Chapter I: INTRODUCTION

1. Phonetics is the study of human speech sounds. It is a branch of linguistics studying the
production, the physical nature, the perception and other aspects of human speech sounds.
Phonetics is the study of pronunciation, that is, the study of human speech sounds. In the
course book, it is the study of all speech sounds and the ways in which they are produced.
A speech sound is a physical event with three aspects: physiological, acoustic and auditory.
2. Articulatory phonetics is the study of the way in which speech sounds are produced by
the organs of speech (which are used to modify the stream of air in order to produce
different sounds).
An articulator is a part of the mouth, nose, or throat which is used in producing speech.
Passive articulators: upper teeth, teeth ridge/alveolar ridge, hard palate
Active articulators: pharynx, soft palate/velum, lips, jaws, tongue, vocal cords
Sounds produced within the larynx or vocal tract are influenced by the shape of the
pharyngeal, oral, and nasal cavities in the vocal tract through which the air stream passes.
The vocal tract is the air passages which are above the vocal cords and which are involved in
the production of speech sounds. It can be divided into: nasal cavity and oral cavity.
Different position of the tongue of the lips -> change the shape of vocal tract -> differences
in speech sounds.
3. Acoustic phonetics studies the physical properties of speech sounds as transmitted in the
form of the sound waves through the air.
The sounds we produce can be described in terms of how fast the variations of the air
pressure occur. This determines the fundamental frequency of the sounds, which
determines the pitch.
4. Auditory phonetics deals with how speech sounds are perceived by the listener.
5. Phonemics / Phonology is the study and identification of the distinctive units of sounds
in a language (by means of distinctive features) which can mean the phonemic system in a
language.
Phonology is applied to the more abstract, the more psychological aspects of speech.
6. Received Pronunciation is the accent that is widely accepted as the standard accent for
both native and foreign speakers of British English. It is also called BBC English, Queen’s
English or King’s English.

Chapter II: THE PRODUCTION OF SPEECH

1. The are three stages of the speech chain, respectively:
a. psychological: the nervous system transmits the message to the so-called “organs of
speech” and they, in turn, produce a particular pattern of sound.
b. articulatory/physiological: the movement of our organs of speech will create
disturbances in the air.
c. acoustic/physical: constituted by the sound waves produced in the second stage
2. The larynx which is commonly called the voicebox is a mass of cartilage at the top of the
trachea/windpipe.
The larynx contains folds of muscle called the vocal cords/vocal folds.
The opening between the vocal cords is known as glottis.
Sounds produced with relaxed vocal cords are known as voiceless sounds and voiced
sounds are produced with tensed vocal cords. If the folds are only partially closed, a
whispered sound is produced.
3. After passing through the larynx, the air goes through what we call the vocal tract (see in
chapter I), which ends at the mouth and nostrils. Here the air from the lungs escapes into
the atmosphere.
4. Articulators above the larynx:
5. Different parts of the vocal tract (articulators):
pharynx, velum/soft palate, hard palate, teeth ridge/alveolar ridge, tongue, (upper and
lower) teeth, lips
6. Speech mechanism:
The most usual source of energy for our vocal activities is provided by an air stream
expelled from the lungs.
The larynx containing so-called vocal cords is situated in the upper part of
windpipe/trachea.
Glottis: the opening between the vocal cords. Glottis is open when the vocal cords are apart
and closed when the vocal cords are pressed together.
7. Four easily recognisable states of the vocal cords:

a. Wide apart: for normal breathing and usually during voiceless consonants like p, f, s
b. Narrow glottis: results in a voiceless glottal fricative consonant – h
c. Touched or nearly touched: causes vibration
d. Tightly closed: when the vocal cords are firmly pressed, we call it a glottal stop/glottal
plosive.
8. Nasal, oral and pharyngeal cavities function as the principal resonators.
9. The roof of the mouth can be divided into three parts: alveolar ridge/teeth ridge, bony
ridge (forming the hard palate), soft palate (which has the uvula at the extremity).

