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#Chapter_Fifteen
#Intonation
15.1 Form and Function in Intonation
يتركز هذا الدرس حول تعاريف اساسية في موضوع التنغيم والنغمات وطبقة الصوت كمقدمة
لشرح موضوع التنغيم على مدار الفصول الخمسة القادمة من هذا المنهج
This lesson is dedicated to introduce fundamental definitions about
intonation, tones and pitch as an introductory lesson to explain the
intonation on the next five chapter of this book.
Introduction - المقدمة
1- Suprasegmental Phonology: The vocal effects that extend over
more than one segment, such as; stress, pitch and juncture. It is also
called #prosodic_phonology or #prosody.
كالنبر، وهي التأثيرات النطقية التي تمتد فوق اكثر من وحدة صوتية-:علم نظام الصوت الفوقي
علم_نظام_الصوت_العروضي او# ويسمى هذا الفرع ايضا.و طبقة الصوت و الوقفة
علم_العروض#.
2- Intonation:- A term used in the study of suprasegmental
phonology referring to the distinctive use of patterns of pitch.
مفردة تستخدم في دراسة علم نظام الصوت الفوقي تشير الى االستخدام المتميز النماط-:التنغيم
طبقة الصوت.
3- Pitch:- it is a feature of suprasegmental phonology. It is the
constant changing in the voice of the speaker in the normal speech.
Pitch is described in terms of high and low.
وهي خاصية لعلم نظام الصوت الفوقي وتشير الى التغير المستمر في صوت:طبقة الصوت
توصف طبقة الصوت بأنها ذات علو او هبوط.المتكلم اثناء الكالم الطبيعي.
4- Fundamental Frequency:- It is the auditory sensation experienced
by the hearer. It is the rate of the vibration of the vocal folds which
physically measurable and related to the activity of the speaker.
وهو نسبة االهتزاز في االوتار. وهو احساس سمعي يتعرض له المستمع-:التردد االساسي
الصوتية ويمكن قياسها ماديا وهي متعلقة بنشاط المتكلم.
Or it is a term used in acoustic phonetics. It refers to the lowest
frequency component in the complex sound wave. It corresponds
closely the pitch movement.
او هو مصطلح يستعلم في علم الصوت الفيزياوي ويشير الى أوطأ تردد لمركب في موجة
.الصوت المعقدة .وهو يماثل بشكل تقريبي الحركات في طبقة الصوت
?Q1/ Why is the speaker's pitch important
س /لماذا تعد طبقة صوت المتكلم بأنها ذات اهمية؟
A/ Because it carries some linguistic information.
.ج /النها تحمل في طياتها معلومات لغوية
Q2/ What are the conditions that make the pitch linguistically
?significant
س /ماهي الشروط التي تجعل طبقة الصوت ذات اهمية لغوية؟
تعاريف_مهمة_#Important_Definitions
التعبير النطقي -:وهو عبارة عن قطعة مستمرة من الكالم تبدأ وتنتهي بوقفة واضحة .غالبا
.يطلق هذا المصطلح على التعبير الذي لم يتم دراسة خواصه بعد
2- Tone:- it is the overall behaviour of the pitch. It can be either
#level_tone or #moving_tone.
نغمة_متحركة# نغمة_مستوية او# تكون النغمة اما. وهي السلوك العام لطبقة الصوت-:النغمة
4- Moving Tone:- it is the behaviour of the pitch that rises and falls
وهي سلوك طبقة الصوت التي تعلو وتهبط-:النغمة المتحركة.
سيتم االشارة لشكل ووظائف التنغيم بشكل مفصل في المنشورات الالحقة من هذا الفصل وما
بعده
Form and function in the intonation will be discussed in more detail
on the following lessons and chapters.
On this lesson, we will be discussing 15.2 and 15.3 since they do not
require much explanation
كونهما ال يتطلبان الكثير من الشرح15.3 و15.2 سنتناول شرح النقطتين،في هذا الدرس
_________________________________
1- Level - مستوي
2- Fall - هابط
3- Rise - عالي
______________________
Q/ What are the symbols (marks) used to represent the simple three
tones?
ماهي الرموز (االشارات) المستخدمة في تمثيل النغمات الثالثة البسيطة؟/س
Answer/ الجواب
In English language, the meaning of the word does not change with
the difference of tones. Therefore; the symbols for high and low
versions will not be used in the description of English intonation.
لن يتم استعمال الرموز، لذلك. اليتغير معنى المفردة باختالف نغمتها،في اللغة االنجليزية
الخاصة بالمستويات العالية والواطئة عند وصف التنغيم في اللغة االنجليزية.
