Download UNIT 6 – PROSODY 1) Introduction – Prosody is the name of the

UNIT 6 – PROSODY
1) Introduction – Prosody is the name of the speech elements of stress, rhythm and intonation.
These elements extend over stretches of utterances longer than segments (phonemes). In some
studies, prosodies are termed 'suprasegmental features', or features beyond the segment.
2) STRESS - There are two types of stress: (1) word stress (also called lexical stress) and (2) Stress in connected
utterances or connected speech (also called sentence stress).
2.1) WORD STRESS – Word stress may be defined as the degree of breath force placed on each syllable in a word.
Strong stress is represented by the ['] placed before stressed syllable. Other factors such as loudness and
higher pitch are involved in making a stressed syllable prominent. Here are some simple notions concerning
word stress.
a)
Each word has only primary stress marked by the superscript marker [']. The primary stress is what we mostly deal
with in this unit.
b)
Some longer words may have a secondary degree of stress usually marked by a subscript [ ].
c) Unstressed syllables are not marked.
d) As a rule, the number of stressed syllables in a word corresponds to the number of vowels and dipthongs in it. An
exception to this rule is that in limited cases syllabic consonants may stand for syllables.
The following are some word stressed rules:
(1) Stress is placed on the first syllable of most nouns and adjectives consisting of two syllables: e.g. 'an
sence, 'ob ject, 'Cy prus, 'In dia.
(2) The majority of verbs consisting of two syllables are stressed on the last syllable : e.g re 'cord, ex 'pect,
pro 'test, re 'port.
(3) Stress is placed on the second from last syllable in words with – ic; -tion; or –sion at the end as in : e.g. 'ma
gic, fan'tastic, syn'tactic, se'mantic.
As you may have already noted, in many English words consisting of two syllables, the changing of stress
alters the grammatical classification of the word as in the following e.g. con'trast, ob'ject, pro'test,
con'sort.
When stress goes to a different syllable, a change in the grammatical class of the word ensues – verb to
noun or noun to verb. There is also a change in some of the vowels/dipthongs.
The change of stress alters grammatical classification but does not change any vowel or dipthong.
2.2)
Stress in connected utterances
Stress is related to sentences ( not words). It is also called sentence stress. It is used in English where some
words , normally content words ( nouns, adjectives, main or lexical verbs and adverbs ), are stressed and other
words, usually the smaller function words, are not stressed. Function words are also called grammatical words.
They are: pronouns, definite and indefinite articles, prepositions, auxiliaries, and conjunctions.
When a syllable is not stressed and weak in English, the schwa is a very likely sound.
2.3. ELISION
Another feature of connected speech is elision. Elision is defined as the omission of a final or initial sound
across word boundary or in the same word. When the sound /t/ or /d/ is used between two consonants, it is
often omitted.
2.4. Sentence Focus
When you want to emphasize a certain part of a sentence, perhaps for contrast or in answer to previous
question, you use extra stress or focus. In English, contrast is realized by laying extra stress on the element /
word which the speaker wishes to emphasize. E.g. Jhon found the key,
you can emphasize any of the three elements Jhon, found, or key. This is done by making the required
element prominent or stressed. But this will depend on the meaning you intent to convey ;
3. Rhythm and Intonation
3.1 Rhythm defined
Rhythm can b defined as a regular pattern of stress beats. This pattern is repeated in a tempo – like fashion. It is
achieved in English chiefly through the patterning of stressed and unstressed syllables as in poetry.
Stressed words are what we call 'content words' meaning major words like nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
Non-content words are unstressed such as pronound, auxiliary verbs and articles. The dot (.) marks syllable boundary
in words consisting of more than one syllable.
English is classified as a stress-timed language because in speech roughly the same time is needed for a native speaker
to proceed from each stressed syllable to the next one, no matter how many unstressed syllables exist between them.
3.2 Intonation Defined
When a person speaks, not only does he/she stress syllables, but the pitch of his/her voice continues to rise and fall.
Pitch changes when the vocal cords change the frequency of their vibration. This means when the vocal cords vibrate
faster, the pitch rises and when their vibration slows down the pitch falls. Intonation deals primarily with the rise and
fall of voice pitch.
Changes in intonation are used for expressing numerous shades of meaning. Intonation not only reveals the attitude
of the speaker, but also determines the grammatical classification of the sentence: declarative or interrogative.
3.3 Intonation Groups
An intonation group generally corresponds to a clause. This means that the boundary of an intonation group or tone
group is usually the boundary of a clause. Each group is normally marked by this bar marker: I placed before and after
the clause. The term 'tone group' is sometimes instead of the term intonation group. This main pitch movement
(fall/rise/fall-rise/rise-fall) is normally carried by the last stressed syllable in the intonation group. It is called the
nuclear tone ( or nucleus ).