Chapter III: THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE ENGLISH SPEECH SOUNDS

1. Speech sounds are divided into vowels and consonants.
Vowels can be divided into pure vowels (monophthong) and diphthongs (and possibly
trithongs)
Vowels and consonants differ in distribution (the vowel is in the centre of the syllable and
the consonant either precedes or follows the vowel) and production.
Vowels Consonants
are produced with no obstruction in are produced with a narrow or complete
the vocal tract closure in the vocal tract

are more sonorous are less sonorous

are all voiced are either voiced or voiceless
are syllabic are generally not syllabic

An articulatory description generally makes reference to seven main factors:

air stream, vocal cords, soft palate, place of articulation, manner of articulation, tongue,
lips
2. Cardinal vowels are a set of references vowels which are used by phoneticians in
describing the sounds of languages and have predetermined phonetic values.
There are primary cardinal vowels (most familiar to the speakers of most European
languages) and secondary cardinal vowels (less familiar)
3. A vowel is defined as a voiced sound in which the air has a free passage through the
mouth, and does not produce any audible friction.
A pure vowels (monophthong) is an unchanging sound in the pronunciation of which the
organs of speech do not perceptibly change the position throughout the duration of the
vowel in a syllable.
4. Classification of vowels:
4.1 According to the raised part of the tongue:
a. Front vowels: /ɪ/ /i:/ /e/ /æ/
The front of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate in the production.
b. Central vowels: /ɜ:/ /ə/ /ʌ/
The centre of the tongue is raised toward the palate in the production.
c. Back vowels: /u:/ /ʊ/ /ɔ:/ /ɑ:/ /ɒ/
The back of the tongue is raised in the direction of the soft palate in the production.
4.2 According to the height of the raised part of the tongue:
a. Close/High vowels: /ɪ/ /i:/ /u:/ /ʊ/
One part of the tongue comes close to the palate without touching it and the air passage is
narrow in the production, but not so much as to form a consonant.
b. Mid-open/Mid-close vowels: /e/ /ə/ /ɜ:/ /ɔ:/
The tongue is half-way between its high and low position in the production.
c. Open/Low vowels: /æ/ /ɑ:/ /ɒ/ /ɔ:/ /ʌ/
One part of the tongue is very low and the air passage is very wide in the production.
4.3 According the lip shape:
a. Rounded vowels: /u:/ /ʊ/ /ɔ:/ /ɒ/
The lips are drawn together in the production so that the opening between them is more or
less round.
b. Neutral vowels: /ɜ:/ /ə/ /ʌ/ /ɑ:/
The lips are not noticeably rounded or spread in the production.
c. Unrounded vowels: /ɪ/ /i:/ /e/ /æ/
The lips may be spread out in the production so as to leave a long narrow opening between
them.
4.4 According to the vowel length:
a. Long vowels: their phonemic symbols includes the colon (:)
b. Short vowels: their phonemic symbols do not include the colon (:)
Front Central Back
long short long short long short
Close /i:/ /ɪ/ /u:/ /ʊ/
Mid /e/ /ɜ:/ /ə/ /ɔ:/
Ope /æ/ /ʌ/ /ɑ:/ /ɒ/
n

Unrounded Neutral Rounded

5. Dipthong is a combination of two vowels pronounced within one syllable.
Two elements of a dipthong:
a. Nucleus: a strong, clear and distinct vowel sound.
b. Glide: a weak vowel sound the in the articulation of a dipthong.
Dipthong