________________________________
Because the change of the pitch level does not affect the meaning,
besides that the function of the tone in English is much more difficult
to define than in a tone language
باالضافة الى ان وظيفة النغمة في اللغة،الن تغير مستوى طبقة الصوت ال يؤثر على المعنى
االنجليزية هو اصعب بكثير من ان يتم تبيانه مما عند اللغات النغمية
_________________________________________
15.3 Complex Tones and Pitch Height
النغمات المعقدة وعلو طبقة الصوت٣.١٥
2 - Fall-rise tone: a tone where the pitch descends and then rises
again
النغمة الهابطة-الصاعدة :وهي تلك النغمة التي تهبط فيها طبقة الصوت ثم ترتفع مجددا
3- Rise-fall tone: a tone where the pitch ascends and then falls again
النغمة الصاعدة-الهابطة :وهي تلك النغمة التي تصعد فيها طبقة الصوت ثم تهبط مجددا
4- Pitch Range:- a range where the pitch of the speaker neither goes
above the highest level nor goes below the botton level used by the
speaker
مدى طبقة الصوت :وهو المدى الذي ال يتجاوز فيه صوت المتكلم الحد االعلى وال ينخفض
.دون المستوى االدنى المستخدم من قبل المتكلم
____________________________
In ordinary speech, the intonation takes place within the lower part
of the speaker's pitch range, but in situations where strong feelings
are to be expressed ( i.e. anger or emphasis), it is usual to make use of
#extra_pitch_height. The drawings on page 123 examplifing more.
في الكالم الطبيعي؛ يقع التنغيم ضمن الجزء االسفل من مدى طبقة صوت المتكلم ،لكن في
الحاالت التي يتم التعبير فيها عن مشاعر قوية ( مثل الغضب او التوكيد ) ،فمن الطبيعي ان يتم
استخدام #علو_اضافي_لطبقة_الصوت .الرسوم في صفحة ١٢٣من الكتاب توضح المقصود
.بشكل اكثر
A new symbol is used to indicate extra pitch height in order to
distinguish between it and the normal speech. The symbol is a
vertical upward arrow ( ↑ ).
يتم استخدام رمز جديد لالشارة الى العلو االضافي لطبقة الصوت وذلك للتمييز بينه وبين الكالم
ال.اعتيادي
سنشرح بعض الظروف التي يتم فيها استعمال النغمات المختلفة ضمن سياق،في هذا المنشور
وسنأخذ، لن يتم االخذ بعين االعتبار موضوع علو طبقة الصوت االضافي.كالم محدود جدا
" كلمتيyes" " وno" لتوضيح هذه الظروف.
B- \No. ( This answer means that B does not know and do not want
to be told where Ann is)
الجواب بنغمة هابطة ( هذا الجواب يعني بان الشخص ب اليعرف وغير مهتم بمعرفة اين مكان
) آن
___________________
For example:
A- I have heard that it's a good school?
لقد سمعت بأنها مدرسة جيدة؟-أ
B- \/yes
The reply of B indicates that he does not completely agree with what
A said.
.رد الشخص ب يشير الى انه غير متفق بشكل تام مع ماقاله أ
___________________
;For example
الجواب بهذه النغمة يعبر عن ان المجيب ب قد عبر عن عدم اتفاقه مع السائل أ بمشاعر او
احاسيس قوية( .رفض تام)
___________________
)The usual answer to these routine questions will be _no (level tone
عادة ما يكون الجواب على هذه االسئلة الروتينية ( او المملة او غير المهمة ) بالنفي المستوي
) النغمة المستوية ( _no
_________________________________________
In this point, we will see how some tones can be applied to other
words, either single-syllable words or multi-syllable words. In the
case of #Polysyllabic words, the tone falls on the most strongly
stressed syllable. The tone mark is equivalent to a stress mark.
في هذه النقطة سنبين كيف يمكن ان ُتطبق بعض النغمات على مفردات اخرى ،اما مفردات ذات
#مقطع_واحد او مفردات ذات #مقاطع_متعددة .في حالة المفردة ذات المقاطع المتعددة .فإن
النغمة ستقع على اقوى مقطع مشدد (مقطع ذات نبر) في تلك المفردة .ان عالمة النغمة هي
معادلة لعالمة النبر
الجواب/
يتسبب بتغيير في المعنى المعجمي لها-٢
يتسبب ببعض التغيير في التصنيف النحوي لها-٢.
