Methods of Indicating Intonation on the Staves.

Unstressed syllables are represented by dots, stressed syllables are marked by dashes or curves.

A dash represents a level tone.

 

__________

A downward curve represents the final fall.

 

__________

An upward curve represents the final rise.

 

__________

Two parallel lines (staves) represent the upper and the lower limits of human voice or the range of the voice.

 

_________

The temporal component of intonation can be indicated graphically only as far as pauses are concerned.

 

Two vertical bars _________ denote a long pause, which usually occurs at the end of a sentence.

 

A single vertical bar _________ denotes a short pause inside a sentence.

 

Practical Tasks:

1) Read the situations to yourself and according to their contents mark the intonation of the sentences in bold type.

2) Read each of the following sentences shifting the position of the last stress according to the following pattern

e.g. Lanny turned into Adderley Street

a) Who turned into Adderley Street?

Lanny turned into Adderley Street.

b) Where did Lanny turn?

Lanny turned into Adderley Street.

3) Answer the theoretical questions.

4) Write down the terms dictation.

5) Ship or Sheep U – 18 (Review)

6) Listening I U – 18

7)

Sound [Qu]

Burn not your house to get rid of the mouse.

 

 

8) Ship or Sheep U – 19 (Intonation: Stressed Words)

9) Listening I U – 19

 

Literature:

1) Arakin V. D. Practical Course of English. M., 1978

2) Vasiliev V.A. English Phonetics. M., 1980

 

UNIT 20 – 24

STRONG AND WEAK FORMS

 

Main Theoretical Concepts:

We have now moved on from looking at syllables to looking at words, and we will consider certain well – known English words that can be pronounced in two different ways, which are called strong forms and weak forms. As an example, the word that can be pronounced [Dxt] (strong form ) or [Dqt] (weak form). The sentence I like that is pronounced [QI lQIk Dxt] (strong form); the sentence I hope that she will is pronounced [QI hqup Dqt SJ wIl] (weak form). There are roughly forty such words in English. It is possible to use only strong forms in speaking, and some foreigners do this. Usually they can still be understood by other speakers of English, so why is it important to learn how weak forms are used? There are two main reasons; firstly, most native speakers of English find an 'all – strong - form' pronunciation unnatural and foreign – sounding, something that most learners would wish to avoid. Secondly, and more importantly, speakers who are not familiar with the use of weak forms are likely to have difficulty understanding speakers who do use weak forms; since practically all native speakers of British English use them, learners of the language need to learn about these weak forms to help them to understand what they hear.

We must distinguish between weak forms and contracted forms. Certain English words are shortened so severely (usually to a single phoneme) and so consistently that they are represented differently in informal writing, e.g. it is – it's; we have – we've; do not – don' t.

Almost all the words which have both a strong and weak form belong to a category that may be called function words – words that do not have a dictionary meaning in the way that we normally expect nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs to have. These function words are words such as auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions, etc., all of which are in certain circumstances pronounced in their strong forms but which are more frequently pronounced in their weak forms. It is important to remember that there are certain contexts where only the strong form is acceptable, and other where the weak form is the normal pronunciation. There are fairly simple rules; we can say that strong form is used in the following cases:

i) For many weak – form words, when they occur at the end of a sentence. For example, the word 'of' has the weak form [qv] in the following sentence: I'm fond of chips [QIm fPnd qv CIps] , but when it comes at the end of the sentence, as in the following example, it has the strong form [Pv]: Chips are what I'm fond of [CIps q wPt QIm fPnd Pv]

Many of the words given below (particularly the first nine) never occur at the end of a sentence, e.g. the, your. Some words (particularly the pronouns numbered 10 – 14 below) do occur in their weak forms in final position.

ii) When a weak – form word is being contrasted with another word, e.g. The letter from him, not to him. [Dq letq frPm Im nPt tH Im]

A similar case is what we might call a co – ordinated use of prepositions: I travel to and from London a lot [QI trxvl tH qn frPm lAndqn qlPt], A work of and about literature [q wE:k Pv qn qbQut lItrICq]

iii) When a weak – form word is given stress for the purpose of emphasis, e.g.: You must give me more money [ju mAst gIv mJ mL mAnI]

iv) When a weak – form word is being 'cited' or 'quoted', e.g.: You shouldn't put 'and' at the end of a sentence [ju Sudnt put xnd qt Di end qv q sentqns]

Another point to remember is that when weak – form words whose spelling being with 'h' (e.g. her, have) occur at the beginning of a sentence, the pronunciation is with initial [h], even though this usually omitted in other contexts.