Centring Closing

ending in /ə/ ending in /i/ ending in /ʊ/

 /ɪə/ /eə/ /ʊə/ /eɪ/ /aɪ/ /ɔɪ/ /əʊ/ /aʊ/
6. A consonant is a sound in the production of which an obstruction is formed in the mouth
by the active organs of speech.
6.1 According to the organs of articulation:
a. Labials/Lip sounds:
a.1. Bi-labial: /p/ /b/ /m/ /w/
Sounds articulated by the two lips.
a.2. Labio-dental: /f/ /v/
Sounds articulated by the lower lip againse the upper teeth.
b. Dentals: /θ/ /ð/
Sounds articulated by the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth.
c. Alveolars: /t/ /d/ /l/ /s/ /z/
Sounds articulated by the tip or blade of the tongue against teeth ridge.
d. Palato-alveolars: /t∫/ /dʒ/ /∫/ /ʒ/ /r/
Sounds which have alveolar articulation together with a silmutaneous raising of the main
body of the tongue towards the roof of the mouth.
e. Palatals: /j/
Sounds articulated by the tongue against the hard palate.
f. Velars: /k/ /g/ /η/
Sounds articulated by the back of the tongue against the soft palate.
g. Glottals: /h/
Sounds articulated in the glottis.
6.2 According to the manner in which the organs articulate them:
a. Plosives (Stop sounds): /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/
The air stream is completely stopped for a moment, after which it is allowed to rush out of
the mouth with an explosive sound.
b. Fricatives: /f/ /v/ /θ/ /ð/ /s/ /z/ /∫/ /ʒ/
A fricative is the sound formed by a narrowing of the air passage at some point so that the
air in escaping makes a kind of hissing.
c. Affricatives: /t∫/ /dʒ/
An affricative is a combination of a plosive consonant with an immediately following
fricative.
d. Nasals: /m/ /n/ /η/
A nasal sound is the sound in the production of which all the air from the lungs escapes
down the nose and not through the mouth at all.
e. Laterals: /l/
A lateral is the sound formed by the tip of the tongue firmly pressed against the teeth ridge
or the teeth so that the air can escape at one or both sides of the tongue.
f. Rolled: /r/
A rolled is the sound in the production of which the tip of the tongue vibrates in the stream
of air.
g. Semi-vowel: /w/
A semi-vowel is a gliding sound in which the speech organs start at or near a close vowel
and immediately move away to some other vowels.
6.3 According to state of vocal cord vibration:
a. Voiced consonants: /b/ /m/ /w/ /v/ /d/ /n/ /l/ /z/ /r/ /ð/ /dʒ/ /ʒ/ /g/ /η/ /j/
b. Voiceless consonants: /p/ /f/ /θ/ /t/ /s/ /t∫/ /∫/ /k/ /h/

Place of Labial Dental Alveolar Palato- Palatal Velar Glottal

articulation alveolar
Bilabial Labio-
dental
Voice- Voiced Voice- Voice Voice- Voice Voice- Voiced Voice- Voiced Voice- Voice Voice- Voiced Voice- Voiced
Manner of less less d less d less less less d less less
articulation
Plosive p b t d k g
Affricative t∫ dʒ
Nasal m n η
Lateral l
Rolled r
Fricative f v θ ð s z ∫ ʒ h
Semi-vowel w j

7. A syllabic consonant is a consonant which forms the nucleus or the centre of a syllable. It
is the combination of vowel and a consonant in one sounds: the syllabic consonant.
The syllabic consonants: l, m, n, η
Examples:
bottle [bɒtl]
heroism [ˈherəˌwɪzm]
seven [sevn]
history [histri]
 CHAPTER IV - PHONOLOGY: THE SOUND PATTERNS OF LANGUAGE
1. Phoneme is said to be first used in 1873 simply to refer to a speech sound.
2. Phoneme theories
2.1 The ‘mentalist’ or ‘psychological’ view
The mentalist or psychological view regards the phoneme as an ideal sound at which the
speaker aims.
2.2 The ‘physical’ view
The physical view regards the phoneme as a family of sounds satisfying certain conditions,
noteably:
a. The various members the ‘family’ must show phonetic similarity to one another (related
in character)
b. No member of the ‘family’ may occur in the same phonetic context as any other, this
condition is often referred to as the requirement of complementary distribution.
Examples:
like -> clear [l] till -> [t ] (aspirated)
h

play -> devoiced [l] still -> [t] (unaspirated)

middle -> dark [l]
2.3 The ‘functional’ view
The functional view regards the phoneme as the distinctive unit of sound in a language by
which meanings may be differentiated.
Examples:
beat – bought
sea – she
three – free
2.4 The ‘abstract’ view
The abstract view regards phonemes as essentially independent of the phonetic properties
associated with them.
3. Phoneme, Phone and Allophone
Phoneme is a minimal distinctive unit of sound in a language and the smallest perceptible
discrete segment of sound in a stream of speech. A phoneme is the smallest phonetic unit
in a language.
Phones are the physical realisations of phonemes.
Phonic varieties of a phoneme are referred to as allophones.
Phonemes can have several different physical forms (variants or realisations), or allophones.
An allophone is a predictable phonetic variant of a phoneme (contextually determined
variant of a phoneme).
The phonemes of a language are abstractions, and the particular phonetic shape they take
depends on many factors, especially their position in relation to other sounds in an
utterance.
4. Segmental phonemes: vowels and consonants
Suprasegmental phonemes: stress, pitch and intonation
5. Transcription
Phonemic transcription is used to show only the distinctive sounds of a language. It is based
on the principle “one symbol per phoneme”. Phonemic transcription is written within to
parallel slanting lines -> //
Allophonic transcription uses allophonic symbols for various sounds, including symbols to
show in detail how a particular sound is pronounced (diacritics). It is a based on the principle
“one symbol per allophone”. Allophonic transcription is written within square brackets -> []
6. Rules of phonology
6.1 Assimilation rules
6.2 Dissimilation rules
6.3 Feature-changing rules
6.4 Segment-deletion and Segment-insertion rules
6.5 Movement rules

