INTRODUCTION TO

SUPRASEGMENTAL
FEATURES

Suprasegmental

features, also known as

prosodic features, refer to length,
intonation, rhythm and vocal stress in
speech.

Suprasegmental

features extend over

syllables, words and phrases.

Length The amount of time it takes

to produce a sound
Some

sounds are longer than others.

Beat
If

Bead

you were to pronounce both words with longer

vowels, the pronunciation might seem strange but the
meaning is not lost. In other words, the meaning of
beat and bead are the same.

Length
Tense

vowels are slightly longer than lax vowels

(Fromkin et al, 2011)

Tense
i: beat
: bard
u: boot
: caught
: word

Lax
bit
e met
put
bore
mat
the

Are diphthongs tense or lax vowels? Transcribe and

pronounce 5 words with tense vowels and 5 words
with lax vowels.
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Intonation The rising and falling of the

voice (pitch) over a stretch of sentence
If

pitch varies over an entire phrase or sentence, we

call the different pitch curves by the term intonation.

Example:
John is going. (falling pitch)
John is going? (rising pitch)

Stress

A property of syllables

A stressed syllable is more prominent than an unstressed

one, due to having greater loudness, longer duration,
different pitch, or full vowels

Photograph vs. photography (changes from full vowel to

schwa)

A change in stress can result in a change in meaning (ex.

incite, insight)

Can you think of other pairs of words with the same

pronunciation, but different stressed syllables?

Stress
Diacritics

are used to represent distinctive tones in

the phonetic transcription
Stress Diacritics
Primary stress (strongest): //
Secondary stress (next strongest): //
Unstressed/Weak stress (least strong): // or
unmarked
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Can the use of stress change the

meanings of words and phrases?
Consider

the following. Which syllable is

stressed? What does each word/ phrase
mean?
Tightrope
LIGHT bulb
hotdog

Tight rope
Light BULB
Hot dog
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Transcribe and mark the stress diacritics

for the following words;
Noun
report
record
present

Verb
report
record
present

Read the following sentences. Stress the

words in red.
Ididn'ttakethetestyesterday.(Somebodyelsedid.)
Ididn'ttakethetestyesterday.(Ididnottakeit.)
Ididn'ttakethetestyesterday.(Ididsomethingelsewithit.)
Ididn'ttakethetestyesterday.(Itookadifferentone./Itookthetestyou
arethinkingof,buttherewasmorethanone.)
Ididn'ttakethetestyesterday.(Itooksomethingelse.)
Ididn'ttakethetestyesterday.(Itookitsomeotherday.)

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