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Tema 9: 
Sistema fonológico 
de la lengua Inglesa 
III: Acento ritmo y 
entonación: 
Comparación con el 
español y el 
catalán.  
 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengu
ua Inglesa III: A
Acento ritmo y entonación:
e Com
mparación con el
e español y el ccatalán.
2

Topic 9:
9
S
Sistema fono
ológico de la lengua Ingle
esa III: Acen
nto ritmo y en
ntonación: Comparación
C con el
español y el catalán.
c

Ta
able of contents
1. Stress. ________________________
____________________
_________________________ 3
1.1. Word stress.
s _____________________________________
___________________________ 3
1.1.1. The stress of English words. __________________________ ______________________________ 4
1.1.2. The effect of affixxes on stress. _______________________
______________________________ 5
1.1.3. The stress in com
mpounds. ____________________________ ______________________________ 6
1.1.3.1.. Accentuationn of compound words. ________________ ______________________________ 6
1.1.4. Stress in Phrasal Vs
V and Prepossitional Verbss. __________
______________________________ 7
1.2. Sentencce Stress.___________________________________
___________________________ 7
1.2.1. Rhyythmical modiffications. _________________________________________________________ 8
1.2.2. Accentuation andd usage. _____________________________ ______________________________ 9
1.2.3. Empphatic and conntrastive patterns. ____________________
______________________________ 9
1.3. English
h vs. Spanish
h/Catalan word
w stress. ___________
_ __________________________ 10
1.3.1. Lexiical and seconndary stress. ____________
_ ____________
_____________________________ 10
1.3.2. Conntrastive seconndary stress. ____________
_ ____________
_____________________________ 10
1.3.3. Stress position annd effect. ____________________________
_____________________________ 11
2. Rhythm _______________________
____________________
________________________ 11
2.1. English
h Rhythm. __________________________________
__________________________ 11
2.2. Spanish
h Rhythm. __________
_ ______________________
__________________________ 12
2.3. Stress-ttimed vs. sylllable timed
d rhythm. _____________
__________________________ 13
2.4. Pause. ___________
_ ________________________________
__________________________ 14
3. Intonation.. ___________________
____________________
________________________ 14
3.1. The Inttonation system of Engllish.__________________
__________________________ 14
3.2. Functioons of Intonaation. ___________________________
__________________________ 15
3.2.1. Attittudinal. _____
____________________________________
_____________________________ 15
3.2.2. Grammmatical. _______________________________________
_____________________________ 15
3.2.3. Accentual. __________________________________________
_____________________________ 15
3.2.4. Disccourse. ______
____________________________________
_____________________________ 15
3.3. Structu
ure of the inttonation uniit. ___________________
__________________________ 15
3.3.1. Nuccleus. _______
____________________________________
_____________________________ 15
3.3.2. Tail. ___________
____________________________________
_____________________________ 16
3.3.3. Heaad. __________
____________________________________
_____________________________ 16
3.3.4. Prehhead. _______
____________________________________
_____________________________ 16
3.4. Intonattion of the major
m syntacctic classes. __________
__________________________ 16
3.4.1. Statements. _________________________________________ _____________________________ 17
3.4.2. Queestions. ______
____________________________________ _____________________________ 17
3.4.2.1.. Wh-questionns. ______________________________________________________________ 17
3.4.2.2.. Yes-No quesstions. ______________________________
_____________________________ 17
3.4.2.3.. Question taggs. _________________________________
_____________________________ 17
3.4.2.4.. Alternative questions.
q ___________________________
_____________________________ 17
3.4.2.5.. Echo questioons. ________________________________
_____________________________ 17
3.4.3. Commmands _____ ____________________________________ _____________________________ 18
2.4.4. Excllamations. ___
____________________________________ _____________________________ 18
Biibliography __________
_ __________
____________________
________________________ 18
Su
ummary _______________________
____________________
________________________ 19

Iván Matella
anes’ Notes
 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
3

1. Stress. Stress.
STRESS: The force with
STRESS can be defined as the force with which a sound or a which a sound or a
syllable is uttered.
syllable is uttered. Syllables can be stressed (more prominent) or unstressed
(less prominent).
Stressed syll are more
STRESSED SYLLABLES are more prominent depending on: prominent depending on:

a. PITCH (rate of vibration of the vocal cords): If the vocal folds vibrate PITCH: Rate of vibration of
the vocal cords. Higher
fast, the pitch is said to be high, otherwise it is low. A stressed pitch.

syllable stands out from the rest because its pitch is higher.
b. Stressed syllables are LOUDER. LOUDER.

c. Stressed syllables are usually LONGER than the rest. LONGER.

d. The syllable’s VOWEL QUALITY is usually full, so WEAK FORMS of the The syllable’s VOWEL
QUALITY is usually full.
vowels do not usually occur in stressed position.
UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES are less prominent than stressed ones: Unstressed syll are less
prominent.
a. In principle, only 3 vowels can occur in unstressed position: [I, ə, U] Only three vowels can
occur: [I, ə, U].
b. The vows of unstressed syllables are usually REDUCED, that is, a full
They are usually REDUCED.
vowel has occur in a stressed counterpart and it reduces in unstressed
position.
FAmily [‘fQmIlI] → faMIliar [fə'mi:lIə]

c. So, unstressed reduced vows can be deleted. Unstressed reduced vows

can be DELETED.
Police [pə'li:s] → [p'li:s]
SYLLABIC CONSONANTS occur
d. And syllabic consonants occur as a result from this deletion. as a result from this
deletion.
SUdden ['s√dən] → ['s√dn1]

1.1. Word stress. The word stress.

In English, the stress pattern of a word cannot be change. The position Position of the stress is
free.
of the stress is free, that is, it can occur on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th syllable of a
Stress is an idiosyncratic
word. STRESS is a lexical feature, in other words an idiosyncratic feature feature of the word.

of the word. Speakers do not derive stress from rules, but they learn it at the
same time that they learn the word and its meaning. Stress is also a Stress is also a
distinctive feature.
distinctive feature, because it undergoes change of meaning.
PREsent (N) ['presn1t] → PreSENT [prI'sent] (V) > VOWEL REDUCTION.

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
4

The stress in UK words.

1.1.1. The stress of English words.

There are different degrees of stress in a syllable:
1. UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES: They are the less prominent syllables of a word. UNSTRESSED SYLL:

1.1. With full vowels: Even though it is a more prominent syllable, it is not Full vows: all except
[I, ´, U].
stressed.
PoEtic [pəU'etIc] > [əU] is a FULL VOW. In fact, all vows except [I, ´, U] are full.

1.2. With reduced vowels: The least prominent syllables in a word. Reduced vows:
[I, ´, U].
PaTHEtic [p´'TetIk] → [´] & [I] are REDUCED VOWELS.