CHAPTER V: THE SYLLABLE

1. A syllable is the smallest possible unit of speech.
2. Syllable structure
3. Open syllables end in a vowel.
4. Closed syllables end in a consonant.
5. Syllabification rules
Rule 1: The English long vowels / diphthongs / unstressed vowels always occur in a
phonetically open syllable when they are separated from the following syllabic sound by
only one consonant.
Examples:
‘me.ter ‘ar.my
‘fa.ces ‘voi.ces
‘Ger.ma.ny ‘or.di.na.ri.ly
Rule 2: A short stressed vowel when separated from a following syllabic sound by only one
consonant, always occurs in a closed syllable, although it is difficult to tell where the point
of syllable division actually is: after the consonant or within it.
Examples:
‘study ‘body

CHAPTER VI: THE ENGLISH WORD-STRESS

1. Word-stress is the prominence given to certain syllable(s) in a word by the use of greater
breath force.
The prominence can be produced by one or all of the following four factors: loudness,
length, pitch, quality.
2. Three levels of stress may be identified: tonic-strong (primary) indicated by the sign (ˈ)
put before the stressed syllable, non-tonic strong (secondary) indicated by (ˌ), and
unstressed.
Examples: representation /ˌrep.rɪ.zenˈteɪ.ʃən/
3. Placement of stress within two-syllbale words
3.1 Verbs
a. If the second syllable of the verb contains a long vowel or a dipthong, or if it ends with
more than one consonant, that second syllable is stressed.
Examples:
apply /əˈplaɪ/ (dipthong)
precede /prɪˈsiːd/ (long vowel)
attract /əˈtrækt/ (ending with more than one consonant)
b. If the final syllable contains a short vowel and one (or no) final consonant, the first
syllable is stressed.
Examples:
enter /ˈen.tər/ (short vowel & one consonant)
open /ˈəʊ.pən/ (short vowel & one consonant)
3.2 Adjectives
Two-syllable simple adjectives are stressed according to the same rule as verbs.
Examples:
stupid /ˈstjuː.pɪd/ (short vowel & one consonant) divine /dɪˈvaɪn/ (dipthong)
even /ˈiː.vən/ (short vowel & one consonant) correct /kəˈrekt/ (two
consonants)
3.3 Nouns
If the second syllable contains a short vowel, the stress will usually come on the first
syllable. Otherwise, it will be on the second syllable.
Examples:
money /ˈmʌn.i/ (short vowel) estate /ɪˈsteɪt/ (dipthong)
product /ˈprɒd.ʌkt/ (short vowel) balloon /bəˈluːn/ (long vowel)
4. Placement of stress within three-syllable words
4.1 Verbs
a. If the last syllable contains a short vowel and ends with not more than one consonant,
that syllable will be unstressed, and stress will be placed on the preceding (penultimate)
syllable.
Examples:
encounter /ɪnˈkaʊn.tər/ (short vowel & one consonant)
determine /dɪˈtɜː.mɪn/ (short vowel & one consonant)
b. If the final syllable contains a long vowel or dipthong, or ends with more than one
consonant, that final syllable will be stressed.
Examples:
entertain /en.təˈteɪn/ (dipthong)
resurrect /ˌrez.ərˈekt/ (two consonants)
4.2 Nouns
a. If the final syllable contains a short vowel, it is unstressed; if the syllable preceding this
final syllable contains a long vowel or a dipthong, or if it ends with more than one
consonant, that syllable will be stressed.
Examples:
disaster /dɪˈzɑː.stər/ (final syllable: short vowel; preceding syllable: long vowel)
mimosa /mɪˈməʊ.sə/ (final syllable: short vowel; preceding syllable: dipthong)
b. If the final syllable contains a short vowel and the middle syllable contains a short vowel
and ends with not more than one consonant, both final and middle syllable is unstressed
and the first syllable is stressed.
Examples:
quantity /ˈkwɒn.tə.ti/ (final & middle syllable: short vowel, ends with no consonant)
cinema /ˈsɪn.ə.mə/ (final & middle syllable: short vowel, ends with no consonant)
The above rules do not cover all English words.
5. Placement of stress within complex words
Complex words are words made from a basic stem word with the addition of an affix which
will have one of three possible effects on word stress:
5.1 The affix itself receives the primary stress: ‘person + -ality -> person’ality
Suffixes Examples
-ee refug’ee, employ’ee
-eer moutain’eer, volun’teer
-ese, -ette Vietnam’ese, ciga’rette
-esque, -ique Pictu’resque, u’nique

