ENG 120
SPOKEN ENGLISH PRACTICE:
BEYOND THE SEGMENTS
RHYTHM
(2)
- PHONETIC WEAKENINGS AND
REDUCTIONS
- STRONG AND WEAK FORMS
- CONNECTED SPEECH PROCESSES
-CONTRACTIONS
PHONETIC WEAKENINGS AND
REDUCTIONS
• CITATION FORMS AND FORMS IN CONNECTED
SPEECH
• STRATEGIES USED TO MAINTAIN RHYTHM
• USUALLY AFFECT UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES
• SHORTENINGS, ELISIONS ETC.
• IN MOST CASES, VOWELS ARE REDUCED TO
THE SCHWA
• IN SOME GRAMMATICAL WORDS, BOTH THE
FULL AND REDUCED PRONUNCIATIONS CO-EXIST
GIVING RISE TO STRONG AND WEAK FORMS
WEAKENINGS
• WEAKENING MAKES ALL VOWELS MOVE TO THE CENTRE OF THE
VOWEL SPACE ; FIRST TO THE CENTRAL VOWEL QUALITY
NEAREST TO THEIR
strong vowel
ORIGINAL ONE
weak vowel example
/i:/ /ɪ/, /i/ be
/u:/ /ʊ/, /u/ do
/e/ /ə/ them
/ӕ/ /ə/ and
/ʌ/ /ə/ but
/ɑ:/ /ə/ are
/ɒ/ /ə/ of
/ɔ:/ /ə/ for
/ɜ:/ /ə/ her
• THE HIGH L AX VOWEL /Ʊ/MAY RETAIN ITS FORM OR WEAKEN
TO THE SCHWA
STRONG AND WEAK FORMS
• GRAMMATICAL WORDS ARE USUALLY UNSTRESSED
• VOWELS FREQUENTLY REDUCED OR WEAKENED
• GRAMMATICAL WORDS HAVE THE WEAK FORM USED IN
UNSTRESSED POSITIONS
• THE STRONG FORM USED WHEN THE WORD IS STRESSED FOR
SOME REASON OR S AID IN ISOL ATION
• NOTE: WEAK FORM = THE UNACCENTED FORM
• THE STRONG = THE ACCENTED FORM.
• NOT ALL GRAMMATICAL WORDS HAVE WEAK AND STRONG
FORMS
• ONLY MONOSYLL ABIC GRAMMATICAL WORDS HAVE A WEAK FORM
• SOME WORDS PRESENT SEVERAL DIFFERENT WEAK FORMS.
STRONG AND WEAK FORMS
word strong form weak form word strong form weak form
a /eɪ/ /ə/ his /hɪz/ /ɪz/
am /ӕm/ /əm/ just /ʤʌst/ /ʤəst/
an /ӕn/ /ən/ me /mi:/ /mɪ/, /mi/
and /ӕnd/ /ənd/, /ən/, /ṇd/, /ṇ/ must /mʌst/ / məst/
are /ɑ:/ /ə/ Of /ɒv/ /əv/
as /ӕz/ /əz/ shall /ʃӕl/ /ʃəl/, /ʃḷ/
at /ӕt/ /ət/ she /ʃi:/ /ʃɪ/, /ʃi/
be /bi:/ /bɪ/, /bi/ should /ʃʊd/ /ʃʊd/, / ʃəd /
been /bi:n/ / bɪn/ some /sʌm/ /səm/, /sṃ/
but /bʌt/ /bət/ than /ðӕn/ /ðən/, /ðṇ/
can /kӕn/ /kən/, /kṇ/ that /ðӕt/ /ðət/
could /kʊd/ /kʊd/, /kəd/ the /ði:/ /ðɪ/, /ði/, /ðə/
do /du:/ /dʊ/, /du/, /də/ them /ðem/ / ðəm/, /əm/
does /dʌz/ /dəz/ there /ðeə/ /ðə/
for /fɔ:/ /fə/ To /tu:/ /tʊ/, /tu/, /tə/
from /frɒm/ /frəm/ us /ʌs/ /əs/
had /hӕd/ /həd/, /əd/ was /wɒz/ /wəz/
has / hӕz / /həz/, /əz/ we /wi:/ /wɪ/, /wi/
have / hӕv / /həv/, /əv/ were /wɜ:/ /wə/
he /hi:/ /hɪ/, /ɪ/, /hi/, /i/ who /hu:/ /hʊ/, /hu/
her /hɜ:/ /hə/, /ə/ would /wʊd/ /wʊd/, /wəd/
him /hɪm/ /ɪm/ you /ju:/ /jʊ/, /ju/, /jə/
STRONG AND WEAK FORMS
• EXCEPTIONS TO THE USE OF GRAMMATICAL WORDS IN
CONNECTED SPEECH
• (I).WHEN THE WORD IS STRESSED BECAUSE OF EMPHASIS OR
CONTRAST, THE STRONG FORM IS COMPULSORY:
• E.G. /ənd/ → /’ӕnd/ I didn’t say apples or pears, I said apples and
pears.