فراغ مهم
In tone languages, the main suprasegmental contrastive unit is the
tone, and it is unit to the syllable
وهي مرتبطة بالمقطع، الوحدة الفوقية المتباينة الرئيسية هي النغمة،في اللغات النغمية.
If English were spoken in isolated monosyllables, the job of tonal
analysis would be similar to tone languages, Discuss.
فإن التحليل النغمي سيكون،لو كانت اللغة اإلنجليزية منطوقة على اساس مقاطع احادية منفصلة
ناقش ذلك،مشابه للغات النغمية.
The main suprasegmental unit in tone languages is the tone, since the
tone is linked to the syllable, therefore; one would be occupied in
examining utterances by looking at each syllable as an independent
item, but English is not a tone language, i.e. it examining it requires
looking into units generally greater in size than the syllables, these
units are called tone-units and the tones can only be identified on a
small number of particularly prominent syllables.
فإن، بما ان النغمة مرتبطة بالمقطع،الوحدة الفوقية الرئيسية في اللغات النغمية هي النغمة
لكن،الشخص سيكون منغمسا ً في فحص الملفوظات عن طريق فحص كل مقطع كفقرة مستقلة
اي ان فحصها يتطلب النظر في وحدات اكبر بالحجم من.اللغة اإلنجليزية هي لغة غير نغمية
النغمية وإن النغمات ُتحدد فقط على عدد صغير من- وهذه الوحدات تسمى الوحدات،المقاطع
المقاطع البارزة بشكل خاص.
Tone-unit: is the minimal unit that can carry the intonation. It may
consist of one or more that one syllable.
يمكن ان تتكون من مقطع واحد او اكثر من. وهي اصغر وحدة تحمل التنغيم:الوحدة النغمية
ذلك.
is it /you
The third syllable (you) is more prominent than the other two (is it)
and carries a rising tone
( المقطع الثالثyou) ( ذو بروز اكثر من المقطعين اآلخرينis it) ويحمل نغمة متصاعدة.
Q/ Why do we not say that each of the syllables "is" and "it" carries a
level tone?
لماذا اليمكننا القول بأن اي من المقطعين/" سis" " وit" يحمل نغمة مستوية؟
من الغريب القول بأن مقطع لُفِظ بطبقة صوت مستوية ان يكون بارزاً جداً بحيث/الجواب
( اي ان ليس كل مقطع ملفوظ بطبقة صوت مستوية يحمل.يوصف بأنه يحمل نغمة مستوية
)نغمة مستوية
" ان العبارةis it /you" نغمية واحدة؛- تحتوي على وحدة،هي لفظة تتكون من ثالث مقاطع
المقطع الذي يحمل النغمة هو المقطع الثالث.
Tonic syllable: the syllable which carries a tone. It has a high degree
of prominence and carries stress.
هو المقطع الذي يحمل النغمة وهو ذو درجة عالية من البروز وكذلك يحمل:المقطع ال َن َغمي
النبر.
Tonic stress: a type of stress that can be carried by the tonic syllable.
Some phonologists use the terms "nucleus" for "tonic syllable", and
"nuclear stress" for "tonic stress".
النبر ال َن َغمي :وهو النبر المحمول بواسطة المقطع ال َن َغمي .بعض علماء نظام الصوت يستعملون
بالن "nuclear stressبالنسبة للمقطع ال َن َغمي" و كذلك "nucleusالمصطلح
A/
الوحدة-ال َن َغمية البسيطة 1- Simple tone-unit
الوحدة-ال َن َغمية المُركبة 2- Compound tone-unit
________________________________
A head is all the of that part of the tone-unit that extends from the
first stressed syllable up to (but not including) the tonic syllable.
هو كل ذلك الجزء من الوحدة ال َن َغمية الذي يمتد من أول مقطع ذات نبر الى (لكن:رأس النغمة
اليتضمن) المقطع ال َن َغمي.
Example - مثال
يرجى االنتباه لعالمة النبر الرئيسي ( ' ) كداللة على ان المقطع يحتوي على نبر.
1- 'give me \those
in an \hour
A/ الجواب
The tail: is any syllables between the tonic syllable and the end of the
tone-unit.
هو اي مقطع (او مقاطع) تكون بين المقطع ال َن َغمي ونهاية الوحدة ال َن َغمية-:الذيل.
