lessen, lesson levee, levy liar, lyre licence, license licker, liquor lie, lye lieu, loo links, lynx lo, low load, lode loan, lone locks, lox loop, loupe loot, lute made, maid mail, male main, mane maize, maze mall, maul manna, manner mantel, mantle mare, mayor mark, marque marshal, martial marten, martin mask, masque maw, more me, mi mean, mien
meat, meet, mete medal, meddle metal, mettle meter, metre might, mite miner, minor, mynah mind, mined missed, mist moat, mote mode, mowed moor, more moose, mousse morning, mourning muscle, mussel naval, navel nay, neigh nigh, nye none, nun od, odd ode, owed oh, owe one, won packed, pact packs, pax pail, pale pain, pane pair, pare, pear palate, palette, pallet pascal, paschal paten, patten, pattern pause, paws, pores, pours pawn, porn pea, pee peace, piece peak, peek, peke, pique peal, peel pearl, purl pedal, peddle peer, pier pi, pie pica, pika place, plaice plain, plane pleas, please plum, plumb pole, poll poof, pouffe practice, practise praise, prays, preys principal, principle profit, prophet quarts, quartz quean, queen rain, reign, rein raise, rays, raze rap, wrap raw, roar read, reed read, red real, reel reek, wreak
rest, wrest retch, wretch review, revue rheum, room right, rite, wright, write ring, wring road, rode roe, row role, roll roo, roux, rue rood, rude root, route rose, rows rota, rotor rote, wrote rough, ruff rouse, rows rung, wrung rye, wry saver, savour spade, spayed sale, sail sane, seine satire, satyr sauce, source saw, soar, sore scene, seen scull, skull sea, see seam, seem sear, seer, sere seas, sees, seize sew, so, sow shake, sheikh shear, sheer shoe, shoo sic, sick side, sighed sign, sine sink, synch slay, sleigh sloe, slow sole, soul some, sum son, sun sort, sought spa, spar staid, stayed stair, stare stake, steak stalk, stork stationary, stationery steal, steel stile, style storey, story straight, strait sweet, suite swat, swot tacks, tax tale, tail talk, torque tare, tear taught, taut, tort
te, tea, tee team, teem tear, tier teas, tease terce, terse tern, turn there, their, they're threw, through throes, throws throne, thrown thyme, time tic, tick tide, tied tire, tyre to, too, two toad, toed, towed told, tolled
tole, toll ton, tun tor, tore tough, tuff troop, troupe tuba, tuber vain, vane, vein vale, veil vial, vile wail, wale, whale wain, wane waist, waste wait, weight waive, wave wall, waul war, wore ware, wear, where
warn, worn wart, wort watt, what wax, whacks way, weigh, whey we, wee, whee weak, week we'd, weed weal, we'll, wheel wean, ween weather, whether weaver, weever weir, we're were, whirr wet, whet wheald, wheeled which, witch
whig, wig while, wile whine, wine whirl, whorl whirled, world whit, wit white, wight who's, whose woe, whoa wood, would yaw, yore, your, you're yoke, yolk you'll, yule
7. Phonological difficulties for Czech native speakers of English (L1 interference)
Language transfer (also known as L1 interference, linguistic interference, and crossmeaning) refers to speakers or writers applying knowledge from their native language to a second language. It is most commonly discussed in the context of English language learning and teaching, but it can occur in any situation when someone does not have a native-level command of a language, as when translating into a second language.
Connected Speech
Some differences between Czech and English connected speech were mentioned (e.g. assimilation).
What is connected speech?When we speak naturally we do not pronounce a word, stop, then say the next word in the sentence. Fluent speech flows with a rhythm and the words bump into each other. To make speech flow smoothly the way we pronounce the end and beginning of some words can change depending on the sounds at the beginning and end of those words.
These changes are described as features of connected speech.