STRESSED SYLL:
2. STRESSED SYLLABLES: It’s the most prominent syllable of a word. Each
word generally only has one stressed syllable, but sometimes it may
have two stresses.
2.1. Primary stress: The main stress in a word. All content words Primary stress: all
content words.
must have one stressed syllable and functional words may also be
stressed.
YESterday ['jest´deI]
Secondary stress:
2.2. Secondary stress: An stress produced for rhythmical reasons. Produced for rhythmical
reasons.
JapaNESE [,dZQp´'ni˘s] but JApanese LEssons ['dZQp´ni˘s'lesn1z] (where the
secondary stress in the word in isolation becomes primary stress in the NP.

There are some Noun-Verb pairs which only differ in stress:

An IMport (N) ['i˘mp´t] but to imPORT [Im'pç˘t]

An INsult (N) ['Ins´lt] but to inSULT [In's√lt] Two syllable

words.
An OBject (N) ['ÅbdZ´kt] but to obJECT [´b'dZekt]

ASSOciate (N) [´'sÅS´t] but to assoCIATE [´s´'SeIt]

SEparate (Adj) ['sep´®´t] but to sepaRATE [s´p´®eIt]

Three syllable
words.
-ate → [-eIt] /$__’̃__# but -ate → [-´t] /$____#
-able → [-eIbl1] /$__’__# but -able → [-´bl1] /$____#

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
5

1.1.2. The effect of affixes on stress. The effect of affixes on stress.

Some suffixes, when added to a word, have the effect of changing Some suffixes can
change the stress
the stress pattern of the word. First of all, I have to distinguish btw SIMPLE pattern of the word.

and COMPLEX WORDS. SIMPLE WORDS are morphologically simple words, so SIMPLE WORDS: Simple
morphological words.
that they do not have any affix (neither derivational nor inflectional) attached
to them and they only have one word stem or root. COMPLEX WORDS are COMPLEX WORDS: Complex
morphological words.
morphologically complex words, so that they have affixes (either
derivational –careless- or inflectional –singing-) or they have two roots or
stems (compounds –Greenhouse-).
There are 4 basic types of affixes in English that have different 4 basic types of affixes
in English:
effects on stress:
1. STRESSED SUFFIXES: They are very unusual. They usually have main
Stressed suff have
main stress. FRENCH
stress.
1.1. French suffixes are usually stressed.
eer > MOUNtain → mountaiNEER. esque > PICture → pictuRESQUE.
ette > ciGAR → cigaRETTE. ese > JOURnal → journaLESE.

2. STRESSED NEUTRAL SUFFIXES: They do not affect the stress pattern of Stressed neutral suff
do not affect the stress
the word. They usually are Anglo-Saxon in origin. pattern of the word.
ANGLO-SAXON.
able > COMfort → COMfortable. ful > WONder → WONderful.
al > reFUSE → reFUSAL. ous > POIson → POIsonous.
less > CARE → CAREless. dom > CHRIStian → CHRISTendom.
ish > DEvil → DEvilish.

3. STRESS ATTRACTING SUFFIXES: They usually attract stress on the last Stressed Attracting
suff attract the stress
syllable of the stem. They are generally Greek-Latin in origin. on the last syll of the
stem. GREEK-LATIN.
ious > VICtory → vicTOrious. tic > DRAma → draMAtic.
ics > eCOnomy → ecoNOmics. (i)an > COmedy → coMEdian.
olic > SYMbol → symBOlic.

4. PREFIXES: They’re rather irregular, and they never change the stress Preff never change the
stress patter. They
pattern of a word. Sometimes a secondary stress is added, but there sometimes add
secondary stress.
is no rule to predict it.
READ ['ri˘d] → reREAD [,rI'ri˘d]

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
6

1.1.3. The stress in compounds. The stress in compounds.

Compounds are made of two stems. If these two stems appear in

They usually are single-
isolation, each of them carries its own stress. However, when together, stressed.

there is only one stress usually on the 1st stem.

COMPUND NP
‘BLACKboard a ,black ‘BOARD

So that, the stress pattern is the only difference btw COMPOUNDS & NPS. NPs usually have
primary & secondary
COMPUND NP stress.

‘bluebell (flower) a ,blue ‘bell

‘English-teacher (A Spanish, Catalan, an ,English ‘teacher (A teacher of physics,
French… teacher who teaches the English Lg) Maths, Geography… whose nationality is British)

‘Eating-apples (good to eat) (They’re) ,eating ‘apples

‘Whitehouse (the place where the President a ,white ‘house (A house whose color is white)
of the USA lives)

COMPOUNDS have also a meaning of their own which cannot usually be Compounds also have a
meaning of their own.
derived from the meaning of the two stems.
COMPUND NP
‘Whitesocks (North-American football team) A ,white ‘sock (a sock which is white)

To sum up, the main differences btw NPs and COMPOUNDS are meaning,
stress pattern and syntactic behavior.

1.1.3.1. Accentuation of compound words. The Accentuation in compounds.

- Single accented COMPOUNDS: They are the commoner and take the Single accented.
<’____ + ____>
accent on the 1st element → < ‘______+_______ >
‘N+N ‘Adj + N ‘V+N
‘Baby-sitter ‘Greengrocer ‘Telltale
‘Book seller ‘Dark room ‘cookbook
‘Taxi-driver ‘Writing-desk ‘playboy
‘Hair-dryer ‘Parking-zone steering-wheel
Double-accented:
- Double-accented COMPOUNDS: <,_____+’_____> <,____+’____>
Adj1 Related to food2 Names of streets N+N
,Bad-‘tempered ,Cream ‘cheese ,Leicester ‘Square ,Country-‘house
,Second-‘hand ,Apple ‘pie ,Leicester ‘Road ,Shop ‘window
,Good-‘looking ,Sparkling ‘water ,Leicester ‘Avenue ,Camp-‘bed
Two primary stresses.
1
Although the stress shifts to the 1st element of the compound when appears in a clause.
2
However, the structure < _STEM_ + cake/juice> has a diff stress pattern → ‘Apple cake Three-root compounds.

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
7

- Some other compounds retain the 2 stems primary stress:

‘Oxford ‘Avenue → ‘Oxford Street; ‘Yellow ‘fever → ‘Hay fever; ‘Orange ‘pudding → ‘Orange juice.

- Single accented three-root COMPOUNDS are very uncommon:

‘Merry-go-round For’get-me-not
‘Fire-insurance policy ‘Test-tube baby

1.1.4. Stress in Phrasal Vs and Prepositional Verbs. Stress in PhrVs and PpVs.

PHRSVS have a meaning of their own, so that they behave as a

PhrVs: have meaning of
single word. They usually have two stresses, the secondary on the V and their own. Usually double
accented (PARTICLE =
primary stress).
the primary on the particle.
‘What ‘time did you ,get ‘back? Did you ,give them ‘back?