In the rest of the chapter, the most common weak – form words will be introduced.

1. THE

weak forms: [Dq] (before consonants)

e.g. Shut the door [SAt Dq dL]

[Di] (before vowels)

e.g. Wait for the end [weIt fq Di end]

2. A, AN

weak forms: [q] (before consonant)

e.g. Read a book [rJd q buk]

[qn] (before vowels)

e.g. Eat an apple [Jt qn xpl]

3. AND

weak form: [qn] (sometimes [n] after [t, d, s, z, S] )

e.g. Come and see [kAm qn sJ]

Fish and ships [fIS n CIps]

4. BUT

weak form: [bqt]

e.g. It's good but it's expensive [Its gud bqt Its Iks pensIv]

5. THAT (this word only has a weak form when used in a relative clause; when used with a demonstrative sense it is always pronounced in its strong form.)

weak form: [Dqt]

e.g. The price is the thing that annoys me. [Dq prQIs Iz Dq TIN Dqt qnOIs mI]

6. THAN

weak form: [Dqn]

e.g. Better than ever. [betq Dqn evqr]

7. HIS (when it occurs before a noun)

weak form: [Iz] ([hIz] at the beginning of a sentence)

e.g. Take his name [teIk Iz neIm]

(another sense of his, as in it was his, or his was late, always has the strong form)

8. HER (when used with possessive sense, preceding a noun; as an object pronoun, this can also occur at the end of a sentence)

weak forms: [q] (before consonants)

e.g. Take her home [teIk q hqum]

[qr] (before vowels)

e.g. Take her out [teIk qr Qut]

9. YOUR

weak forms: [jq] (before consonants)

e.g. Take your time [teIk jq tQIm]

[jqr] (before vowels)

e.g. On your own [Pn jqr qun]

10. SHE, HE, WE, YOU

This group of pronouns has weak forms pronounced with weaker vowels than the [J] and [H] of their strong forms. There is difference in the pronunciation in different places in the sentence, except in the case of he

weak forms

SHE: [SI]

e.g. Why did she read it? [wQI dId SI rJd It]

Who is she? [hH Iz SI]

HE: [I] (the weak form is usually pronounced without [h] except at the beginning of a sentence)

e.g. Which did he choose? [wIC dId I CHz]

He was late, wasn't he? [hI wqz leIt]

WE: [wI]

e.g. How can we get there? [hQu kqn wI get Deq]

We need that, don't we? [wI nJd Dxt dqunt wI]

YOU: [ju]

e.g. What do you think? [wPt dq ju TINk]

You like it, do you? [ju lQIk It dH ju]

11. HIM

weak form: [Im]

e.g. Leave him alone. [lJv Im qlqun]

I've seen him [QIv sJn Im]

12. HER

weak form: [q] ( [hq] when sentence - initial )

e.g. Ask her to come [Rsk q tq kAm]

I've met her [QIv met q]

13. THEM

weak form: [Dqm]

e.g. Leave them here [lJv Dem hIq]

Eat them [Jt Dqm]

14. US

weak form: [qs]

e.g. Write us a letter [rQIt qs q letq]

They invited all of us [DeI InvQItId Ll qv qs]

The next group of words (some prepositions and other function words) occur in their strong forms when they are final in the sentence; examples of this are given. (19 is a partial exception.)

15. AT

weak form: [qt]

e.g. I'll see you at lunch [QIl sJ ju qt lAnC]

In final position: [xt]

e.g. What's he shooting at? [wPts I SHtIN xt]

16. FOR

weak form: [fq] (before consonants)

e.g. Tea for two. [tJ fq tH]

[fqr] (before vowels)

e.g. Thanks for asking [TxNks fqr RskIN]

[fL] (in final position)

e.g. What's that for? [wPts Dxt fL]

17. FROM

weak form: [frqm]

e.g. I'm home from work. [QIm hqum frqm wE:k]

In final position [frPm]

e.g. Here's where it came from. [hIqz weqr It keIm frPm]

18. OF

weak form: [qv]

e.g. Most of all [mqust qv Ll]

In final position [Pv]

e.g. Someone I've heard of. [sAmwAn QIv hE:d Pv]

19. TO

weak forms:[tq] (before consonants)

e.g. Try to stop. [trQI tq stPp]

[tu] (before vowels)

e.g. Time to eat.[tQIm tu Jt]

In final position [tu] (it is not usual to use the strong form [tH], and the pre – consonantal weak form [tq] is never used)

e.g. I don't want to. [QI dqunt wPnt tu]

20. AS

weak form: [qz]

e.g. As much as possible [qz mAC qz pPsIbl]