8. Accents of English. American and British accent
- Přejato z knihy Fraus – Přehledná anglická gramatika
Existují tři základní varianty angličtiny: britská, severoamerická a australská. V rámci britské a americké angličtiny jsou další varianty (irská, skotská, kanadská angličtina).
V angličtině se výslovnost značně liší od pravopisu. Přepis anglické výslovnosti (britské angličtiny) ve výslovnostních slovnících i v učebnicích je založen na BBC English, což je výslovnost profesionálních mluvčích zaměstnaných společností BBC jako hlasatelé v televizi a v rádiu; je to standardní britský akcent užívaný vzdělanými profesionály v Británii, zejména na jihu.
Britská vs. americká angličtina
Samohlásky a dvojhlásky
Britská – 7 krátkých samohlásek, 5 dlouhých, 8 dvojhlásek a 5 trojhlásek. Délka samohlásky závisí na tom, jaká souhláska za ní následuje. Před neznělou souhláskou je samohláska kratší než před znělou souhláskou.
Délka dlouhých samohlásek se a dvojhlásek se značně redukuje, když se vyskytují ve slabice uzavřené
souhláskami / P, t, k, f, θ, s, ʃ, ʧ/.
Např. /iː/ ve slově beat trvá zhruba pouze polovinu délky co ve slově bead nebo bee.
Krátká samohláska /æ/ se obecně dlouží před / b, d, g, v, ð, z, , , m, n/. Např. /æ/ ve slově badʒ ʤ je značně delší než ve slově bat.
Mnoho britských mluvčích užívá hlásku /ɔː/ místo dvojhlásky / ʊ /, zejména vƏ běžných slovech
(např. sure)
Americká – v americké angli
tině se samohlásky tvoří na nižší pozici a s menším ústním napětím než v britské angli
tině. Obvykle neukon
ují slabiky. Jejich délka obecně závisí na fonologickém okolí, tudíž se obvykle nerozlišují dlouhé a krátké samohlásky jako v britské angli
tině. Samohlásky před „r“ jsou nápadně ovlivněné „r- zabarvením.“
Nenapjaté samohlásky /æ/ /e/ / / / / /Ə ɪ /ʊ
Napjaté samohlásky /ɑː/ /ɔː/ /iː/ /ɜː/ /e / ɪ /Ə /ʊ
Široké dvojhlásky /a /ʊ /a / ɪ / /ɔɪ
Retroflexní samohlásky („r – zabarvené)/ɜːr/ / er/
Užití / / a /ɪ /ʊ
Ve výslovnosti je třeba vždy rozlišovat / / a /iɪ ː/ - hit a heat. V současné britské i americké angličtině
je však mnoho slov, kde je rozdíl ve výslovnosti mezi / / a /iɪ ː/ neutralizován. Např. poslední
samohláska ve slovech city a seedy nezní ani jako / /, ani jako /iɪ ː/. V takových případech se užívá
symbol /i/, ačkoliv to není symbol fonému.
Podobná situace je s rozdílem mezi hláskami / / a ʊ /uː/, kdy se používá symbol /u/ - např. u
influenza, influence.
Hlásky / / a /ɪ / se vʊ pozici na konci slova nevyskytují a jsou transkribovány /i/ a /u/, pokud nejsou pod přízvukem.
Pokud po /i/ následuje / /, je možné tuto skupinu vyslovit též/j / - př. Dubious.Ə Ə
Jestliže po /u/ následuje souhláska, může se též vyslovovat jako / / - stimulate.Ə
Souhlásky
Britská angličtina
Souhlásky /P, t, k/ jsou vyslovovány s přídechem (jsou aspirované), zvláště pokud jsou začátečními v přízvučné slabice (např. pet, tin, keyboard). Ve spojení /sp-, st-, sk- / přídech chybí.
Neznělé souhlásky zkracují délku předcházející samohlásky či dvojhlásky v rámci slabiky.
Např. /a / ɪ ve slově right je značně kratší než ve slově ride.