On the other hand, the PPVS don’t behave as a single word. In these cases, PpsVs: single accented
(PP = unstressed).
the Pp is not stressed.
I ‘looked at the ‘picture. I ‘asked for a ‘beer.

Up to now, I have shown three distinctive features of word stress:

1. Difference btw N & V.
2. Difference btw Compounds and NPs.
3. Difference btw Phrasal Vs and Prepositional Vs.

1.2. Sentence Stress. Sentence Stress.

In connected speech, some words stand out with respect to others, In connected speech,
some words stand out
according to the amount and type of information they carry. In general, with respect to others.
CONTENT WORDS: stressed.
CONTENT English WORDS are stressed. So that, Vs, adjs, advs, Ns and the
particle not are usually stressed. On the contrary, FUNCTIONAL WORDS are FN WORDS: unstressed.

normally unstressed. That is, Prons, dets, Pps, Auxs & Conjs are likely to
be unstressed. There is, however, a group of functional words that is Demons, Poss prons &
interrogatives are stressed.
usually stressed: Demonstrative Prons (that, this …), possessive prons
(mine, yours …) and interrogative words (Wh-words).
The most prominent word within a sentence (the TONIC) usually falls on
TONIC: falls on the last
the last content word. content word.

I do ‘not ‘know ‘where he is ‘GOING. PRIMARY STRESS:

Ì: Falling pitch movement.
I do ‘not ‘know ‘WHERE he is ‘going → Emphasizes where over the other words. Ê: Rising pitch movement.
ÌÊ: falling-rising one.

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
8

1.2.1. Rhythmical modifications. Rhythmical modifications.

English rhythm requires stressed syllables to be separated by

unstressed ones (a tendency that functions both at word and sentence level).
- In sequences of three content words in a row, the 2nd one tends to 3 content words in a
nd
row: 2 one often loses
loose its stress if it has no more than 2 syllables. its stress.

A ‘nice old ‘ÌCHAIR I ‘can’t speak CHI‘ÌNESE.

A ‘nice ‘comfortable ‘ÌCHAIR. I ‘can’t trans`late CHI‘ÌNESE.

- Transitive Phrsal Vs adopt diff stress patterns depending on the Transitive PhrsVs:
Depending on the position
position and nature of the obj. and nature of the obj.

‘Put on your ‘ÌSHOES. ‘Put your ‘ÌSHOES on. ‘Put them ‘ÌON.

Intransitive Phrs Vs are stressed on both the V and the particle,

Intransitive PhrsVs:
stressed on both V &
unless they are immediately preceded and/or followed by another particle unless preceded
by another stressed
accented word. word.

‘Come ‘ÌIN. You ‘can’t come ‘ÌIN. You can ‘come in ‘ÌNOW.

- Many double-accented compounds and some simple words may Double-accented

compounds and simple
lose the stress which is closet to another one in an utterance. words: may lose the
stress when close to
‘During the WEEK‘ÌEND. ‘Tell the HEAD‘ÌMASTER. another one in an
utterance.
A ‘weekend ‘ÌPARTY. The ‘headmaster’s ‘ÌOFFICE.

A ‘good-looking ‘ÌBOY. When adjs are used attributively they drop When adjs are used
attributively they drop
their primary stress, when used
I ‘find him GOOD-‘ÌLOOKING. their primary stress, when
predicatively, they lose the secondary one. used predicatively, they
lose the secondary one.
- Less frequently, single accented words may suffer these rhythmical Single-accented words:
May suffer attributively
modifications (attributively vs. predicatively). and predicatively
modifications.
He ‘said HEL‘ÌLO. He’s there AL‘ÌREADY.
‘ HELLO, John
ÌÊ
He’s ‘already ‘ÌGONE.

To sum up, only a small number of single-accented words suffer

rhythmical modifications, but non single-accented compounds do. All
double accented words may be affected by these modifications. All these
rules, however, can be broken for contrastive or emphatic purposes.

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
9

1.2.2. Accentuation and usage. Accentuation and usage.

A number of announcements, set phrases and collocations follow

stress tendencies that depend mainly on usage.
- In ANNOUNCEMENTS the stress tends to fall on the N about which ANNOUNCEMENTS: Stress
tends to fall on the N
something is being said. about which smthing is
being said.
There are ‘no ‘ÌBUSES today I’m ‘doing ‘ÌFRENCH this ‘year

- SET PHRASES may take their own particular pattern: SET PHRASES: Tend to
take their own pattern.
I’m ‘staying for a ‘ÌYEAR or so. He did ‘not ‘win by a ‘ÌLONG chalk.
We will ‘get there in ‘ÌNO time. I have ‘just 'seen ‘ÌWHAT-is-his-name.

- The word street is unstressed when it forms part of a place name: street: unstressed when
it forms part of a place.
‘ÌOXFORD street. Vic‘Ìtoria Street.
‘Oxford ‘Ìcircus. Vic’toria ‘ÌStation.

- Ns used in a wide, unspecific sense, are normally unstressed. Ns: unstressed when
wide & unspecific.
I am a’fraid you are ‘ÌSEEING things. ‘Do you en’joy ‘ Ê
MEETING people.

1.2.3. Emphatic and contrastive patterns. Emphatic & contrastive patterns.

Special meanings can be conveyed by varying the rule of
accentuation of content and structural words.
- FUNCTIONAL WORDS may be stressed for purposes of emphasis or Fn words: Stressed
when mark emphasis or
contrast. contrast.
You were ‘driving ‘ÌFAST. A: I should ‘go to the ‘ÌDENTIST.
Contrast.
You ‘ÌWERE driving fast. B: No, you ‘ÌMUST go to the dentist.

‘Come ‘ÊIN It is a ‘dull ‘ÌBOOK

Emphasis.
‘ÌDo come ‘ÊIN (Emphatic-do) It is a ‘ÌTERRIBLY dull book

- When explicit CONTRAST is expressed, the elements which are in When explicit contrast is
expressed, the elements
opposition attract the stress, leaving the repeated elements in opposition attract the
stress. Repeated
unstressed. elements unstressed. .
I did ‘not ‘say Oxford ‘‘ÌÊStreet, I said Oxford ‘ÌROAD.
He ‘plays both ‘popular music and ‘ÌCLASSICAL music.
Generally, repetitions
In general, repetitions and synonyms are left unstressed. and synonyms are left
unstressed.
Exceptions can be found in echo utterances. Exceptions are echo
utterances.
A: ‘Buy me ‘six ‘ÌPAIRS. B: ‘Buy you ‘six ‘ÊPAIRS?

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
10

1.3. English vs. Spanish/Catalan word stress3.

1.3.1. Lexical and secondary stress.
Spanish speakers should keep in mind the different importance given
to SECONDARY STRESS in Spanish as compared with English. Its
occurrence in isolated words rarely takes place in Spanish, it only
happens in advs ending in “-mente”, as <’simple,MENte>, and in a few
compound advs, as <,optico-a’CUStico or ,metomen’TOdo>. In certain areas it is
possible to hear in Vs with enclitic prons a secondary stress on unusual
intensity: <’comete,lo or ‘mira,la>.

