Intonation. Main Theoretical concepts:

Unit 7

Rules of word stress

Word-stress

Unit 6

Main Theoretical concepts:

Word-stress - is the singling out of one or more syllables in a word, which is accompanied by

1. the change of the force of utterance,

2. pitch of the voice,

3. qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the sound, which is usually a vowel.

In English word-stress is free, that is it may fall on any syllable in a word,

f. ex. mother ['mʌð∂], occasion [∂'keɪʒn], detonation [det∂'neı∫n].

There are three degrees of word-stress in English: primary - strong, secondary - partial, weak - in unstressed syllables, f. ex. certification [ sз:tıfı'keı∫∂n]. Stressed syllables in the text have the symbol ['] f. ex. ′Are you 'coming 'back on Sunday?

1. In words of 2 or 3 syllables the primary stress mostly falls on the first syllable, e.g. 'error, ΄Cabinet, ΄sensible.

2. In prefixal words the primary stress typically falls on the syllable following the prefix, e.g. im ΄ possible, re ΄ call, be ΄ hind.

3. In prefixal words with prefixes having their own meaning, the place of stress is on the prefix, e. g. ΄ anti- ΄ Capitalist, ΄ non- ΄ Party, ΄ ex- ΄ minister.

4. In prefixal verbs which are distinguished from similarly spelt nouns and adjectives, the place of stress is on the second syllable, nouns and adjectives have their stress on the initial syllable, e.g.

verb	noun	adjective
to com'pound	-	'compound
to in'crease	'increase	-

5. Suffixes: -esce, -esque, -ate, -ize, -fy, -ette, -ique, -ее, -еег, -ade have the place of stress on the preceding syllable or on themselves, e.g., pictu ' resque,, ciga ' rette, tech ' nique,, refe ' ree,, pio ' neer.

6. Suffixes: -ical, -ic, -ion, -ity, -ian, -cient, -iency, -ecus, -ual, -uous, -ety, -itous, -ive, -ative (-Hive), -itude, -ident, -inal, -ital, -wards have the place of stress on the preceding syllable, e.g. eco ' nomic, gra ' mmatical, po ' sition, ma ' jority, ' special, etc.

7.In words of four or more syllables the place of stress is on the antepenultimate syllable (third from the end), e. g. e'mergency, ca ' lamity, his ' torical.

For more information on word-stress study pp. 138-145 in “The Practical Course in English Phonetics” by M.A. Sokolova (the position of word-stress, words with primary and secondary stress, words with two primary stresses, stress in compound words etc.).

Sound [æ]

As a matter of fact the handsome lad has broken his ankle in the accident.

Fat Pat had a fat cat

Pat’s fat cat sat on Pat’s hat

Graphic equivalents of the sound [æ]

a sat [sæt]

ai plaid [plæd]

champagne [∫æm'pein]

absolutely ['æbs∂lu:tlI]

ambition [æm'bı∫∂n]

Main Theoretical concepts:

Intonation is a complex unity of the prosodic features which are

· speech melody,

· sentence-stress,

· tempo,

· rhythm,

· pauses.

Speech melody describes falls and rises of the voice-pitch falling on vowels and voiced consonants. In English six main tones are distinguished. They are:

Low Fall (низкий нисходящий)

Low Rise (низкий восходящий)

High Fall (высокий нисходящий)

High Rise (высокий восходящий)

Fall Rise (нисходящий восходящий)

Rise Fall (восходящий нисходящий)

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