Souhlásky m, n, l a r mohou být často slabikotvorné, to znamená, že mohou samy bez samohlásky tvořit slabiku (např. middle, sudden). Mohou být vyslovovány jednoduše jako souhlásky nebo
s předcházející hláskou / / (nation - /Ə neɪ .n/ neboʃ /neɪ . n/.ʃ Ə
Americká angličtina
V americké angličtině jsou souhlásky prakticky stejné jako v britské angličtině až na dva hlavní rozdíly.
Středové /t/ mezi dvěma samohláskami, když druhá samohláska není přizvučná, v americké angličtině se může sonorizovat, tj. přizpůsobuje se znělému okolí (je vysloveno rychle a zněle, takže zní jako krátké /d/. Např. butter, beetle, consulted, wanted. Podmínky pro tento jev nastávají i při spojování slov (např. not only, chat I).
V americké angličtině je přítomno postvokalické /r/ - např. door /d ɔːr/.
Britská angličtina neužívá rotacismus – hláska /r/ se obvykle nevyslovuje; vyslovuje se pouze tam, kde po ní následuje samohláska (round). V americké angličtině se rotacismus projevuje a obecně vzato se /r/ vyslovuje vždy tam, kde se nachází v pravopisu.
V britské angličtině se r vyslovuje také tehdy, když jsou slova spojena ve frázi, a to tam, kde je r na konci prvního slova následováno vyslovovanou samohláskou na začátku následujícího slova (there is, her arm). Toto r se nazývá „linking r“. Ve slovnících bývá potenciální výskyt /r/ v britské angličtině
naznačen (např. ve spojení car owner je car - /k ɑːʳ/).
Britská a americká angličtina
Standardní britský akcent – BBC English.
Standardní americký akcent – General American.
Výslovnost
Americká angličtina nemá hlásku / / a dvojhlásky ɒ /Əʊ/ / /ɪƏ a /e /Ə .
Rozdíly ve výslovnosti hlásek v britské a americké angličtině:
Brit. Amer. Poznámka příklady
/ɑː/ /æ/ kromě pozice před r last, dance
/ɔː/ /ɑː/ kromě pozice před r ought, laundry
/ / ɒ /ɑː/ got, doctor
/ / ɒ /ɔː/ foreign
/Ə /ʊ /o /ʊ nose, comb
/ /ɪƏ / /ɪ ear
/e /Ə /e/ hair
/ʊƏ/ / /ʊ pure
/j uː/ /uː/ duty, new, tube, resume
V americké angličtině s t a tt uprostřed slova vyslovuje více jako d (letter, water, metal).
Obecně se vyslovuje r ve slově vždy tam, kde se nachází v pravopisu, i před souhláskou a na konci slova, kde se v britské angličtině nevyslovuje (bird, car, were).
Některá slova se vyslovují odlištně, např.
Schedule, ether, clerk, advertisement.
Doplnění – Wikipedia
Differences in pronunciation between American English (AmE) and British English (BrE) can be divided into:
• differences in accent (i.e. phoneme inventory and realisation). See differences between General American and Received Pronunciation for the standard accents in the United States and Britain; for information about other accents see regional accents of English speakers.
• differences in the pronunciation of individual words in the lexicon (i.e. phoneme distribution). In this article, transcriptions use Received Pronunciation (RP) to represent BrE and General American (GAm) and to represent AmE.
Stress
[edit] French stressFor many loanwords from French where AmE has final-syllable stress, BrE stresses an earlier syllable. Such words include:
• BrE first-syllable stress: adultA2,B2, balletA2, baton, beret, bidet, blasé, brevetA2, brochureB2, buffet, caféA2, canardB2, chagrin, chaletA2, chauffeurA2,B2, chiffon, clichéB2, coupé, croissant, debrisB2, debut, décor, detailA2, détenteB2, flambé, frappé, garageB2, gateau, gourmetA2, lamé, montageA2, parquet, pastel, pastille, pâté, précis, sachet, salon, soupçon, vaccine; matinée, négligée, nonchalant, nondescript; also some French names, including BernardB2, Calais, Degas, Dijon, Dumas, Francoise, ManetA2, Maurice, MonetA2, Pauline, Renault, RenéB2, Renoir, Rimbaud, DelacroixB2.
