April 15-30

Engl 3/203n (Phonetics) 3-6 Fri

I. Emphasis
A. Two Types of Stress
The four basic types of word stress that lead to proper intonation in English are:
Tonic stress
Emphatic stress
Contrastive stress
New information stress

Tonic Stress
Tonic stress refers to the syllable in a word which receives the most stress in an
intonation unit. An intonation unit has one tonic stress. It's important to remember that a
sentence can have more than one intonation unit, and therefore have more than one
tonic stress.

Here are some examples of intonation units with the tonic stress bolded:

He's waiting
He's waiting / for his friend
He's waiting / for his friend / at the station
Generally, the final tonic stress in a sentence receives the most stress. In the above
example, 'station' receives the strongest stress.

There are a number of instances in which the stress changes from this standard.

Emphatic Stress
If you decide to emphasize something, you can change the stress from the principal
noun to another content word such as an adjective (big, difficult, etc.), intensifier (very,
extremely, etc.) This emphasis calls attention to the extraordinary nature of what you
want to emphasize.
For example:
That was a difficult test. - Standard statement
That was a difficult test. - Emphasizes how difficult the test was
There are a number of adverbs and modifiers which tend to be used to emphasize in
sentences that receive emphatic stress:
Extremely
Terribly
Completely
Utterly
 B. Ways in Determining Which Syllable is Stressed in a Word

Features of a stressed syllable

Stressed syllables possess similar feature which enables us to identify them. According
to Roach (2004), "...all stressed syllables have one characteristic in common, and this is
prominence." Four main factors make a stressed syllable prominent:

1. Loudness
Loudness is an important factor in determining the stressed syllable of a word. When
pronouncing a word, the syllable that is louder than the others is heard as stressed. In
other words, for hearers and listeners, stressed syllables are perceived as louder than
unstressed syllables.

2. Length
A stressed syllable is usually longer than the other syllables in a word. Roach (2004)
asserted that "If one of the syllables in a word is made longer than the others, there is
quite a strong tendency for that syllable to be heard as stressed"(p. 94).

As regards this, Umera-Okeke (2015, p. 125) asserted that "Syllables containing long
vowels are viewed as more prominent than those with short vowels."

3. Pitch
Pitch is the extent of vibration of the vocal cords when producing the syllables of a word.
In a word, a syllable is heard as stressed if it is said with a high pitch unlike the other
syllables. Umera-Okeke (2015) opined that "when there is a pitch change on a syllable,
that syllable is seen as being more prominent" (pp. 125 - 126). For example, in the word
"Pandemonium", the primary stress is on the third syllable, "mo", since there is a pitch
change on that syllable.

4. Quality
The quality of a sound in a syllable determines whether or not that syllable is stressed.
That is to say that "a syllable of a sound will tend to be prominent if it contains a vowel
that is different in quality from the neighbouring vowels" (Roach, 2004, p. 94). Vowels
are very important in determining the stressed syllable of a word. Therefore, one needs
to pay attention to the type of vowel a syllable contains. Within vowels, open vowels are
more prominent; thus, a syllable containing an open vowel is most likely to be stressed.

When next you pronounce a word, take note of these aforementioned features. It is also
important to state that, of all these factors, loudness and length are more important in
determining the stressed syllable of an English word.
RULES THAT WILL ENABLE YOU IDENTIFY THE STRESSED SYLLABLE OF A
WORD

1. Monosyllabic words, such as come, go, sit etc., are usually stressed since they can't
be divided into different syllables.

2. Numbers that end in "ty" are stressed on the first syllable while numbers that end in
"teen" have their stress on the second syllable. For example, "sixty" has its stress on
first syllable (SIXty) while "sixteen" has its stress on the second syllable (sixTEEN).

3. Most bisyllabic nouns and adjectives are usually stressed on the first syllable.
Examples: BAS-tard, PRE-tty, CLE-ver, DOC-tor, STU-dent etc.

However, there is an exception to this rule, and you have to learn these words by heart:
ho-TEL, ex-TREME, con-CISE etc.

4. Bisyllabic verbs and prepositions are usually stressed on the second syllable.
Examples: be-LOW, a-BOUT, a-BOVE, be-TWEEN, a-SIDE, pre-SENT, re-PLY, ex-
PORT etc.

5. Some words in English language function as both nouns and verbs. When such
words function as noun, the stress is usually on the first syllable, and as verbs, the
stress is usually on the second syllable.
Examples:
i. PRE-sent (a gift) vs. pre-SENT (to give something formally to someone).

ii. RE-fuse (garbage) vs. re-FUSE (to decline).

iii. SU-spect (someone who the police believe may have committed a crime) vs. su-
SPECT (to believe that something is true, especially something bad).