Example - ;مثال
1- \look at it
ليس شرطا ً ان يوجد في الوحدة-النغمية جميع مكوناتها في واحد .كما نالحظ ان المكونات
موضوعة بين اقواس ممايعني ان من االحتمال عدم تواجد احداها او بعض منها في الوحدة-
النغمية .البُنية المثالية للوحدة-النغمية هي
2- no
B- Requesting : الطلب
Can I \/ buy it
Will you \/lend it to me
____________________
فراغات مهمة
1- The term accentual is derived from "accent" which is used by some
writers to refer to "stress".
المصطلح 'نبري' مُشتق من كلمة "النبر" التي تستخدم بوساطة بعض الكتاب لإلشارة الى الـ
"".تشديد
ال تعني اللهجة وانما تعني النبر ،أي التشديد ،بالتالي فإن accentمالحظة* يعني هنا كلمة*
.تعني َنبري ،أي مشتقة من النبر accentualكلمة
Q/ When writers say that intonation has accentual function, they
imply that the Placement of Stress is something that is determined by
intonation. Discuss.
س /عندما يقول ال ُك ّتاب بأن التنغيم فيه وظيفة َنبرية ،فإنهم يشيرون ضمنا ً بأن تحديد موضع
.النبر (التشديد) هو شيئا يتم تحديده بوساطة التنغيم .ناقش
A/ This view can possibly be argued against. There are two types of
Placement of Stress. Word Stress and Tonic Stress within the tone-
unit.
Word Stress is quite independent of intonation, and it is said that
"intonation is carried entirely by the stressed syllables of a tone-
unit". This means that the placing of stress is independent of and
prior to the choice of intonation.
However, the Placement of the Tonic Stress within the tone-unit can
be regarded to as part of intonation. So it is reasonable to say that
while Word Stress is independent of intonation, the placement of
Tonic Stress is a function of intonation.
النبر على-١ وهما؛،يمكن دحض هذا االدعاء بالقول بأن هناك نوعين من تحديد موضع النبر
النغمية- النبر ال َن َغمي ضمن الوحدة-٢ المفردة و.
ً وقيل دائما بأن "التنغيم محمول كليا،النبر على المفردة هو شيئا مستقالً بشكل تام عن التنغيم
وهذا يعني بأن موضع تحديد."النغمية-بوساطة المقاطع ذات النبر (المقاطع المشددة) للوحدة
موضع النبر هو شيئا مستقالً عن التنغيم و ذو أولوية عليه.
ًالنغمية على أنه جزءا- يُشار الى موضع النبر بالنسبة للنبر ال َن َغمي ضمن الوحدة،على كل حال
فإن موضع النبر، لذلك من المعقول القول بأن النبر على المفردة مستقالً عن التنغيم.من التنغيم
ال َن َغمي هو وظيفة تنغيمية.
_______________________________________
The word are of two types: Lexical words and function words.
مفردات معجمية ومفردات وظيفية.تنقسم المفردات الى نوعين.
The most common position for the tonic syllable is on the LAST
LEXICAL WORD of the tone unit. But for contrastive purposes, any
word in the tone unit may become the bearer of the tonic syllable,
and it is frequently said that the placement of the tonic syllable
indicates the #FOCUS of the information.
ناقش ذلك. إن موضع المقطع النغمي هو ذو أهمية لغوية عظمى/س.
.إن أكثر االماكن شيوعا ً لموضع المقطع النغمي هو على آخر مفردة معجمية في الوحدة النغمية
فإن أي مفردة ضمن الوحدة النغمية يمكن لها حمل المقطع ال َن َغمي (وليس،لكن ألغراض تقابلية
يُقال بشكل متكرر بأن مكان أو موضع المقطع النغمي في الوحدة النغمية،)اخر مفردة نغمية
يشير الى التركيز على المعلومات التي يحتويها ذلك الموضع ضمن الوحدة النغمية.
بأن في الموضع الطبيعي للنبر ،فإن النبر النغمي أتى في آخر مفردة ) (iنالحظ في المثال
.في الوحدة النغمية travellingمعجمية
وهو المثال الذي يشير الى الموضع البديل للنبر ،فإن النبر النغمي اصبح ) (iiاما في المثال
to.على مفردة أخرى في الوحدة النغمية وهي
__________________________
Q/ illustrate the link between the tone-unit and units of grammar.