• BrE second-syllable stress: attaché, consommé, décolleté, déclassé, De Beauvoir, Debussy, démodé, denouement, distingué, Dubonnet, escargot, exposé, fiancé(e), retroussé
A few French words have other stress differences:
• AmE first-syllable, BrE last-syllable: addressA2 (postal), m(o)ustacheA2; cigaretteA2, limousineB2, magazineB2,
• AmE first-syllable, BrE second-syllable: liaisonA2, macramé, Renaissance (AmE also final-syllable stress)
• AmE second-syllable, BrE last-syllable: New Orleans
-ate and -atoryMost 2-syllable verbs ending -ate have first-syllable stress in AmE and second-syllable stress in BrE. This includes castrate, dictateA2, donateA2, locateA2, mandateB2, migrate, placate, prostrate, pulsate, rotate, serrateB2, spectate, striated, translateA2, vacate, vibrate; in the case of cremate, narrate, placate, the first vowel is in addition reduced to /ə/ in BrE. Examples where AmE and BrE match include create, debate, equate, elate, negate, orate, relate with second-syllable stress; and mandate and probate with first-syllable stress. Derived nouns in -ator may retain the distinction, but those in -ation do not. Also, migratoryA2 and vibratory retain the distinction.
Most longer -ate verbs are pronounced the same in AmE and BrE, but a few have first-syllable stress in BrE and second-syllable stress in AmE: elongate, infiltrateA2, remonstrate, tergiversate. However, some derived adjectives ending -atory have a difference, as stress shifting to -at- can occur in BrE. Among these cases are regulatoryB2, celebratoryA2, participatoryB2, where AmE stresses the same syllable as the corresponding -ate verb; and compensatory, where AmE stresses the second syllable.
A further -atory difference is laboratory: AmE /ˈlæbrɪtɔriː/ and BrE /ləˈbɒrət(ə)riː/.
[edit] Miscellaneous stressThere are a number of cases where same-spelled noun, verb and/or adjective have uniform stress in one dialect but distinct stress in the other (e.g. alternate, prospect): see initial-stress-derived noun.
The following table lists words where the only difference between AmE and BrE is in stress (possibly with a consequent reduction of the unstressed vowel). Words with other points of difference are listed in a later table.
BrE AmE words with relevant syllable stressed in each dialect
1st 2nd caffeine, cannotA2, casein, Kathleen, SuezA2, communal, escalopeB2, harass, omega, paprikaB2, patina, subaltern, stalactite, stalagmite, ThanksgivingB2, transference, aristocratA2,B2, kilometre/kilometerB2
2nd 1st defense (sport), guffawA2, ice creamA2,B2, guru, mama, papa, pretense, princessA2,B2, weekendB2, Canton, anginaA2, Augustine, Bushido, Ghanaian, LofotenB2, marshmallow, patronal, spread-eagle, controversy, formidableB2, hospitableB2, miscellany, predicative, saxophonistB2, submariner, ancillary, capillary, catenary, corollary, fritillary, medullary
1st 3rd ParmesanB2, partisan, premature, opportune, carburet(t)or
3rd 1st margarine, PyreneesB2, cockatoo
2nd 3rd advertisement
3rd 2nd arytenoidA2, oregano, obscurantist
Affixes
-ary -ery -ory -bury, -berry, -monyWhere the syllable preceding -ary,-ery or -ory is stressed, AmE and BrE alike pronounce all these endings /əriː/. Where the preceding syllable is unstressed, however, AmE has a full vowel rather than schwa: /ɛri/ for -ary and -ery and /ɔri/ for -ory. BrE retains the reduced vowel /əriː/, or even elides it completely to /riː/. (The elision is avoided in carefully enunciated speech, especially with endings -rary,-rery,-rory.) So military is AmE /ˈmɪlɪtɛriː/ and BrE /ˈmɪlɪtəriː/ or /ˈmɪlɪtriː/.