In final position [xz]

e.g. That's what it was sold as . [Dxts wPt It wqz squld xz]

21 SOME

This word is used in two different ways. In one sense (typically, when it occurs before a countable noun, meaning ' an unknown individual') it has the strong form:

e.g. I think some animal broke it. [QI TINk sAm xnIml brquk It]

It is also used before uncountable nouns (meaning ' an unspecified amount of') and before other nouns in plural (meaning ' an unspecified number of'), in such uses it has the weak form [sqm]

e.g. Have some more tea. [hxv sAm mL tJ]

In final position: [sAm]

e.g. I've got some. [QIv gPt sAm]

22. THERE

When this word has a demonstrative function, it always occurs in its strong form [Deq] ( [Deqr] before vowels)

e.g. There it is [Deqr It Iz]

Put it there [put It Deq]

weak forms: [Dq] (before consonants)

e.g. There should be a rule [Dq Sud bI q rHl]

[Dqr] (before vowels)

e.g. There is [Dqr Iz]

In final position the pronunciation may be [Dq] or [Deq]

e.g. There isn't any, is there? [Dqr Iznt enI Iz De] or [Dqr Iznt enI Iz Deq]

The remaining weak – form words are all auxiliary verbs, which are always used in conjunction with (or at least implying) another ('full') verb. It is important to remember that in their negative form (i.e. combined with not) they never have the weak pronunciation, and some (e.g. don't, can't ) have different vowels from their non – negative strong forms.

23. CAN, COULD

weak forms: [kqn], [kqd]

e.g. They can wait [DeI kqn weIt]

He could do it [hJ kqd dH It]

In final position: [kxn], [kud]

e.g. I think we can. [QI TINk wI kqn]

Most of them could [mqust qv Dqm kud]

24. HAVE, HAS, HAD

weak forms: [qv] , [qz], [qd] (with initial [h] in initial position)

e.g. Which have you seen? [wIC qv ju sJn]

Which has been best? [wIC qz bJn best]

Most had gone home [mqust qd gPn hqum]

In final position: [hxv], [hxz], [hxd]

e.g. Yes, we have. [jes wI hxv]

I think she has. [QI TINk SI hxz]

I thought we had. [QI TLt wI hxd]

25. SHALL, SHOULD.

weak forms: [Sql] or [Sl]; [Sqd]

e.g. We shall need to hurry.[wI Sl nJd tq hArI]

I should forget it. [QI Sqd fqget It]

In final position: [Sxl], [Sud]

e.g. I think we shall. [QI TINk wI Sxl]

So you should. [squ ju Sud]

26. MUST

This word is sometimes used with the sense of forming a conclusion or deduction, e.g. She left at eight o'clock, so she must have arrived by now; when must is used in this way, it is rather less likely to occur in its weak form than when it is been used in its more familiar sense of 'obligation'.

weak forms: [mqs] (before consonants)

e.g. You must try harder. [ju mqs trQI hRdq]

[mqst] (before vowels)

e.g. He must eat more. [hI mqst Jt mL]

In final position: [mAst]

e.g. She certainly must. [SI sE:tqnlI mAst ]

27. DO, DOES

weak forms: DO [dq] (before consonants)

e.g. Why do they like it? [wQI dq DeI lQIk It]

[du] (before vowel)

e.g. Why do all the cars stop? [wQI du Ll Dq kRz stPp]

DOES [dqz]

e.g. When does it arrive? [wen dqz It qrQIv]

In final position: [dH],[dAz]

e.g. We don't smoke, but some people do. [wJ dqunt smquk bqt sAm pJpl dH]

I think John does.[QI TINk GPn dAz]

28. AM, ARE, WAS, WERE

weak forms:[qm]

e.g. Why am I here? [wQI qm QI hIq]

[q] (before consonants)

e.g. Here are the plates. [hIqr q Dq pleIts]

[qr] (before vowels)

e.g. The coats are in there. [Dq kquts qr In Deq]

[wqz]

e.g. He was here a minute ago. [hI wqz hIqr q mInIt qgqu]

[wq] (before consonants)

e.g. The papers were late. [Dq peIpqz wq leIt]

[wqr] (before vowel)

e.g. The questions were easy. [Dq kwesCqnz wqr JzI]

In final position [xm], [R], [wPz], [wE:]

e.g. She is not as old as I am. [SIz nPt qz quld qz QI xm]

I know the Smiths are. [QI nqu Dq smITs R]

The last record was [Dq lRst rekLd wPz]

They weren't as cold as we were. [DeI wE:nt qz kquld qz wJ wE: ]