.س /وضح العالقة بين الوحدة النغمية و الوحدات النحوية
A/
نالحظ ان الحد بين الوحدات النغمية ( | ) قد وقع بين عبارتين في الجملة الواحدة ولكن ضمن
.حدود هذه الجملة ولم يتعداها الى جملة اخرى
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
للتوضييييح ::::كما نالحظ من المثال اعاله ،فإن الحد الفاصل بين الوحدات النغمية ( | ) قد ::::
وقع على الحد بين العبارات واشباه الجمل .والحدود بين العبارات واشباه الجمل هي عادة
ماتكون فوارز ( .) ,فلو نكتب العبارة بشكل نحوي بدون حدود للوحدات النغمية وفقط بالحدود
بين العبارات واشباه الجمل فستكون كاالتي؛
In France, where farms tend to be smaller, the subsidies are more
important.
الحظو ان الحدود النغمیة ( | ) هي بنفس موقع الحدود النحوية (الحدود بين العبارات وأشباه
.الجمل)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
للتوضيح ::::مثالين:::
× 1- I want to buy the | car.
× 2- He was | playing tennis.
هذه خطأ فال نجد حدود الوحدات النغمية بين االداة واالسم الذي يليها وكذلك ال نجدها بين الفعل
.المساعد والفعل الرئيسي المجاور له مباشرة
___________________________________
A/
1- We can identify the use of intonation to focus the listener's
attention on aspects of the most important messages.
1- يمكننا التعرف على استخدام التنغيم لجذب انتباه المستمع الى نواحي الرسائل االكثر اهمية
في الكالم الذي يسمعه
2- We can identify the regulation of conversational behaviour.
2- يمكننا التعرف على ضوابط تنظيم السلوك الحِواري
_______________________
حيث تعتبر،إن النبر النغمي يوضع على مقطع مناسب في مفردة محددة ضمن الوحدة النغمية
اي انها المفردة التي تحتوي على المعلومات.بشكل ما "المفردة االهم" في الجملة
ٍ هذه المفردة
ً
كلما كانت المعلومات التي، بحيث كلما كان تكرار المفردة في السياق متوقعا.االكثر اهمية
لذلك يميل النبر النغمي بالظهور على المفردات التي تحتوي على.تحملها أقل والعكس صحيح
على سبيل المثال؛.معلومات اكثر
تعتبر كلمة، ففي هذا السياقScotland هي المفردة الحاملة للمعلومات حيث يمكن للمستمع
اليمكن للمستمع ان، وبدون هذه المفردة.عند سماعه لها فهم المكان الذي تذهب اليه المسافرة
يعرف معلومات كاملة من خالل الجملة.
فراغ مهم
The majority of English speakers would place the tonic stress on
____________
شرح مهم
Q/ Mention two uses of intonation connected with focusing
intention?
كيف يمكن للتنغيم ان يساعد بعملية جذب االنتباه؟
1)
The tone chosen can indicate whether the tone-unit in which it
occurs is used to present new information or to refer to information
which is felt to be already possessed by speaker and hearer. It is
proposed that the falling tone indicates new information while rising
(including falling-rising) tones indicate "shared" or "given"
information. For example;
'Since the \/last time we •met | 'when we 'had that 'huge \/dinner |
Ive ˌbeen on a \diet
النغمة يمكن ان توضح فيما اذا كانت الوحدة النغمية التي تقع فيها تلك النغمة ُتستخدم لتقديم
يتم االقتراح بأن.معلومات جديدة او تشير الى معلومات يمتلكها باالساس المتكلم والمستمع
بينما تشير النغمات الصاعدة (تتضمن،النغمات الهابطة تستخدم لإلشارة الى معلومات جديدة
الصاعدة) الى معلومات "مشتركة" او "معروفة-"النغمة الهابطة.
اول وحدتين نغميتين تشيران الى معلومات يعرفها المتكلم والمستمع ( وهي معلومات لقائهم
ومعلومات تناولهم للعشاء سويا" ) لذلك يتم
واما الوحدة النغمية الثالثة فيقدم فيها المتكلم معلومة جديدة للمستمع ،اال وهي (انه يقوم االن
بحمية غذائية) وهذه معلومة لم يكن يعرفها المستمع من قبل .لذلك يتم استخدام نغمة هابطة
.كي يخبر المستمع بمعلومة جديدة عنه ) انا .) \ ( ( I -وهنا استخدم المتكلم الضمير
__________
)2
A particular tone-unit is of low importance give greater importance
to adjacent tone-units. This is called intonational subordination. For
;example
| ii) The 'Japa\/nese | for ˌsome ˌreason or /other | 'drive on the \left
like \us
وحدة نغمية معينة ذات اهمية ُدنيا تعطي بشكل بديهي اهمية اكبر للوحدات النغمية المجاورة لها.