However, this is not always the case. For example, the word "respect" has its primary
stress on the second syllable both when it’s a verb and a noun.

6. Six syllable words ending in "tion" are usually stressed on their fifth syllable.
Examples: per-so-ni-fi-CA-tion, ca-pi-ta-li-SA-tion, i-ni-tia-li-SA-tion etc.

7. Three syllable words ending in "ly" often have their stress on the first syllable.
Examples: OR-der-ly, QUI-et-ly etc.

8. Words ending in "ic", "sion" and "tion" are usually stressed on the second-to-last
syllable. In this case, you are to count the syllables backward in order to get the second-
to-last syllable. Examples: cre-A-tion, com-MI-ssion, au-THEN-tic etc. However, there
are times when you need to count the syllable forward in order to get the second-to-last
syllable. Examples: pho-to-GRA-phic, a-ccom-mo-DA-tion, ex-CUR-sion etc.
9. Words ending in "cy", "phy", "al", "ty" and "gy" are usually on the third-to-last syllable.
You should also the count the syllables backward to get the third syllable. Examples:
de-MO-cra-cy, pho-TO-gra-phy, CLI-ni-cal, a-TRO-si-ty, psy-CHO-lo-gy etc.

10. Most compound nouns (a word made up of two or more nouns) have their stress on
the first noun. Examples: PLAYground, BLACKboard, FOOTball, KEYboard etc.

BONUS
Compound verbs (a verb made up of two or more words) and compound adjectives (an
adjective that is made up of two or more adjectives, which are linked together by a
hyphen) usually have their stress on the second word or syllable.
Examples:
outRIDE (compound verb).
outSHINE (compound verb).
old-FA-shioned (compound adjective).

II. Pausing and Linking

A. Signals for Pauses
Ellipses
Ellipses (. . .) are used to indicate an omission or a pause and is always printed as three
dots. The Chicago Manual of Style and Modern Language Association (MLA) differ on
how an ellipsis should be printed, Chicago style stating that there should be no spaces
between the dots (...), whereas MLA has spaces before each dot (. . .). British style
guides tend to side with MLA, though that doesn’t mean you have to use spaces before
each dot. When writing or editing your own work, just make sure that you pick a style
and stick to it.

Em Dashes
An em dash (—) is used to indicate a break in thought or sentence structure; to
introduce a phrase added for emphasis, definition, or explanation; or to separate two
clauses. For Chicago and MLA styles, em dashes do not have spaces before or after
them. They are wedged firmly between words, fitting snugly against the terminating and
initiating letters. British usage (as shown in the Penguin Writer's Manual, Collins
Complete Writing Guide, and the more academic MHRA guide), as well as many online
publishers, use a space before and after the em dash.
As with the spacing for an ellipsis, it is more important that you pick a style and remain
consistent.

Punctuating for Hesitation and Pauses in Dialogue

All punctuation shows the reader two things: (1) how thoughts are connected or
grouped together and (2) how the author intends for the characters or narration to
sound when spoken. Keeping that in mind will help you make decisions about the
punctuation for what you are intending to convey.

For any pause, whether in dialogue or narration, you have to consider the length of the
pause and how the pause is related to the thoughts in the sentence. Different
punctuation allows for different lengths of pauses or separations of thoughts.

Brief Pause: Slight Nervousness, Agitation, or an Interjection

A comma allows for a brief pause or hesitation and shows that there is a close
connection between the words, phrases, and thoughts. There are numerous rules for
comma usage, which means commas already have a hefty load to play in writing, so I
would advocate using a comma as a pause only in specific situations.

When a character is stammering, there is a brief pause between the repeated words or
phrases, though it is all part of the same thought. A comma is the correct way to
separate those repeated words or phrases.

A pair of commas can also be used for an interjection in the middle of a sentence (which
usually has a brief pause before and after). If the thoughts—the main sentence and the
interjection—are closely related or if the words merely break into the sentence for a
moment, a comma can be a more appropriate piece of punctuation than an em dash,
which really sets apart thoughts.

Longer Pause: More Strain or Distraction

An ellipsis allows for a longer pause and typically shows a thought that is trailing off as
the speaker becomes distracted. This could be a distraction from another thought or
from something the character hears, sees, or experiences. If the ellipsis is trailing off
(i.e., there are two sentences), make sure you properly punctuate with a period as well
as the ellipsis.