5.2 The word is stressed just as if the affix was not there: un- + ‘pleasant -> un’pleasant
Suffixes Examples
-able ‘comfort – ‘comfortable
-age ‘anchor – ‘anchorage
-al re’fuse – re’fusal
-en wide – ‘widen
-ful ‘wonder – ‘wonderful
-ing a’maze – a’mazing
-ish ‘devil – ‘devilish
-like bird – ‘birdlike
-less ‘power – ‘powerless
 -ly ‘hurried – ‘hurriedly
-ment ‘punish – ‘punishment
-ness ‘yellow – ‘yellowness
-ous ‘poison – ‘poisonous
-fy ‘glory – ‘glorify
-wise ‘other – ‘otherwise
-y fun – ‘funny

5.3 The stress remains on the stem, not the affix, but is shifted to a different syllable:
‘magnet + -ic -> mag’netic
Suffixes Examples
-eous ad’vantage – advan’tageous
-graphy ‘photo – pho’tography
-ial ‘proverb – pro’verbial
-ic ‘climate – cli’matic
-ious ‘injure – in’jurious
-ty ‘tranquil – tran’quility
-ive ‘reflex – re’flexive

6. Daniel Jones’ rules of stress placement within simple and complex words
There are 17 rules at page 86, 87 and 88 of the coursebook

7. Placement of stress within compound words

7.1 Noun + Noun compounds
They normally have the stress on the first element
Examples: ‘typewriter, ‘car-ferry, ‘sunrise, ‘suitcase, ‘tea-cup
7.2 Adjective + ed morpheme compounds
.They receive stress on the second element
Examples: bad-‘tempered, half-‘timbered, heavy-‘handed
7.3 Number + Noun compounds
They tend to have the final stress
Examples: three-‘wheeler, second-‘class, five-‘finger
7.4 Compounds functioning as adverbs
They are usually final-stressed
Examples: head-‘first, North-‘East, down’stream
7.5 Compounds functioning as verbs
They take final stress
Examples: down-‘grade, back-‘pedal, ill-‘treat
8. Variable stress
‘controversy – con’troversy
‘ice-cream – ice-‘cream
‘kilometer – kilometer
9. Word-class pairs
Table page 89

