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Stress
Phoneme e
the All languages are spoken with som
A phoneme is a unit of sound, e.g. With som e, e.g. Fren ch,
ntly, it kind of rhythm.
diphthong /eə/. More importa pron oun cing indiv idua l
r, the focus is on
distinguishes words from each othe but with Eng lish,
– bad , syllables clearly,
e.g. minimal pairs: fill – feel, bag
pair s of stress is the dominant feature. This
where the difference between
regular rhythm and stress makes
words is a single phoneme.
English a stress-timed language.
Phonemic script
Content words
Phonemic script helps us to record
is the Content words are words that have
how words are pronounced. This
l’ in pho nem ic scrip t: meaning and in speaking they are
word ‘beautifu
usually stressed (said clearly and
/ˈbjuːtɪfʊl/ s
loudly). Main verbs, nouns, adjective
// indicate something written in and adverbs are usually content word s.
phonemic script
ˈ indicates the main stress Function (grammar) words
ː indicates a long vowel sound Function words are words that are
lly
structural and grammatical and usua
ʊ is an example of phonemic script hing by them selv es and
don’t mean anyt
or phonemic alphabet .
in speaking they are not stressed
artic les, pron oun s, and
Auxiliary verbs,
usua lly func tion word s.
prepositions are
eech and
Connected sp
weak forms t Intonation
which is the mos
The schwa /ə/, in En gl ish , One of the features of
d sound
commonly hear l so un ds much meaning can be
spoken English is how
other vo we
of ten replaces ich
given by intonation.
in fu nction words wh When we speak, our vo
ice does not stay at
especially an , fo r, the same pitch and vo
ak, e.g.
are generally we n
lume; it rises and falls
d, yo u. Pronunciatio to express a variety of
emotions or functions.
can, are, an wh en When expressing emoti
change s
of these words on, in general rising
t sp ok en in isolation. intonation indicates po
sitivity or politeness
they are no t
‘He wants to ge while falling intonation
In the sentence th e or impoliteness. Falling
can indicate negativity
positio n’
a good teaching intonation is also used
’ an d ‘a ’ are weak, and with statements, e.g.
‘I like sport, especially
words ‘to
/tə/ and /ə/. football’, while rising int
are pronounced questions, e.g. ‘Can I
onation is used with
help you?’ However, wit
wh- questions, intonati h
on tends to fall, e.g.
‘What’s your name?’ We
also use rising
intonation to indicate
we have not finished
speaking, and falling int
onation to indicate we
have finished. For exa
mple when making list
s:
‘I need eggs, bread, mi
lk and vegetables.’

Understanding pronunciation – Knowing the subject | © British Council 2016