In some cases the distraction is more abrupt and will cause the speech to cease. That
distraction could be one character speaking over another, sudden unconsciousness, or
a sight that makes the character lose his breath. For cases in which speech is cut off,
you should use an em dash.

Emphasis and Dramatic . . . Pauses

Italicizing a word or phrase can be a handy way to help the reader understand the
cadence of a character’s speech. This usually works when the word or phrase is part of
the main sentence.

a word: Amy pounded on the outside of the locked TARDIS. “You can’t leave me
behind!”

a phrase: “The one thing you should remember is that I’m the Doctor.”
But when you want a character to repeat a phrase, or you want to set off something with
a short pause, the best tool for punctuating emphasis is an em dash. An em dash ties
the thoughts and words together—literally—by connecting them with the dash.

When you set a word or phrase apart using an em dash, the pause is fairly short, more
like a quick draw of breath. If you’re looking for something more dramatic with a more
pronounced pause, you can use an ellipsis.

An ellipsis can also help show a character gathering his courage to confess something.
We use an ellipsis because this type of pause would be more deliberate and controlled
than a nervous stammer.

Punctuating for Hesitation and Pauses in Narration

The punctuation for pauses and hesitations in narration are exactly the same as they
are in dialogue; however, since narration is essentially thoughts, you’re less likely to
have characters panting for breath while hacking away at a giant snake demon or
stumbling through their narrative thoughts as they confess that they still don’t
understand what a geomagnetic storm is. The pauses most likely seen in narration are
pauses for emphasis and dramatic effect.

B. Uses of Pausing
1. Pauses help your audience understand you.
Pauses allow you to punctuate your spoken words, giving your listeners clues as to
when one phrase, one sentence, or one paragraph ends, and the next begins.

Research says:
Brigitte Zellner (PDF paper) notes that pauses “participate in rendering human
communication more intelligible.” Zellner also points to research by Grosjean and
Deschamps (1975) which shows that “the more complex the communicative task, the
greater the number of pauses.” She writes:

In other words, pauses “stick out like sore thumbs”, and thus may occupy “beacon”
positions in speech, serving to structure the entire utterance for both speaker and
listener. By subdividing speech into smaller segments, pauses probably contribute a
great deal to the improvement of speech comprehension.

The key takeaway is that your audience doesn’t have the benefit of punctuation,
bolding, italics, bullets, and other formatting as in written material. You’ve got to provide
that, and pauses are a central way to do it.

2. Pauses help convey emotion.

Research says:
Janet Cahn (PDF paper) shows that, along with other linguistic factors, pauses help to
convey emotion. That is, the placement and duration of pauses should differ depending
on whether you are conveying sadness, anger, gladness, or some other emotion.
To capitalize on this, use pauses authentically to convey emotion, just as you would
during a conversation with a friend or family member.

3. Pauses control the overall pace of your delivery.

Your audience has cognitive limitations, and cannot absorb information beyond a
certain rate. Pauses allow you to slow your rate to match their listening capacity.

Research says:
Estelle Campione and Jean Véronis (PDF paper) observed that speech consists of
short (0.15 seconds), medium (0.50 seconds), and long (1.50 seconds) pauses. Further,
they note that read speech (speaking from written text) tends to produce only short and
medium pauses, while spontaneous speech (speaking without reading) shows more
frequent use of medium and long pauses.

4. Pauses are healthy.

Lengthy pauses are healthy, allowing you to take deep breaths, swallow, or even drink
water. Not only will this aid your brain (by providing more oxygen), but your vocal quality
will be enhanced by keeping your mouth and throat lubricated.

5. Pauses help engage your audience.

Speaking without pauses means your audience expends all their effort just to keep up
with you.

Using pauses, on the other hand, gives your audience time to reflect on your words, and
start making connections with their own experiences or knowledge in real time. Forming
these personal connections with your content is the basis of audience engagement.

6. Pauses replace filler words.

Excessive use of filler words (um, er, ah) undermines your credibility, and signals lack of
knowledge, lack of preparation, or lack of authenticity. An earlier Six Minutes article
discusses how to stop saying um, uh, and other filler words. Using pauses is one of the
best ways to do so, while still providing time for you to think of your next words.

