Stress Rhythm Intonation in Spoken English SAN JOSE

Stress, Rhythm, & Intonation in Spoken English SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY

Review of Terminology Stress ◦ The linguistic means of making a syllable more “prominent”

Review of Terminology Stress ◦ The linguistic means of making a syllable more “prominent” ◦ This is done by changing the 1. ____ 2. ____ 3. ____ of the vowel in the stressed syllable

Review of Terminology Stress ◦ The linguistic means of making a syllable more “prominent” ◦ This is done by changing the 1. Pitch 2. Length 3. Volume of the vowel in the stressed syllable

Review of Terminology Rhythm ◦ *At the phrase or sentence level* ◦ Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables that create the “music” or “melody” of a language

Review of Terminology Rhythm ◦ *At the phrase or sentence level* ◦ Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables that create the “music” or “melody” of a language The workers are going on strike tomorrow.

Review of Terminology Rhythm ◦ *At the phrase or sentence level* ◦ Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables that create the “music” or “melody” of a language The WORkers are GOing on STRIKE to. MORrow. _ _ _

Review of Terminology Rhythm The WORkers are GOing on STRIKE to. MORrow. _ _ _ ** When determining the rhythm of an English utterance, look first for the content words—they are usually the words that will contain the “beats” in the rhythm. **

Review of Terminology �Rhythm ◦ In the utterance below: �How many syllables total? _____ �How many “beats”? ____ “She would’ve liked to have gone to the movie. ” _ _ _ ◦ : �“ ◦ “

Review of Terminology �Rhythm ◦ In the utterance below: �How many syllables total? Eleven �How many “beats”? Three “She would’ve liked to have gone to the movie. ” _ _ _ ◦ Content words: �“Liked” (verb) / “Gone” (verb) / “Movie” (noun) ◦ “She” = unstressed because it is a pronoun ◦ “would’ve” = unstressed because it is a modal verb

Review of Terminology “She would’ve liked to have gone to the movie. ” _ _ _ /ʃiy wʊdəv layk tuw həv gɑn tə ðə muwviy/

Review of Terminology Intonation ◦ *At the sentence level* Patterns of pitch changes and variations within a phrase or utterance Often conveys the speaker’s mood, intentions, attitude The variations still follow rhythm patterns (stressed syllables are the ones that receive the pitch changes— overall pitch changes made in relation to the other pitches in the whole phrase or utterance) Are you ready yet? You can’t be serious!

Review of Terminology Rhythm & Contrastive Stress Think about the context of the utterance—what words are probably the most “important” to the speaker? They will likely carry the “beats. ” These may sometimes be function words: ◦ A: “Are you going to theatre? ” ◦ B: “No, I’m coming from theatre. ”

Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat. I did not say you stole my red

Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat. I did not say you stole my red (She said you did. )

Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat. I did not say you stole my red (She said you did. ) (I completely, strongly deny it. )

Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat. I did not say you stole my red (She said you did. ) (I completely, strongly deny it. ) (I implied it. )

Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat. I did not say you stole my red (She said you did. ) (I completely, strongly deny it. ) (I implied it. ) (I said she stole it. )

Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat. I did not say you stole my red (She said you did. ) (I completely, strongly deny it. ) (I implied it. ) (I said she stole it. ) (I said you borrowed it. )

Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat. I did not say you stole my red (She said you did. ) (I completely, strongly deny it. ) (I implied it. ) (I said she stole it. ) (I said you borrowed it. ) (I said you stole her red hat. )

Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat. I did not say you stole my red (She said you did. ) (I completely, strongly deny it. ) (I implied it. ) (I said she stole it. ) (I said you borrowed it. ) (I said you stole her red hat. ) (I said you stole my blue one. )

Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat. I did not say you stole my red (She said you did. ) (I completely, strongly deny it. ) (I implied it. ) (I said she stole it. ) (I said you borrowed it. ) (I said you stole her red hat. ) (I said you stole my blue one. )