1.3.2. Contrastive secondary stress.

SECONDARY STRESS in English receives a greater than usual intensity
when marking elements which allow a contrast btw words: This is the
case of ,co’rruption, which carries a strong secondary stress on the prefix.
The same occurs with pairs such as:
,a’voidable / ,un’avoidable ,in’ternal / ,ex’ternal

This contrastive uses occurs in Spanish as well, but it is not so prominent and
only in very particular uses:
Las cuestiones tanto ‘INteriores como ‘EXteriores.

English derivative words generally turn into secondary stress the

one which was the primary in the root. The secondary stress still keeps a
considerable strength.
‘CENtral → ,centra’LIZE. A’CAdemy → a,cade’miCIAN.

Following the general tendency of Romance Lgs, Spanish moves the stress
to the suffixes. A Secondary stress does not appear except in the cases
where the general rules of Spanish regulate it:
Cen’TRAL → centrali’ZAR Aca’DEmia → Academi’CISta

3
This compared study is based mainly on Spanish. Unless otherwise observed, all the
statements made for Spanish are also available for Catalan.

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
11

1.3.3. Stress position and effect.

In two-syll words, both Lgs have a preference for stressing the
syll before the last. English tends to stress the antepenultimate syll in
three or more syll words whereas Spanish keeps the penultimate
position for stress except for a few words.
English vows are deeply affected by stress, whether primary or
secondary. Stressed vows have a precise and clear pronunciation,
whereas unstressed vowels have a tendency to become indistinct. It is
characteristic of Spanish to keep a clear distinction of the vowels
regardless of their position within the word. Catalan also has the English
tendency to reduce vowel’s quality in unstressed position. In Catalan,
every vowel but [i] is reduced in unstressed position ([a] & [e] → [´] AND [ç] &

[u] → [U])

Rhythm.
2. Rhythm
I have already examined the elements which make certain parts of an
utterance stand out with respect to others. I am now going to take a closer look How “peaks of
prominence” are
at the way in which these “peaks of prominence” are distributed in the distributed in a
utterance.
utterance. In other words, I shall deal with the rhythmic pattern of English. I
have already shown that one of the basic principles governing English
rhythm is the fact that the stressed syllables tend to be separated
from each other by unstressed ones.

2.1. English Rhythm.

Although it is possible to find an English utterance of the type ‘First ‘Mike
‘took ‘John’s ‘book ‘ BACK, it is the exception rather than the norm. A pattern of
Ì

more frequent occurrence is the type found in ‘Later ‘Mike ‘visited ‘Millington’s ‘ancient
‘ bookshop. If we were to use a large circle to represent a stressed syll and a
Ì

small one to represent an unstressed one, the two sentences would look like
this:
First Mike took John’s book back. (a)

(b)
Later Mike vi si ted Millington’s ancient book shop.

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
12

English Rhythm.
Both patterns (a) and (b) show that the large circles (stressed sylls) are
In actual speech, the
separated by equal distance from each other, irrespective of the presence stressed sylls are
separated from each
or absence of unstressed sylls separating the stressed ones. In other words, in other by equal units of
time.
actual speech the stressed sylls are separated from each other by equal
= Rhythmic beats are
units of time, or in more technical terms, the rhythmic beats are ISOCHRONOUS.

ISOCHRONOUS.

This absolute isochrony displayed in the examples will seldom be Absolute ISOCHRONY is
seldom found in real
speech.
found in real speech. It will be easier to detect ISOCHRONY in carefully
organized sentences, particularly in reading aloud. It is therefore more
English rhythm shows a
exact to say that English rhythm shows a tendency towards ISOCHRONY. tendency towards
ISOCHRONY.
Each stressed syllable constitutes the peak of prominence in a
RHYTHMIC GROUP, which may or may not include other stressed sylls. The FOOT The FOOT is the unit of
English rhythm.
is the unit of English rhythm, each one starting with an stressed syll.

2.2. Spanish Rhythm. Spanish Rhythm.

Spanish Rhythm has some characteristics in common with English. As CONTENT WORDS are likely
to be stressed in Sp.
explained before, very much the same type of words (CONTENT WORDS) are
likely to be stressed in Spanish. This leads to easily identifiable rhythmic
groups, each one containing an stressed syll with or without the addition of
unstressed ones.
One of the differences btw English and Spanish rhythm lies in the fact
Sp vowel weakening in
that Spanish vowel weakening in terms of quality and quantity is very terms of quality &
quantity is very slight
slight compared with English. As just pointed before, Catalan is much more compared with English.

like English, with vowel reduction in unstressed position. A further difference

Sp polysyllabic words
can be seen in Spanish polysyllabic words, which may take extra may take extra stresses
apart from those that
stresses apart from those that would normally occur. would normally occur.

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
13

2.3. Stress-timed vs. syllable timed rhythm.

In 1945, K. L. Pike coined the terms STRESS-TIMED and SYLLABLE-TIMED

to describe two different types of rhythm. English has a STRESS-TIMED STRESS-TIMED RHYTHM:

rhythm because the stressed syllables tend to occur at fairly regular Stressed sylls tend to
occur at fairly reg intervals.
intervals. These kind of Lgs have had a tendency for complex syllable
structures. When two stressed syllables are separated by unstressed ones, Complex syll structure.

these tend to be condensed and quickened, so that the time btw each beat Weakening of unstressed
vowels.
will be approximately the same as the time taken by the two consecutive
stressed syllables. This means that because examples (a) & (b) above contain
six stressed syllables, both take roughly the same amount of time, although (b)
has 7 extra unstressed syllables.
Although Spanish rhythm is also determined by rhythmic beats, their
SYLLABLE-TIMED RHYTHM:
occurrence is not so regular as in English. Spanish can be said to have a
The sylls, stressed or not,
SYLLABLE-TIMED rhythm, because it is the sylls, stressed or not, which tend to occur at more or
less regular intervals.

tend to occur at more or less regular intervals. The time taken to Vowels are not reduced.

produce a Spanish utterance will be proportionate to the number of Time taken to produce a
Spanish utterance will be
proportionate to the
sylls it contains, since unstressed sylls are only slightly shortened and number of sylls it contains.

weakened.
Rhythm cannot only be said
Rhythm has been traditionally conceived as the way in which stressed to depend on the occurrence
of beats or syll.
and unstressed syllables follow each other in the utterance. However, Rhythm
cannot only be said to depend on the occurrence of beats (UK & Catalan) or
syllables (Sp); rather it is a more complex set of elements. Rhythm of a Lg is RHYTHM is the overall
impression caused by
the overall impression caused by the prominent and non-prominent the prominent and non-
prominent parts, and the
parts, and the way in which they succeed each other in an utterance. way in which they succeed
each other in an utterance.
In the case of English & Catalan, its rhythm is based on a marked contrast btw
the prominent and non-prominent parts. The outstanding syllables are PROMINENT SYLLS: Pitch
movement, strong vowel
quality, length & stress.
made prominent by PITCH MOVEMENT, A STRONG VOW QUALITY, LENGTH & STRESS.