.وهذه الحالة تسمى بالتبعية التنغيمية
____
Supra-segmental Phonemes and Phonetics
Linguistics
MA English
Phonemic particles that we have so far been considering such as
vowels, consonants, diphthongs, etc. are called segmental phonemes.
They contribute to the meaning of a speech segment. Apart from this
class of segmental phonemes, there is another class of particles that’
play equally important role. These are supra-segmental phonemes.
Features of stress, pitch, intonation and juncture comprise this class,
and are said to be ‘overlaid’ on the segmental units. It is difficult to
imagine human communication without these features. They
invariably accompany our speech and lend the additional dimension
which is mote immediately and directly understood. These features
convey the speaker’s identity, attitudes, emotional states and his/her
evaluation of how he/she is being received. Often, in the totality of
communicational situation, a listener doesnot pay so much attention
to the wards as he does to the rise and fall of pitch, volume of voice,
stress and pauses, and so on. He understands the meaning by simply
responding to these extra-linguistic indices.
We will now look at these features or phonemes a little more closely.
Stress
Physiologically, stress means greater articulatory effort. By putting
stress on particular segments we give it greater prominence. Various
types of meaning are conveyed by distributing stress pattern over
speech segments in a controlled manner.
Two types of stress can he established
1. Word stress (or accent)
2. Phrasal (or sentence stress)
Word Stress
In words made up of more than one syllable, some syllable stands out
from others. In a word like fable it is the first syllable that receives
‘stress’ or more articulatory energy which results in its’ sounding
louder and longer than the other syllable’ the second syllable here.
The distribution of stress over the word fable can be shown in this
manner – fa-ble.
In monosyllabic words – these words may contain more than one
phoneme, but that doesnot matter-stress falls on the only syllable
they contain:
l /ai/ (single phoneme word)
see /si:/ (two-phoneme word)
cat /kaet/ (three-phoneme word)
flame /fleim/ (four-phoneme word)
tract /traekt/ (five-phoneme word)
In words made of more than one syllable, the stress is distributed
over the syllables; one of the syllables is pronounced with greater
syllabic energy or prominence. In words like sector and enable, the
first syllable is prominent in sector and the second syllable in enable.
The syllable that is strongly stressed is called a strong syllable and
weakly stressed syllable is called weak syllable. In sector, sec is
strong syllable and-tor weak syllable. In enable, en is weak syallable
and no srong syllable followed a weak –bl. In polysyllabic words the
stressed syllable may be more than one, for example these words –
understand, appetizing examination. Syllabic division is shown as
follows:
Un-der-stand; ap-pe-ti-zing; e-xa-mi-na-tion.
A polysyllabic word is graded in terms of the release of syllabic
energy. It can be seen that from the strongest to the less strong to the
weak, we can easily perceive different parts carrying these stresses.
For example, in a word like consolidation, the strongest stress falls on
the fourth syllable /-dei-/, the next prominent syllable is the second
one, the other syllables carry weak stresses.
One reason why the fourth syllable is the strongest is that the pitch of
the voice changes on this syllable. Therefore, this is also called
primary stress or tonic stress. A strong stress accompanied by a
pitch-change or pitch movement is known as primary stress. Roger
Kingdon says that ‘the prominence of a syllable is also affected by its
pitch; high-pitched syllables sound more prominent than low-pitched
ones’.
Stress features are thus divided into the following levels:
1. Primary stress
2. Secondary stress
3. Tertiary stress
4. Weak stress
The strongest release of syllabic energy accompanied by a potential
change of pitch direction marks the primary stress. The next strong
stress is called secondary stress. Primary stress is represented by the
half straight bar [‘], and the secondary stress by the bar placed at the
bottom before the syllable that is stressed. Thus in apple the primary
stress is on the first syllable ‘apple; so with ‘father; but in ga’rage it is
on the second syllable. The word understand carries a primary and a
secondary stress indicated as /unders’tand. Tertiary stress is weaker
than the secondary stress and close to weak or unmarked stress. It is
somewhat difficult to define and describe it. The two identically
pronounced words nightrate and nitrate, show that the second
example has a tertiary stress while in night rate rate carries the
secondary stress. A weak stress is always left unmarked. Here the
pitch is low and the vowel lax as in to’bacco.
Stress pattern in English has to be learned; there is nothing in a
syllable itself which indicates that it may receive stress or not. In
some disyllabic words the first syllable is stressed, for example
‘writer, ‘bellow, ‘coral, ‘glimmer, ‘ginger, while other disyllabic words
have the second syllable sressed: re’cord, be’low, con’sort (vb),
di’sable. Compared to the unstressed syllable, the vowel in a stressed
syllable is longer. Similarly, a long vowel becomes reduced in length
when it occurs in an unaccented syllable.
Stress Shift
It has been observed that stress shifts in derivative words. The
following table shows how different derivative words take stress on
different syllables.
Table
1st syllable 2nd syllable 3rd syllable
‘fraternise fra’ternity
‘fragility fra’gile
‘fragment frag’ment fragmen’tation
Or’thographer ortho’graphic
‘syllable sy’llabify syllabifi’cation
‘product pro’duce produc’tivity
‘excavate exca’vation
‘excellence ex’cel
‘photograph pho’tographer photo’graphic
Shift of Primary Stress in Syllables
In derived words also there is no predictability about the placement
of stress. However, an interesting aspect of the stress distribution is
that for noun/adjective, stress is on the first syllable and for verb it is
on the second syllable.
Noun/Adjective Verb
‘produce pro’duce
‘import imp’ort
‘subject sub’ject
‘perfect per’fect
‘record re’cord
‘contract con’tract
Compound Word Stress
Compound word consists of two words, which are written as one
word. Mostly the nuclear, tonic or primary stress falls on the first
syllable of the first word as in ‘postman, ‘batsman, ‘chairman, etc.
Distribution of stress varies greatly according to the syllabic
composition of the compound words.
Primary stress on the first syllable
‘Honeymoon, ‘honey suckle, ‘market day, ‘main spring, ‘long shore,
‘live stock, ‘liveryman.
Primary stress on the first, secondary on the third syllable
‘borderline, firebrigade, copyright
Primary stress on the first, secondary on the fourth syllable
National issue, labour exchange, cabinet maker
Primary stress on the third, secondary on the first syllable
Secondhand, country farm, easygoing, seargent major
Phrasal Stress
Although words have more or less fixed stress in connected speech,
the intonational and contextual imperatives guide a speaker’s choice
of stress. Longer utterances, clauses and segments can show changes
in stress pattern. This is accompanied by the rise and fall in the pitch
level. For example in a sentence like
Bring those chairs closer
different words can be stressed in the manner shown below:
bring those chairs closer
bring those chairs closer
bring those chairs closer
bring those chairs closer
Each of the above examples conveys a different meaning. Normally,
content words receive the primary stress, grammatical words donot
As T. Balasubramanian says, ‘The choice of the syllable receiving
primary accent depends on the meaning the speaker wants to
convey’.
Speech Rhythm
In connected speech certain words receive the primary stress and
other words are unstressed. A pattern of alternations between the
stressed and unstressed words is formed. If we consider the
sentence, see the cat on the roof we will find that the second, the
fourth and the fifth syllable are unstressed; the third and the sixth
words are stressed. It is the tendency among the English speakers to
crowd together the unstressed syllables between the two stressed
syllables. The effect is a rhythm which makes English a stress-timed
language.
There is another process that produces the characteristic English
rhythm, that of weakening of the accent on certain words. In
connected speech stress tends to be re-arranged due to elision and
assimilation. Syllables that in isolated expressions appear stressed
may be unstressed in such instances. Form-words, like articles,
prepositions, auxiliary verbs, conjunctions and other elements may
show this, where consonant and vowel quality of the weak form is
affected. Let us look at these sentences.
a. I shall let you have it transcribed as
/ai ò l let ju: hæv it/; the verb shall has become weak and is
represented as /ò i/ instead of /ò æl/.
b. Lend me the book, I’d read it transcribed as
/lend me buk, aid ri:d it/; would becomes simply /d/ here.
a. There was a book on the table transcribed as
/ðәwәzә buk* nðә teibl/; note the weakening of vowels in there
/ðeә/ ® /ðә/ and was /w*z/ ® /wәz/.
We can, therefore, say that such words have two forms; a strong form
(in isolation) and a weak form (in raid speech). Below are listed a few
words with the two forms.
Strong form Weak form
æt әt /t
bai b∂
in tu: intә
tu: tә, tu
iz z,s
kæn k∂n, kn
will l, әl, l
kud kud, kd
jә: ‘selvz jә’selvz
maiself m∂self
tu him tuim
hæd hәd, әd, d
m^st mәst, ms
aend әnd, әn, d
aez әz
eni ni
s^m sm
sәu sә
frәm fr∂m
fә: fә
Intonation
Another significant suprasegmental feature of English language is
intonation or variation of pitch from one segment of an utterance to
another. A lot of emotional meaning is conveyed by consciously
varying intonation level.
