Unit 9 英语语音教程

Strong and weak syllables
The vowel in a weak syllable tends to be shorter, of lower intensity and different in quality.
‘father’: the second syllable is shorter than the first, is less loud and has a vowel that cannot occur in strong syllables.

The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls; The day returns, but never more Returns the traveler to the shore, And the tide rises, the tide falls.
The tide rises, the tide falls, The twilight darkens, the curlew calls; Along the sea-sands damp and brown The traveler hastens toward the town, And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Function words
Unstressed words are usually function words like articles, pronouns, possessives, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, and conjunctions.
These words connect the information words to form grammatical sentences.
parties are aware. 6. Some words never occurs at all except unstressed. 7. Stress can be idiomatic or habitual.
The kettle's boiling. The milkman called. The phone's ringing.
If you stress all the words in an utterance, you may sound unpleasant or even cause misunderstanding because
1. You are giving too much information, and 2. English speakers usually stress all words only when they are impatient or angry.
The Distribution of English Stresses
1. Form words are typically unstressed. 2. Content words are normally stressed. 3. Form words are stressed where contrast is expressed. 4. Any word being repeated is usually not stressed. 5. No stress on words indicating facts of which both
The schwa a -- attend, character, barracks, again, ballad,
necklace, workaday, workable, elephant ar -- particular, molar, monarchy ate -- intimate, accurate, desolate o -- tomorrow, potato, carrot or -- forget, ambassador, opportunity e -- settlement, violet, postmen er --perhaps, stronger, superman u -- autumn, support, halibut ough -- thorough, borough ous -- gracious, callous

Darkness settles on roofs and walls, But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls; The little waves, with their soft, white hands, Efface the footprints in the sands, And the tide rises, the tide falls.
stressed: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. 2. Unstressed words are usually function words like articles, pronouns, possessives, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, and conjunctions.
What is a stressed syllable?
ba Syllable 1
(short)
NAAAA Syllable 2
(long)
na Syllable 3 (short)
Stressed Syllables &
Unstressed Syllables
Stressed s are strong syllables. Unstressed syllables are weak syllables.
8. Many stressings are idiomatic. 9. Stress expresses different meanings.
He's back again. 10. Further examples:
-- How many times? -- Three times. London and districts around London. If you want to make good coffee, you must use
‘bottle’: the weak second syllable contains no vowel at all, but consists entirely of the consonant /l/. We call this a syllabic consonant.
Different types of weak syllables
Any English vowel letter can be pronounced
with the schwa //
allow
a
firemen
e
possible
i
//
command
o
support
u
4. Sentence stress
What to stress in a sentence? 1. Information words are usually
Information words and function words
Information words: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. They give information about who, what, when, where, why, how They express the main idea or content of the phrase or sentence. They carry the message and therefore usually stressed.
Stressed syllables:
are long have a pitch change have full vowel sounds.
Unstressed syllables:
are short often have a reduced vowel sound.
Fig 9: England was at war with America. (By non-native speaker of English) Fig 10: England was at war with America. (By native speaker of English)
English Pronunciation for Communication
A Practical Course for Students of English
Stressed Words & Unstressed Words in a Sentence
What is a syllable? A word part and the basic unit of English rhythm
plenty of coffee. -- I want some money. -- You're asking me for money?
(You must be mad.) -- This pen's useless. -- Get a new one, then.
The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls