SuprasegmentalsRhythm

StressIntonation

Rhythm can be defined by the beat of the stresses in a phrase or sentence. These stresses recur at regular intervals, so that the rhythm can be tapped out.

Stress is the force used to say one syllable compared to anothe. It has usually a higher pitch (or tone) and a longer vowel. Stress tend to recur at regular intervals. The more unstressed syllables there are between stressed syllables, the faster they are pronounced. Finally, when sentece stress falls on a word of more than one syllable, it always falls on the syllable which normally receives “word stress”.

Intonation is the musical tone of what we speak. It has four basic tones: normal, high, low and extra high. The most important intonation is at the end of a sentence and there is a high note that corresponds to the last sentence stress. Rising intonation (the voice goes up) gives the idea that the speaker is not finished; that the idea is incomplete. Rising-falling intonation (the voice first goes up and then down), on the other hand, gives the feeling of completion.

What challenges do you think your learners face or will face regarding stress, rhythm and intonation?

What were your experiences with these three suprasegmental aspects as a language learner?

What can we do to help our students?

Familiarize them with how native speakers apply stress.

Let them know that stress can either be strong or light (called sometimes, primary stress or secondary stress), or no stress. If one syllable is stressed that usually means that the other isn’t.

Unstressed vowels are usually pronounced with the “shwa” or /i/.

Tell your students that there are no hard and fast rules for knowing which syllables to stress although word origin often has an influence.

Some quick rules Most 2 –syllable words have stress in the first

syllable (Germanic influence). Compound nouns usually have a stronger

stress on the first syllable and light stress on the second; eg, lipstick.

Compound verbs are usually the opposite; eg. Outrun.

Words taht are used as both nouns and verbs have stress on the first syllable to indicate a noun and consequently stress on the second to indicate a verb.