Chapter VII: ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH

1. Assimilation is the phenomenon when two adjacent consonants within a word or at
word boundaries often influence each other in such a way that the articulation of one
sound becomes similar to or even identical with the articulation of the other one.
Assimilated consonant: the consonant whose articulation is modified under the influence of
a neighbouring consonant.
Assimilating consonant: the consonant which influences the articulation of a neighbouring
consonant.
-> Assimilation means a modification in the articulation of a consonant under the influence
of a neighouring consonant.
2. Accommodation or adaptation is the modification in the articulation of a vowel under
the influence of an adjacent consonant, or, vice versa, the modification in the articulation of
a consonant under the influence of an adjacent vowel.
2. Types of assimilation
2.1 Historical assimilation
If the present-day pronunciation of a word is the result of an assimilation which took place
at an earlier stage in the history of the language we have the so-called historical
assimilation.
2.2 Contextual assimilation
When putting words together to form a compound word, a phrase or a sentence, a
different type of assimilation takes place. It is called contextual assimilation.
Examples:
horse shoe /hɔːs ʃuː/ -> [hɔːʃʃuː]
does she /dʌz ʃiː/ -> [dʌʃʃiː]
2.3 Degrees of assimilation
Assimilation can be of three degrees: complete, partial and intermediate
a. Assimilation can be said to be complete when the articulation of the assimilated
consonant coincides with that of the assimilating one.
Examples:
horse shoe /hɔːs ʃuː/ -> [hɔːʃʃuː]
does she /dʌz ʃiː/ -> [dʌʃʃiː]
b. Assimilation is said to be partial when the assimilated consonant retains its main
phonetic features and becomes only partly similar in some feature of articulation to the
assimilating one.
Examples: page 99
c. Assimilation is said to be intermediate between complete and partial when the
assimilated consonant changes into a different sound, but does not coincide with the
assimilating consonant.
Examples:
gooseberry /ˈɡʊz.bər.i/
(the consonant /s/ in goose /ɡuːs/ is replaced by /z/ under the influence of /b/ in berry)
2.4 The direction of assimilation
Assimilation is of three types as far as the direction is concerned: progressive, regressive
and double (or reciprocal).
a. Assimilation is called progressive when the sound that comes first affects the sound that
comes after it. Example: noun plural forms /s/, /z/, /iz/
b. Assimilation is regressive when the sound that comes first is affected by the sound that
comes after it. Example: page 100
c. In reciprocal/double assimilation, two adjacent consonants influence each other.
Example: don’t you, can’t you, did you (see in page 100 for details)
3. Types of accommodation: three main types (see in page 100, 101 for details)
4. Elision
The nature of elision may be stated quite simply: under certain circumstances sounds
disappear (a phoneme may be realised as zero, or have zero realisation or be deleted).
Elision is typical of rapid, casual speech.
There are five types of elision. (see in page 101, 102 for details)
5. Linking – intrusion
5.1 Linking /r/
Some accents of English are described as rhotic, which means that when the letter r appears
in the written word after a vowel, the /r/ phoneme is used in the pronunciation of the word.
(American English, Irish English and certain British regional accents)
Other accents are non-rhotic, and do not pronounce the /r/ (Received Pronuciation). When,
however, there is a written r at the end of a word and it occurs between two vowel
sounds, speakers with non-rhotic accents often use the phoneme /r/ to link the preceding
vowel to a following one.
Examples: Her English (/r/ is pronounced)
5.2 Intrusive /r/
Where two vowel sounds meet and there is no written letter /r/, speakers with non-rhotic
accent still introduce the /r/ phoneme in order to ease the transition. Speakers with rhotic
accents tend not to do this.
Examples: media exploitation (/r/ will intrude into the middle of two words)
5.3 Intrusive /j/
When a word ends in /i:/, or a diphthong which finishes with /i/, speakers often introduce
a /j/ to ease the transition to a following vowel sound.
Examples: I agree, I am (/j/ will intrude into the middle of two words)
5.4 Intrusive /w/
When a word ends in /u:/, or a diphthong which finishes with /ʊ/, speakers often introduce
a /w/ to ease the transition to a following vowel sound.
Examples: go on, go in
Are you inside, or are you outside? (/w/ will intrude into the middle of two words)
6. Weak form
Almost all the words which have both a strong and weak form belong to a category that may
be called function words/grammatical words (auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions,...)

