Week 5

MINIMAL PAIRS

 refers to two words that differ in only one sound, such as sip and zip, rise and rose,
hit and hid,.
 serve as tools to establish that two (or more) sounds contrast in a language
 a difference in sound means a difference in meaning
 a minimal pair is "the clearest and easiest way to identify phonemes in a language
(The Anthropology of Language, 2013).

Examples:
 Initial position
"We looked!
Then we saw him step in on
the mat!
We looked!
And we saw him!
The Cat in the Hat!"
(Dr.Seuss, The Cat in the Hat, 1957)
"Cheers and Jeers is an activity that provides an opportunity to use music and
humor to relax and release tension."
(Edie L. Holcomb, Getting Excited About Data. Corwin Press, 2004)

 Medial position
"Lit Up/Let Down"
(album by the band Vains of Jenna, 2006)
The bossy lady has a rounded body.
(Anonymous)

 Final position
" Do you repair clocks/clogs?"
(Inge Livbjerg and Inger M. Mees, "Segmental Errors in the Pronunciation of Danish
Speakers of English," 1995)

The witch made a wish.

(Anonymous)

TUTORIAL:
Provide five minimal pairs each at initial, medial and final positions.
STRESS AND INTONATION

STRESS
 the emphasis given to a specific syllable (part of a word that is pronounced with one
uninterrupted sound) or word in speech
 usually through a combination of relatively greater loudness, higher pitch, and longer
duration
 we stress the VOWEL sound of the word, not the consonant sound
 the stress placed on syllables in a word is called lexical stress or word stress, eg.
‘water, ‘station, .people, ‘garden
 stress placed on some words within a sentence is called sentence stress or prosodic
stress, eg. ‘Close the ;door, ‘What did ‘he say to you?, WHERE are you GOING?
 grammatical words (auxiliary verbs, prepositions, pronouns, articles, …) usually do
not receive any stress
 lexical words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, …) must have at least one stressed
syllable
 rules of word stress are complicated and dictionary will be of great help
 for 2 syllable words with the same spelling but different word class, eg:
 Verb – stress is placed on the second syllable, eg. .to re’cord, to trans’port
 Noun – stress is on the first syllable, eg. ‘record,’ transport

INTONATION
 the variation of our pitch in the spoken language
 shows our emotions and attitudes
 helps to determine the difference between statements and questions or even
highlight certain spoken messages
 has 3 basic intonation patterns:

a) FALLING INTONATION
 describes how the voice falls on the final stressed syllable of a phrase
 used to express a complete, definite thought and asking Wh-questions, eg.

That was a good show.

b) RISING INTONATION
 describes how the voice rises at the end of a sentence
 common in yes-no questions or in expressing surprise, eg.

Are you coming?

c) PARTIAL / FALL-RISE INTONATION

 describes how voice rises then falls
 used to show uncertainty, or having more to add to a sentence as well as to ask
questions (sounds more polite), eg.

Did you see the thief?

Exercise 1: Mark the primary stress in the words below.

confess confide honesty tutor

Wednesday economy present (verb) different

develop decade comprehend reason

import (noun) tutor demolish pronunciation

obedient language wonderful analyse

reason teacher assignment preliminary

pattern education experience beautiful

register farewell school understand

Exercise 2: Mark the stress in the underlined words in the sentences below.

1. Can you pass me a plastic knife, please?

2. I want to take a photography class.
3. China is the place where Lee Lee was born.
4. Please turn off the television before you go out.
5. I can’t decide which book to borrow.
6. Do you understand this lesson?
7. Sparky is a very happy puppyl
8. It is critical that you finish your essay.
9. Malaysia imports rice grains from Thailand.
10. Honesty is the best policy.
11. I hope you will pass your examination with flying colours.
12. She has been reminded to attend the wedding ceremony on behalf of his parents.

Exercise 3: Give the different meaning of the underlined stressed word in the sentence.

1. She played the piano yesterday.

2. She played the piano yesterday.
3. She played the piano yesterday.
4. She played the piano yesterday.