Mohammed Kheider University LEVEL S e c o

Mohammed Kheider University LEVEL S e c o n d Y e a r L M D English Department Module: English Phonetics & Phonology Lecture 8: Sentence Stress Patterns Objective: By the end of this course you’ll be able to: 1 - Identify sentence stress rules 2 - Recognise the content words and function words 3 - Know strong and weak forms of functions words 4 - Sentence stress & emphasis 5 - Pronounce words in sentences with correct and natural stress

• Imagine that you receive this telegram message: SELL CAR GONE FRANCE SELL Will you my CAR I’ve GONE to FRANCE SELL my CAR because I’ve GONE to FRANCE If you stress all the words in an utterance, you may sound unpleasant or even misunderstood because you are giving too much information

Introduction: Like word stress, sentence stress can help you to understand spoken English; especially, when it is spoken fast. You may remember that in word stress we have seen prominence of one syllable within a word, whereas in sentence stress we will see that the stress is put on certain words. 1. From Word Stress to Sentence Stress: English language has different ways of stress patterns, from the aspect of isolated words where stress is put on one syllable and the same for complex and compound words. However, when many words are joined together to form larger units such as phrases or sentences, those words will follow sentence stress patterns (rules). 2. Sentence Stress and Grammatical type of words (words class): 2. 1. Content Words Vs Function Words Content Words (meaning-carriers) Function Words (for correct grammar) Main Verbs Sell, Give, Employ Determiners a, an, the Nouns Car, Music, Moon Auxiliary Verbs do, does, have, can, must Adjectives Red, Big, Interesting Prepositions on, at, into Adverbs Quickly, Always, Never Conjunctions and, but, that Demonstratives Those, These, This, That Pronouns he, we, they, his, her (Personal & Relative) Interrogatives What, How, When, Where Possessive Adjectives Their, mine, our, your Negative Auxiliary Verbs Don't, Aren't, Can't The Verbs “to be” Be, been, is, are, was, were

SENTENCE STRESS PATTERNS 2. 2. Detailed list of Strong & Weak Forms: Function words in English have two forms when it comes to pronunciation, called ‘strong’ forms and ‘weak’ forms. Determiners / Quantifiers Orthography A / An The Some Pronouns/ Possessive adjectives Orthography Strong form Weak form /eɪ/ ; /æn/ /ə/ ; /ən/ /ði: / /ðə/ , /ði/ /sʌm/ /səm/, /sm / Strong form Weak form He / His / Him /hiː/ ; /hɪz/ ; /hɪm/ /hi/, /ɪ/ ; /ɪz/ ; /ɪm/ She / Her /ʃiː/ ; /hɜː/ /ʃi/ ; /hə/, /ə/ Them / Me /ðem/ ; /miː/ /ðəm/, /əm/ ; /mi/ We / Us /wiː/ ; /ʌs/ /wi/ ; /əs/ You / your /juː/ ; /jɔː/ /jə/ , /jʊ/ ; /jə/ Auxiliary Verbs / Modals Orthography Am / Are Be / Been Can / Could Do / Does Have / Has / Had Must Shall / Should Was / Were Strong form /æm/ ; /ɑː/ /biː/ ; /biːn/ /kæn/ ; /kʊd/ /duː/ ; /dʌz/ /hæv/ ; /hæz/ ; /hæd/ /mʌst/ /ʃæl/ ; /ʃʊd/ /wɒz/ ; /wɜː/ Weak form /əm/ , /m / ; /ə/ /bi/ ; /bɪn/ /kən/ , /kn / ; /kəd/ /də/ ; /dəz/ /əv/ , /v/ ; /əz/ ; /əd/ /məst/ , /məs/ /ʃəl/ ; /ʃəd/ /wəz/ ; /wə/