Note that stress differences occur with ending -atory (explained above) and a few others like capillary (included above). A few words have the full vowel in AmE in the ending even though the preceding syllable is stressed: library, primaryA2, rosemary. Pronouncing library as /ˈlaɪbɛriː/ rather than /ˈlaɪbrɛriː/ is highly stigmatized in AmE, whereas in BrE, /ˈlaɪbriː/ is common in rapid or casual speech.
Formerly the BrE-AmE distinction for adjectives carried over to corresponding adverbs ending -arily, -erily or -orily. However, nowadays most BrE speakers adopt the AmE practice of shifting the stress to the antepenultimate syllable: militarily is thus /ˌmɪlɪˈtɛrɪliː/ rather than /ˈmɪlɪtrɪliː/.
The placename component -bury (e.g. Canterbury) has a similar difference after a stressed syllable: AmE /bɛri/ and BrE /brɪː/ or /bərɪː/. The ending -mony after a stressed syllable is AmE /moʊni/ but BrE /mənɪː/. The word -berry in compounds has a slightly different distinction: in BrE, it is reduced (/bəriː/ or /briː/) after a stressed syllable, and may be full /bɛriː/ after an unstressed syllable; in AmE it is usually full in all cases. Thus, strawberry is BrE /ˈstrɔːbəriː/ but AmE /ˈstrɔbɛriː/, while whortleberry is BrE /ˈwɔːtlbɛriː/ and similarly AmE /ˈwɔrtlbɛriː/.
-ileWords ending in unstressed -ile derived from Latin adjectives ending -ilis are mostly pronounced with
a full vowel (/aɪl/) in BrE but a reduced vowel /ɪl/ or syllabic /l/ in AmE (e.g. fertile rhymes with fur tile in BrE but with turtle in AmE). This difference applies:
• generally to agile, docile, facile, fertile, fissile, fragile, futile, infertile, missile, nubile, octile, puerile, rutile, servile, stabile, sterile, tactile, tensile, virile, volatile;
• usually to ductile, hostile, (im)mobile (adjective), projectile, textile, utile, versatile;
• not usually to decile, domicile, infantile, juvenile, labile, mercantile, pensile, reptile, senile;
• not to crocodile, exile, gentile, percentile, reconcile; nor to compounds of monosyllables (e.g. turnstile from stile).
Related endings -ility, -ilize, -iliary are pronounced the same in AmE as BrE. The name Savile is pronounced with (/ɪl/) in both BrE and AmE. Mobile (sculpture), camomile and febrile are sometimes pronounced with /il/ in AmE and /aɪl/) in BrE. Imbecile has /aɪl/ or /iːl/ in BrE and often /ɪl/ in AmE.
-ineThe suffix -ine, when unstressed, is pronounced sometimes /aɪn/ (e.g. feline), sometimes /iːn/ (e.g. morphine) and sometimes /ɪn/ (e.g. medicine). Some words have variable pronunciation within BrE, or within AmE, or between BrE and AmE. Generally, AmE is more likely to favour /iːn/ or /ɪn/, and BrE to favour /aɪn/: e.g. adamantineA2, carbine, crystallineA2, labyrinthine, philistine, serpentineA2, turbineA2. However, sometimes AmE has /aɪn/ where BrE has /iːn/; e.g. iodineB2, strychnineA2.
Weak formsSome function words have a weak form in AmE, with a reduced vowel used when the word is unstressed, but always use the full vowel in RP. These include: or [ɚ]; you [jə]; your [jɚ].
On the other hand, the titles Saint and Sir before a person's name have "weak forms" in BrE but not AmE: before vowels, [snt] and [sər]; before consonants, [sn] and [sə].