Pitch is closely associated with vibration of the vocal cords. In males
the vocal cords vibrate at a rate of 70-125 times per second, and in
adult females it is between 150-200 times. Increase in the vibration
of the vocal cords results in the rise of pitch. In normal conversation,
pitch variations are quite an integral part and cannot be completely
ignored.
A combination of stress on a syllable and change in pitch-range
produces tone, a significant element of intonation. Two types of tone
have been identified i) static tone and ii) kinetic tone. A syllable
pronounced on a level tone of unvarying pitch is said to have static
tone. The kinetic tones show different kinds of change in pitch
contour. Physiologically, this is explained by variation in the tension
of the vocal cords.
Different levels of kinetic tone have been postulated by different
phoneticians, some grade it into fie, some into four. This shows that
precise location of a tone contour is not possible – gradations are
made only as identification of a range, where correspondence with
modulations in the emotional level can also be identified.
In rapid speech pitch contours rapidly alternate but it must be
remembered that all pitch movements are not discriminating, and
therefore, significant. Only those variations that serve as significant
units, discriminating between meanings are phonemic.
Below are presented the signs that are used for indicating itch
contours
Rising Tone is symbolized as [‘]
Falling Tone is symbolized as [`]
Falling - Rising Tone is symbolized as [v]
Rising - Falling Tone is symbolized as [^]
Intonation pattern in English can be understood by dividing an
utterance into breath-groups. Each breath-group forms a tone group.
In a sentence like She will ‘not` go we can identify the whole
utterance as a breath group, a sense group and an information unit.
Under normal conditions it is the final syllable /gәu/ that shows the
pitch variation. This syllable, therefore, contains tonic prominence. It
is known as tonic syllable. Tonic prominence is a stress on the
syllable, plus change in pitch level. A speaker can vary the tonic
syllable to correspond to the meaning, sense and emphasis he wishes
to convey. That means that tonic prominence can shift from final
syllable to any other in a sentence.
Thus in the example cited above, she will not go, shifts in tonic
prominence can be demonstrated alongwitht he corresponding
meaning changes:
i) She will not go = it is she who will not go.
ii) She will not go = come what may, she won’t go.
iii) She will not go = she will do anything but go.
We shall now consider below some examples of all the four tones.
1. Rising Tone:
‘Are you coming? (stress on are)
Is, he at home?
‘Wait, , keep it in place (gentle command)
‘Come, ,here (encouraging, inviting)
‘Really? (surprise)
2. Falling Tone:
When this tone is used, special implication is conveyed which is not
verbally expressed, like sympathetic attitude, surprise, disbelief,
sarcasm, boredom, routine greeting, detached attitude, and so on.
‘Put it on the stool (neutrality)
‘Good ,morning (routine greeting)
‘How ,nice (routine, bored)
,Sit down ,please (polite command)
,Such a ,waste (mildly sarcastic)
3. Falling-Risging Tone:
The pitch registers a fall from about mid to low and then from high to
mid.
We are vwaiting better make haste)
vCarefully ! (soothing, encouraging)
The vfood was nice (=but the hotel awful)
vWell done (appreciating)
You may vre lax (you really need it)
vCan she do it? (=are you sure?)
4. Rising-Falling Tone:
The pitch changes from low to close to mid and low again. Normally,
sarcasm, surprise, interest, enthusiasm are expressed.
Is he^alright? (surprise)
She looked^beautiful (enthusiastic)
Yes, it is^nasty (full agreement)
But,^will that do? (doubt)
Juncture:
In connected speech it is necessary to distinguish within one
macrosegment such phonems whose function is to keep utterances
apart. We must, for example, convey to the listener whether we mean
a part (a+part) or apart when we use these segments, however rapid
our speech may be. The accent feature of course plays a significant
part in it; but we must also give a brief pause that would separate a
from part when we wish to say a part, and remove that pause when
we wish to say apart. As Hockett says, ‘Any difference of sound which
functions to keep utterances apart is by definition part of the
phonological system of the language’. Such transition from one
segmental phoneme to another is called juncture and represented by
[+] mark. Juncture is thus a type ‘of boundary between two
phonemes. Often, juncture helps the listener to distinguish between
pairs such as see Mill and seem ill in Did he see Mill? And Did he seem
ill?’ (Richards, Platt, Weber). Terminal juncture is represented by the
[+] sign as in the following examples.
a + name
an + aim
that + stuff
that’s + tough
Ice + cream
I + scream
Two vowels in close proximity both bearing the primary stress must
receive a terminal juncture.