The non-prominent compressed parts consists of syllables lacking one or NON-PROMINENT SYLLS:
lacking 1 or all 4 of the
all four of the elements described above. Non-prominent sylls preceding elements just described.
Sylls preceding the beat
the beat are normally even less prominent than those following it. It is are normally even less
prominent than those
also in the non-prominent sylls where phonetic & phonemic modifications following it.

Phonetic & phonemic

(ELISSIONS, ASSIMILATIONS, …) tend to occur: Plosives → Fricatives → Approx. modifications tend to occur.

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
14

2.4. Pause. Pause.

Closely connected with rhythm is PAUSE, a feature which may

either be grammatically predictable, and will therefore fit in naturally with
the rhythmic groups, or may break them up in unpredictable places.
PREDICTABLE PAUSES, such as those required for the speaker to take breath PREDICTABLE PAUSES
coincide with the rhythmic
will coincide with the rhythmic group boundaries. group boundaries (breath).

The UNPREDICTABLE ONES, such as those produced by hesitation, false UNPREDICTABLE PAUSES
may occur at any place in
starts … may occur at any place in the utterance. the utterance (hesitation,
false starts …).

3. Intonation. Intonation.
INTONATION has been traditionally defined in terms of the rises
and falls of the voice in speech (a strict `phonetic definition, which only
takes into account vocal fold activity). A wider view of intonation does not
define it in terms of patterns of falls and rises only, but as a compound of
features belonging to different prosodic systems: PITCH MOVEMENT, LOUDNESS,
RHYTHMICALITY and TEMPO.

3.1. The Intonation system of English. The Intonation sys of English.

PITCH MOVEMENT (FALLING, RISING, LEVEL) can be carried out by PITCH MOVEMENT: Falling,
rising, same level.
stressed and prominent syllables, although only the former can act as
initiator of it. A more accurate description of the intonation system of English
PITCH RANGE: High or Low.
must also account for PITCH RANGE. Although PITCH RANGE may have an
indefinite number of degrees, for practical purposes it is sufficient to
distinguish no more than two: HIGH, MID LOW. A given PITCH MOVEMENT and PITCH RANGE + PITCH MOV:
TONE.
PITCH RANGE constitute a TONE, which can be spread over one or more sylls.
NAME OF THE TONE DESCRIPTION PM PR
1. High Level Syll at high, sustained pitch. L H
2. Low Level Syll at low, sustained speech. L L
3. Low High Syll begins at low pitch and rises to high. R H
4. High Low Syll begins at high pitch and falls to low. F R
5. Mid High Syll begins at mid pitch and rises to high. R MH
6. High Mid Syll begins at high pitch and falls to mid. F HM
7. Low Mid Syll begins at low pitch and rises to mid. R LM
8. Mid Low Syll begins at mid pitch and falls to low. F ML

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
15

3.2. Functions of Intonation. Functions of Intonation.

3.2.1. Attitudinal. Attitudinal.

INTONATION is used to reflect the attitude or emotional state the INTONATION is used to
reflect the attitude or
speaker. Other factors also contribute to reflect this state, as the speed of emotional state the
speaker.
talking, loudness and non-linguistic elements.

3.2.2. Grammatical. Grammatical.

INTONATION is used as a kind of oral punctuation, which may or Intonation is used as a

kind of oral punctuation,
may not coincide with the actual written forms. Pauses and raises which may or may not
coincide with the actual
indicate that the utterance is not complete. It also indicates interrogatives, written forms.

exclamations and V object.

3.2.3. Accentual. Accentual.

It highlights the most important words in an utterance, in It highlights the most

important words in an
conjunction with stress and the NUCLEUS. utterance.

3.2.4. Discourse. Discourse.

It discriminates new information from what is already known. It discriminates new

information from what is
This is my sister. She is a FRIENDLY person. already known.

3.3. Structure of the intonation unit. The Structure of the intonation unit.

Just as any English utterance can be divided into rhythmic units, from
the point of view of intonation it can also be organized into INTONATION UNITS,

which can be as short as one syllable.

3.3.1. Nucleus. (=EXAMPLE ) NUCLEUS.

The essential element of an intonation unit is the NUCLEUS, which is Last stressed syll acting
as pitch mov initiator in the
the last stressed syllable acting as pitch movement initiator in the intonation unit.

intonation unit, and the tone on that syll is called NUCLEAR TONE.
I don’t ÌKNOW (4) –one intonation unit- ‘DON’T ‘KNOW? ÊÌWHY? (5,7) (3,6) –2 intonation units-

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengu
ua Inglesa III: A
Acento ritmo y entonación:
e Com
mparación con el
e español y el ccatalán.
16

3.3.2. Tail. =Example )

(= TAILL
As alre
eady said, the NUCLEU
US is the la
ast stressed
d syll of the intonatio
on unit.
It often happ
pens that the
t NUCLEU
US is follo
owed by one
o or more
m unstrressed NUCLEUS is followed
f by
one or more e unstressed
sy
yllables fo
orming the
t TAIL of the unit. By de
efinition, there
t can be no syllables forming the TAILL
of the unit.
stressed sy
yllables in
n the TAILL, but only
y promine
ent ones (play
( a rhythmical
There can bee no stressed
d
art and/or are merelyy a vehicle
pa e for the pitch movem
ment initiatted and ind
dicated sylls but only prominentt
ones.
byy the nucle
eus). Tails to any of
o the fallling/rising tones continue
c at the
Tails to any of the falling /
low
w/high pitch
p levell indicated by the nucleus.
n rising tones continue at
the low/high pitch level
NUCLEUS TEIL NUCLEUS TEILL
2 indicated by the nucleus.

. . . . . . . .
Ì
WHY
Y did you as
sk her to co
ome? (8) Ê
ASK herr did you say
ay? (3)

3.3.3. Head
d. (=EXAMPLE ) HEAD.
Apartt from the stresse
ed syllable
e constitu
uting the NUCLEUS, there
Apart from thhe stressed
may be oth
her stress
sed word
d(s) prece
eding it and
a forming the HEAD of syllable consstituting the
Nucleus, theere may be
th
he intona
ation unitt. A head can be as
a short as
a one mo
onosyllabicc word. other stresssed word(s)
preceding itt.
Lo
onger head o the 1st stressed syll
ds begin on s and en
nd on the syll imme
ediately
preceding th
he NUCLEUS. HEAD NUCLEUS

· . .
· .· HEAD
D

Ì
HOW
W would you LIKE my NEW
W SWEATER (8))

(=Example
E )
3.3.4. Prehead. PREHE
EAD.

A PREHEAD
R co
onsists of
o any unstresse
ed, and usually non- A PREHEAD consists
c of
any unstres
ssed, and
prrominent,, syllables
s preceding a HEAD
D or NUCL
LEUS. Prehe
eads are no
ormally usually non
n-
prominent, syllables
said quickly and on a lo
ow varietyy of mid pittch, and arre left unm
marked. preceding a HEAD or
NUCLEUS.

3.4. Intona
ation of the
t majo
or syntac
ctic class
ses. Intona
ation of the major
m syntactiic classes.

There
e are four major synttactic classses which all have a distinctive
e tone:
Sttatements
s, questio
ons, comm
mands & exclamati
e ions.

Iván Matella
anes’ Notes
 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
17

3.4.1. Statements. Statement.

Neutral conclusive statements normally take a FALLING TONE. Conclusive statements:

Ì FALLING TONE.
A: It is ‘starting to ÌRAIN. B: I ,must take my umÌBRElla then.

Non-conclusive statements take some kind of RISING TONE. Ê Non-conclusive

statements: RISING TONE.
He ‘turned round ÊSUddenly | and ‘there she ÌWAS.

Enumerations take a RISE on each element to indicate that the list is Enumerations: RISE on
ÊÌ each element & FALL on
incomplete, and a FALL on the final to indicate conclusiveness. the final to indicate
conclusiveness.
I have bought ÊApples, ÊPEAches and ÌOranges

3.4.2. Questions.
3.4.2.1. Wh-questions. Wh-Qs.
Wh-Qs normally take a FALLING INTONATION:
Ì FALLING TONE.
Ê
WHERE are my ÌGLOves? ‘Where did you put ÌTHEM?

3.4.2.2. Yes-No questions. Yes-No & Declarative Qs.

Yes-No Qs are normally said on a RISING TONE. They can also take the
Ê RISING TONE.
form of a declarative Qs, in which case they also take a RISING TONE.

‘Did you ‘bring your ÊCAmera? (Yes-No Qs) You are ÊREAdy? (Declarative Qs)

Qs tags.
3.4.2.3. Question tags.
When expressing doubt, Qs tags are said on a RISING TONE. Ê When expressing doubt:
RISING TONE.
It is ‘nearly ÌSIX, ÊISN’T it?

Qs tags which merely seek confirmation of what has been said, or are Seek inf of what has
Ì been said or “fillers” to
used as “fillers” to keep a conversation going, take a FALLING INTONATION. keep a conversation
going: FALLING TONE.
She is ‘quite ÌPREtty, ÌISN’T she?

Alternative Qs.
3.4.2.4. Alternative questions.
They take RISING INTONATION on the 1st element of the choice, and RISING TONE on the 1st
element and FALLING on
FALLING on the 2nd: Shall we go ÊOUT | or stay at ÌHOME ÊÌ the 2nd.

3.4.2.5. Echo questions. Echo Qs.

Echo Qs generally take a high RISING TONE. It can also be used when the Ê RISING TONE.

listener has not heard, or has not been paying attention.

You have ÊWHAT? Ê
REAlly? Ê
PARdon?

Iván Matellanes’ Notes

 Topic 9:
Sistema fonológico de la lengu
ua Inglesa III: A
Acento ritmo y entonación:
e Com
mparación con el
e español y el ccatalán.
18

3.4
4.3. Commands Comm
mands.

Comm
mands ge
enerally takke some kin
nd of TION.
FALLING INTONAT
Ì E.
FALLING TONE
Ì
STOP
OP it! Do ‘not enter
e Ì
HERE!

It should be
e remembe
ered, how
wever, thatt other co
orrelates such as voice
qu
uality and
d facial ex
xpression are just as
a importtant as to
one and to
onicity
in changing an order to
o a requesst.

Excla
amations.
2.4
4.4. Excla
amations
s.
Excla
amations normally take
t some kind of FAL NATION.
LLING INTON Ì E.
FALLING TONE
A: What
W an ‘awfu
ul ÌDAY it hass been! B: DisÌGU
USting!

Bibliogra
aphy
CEDDE
Edittorial MAD
Iván Matellanes’ Notes from the UABU – Phoneticss and phonologyy II (M.J. Solé)
Llin
nàs I Grau, M & Reeves, A. (199 95). English gra
ammar: An introoductory descrip ption.
Fincch, D.F. & Ortiz Lira, H. (1982)). A course in En
nglish phoneticss for Spanish spe
peakers.

Iván Matella
anes’ Notes
 19
Topic 9: Brief summary.

Summary: Sistema fonológico de la lengua Inglesa III: Acento ritmo y entonación: Comparación con el español y el catalán.
- Word Stress can be defined as the force w/which a syll is uttered: They can be stressed (+prominent) or unstressed (-prominent).
- Stressed vs. Unstressed syllables:
♦ STRESSED SYLL are more prominent depending on: ♦ UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES are less prominent than stressed ones:
___ PITCH (rate of vibration of the vocal cords): If the VC ___ In principle, ONLY 3 VOWS can occur in this position: [I, ə, U]
vibrate fast, the pitch is high, otherwise it is low. A stressed ___ The vows of unstressed syllables are usually REDUCED, i.e. a full vow
syllable stands out from the rest bc its HIGH PITCH. has occur in a stressed counterpart & it reduces when unstressed.
___ Stressed syllables are LOUDER > F.EX.: FAmily [‘fQmIlI] → faMIliar [fə'mi:lIə]
___ Stressed syllables are usually LONGER than the rest ___ unstressed reduced vows can be DELETED: Police [pə'li:s] → [p'li:s]
___ The syllable’s VOWEL QUALITY is usually full, so weak ___ SYLLABIC CONSONANTS occur as a result from this deletion:
forms of the vow don’t usually occur in this position > F.Ex.: SUdden ['s√dən] → ['s√dn1]