Chapter VIII: INTONATION

1. Sentence-stress
Sentence-stress is the greater prominence with which one or more words in a sentence are
pronounced as compared with the other words of the same sentence.
The greater prominence can be produced by one or all of the following four factors:
loudness, length, pitch, quality.
2. Levels of sentence-stress
It can be assumed that there are three distinct levels of stress in the sentence: primary
(main) stress, secondary stress and non-stress (unstressed).
There are words that are usually stressed: lexical words or notional words (which have
semantic function in the sentence – nouns, adjectives, numerals, notional verbs, adverbs,
demonstratives, interrogatives, emphasising pronouns and the absolute form of the
possessive pronouns).
Grammatical words or function words: are either stressed or unstressed (auxiliaries,
modals, prepositions, conjunctions, articles, particles, pronouns).
There are words that are usually unstressed: personal, possessive, reflexive and relative
pronouns.
The normal tendency in the English speech is for the primary stress to occur on the last
stressed syllable of the intonation unit, which corresponds to the principle of end-focus in
communication.
The main stress in the intonation unit is accompanied not only by an increase in the force of
utterance, by lengthening the sounds, but also by such a change in the pitch of the voice as
a Fall, a Rise, or a Fall-Rise.
3. Types of main sentence-stress
There are four major types:
3.1 Unmarked tonic stress
An intonation unit almost always has one peak of stress, which is called tonic stress, or
nucleus. Because stress applies to syllables, the syllable that receives the tonic stress is
called tonic syllable. Tonic stress is almost always found in a content word in utterance final
position.
3.2 Emphatic stress
One reason to move the tonic stress from its utterance final position is to assign an
emphasis to a content word, which is usually a modal auxiliary, an intensifier, an adverb,
etc.
Examples:
It was very 🡮boring. (unmarked – boring is a content word)
It was 🡮very boring. (emphatic – very is an intensifier)
3.3 Contrastive stress
In contrastive contexts, the stress pattern is quite different from the emphatic and non-
emphatic stresses in that any lexical item in an utterance can receive the tonic stress
provided that the contrastively stressed item can be contrastable in that universe of speech.
Examples:
🡮She played the piano yesterday. (It was her who...)
She 🡮played the piano yesterday. (She only played)
She played the 🡮piano yesterday. (It was the piano that...)
She played the piano 🡮yesterday. (It was yesterday...)
3.4 New information stress
In a response given to a wh-question, the information supplied, naturally enough, is
stressed.
Examples:
A: ‘What’s your 🡮names?
B: My name’s 🡮George.
4. Grammatical words do not normally receive the sentence stress. However, they are
stressed in certain cases: see in page 114, 115
5. Rhythm is the tendency to pronounce stressed syllables in a sentence at more or less
equal intervals of time.
The notion of rhythm involves some noticeable event happening at regular intervals of
time.
The theory that English has stress-timed rhythm implies that stressed syllables will tend to
occur at relatively regular intervals whether they are separated by unstressed syllables or
not.
Some writers have developed theories of English rhythm in which a unit of rhythm, the foot,
is used; the foot begins with a stressed syllable and includes all following unstressed
syllables up to the following stressed syllable.
6. Intonation is the melody of speech.
Intonation is defined as the unity of speech melody, sentence stress, speech tempo and
voice quality (tambre) which enables the speaker to adequately communicate in speech his
thoughts, will, emotions and attitudes towards reality and the contents of the utterance.

6.1 Speech melody

Speech melody is the variations in the pitch of the voice which take place when voiced
sounds, especially vowels and sonorants, are pronounced in connected speech.
6.2 Pitch
The relative height of speech sounds as perceived by a listener is called pitch. Pitch variation
or pitch movement is called tone. A high pitch results from the relatively rapid vibration of
the vocal cords.
An acceleration in the rate of vibration is heard as a rising pitch, a slowing down as a falling
pitch.
6.3 Sentence stress (definition above)
6.4 Voice quality (tambre)
The voice quality is a special colouring of the voice in pronouncing sentences which is
superimposed on speech melody and shows the speakers’ emotions, such as joy, sadness,
irony, anger, indignation, etc.
6.5 Speech tempo
The tempo of speech is the speed with which sentences or their parts are pronounced. It is
determined by the rate at which speech-sounds are uttered and by the number and length
of pauses.
Closely connected with the tempo of speech is its rhythm: the recurrence of stressed
syllables at more or less equal intervals of time. Therefore, the tempo and rhythm of speech
may be said to constitute the temporal component of intonation.
7. Tone
Tone can be considered to be the height of the pitch and change of the pitch which is
associated with the pronunciation of syllables of words and which affects the meaning of
the word.
Tone can also be understood as a change in pitch which affects the meaning and function of
utterances in discourse.
8. The 3 T’s: a quick overview of English intonation
English speakers repeatedly face three types of decision as they speak. They are:
how to break the speech into intonation units
what is to be accented
what intonation pattern to be used with the intonation unit
These linguistic intonation systems are known as:
8.1 Tonality: the division of speech into intonation units.
8.2 Tonicity: the placement of the tonic syllable or nucleus in the intonation unit.
8.3 Tone: definition above