SENTENCE STRESS PATTERNS AND RULES Conjunctions Orthography And But That Prepositions/Particle Strong form /ænd/ /bʌt/ /ðæt/ Orthography Weak form /ənd/, /n d/, /ən/, /n / /bət/ /ðət/ Strong form Weak form As /æz/ /əz/ At /æt/ /ət/ For /fɔː/ /fə/ From /frɒm/ /frəm/ Of To / Into /ɒv/ /tuː/ ; /ɪntuː/ /əv/ /tə/ , /tʊ/ ; /ɪntə/ , / ɪntʊ/ Than There /ðæn/ /ðeə/ /ðən/ , /ðn / /ðə/ Just /d. ZVst/ /d. Z@st/ 3. Basic Rule for Sentence Stress: Content (lexical) words are stressed: they are the most important words that convey the information/message (Information-carriers). Such as Main verbs, Nouns, Adj, Adverbs, etc. Function ( structural) words are unstressed: they are small words, usually monosyllable grammatical words used to link the lexical items together to give the sentence its correct form or structure

4. Sentence Stress Placement: 4. 1. For Structural (function) words: structure words may carry sentence-stress if they’re the last word in the sentence. E. g: It’s the best thing that you could do He’s got a good mark better than me 4. 2. For Function words may carry sentence-stress when emphasised: E. g: I don’t think, I can do it. But I think you can do it We have come to watch the new movie 4. 3. For Polysyllabic structural words: E. g: Behind every great man there is a woman Behind Don’t count your chicken until it all hitches 4. 4. For adverbs: adverbs sometimes are stressed E. g: She jumped off the table It’s too late to change our minds too late I’m not coming here again 4. 5. For demonstratives: E. g: This book is really worth reading That’s the smartest idea I’ve ever heard 4. 6. For negatives: negative form of modals sometimes stressed E. g: We can’t expect everything I hope that you won’t be annoyed

SENTENCE STRESS PATTERNS AND RULES 5. Sentence Stress and Meaning: When native-speakers are talking rapidly they stress some words to convey different meanings. Thus, when some words are emphasised (stressed more than the other words), so the underlying meaning of that sentence will change. This phenomenon is called emphatic sentence stress. Let’s consider the following Emphatic sentence stress: I don’t think he should get that job Emphatic Sentence Stress Possibilities Suggested Meaning ˈI don’t ˈthink he should ˈget that ˈjob Somebody else thinks he should get that job I ˈdon’t ˈthink he should ˈget that ˈjob It’s not true that I think he should get that job I don’t ˈthink he should ˈget that ˈjob That’s not really what I mean I don’t ˈthink ˈhe should ˈget that ˈjob Somebody else should get that job. Not ‘he’ I don’t ˈthink he ˈshould ˈget that ˈjob I think, it’s wrong that he’s going to get that job I don’t ˈthink he should ˈget that ˈjob He should or deserves to get that job I don’t ˈthink he should ˈget ˈthat ˈjob He should get another job I don’t ˈthink he shouldˈ get that ˈjob Maybe he should get something else instead. You can notice from the table above, how the meaning changes depending on which word you stress, since in English we often use stress to add meaning to a sentence. Emphatic sentence stress is widespread among native-speakers to convey different meanings.

Time For Practice: Exercise: Transcribe the following sentences: 1. He can do better than that 2. But what does it cost? 3. It was not just an event, it was the event of the year. 4. You should tell John and Mary to come. 5. I saw him at the bus stop. 6. He is taller than I am. 7. She gave him the pen a present. 9. They were very happy, weren’t they. 10. Where does he come from?

Answer keys 1. He can do better than that /hɪ kən ˈduː ˈbetə ðən ˈðæt/ 2. But what does it cost? /bət wɒt ˈdʌz ɪt ˈkɒst/ 3. It was not just an event, it was the event of the year. /ɪt wəz nɒt dʒəst æn ɪˈvent ɪt wəz ðiː j ɪˈvent əv ðə ˈjɪə / 4. You should tell John and Mary to come. /jə ʃəd ˈtel ˈdʒɒn ænd ˈmæri tə ˈkʌm/ 5. I saw him at the bus stop. /ɑɪ ˈsɔːr ɪm ət ðə ˈbʌs ˌstɒp/ 6. He is taller than I am. /hɪ jˈɪz ˈtɔːlə ðæn ɑɪ j æm/ 7. She gave him the pen a present. /ʃɪ ˈɡeɪv ɪm ðə ˈpen ə ˈprezn t/ 9. They were very happy, weren’t they. /ðeɪ wə ˈveri ˈhæpi ˈwɜːnt ðeɪ / 10. Where does he come from? /wə dəz ɪ ˈkʌm ˈfrɒm/

Exercise: Transform the following passage into its spelling form

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