- Word Stress: In English, the stress pattern of a word cannot be change

♦ Main characteristics:
st nd rd th
___ The position of the stress is free, that is, it can occur on the 1 , 2 , 3 or 4 syllable of a word.
___ Stress is a lexical feature, in other words an idiosyncratic feature of the word.
___ Stress is also a distinctive feature, bc it undergoes change of meaning: PREsent(N) ['presn1t] → PreSENT [prI'sent](V) > VOW REDUCTION
♦ There are diff degrees of stress in a syllable:
___ UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES: They Æ W/Full Vows: Even though it is a more prominent syllable, it is not stressed. PoEtic [pəU'etIc] Æ [əU]
are the less prominent syllables. Æ With reduced vowels: The least prominent syllables in a word. PaTHEtic [p´'TetIk] → [´] & [I]
___ Stressed syllables: It’s the Æ Primary stress: The main stress in a word. All content words must have one stressed syllable
most prominent syllable of a word. and functional words may also be stressed Æ YESterday ['jest´deI]
Each word generally only has one Æ Secondary stress is produced for rhythmical reasons Æ JapaNESE [,dZQp´'ni˘s] but JApanese
stressed syllable, but sometimes it
LEssons ['dZQp´ni˘s'lesn1z] (where the Sec stress in the isolated word becomes primary in the NP)
may have two stresses
___ There are some Noun-Verb pairs which only differ in stress: An IMport (N) ['i˘mp´t] BUT to imPORT [Im'pç˘t], An INsult (N) ['Ins´lt] BUT to
inSULT [In's√lt] (2-Syll W); ASSOciate (N) [´'sÅS´t] BUT to assoCIATE [´s´'SeIt], SEparate (Adj) ['sep´®´t] BUT to sepaRATE [s´p´®eIt] (3-SYll W)
♦ Some suffixes, when added to a word, have the effect of changing the stress pattern of the word:
__ Simple words are morphologically simple words (no affix, neither derivational nor inflectional) & they only have one word stem or root.
__ Complex Words are morphologically complex words, so that they have affixes (either derivational or inflectional) or they have two roots.
___ 1. STRESSED SUFF: They are very unusual. They usually have main stress Æ French suffixes: esque > pictuRESQUE; ette > cigarette
___ 2. STRESSED NEUTRAL SUFF: They don’t affect the stress pattern of the word Æ Anglo-Saxon: al >refusal, ful >WONderful, less >CAREless.
___ 3. STRESS ATTRACTING SUFFIXES: They attract stress on the last syllable Æ Greek-Latin: ics > ecoNOmics, olic > symBOlic, tic > draMAtic.
nd
___ 4. PREFIXES: They’re irreg & never change the stress pattern of a word. Smtimes a 2 stress is added Æ READ ['ri˘d] → reREAD [,rI'ri˘d]
♦ The stress in compounds: Compounds are made of 2 stems, which in isolation carry their own stress, but together, there’s only 1 stress.
___ The stress pattern is the only diff btw Compounds (‘Whitehouse -the place where the USA President lives-) & NPs (a ,white ‘house).
___ Compounds have also a meaning of their own which cannot usually be derived from the 2 stems (‘Whitesocks -USA football team-).
___ Accentuation of compound words:
a. SINGLE ACCENTED COMPOUNDS: < ‘______+_______ > They’re the commoner b. DOUBLE-ACCENTED COMPOUNDS: <,_____+’_____>
st
& take the stress on the 1 element Æ ‘Baby-sitter; ‘Dark room; playboy … Æ ,Second-‘hand, ,Apple ‘pie, ,Leicester ‘Road …
d. Single accented THREE-ROOT COMPOUNDS
c. Sm other retain 2 STEMS PRIMARY STRESS Æ ‘Oxford ‘Avenue, Orange ‘pudding
Æ ‘Merry-go-round, ‘Test-tube baby …
♦ Stress in Phrasal Vs & Prepositional Vs:
___ PhrsVs have a meaning of their own, so that they behave as a single word. They usually have 2 stresses, the secondary on the V & the
primary on the particle Æ What ‘time did you ,get ‘back?
___ PpVs don’t behave as a single word. In these cases, the Pp is not stressed Æ I ‘asked for a ‘beer
- Sentence stress: In connected speech, some words stand out with respect to others
- CONTENT & FUNCTIONAL words: The most prominent word w/in a sentence (the TONIC) usually falls on the last content word.
♦ Generally, CONTENT ENGLISH WORDS are stressed. So that, Vs, adjs, advs, Ns and the particle not are usually stressed.
♦ FUNCTIONAL WORDS are normally unstressed. That is, Prons, dets, Pps, Auxs & Conjs are likely to be unstressed.
___ There is a group of Fnal words that is usually stressed: Demonstrative (that …) & possessive prons (mine …) & interrogative words.
- Rhythmical modifications: English rhythm requires stressed sylls to be separated by unstressed ones (both at word & sentence level). A
small nº of single-strss words suffer rhythmical mod (no single-accented compounds). All dbl strss words may be affected.
nd
♦ In sequences of 3 content words in a row, the 2 one tends to loose its stress if it has no more than 2 syllables.
___ F.Ex.: A ‘nice old ‘ÌCHAIR vs. A ‘nice ‘comfortable ‘ÌCHAIR ; I ‘can’t speak Chi‘Ìnese VS. I ‘can’t trans`late CHI‘ÌNESE.
♦ TRANSITIVE PHRSAL VS adopt diff stress patterns depending on the position and nature of the obj.
___ F.Ex.: ‘Put on your ‘ÌSHOES or Put your ‘ÌSHOES on or Put them ‘ÌON.
___ INTRANSITIVE PHRS Vs are stressed on both the V & particle, unless they’re immediately preceded &/or followed by another accented word.
> ‘Come ‘ÌIN or You ‘can’t come ‘ÌIN or You can ‘come in ‘ÌNOW.
♦ Many double-accented compounds & some simple words may lose the stress which is closet to another one in an utterance.
___ A ‘good-looking ‘ÌBOY vs. I ‘find him GOOD-‘ÌLOOKING ; ‘Tell the HEAD‘ÌMASTER vs. The ‘headmaster’s ‘ÌOFFICE.
♦ Single accented words may suffer these rhythmical modifications (attr vs. pred) Æ He’s there AL‘ÌREADY vs. He’s ‘already ‘ÌGONE.

- Accentuation & usage:

♦ A number of announcements, set phrases and collocations follow stress tendencies that depend mainly on usage.
___ ANNOUNCEMENTS: Stress tends to fall on the N about which smthing is being said Æ I’m ‘doing ‘ÌFRENCH this ‘year
___ SET PHRASES may take their own particular pattern Æ I have ‘just 'seen ‘ÌWHAT-is-his-name
___ The word <street> is unstressed when it forms part of a place name Æ ‘ÌOXFORD street. Vic‘Ìtoria Street but Vic’toria ‘ÌStation.
♦ Special meanings can be conveyed by varying the rule of accentuation of content and structural words
___ FUNCTIONAL WORDS may be stressed for purposes of emphasis or contrast Æ You were ‘driving ‘ÌFAST vs. You ‘ÌWERE driving fast.
___ When explicit contrast, the elements in opposition attract the stress Æ He ‘plays both ‘popular music and ‘ÌCLASSICAL music
- English vs. Spanish/Catalan word stress:
♦ SECONDARY STRSS occurs in words rarely in Spanish Æ “-mente” advs (<’simple,MENte>) & few compound advs (<,metomen’TOdo>)
___ It receives a great intensity when marking elements in contrast (UK), but it is not so prominent in Spanish Iván Matellanes’ Notes
♦ Stress position: UK tends to stress the antepenultimate syll in 3 or + syll words whereas Sp keeps the penultimate position for stress.
♦ Sp does not have reduced vows (all full), but Catalan has the English tendency to reduce vowel’s quality in unstressed position.
 20
Topic 9: Brief summary.
- Rhythm is the way in which these stress is distributed in the utterance.
- ENGLISH RHYTHM: Both patterns (a) & (b) show that the large circles (strssd
sylls) are separated by equal distance from each other, irrespective of the
presence or absence of unstressed sylls separating the stressed ones.
♦ So, in actual speech the strssd sylls are separated from each other by
equal units of time, or technically, the rhythmic beats are ISOCHRONOUS.
♦ This absolute isochrony will seldom be found in real speech. So, English rhythm shows a tendency towards isochrony.