• (II).WHEN PREPOSITIONS AND AUXILIARY VERBS APPEAR IN
GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURES THEY ARE USED IN STRONG
FORM:
• You were later than I was this morning. /wɒz/ not /wəz/
• He can sing well, but I can too. /kӕn/ not /kən/
or /kṇ/
• They were being looked for by the police. /fɔ:/ not /fə/
STRONG AND WEAK FORMS
• STRANDING IS A LINGUISTIC PHENOMENON WHICH OFTEN TAKES
PL ACE AT THE END OF THE SENTENCE
• WHEN A PREPOSITION AT THE END OF A SENTENCE WHICH HAS ITS
COMPLEMENT DELETED
• That’s the picture I was looking at. /ӕt/ not /ət/
• WHEN AN AUXILIARY VERB IS NOT FOLLOWED BY AN ADJECTIVE OR
A VERB
• He’s younger than I am. /ӕm/ not /əm/
• EXCEPTION:
THE AUXILIARY VERB ‘HAVE’ WHEN IMMEDIATELY PRECEDED BY
ANOTHER AUXILIARY, SUCH AS CAN’T, COULD, COULDN’T, MUST,
MUSTN’T, SHOULD, SHOULDN’T, WILL, WON’T, WOULD, WOULDN’T,
IS NORMALLY USED IN ITS WEAK FROM EVEN IF IT IS STRANDED.
GRAMMATICAL WORDS STRESSED
• WH- WORDS AT THE BEGINNING OF QUESTIONS
• DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
• POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS (MINE, OURS, YOURS, THEIRS)
• CONTRACTED NEGATIVE FORMS
• THE NEGATIVE MARKER ‘NOT’ WHEN NOT CONTRACTED
CONNECTED SPEECH PROCESSES
• DIFFERENCES THAT EXIST BETWEEN THE PRONUNCIATION OF
WORDS IN THEIR CITATION FORM AND THEIR PRONUNCIATION IN
CONNECTEDSPEECH
• [Link] ATION: A PROCESS WHEREBY SEGMENTS BECOME MORE
LIKE THE SEGMENTS WHICH PRECEDE OR FOLLOW THEM. E.G.
• bank /bæŋk/
• good boy /gʊdˈbɔi/ - (the ideal form), [gʊbˈbɔi] - (the assimilated form)
• [Link]: UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES SOUNDS DIS APPEAR.
• next day /nɛks(t)deɪ/
• hand bag /hæn(d)bæg/
• tell (h)im
• then an(d) now
• LIAISON: THE INSERTION OF AN EXTRA SOUND IN ORDER TO
FACILITATE THE ARTICUL ATION OF A SEQUENCE
LIAISON
• (I)THE LINKING R: PRONUNCIATION OF THE FINAL R IN A WORD THAT
IS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER WORD THAT BEGINS WITH A
VOWEL
• THE RESTORATION OF ORTHOGRAPHIC R AS A LINK ACROSS WORD
BOUNDARIES.
• for /fɔ:/ for us /fɔrʌs/
• father /fɑ:ծə/ father and son /fɑ: ծrən ̩sʌn/
• over /əʊvə/ over and above /əʊvrən ̩əbʌv /
• (II) THE INTRUSIVE R: ADDITION OF /R/ IN CONSTRUCTIONS WHERE
ORTHOGRAPHIC R DOES NOT APPEAR IN SPELLING.
• /əmerɪkər ӕnd kӕnədə/. (a) idea of /aɪˈdɪər əv/
• Russia and China / rʌʃər ən ʧɑɪnə/
• area of agreement /ˈeərɪər əv ˈgri:mənt/
CONTRACTIONS
• USUALLY AFFECTS AUXILIARY VERBS
• I HAVE I’VE
• I WILL I’LL
• HE HAS HE’S
• DO NOT DON’T
• CANNOT CAN’T
• SHALL NOT SHAN’T
•
CLASSWORK
IDENTIFY THE STRESSABLE ITEMS
• DIVIDE THE SENTENCES INTO FEET.
• [Link] SHOULD TRAIN TO WIN A MEDAL.
• 2. WHOM DID THE BOY ADMIRE IN SCHOOL?
• 3. POLICEMEN CAN ASK FOR YOUR PASS.
• 4. STUDENTS SHOUD BE VACATING IN A DAY.
• 5. DUNSTAN WILL SPEND SOME OF HIS CASH.