7. Pauses let your mind “catch up” to your mouth.

A speaker performs two tasks simultaneously:

The first task is internal, and involves thinking what to say (and what to do) next.
The second task is external, and involves vocally projecting those words, using body
language, and other interactins with an audience.
Ideally, the internal tasks build up a queue of words and actions for a speaker to deliver,
always having words ready when needed. Pausing gives the advantage to the internal
task, and helps your mind “catch up” to your mouth

C. Linking Two Vowels

Linking Vowel to Vowel
When one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound,
we link the words with a sort of Y or W sound. It depends on the shape of our mouth at
the end of the first word.
When the first word ends in an a, e, i vowel sound [ eɪ / i: / aɪ ], our lips are wide. Then
we insert a Y sound at the beginning of the next word:
When the first word ends in an o, u vowel sound [ əʊ / u: ], our lips are round. Then we
insert a W sound at the beginning of the next word:

D. Linking Two Consonants

Linking Same Continuous Consonants
Continuous consonants are types of sounds in which air flows continuously through a
constricted area of the vocal tract. When pronouncing continuous consonants, the air is
never completely blocked by any part of the vocal tract.

To link from one continuous consonant into the same continuous consonant, the linked
consonant sound is extended, or pronounced for a slightly longer amount of time than a
normal, single sound. For example, /r/ is a continuous consonant. When /r/ is linked into
another /r/, it's pronounced for more time than if it is linked to a different sound.

Compare the phrase 'more rice' (linking /r/ to /r/) to the phrase 'more ice' (linking /r/ to
vowel sound). The /r/ of the phrase 'more rice' is said for a longer duration. To show this
using symbols, we must understand broad and narrow transcription.

E. Linking a Final Consonant to an initial Vowel

In spoken English, linking consonants into words that begin with vowels is especially
important because it is always done. Not only do your listeners expect to hear it, and if
they don’t they may get a bit confused, but you will sound choppy and robotic if you
don’t link into words that begin with vowel sounds.

To illustrate how consonant to vowel linking works, let’s look at the following phrase
from the “Introduction to Linking” page:

“Book on accounting”
Notice how “book” and “on” end in consonant sounds, and “on” and “accounting” begin
with vowel sounds.

When a word that ends with a consonant sound is followed by a word that begins with a
vowel sound, the consonant sound is linked across words when you speak, to create
new syllable structure:

“Book⎵on⎵accounting” → “Boo ko naccounting”

Keep in mind that the sound is what is linked, so don’t let the spelling confuse you. For
example, the word “please” has a vowel “e” at the end, but it is pronounced /pliz/.
Below, the /z/ sound is linked to “omit” because it begins with a vowel sound.
“Please⎵omit her name.” → “Plea zomit her name.”
Consonant linking can be helpful if you have trouble saying certain sounds at the ends
of words, like /n/, /ŋ/, or /l/, because it moves the tricky sound to the beginning of a
word.

Here are some more examples in phrases. Listen to each one, and repeat it several
times.
Remember: The sound is what is linked, so don’t get confused by the spelling.

III. Intonation Patterns

A. Two Basic Types
There are two basic intonation patterns: Rising and Falling. With rising intonation you
have to raise slightly the pitch at the end of the sentence, whereas with falling intonation
you go down a bit.

We use falling intonation with:

Statements
Wh- questions
Commands or invitations
Exclamations
Alternative questions
We use rising intonation with:

Yes / No questions
Offers
Enumerations

B. Types of Pitch Change in Movement

Generally speaking, there are four types of pitch changes you can make, as follows:

Rising Intonation means the pitch of the voice rises over time [ ↗];
Falling Intonation means that the pitch falls with time [ ↘];
Dipping Intonation falls and then rises [↘↗];
Peaking Intonation rises and then falls [↗↘].
Consciously or unconsciously the speaker will use the different patterns of pitch to
convey different meanings to the listener. Consider the uses of pitch change and the
associated meanings in the different categories as follows:

Informational: for example, "I saw a ↘man in the garden" answers "Whom did you
see?" or "What happened?", while "I ↘saw a man in the garden" answers "Did you hear
a man in the garden?"
Grammatical: for example, a rising pitch turns a statement into a yes-no question, as in
"He's going ↗home?"
Illocution: the intentional meaning is signaled by the pitch pattern, for example, "Why
↘don't you move to California?" (a question) versus "Why don't you ↗move to
California?" (a suggestion).
Attitudinal: high declining pitch signals more excitement than does low declining pitch,
as in "Good ↗morn↘ing" versus "Good morn↘ing."
Textual: information not in the sentence is signaled by the absence of a statement-
ending decline in pitch, as in "The lecture was canceled" (high pitch on both syllables of
"cancelled", indicating continuation); versus "The lecture was can ↘celed." (high pitch on
first syllable of "canceled", but declining pitch on the second syllable, indicating the end
of the first thought).