- Spanish Rhythm has some characteristics in common w/English.

♦ Very much the same type of words (content words) are likely to be stressed in Spanish.
___ This leads to easily identifiable rhythmic groups, each one containing an stressed syll with or without the addition of unstressed ones.
♦ One of the diff btw UK & Sp rhythm lies in the fact that Spanish vow weakening in terms of quality/quantity is very slight compared w/UK.
___ As just pointed before, Catalan is much more like English, with vowel reduction in unstressed position
♦ A further diff can be seen in Spanish polysyllabic words, which may take extra stresses apart from those that would normally occur.

- STRESSED-TIMED vs.SYLLABLE TIMED Rhythm: In 1945, K. L. Pike coined these terms to describe 2 diff types of rhythm.
♦ English has a STRESS-TIMED RHYTHM bc the stressed syllables tend to occur at fairly regular intervals.
___ These kind of Lgs have had a tendency for complex syllable structures & the tendency to condense strsd syll when separated by unstrssd.
♦ Spanish can be said to have a SYLLABLE-TIMED RHYTHM, bc it is the sylls, stressed or not, which tend to occur at more or less reg intervals.
___ The time taken to produce a Sp utterance will be related to the nº of sylls it contains (unstressed are slightly shortened & weakened).
♦ Rhythm cannot only be said to depend on the occurrence of beats or syll:
___ RHYTHM is the overall impression caused by the prominent & non-prominent parts, & the way they succeed each other in an utterance.
___ The outstanding syllables are made prominent by PITCH MOVEMENT, a strong vow QUALITY, LENGTH & STRESS.
___ The non-prominent compressed parts consists of syllables lacking one or all four of the elements described above.

- Intonation:
- Intonation has been traditionally defined in terms of the rises and falls of the voice in speech (a strict phonetic definition).
♦ Very much the same type of words (content words) are likely to be stressed in Spanish.
___ This leads to easily identifiable rhythmic groups, each one containing an stressed syll with or without the addition of unstressed ones.
___ A wider definition takes it as a compound of features belonging to diff prosodic systems: PITCH MOV, LOUDNESS, RHYTHMICALITY & TEMPO.
♦ The Intonation systems of English:
___ PITCH MOVEMENT (falling, rising, level) can be carried out by stressed & prominent sylls, although only the former can act as initiator of it.
___ PITCH RANGE may have an indefinite nº of degrees, for practical purposes it is sufficient to distinguish no more than 2: high, Mid low.
___ A given PITCH MOVEMENT & PITCH RANGE constitute a TONE, which can be spread over one or more sylls
NAME OF THE TONE DESCRIPTION PM PR
High Level Syll at high, sustained pitch. L H
Low High Syll begins at low pitch and rises to high. R H
High Mid Syll begins at high pitch and falls to mid. F HM
Low Mid Syll begins at low pitch and rises to mid. R LM
- Functions of Intonation:
♦ ATTITUDINAL: Intonation is used to reflect the attitude or emotional state the speaker.
♦ GRAMMATICAL: Intonation is used as a kind of oral punctuation, which may or may not coincide with the actual written forms
♦ ACCENTUAL: It highlights the most important words in an utterance, in conjunction with stress and the NUCLEUS.
♦ DISCOURSE: It discriminates new information from what is already known.

- Structure of the intonation unit: INTONATION UNITS (IU) can be as short as one syllable.
♦ The NUCLEUS is the essential element of an intonation unit, which is the last stressed syll acting as pitch mov initiator in the IU
___ The tone on that syll is called NUCLEAR TONE.
___ I don’t ÌKNOW (4) –1 intonation unit- ___ ‘DON’T ‘KNOW? ÊÌWHY? (5,7) (3,6) –2 intonation units-
♦ It often happens that the NUCLEUS is followed by 1 or + unstrssd syll forming THE TAIL of the unit.
___ By definition, there can be no stressed syllables in the Tail, but only prominent ones (play a rhythmical
part &/or are a vehicle for pitch mov).
♦ Apart from the stressed syllable constituting THE NUCLEUS, there may be other stressed word(s) preceding
it & forming THE HEAD of the IU.
___ A head can be as short as 1 monosyllabic word.
st
___ Longer heads begin on the 1 stressed syll & end on the syll immediately preceding the NUCLEUS.
♦ A PREHEAD consists of any unstressed, & usually non-prominent, syllables preceding a HEAD.

- Intonation of major syntactic classes:

♦ STATEMENTS:
Ì___ NEUTRAL CONCLUSIVE statements normally take a FALLING TONE Æ It is ‘starting to ÌRAIN.
Ê ___ NON-CONCLUSIVE statements take some kind of RISING TONE Æ He ‘turned round ÊSUddenly | and ‘there she ÌWAS.
ÌÊ___ ENUMERATIONS take a RISE on each element (incomplete) & a final FALL (conclusive) Æ I have bought ÊApples, ÊPEAches and ÌOranges
♦ QUESTIONS:
Ì ___ WH-QS normally take a FALLING INTONATION Æ ÊWHERE are my ÌGLOves?
Ê ___ YES-NO QS normally take a RISING TONE (Declarative Qs also) Æ ‘Did you ‘bring your ÊCAmera? or You are ÊREAdy? (DECLARATIVE QS)
Ê ___ When expressing doubt, QS TAGS are said on a RISING TONE Æ It is ‘nearly ÌSIX, ÊISN’T it?
Ì ___ QS TAGS which seek confirmation of what has been said take a FALLING INTONATION Æ She is ‘quite ÌPREtty, ÌISN’T she?
ÊÌ___ ALTERNATIVE QS take RISING INTONATION on the 1st element of the choice & FALLING on the 2nd Æ Shall we go ÊOUT | or stay at ÌHOME
Ê ___ ECHO QS generally take a high rising tone Æ You have ÊWHAT?
Ì ♦ COMMANDS generally take some kind of FALLING INTONATION Æ Do ‘not interÌHERE!
Ì ♦ EXCLAMATIONS normally take some kind of FALLING INTONATION Æ What an ‘awful ÌDAY it has been!

Iván Matellanes’ Notes