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Supra-segmental phonology
Supra-segmental phonology refers to the aspects of speech that extend beyond individual speech
sounds, including features such as stress, intonation, rhythm, and prosody. Here are some
detailed notes on each aspect:
Stress:
Stress refers to the emphasis placed on certain syllables within words. In English, for example,
many words have primary stress on one syllable and secondary stress on another.
The placement of stress can change the meaning of a word. For instance, "present" can be a noun
or a verb depending on whether the stress falls on the first or second syllable.
Syllable Stress vs. Sentence Stress
When you learn how to pronounce different vowel and consonant sounds, you must also learn
how to stress different parts of a word correctly. Stress is just another way to say “emphasize.”
This means that some parts of a word are stronger (and slightly louder) than others. Here are a
few examples:
 Away (pronounced: a-WAY)

 Delicious (pronounced: de-LI-cious)
 Anticipate (pronounced: an-TI-ci-PATE)
 Communication (pronounced: comm-un-i-CA-tion)
 Autobiography (pronounced: au-to-bi-O-gra-phy)
Some longer words have a primary stressed syllable and one or more secondary stressed
syllables. The primary stressed syllable is always stronger than the secondary stressed syllable,
while both are stronger than unstressed syllables. Be sure to check out our guide on stressed and
unstressed syllables to learn more about using proper English intonation.
Sentence stress refers to the words in a sentence that get the most emphasis. While common
sayings and phrases usually have unchanging sentence stress rules, you can emphasize different
words in a sentence to create new meanings.
Which words should you stress in a sentence?
So, how can you know which words to stress in a sentence? Again, there are no hard-and-fast
sentence stress rules, but there are some general principles that will help you use stress properly
when speaking in English. You can often tell which words should be stressed based on the parts
of speech and where the words fall in a sentence.
 Content words (nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and main verbs) are usually stressed.
 Function words (determiners, prepositions, and conjunctions) are usually unstressed
unless you want to emphasize their role(s) in a sentence.
 Question words (who, what, when, where, why, and how) are usually unstressed unless
you want to emphasize their role(s) in a sentence.
 Subject pronouns (I, You, He, She, We, They) are usually unstressed, while object
pronouns (me, you, him, her, us, them) are usually stressed.
Sentence Stress in a Statement
Pronoun Main Adverb Prepositio Determine Noun

Verb n r
I ran quickly to the desk.
unstresse unstresse STRESSE unstressed unstressed STRESSE

d d D D
(primary) (secondar
y)
This example denotes the natural rise and fall of the sentence. However, as previously stated, you
could stress different words to alter the meaning:
 I ran quickly to the desk. (emphasizes who is doing the running)

 I ran quickly to the desk. (emphasizes what action is being done)
 I ran quickly to the desk. (emphasizes the way in which you ran, but does not
fundamentally change the meaning of the sentence)
 I ran quickly to the desk. (inappropriate sense stress, but emphasizes the direction in
which you ran)
 I ran quickly to the desk. (inappropriate sense stress, but emphasizes that it was a specific
desk)
 I ran quickly to the desk. (emphasizes the object or location to which you ran)
Stress can affect the perception of a speaker's confidence, importance, or emotional state.
Intonation:
Intonation refers to the patterns of pitch changes in speech. It involves the rise and fall of pitch
across a phrase or sentence.
Intonation plays a crucial role in conveying the speaker's attitude, mood, or intention. For
example, rising intonation at the end of a sentence often indicates a question.
Different languages and dialects have distinct intonation patterns, and even within a single
language, intonation can vary based on factors like regional accent or social context.
Rhythm:
Rhythm refers to the patterns of stress and timing in speech. It involves the alternation of
stressed and unstressed syllables and the overall tempo of speech.
Languages vary in their rhythmic patterns. For example, some languages, like English, have
stress-timed rhythm, where syllables are pronounced at relatively regular intervals of time, while
others, like French, have syllable-timed rhythm, where syllables are pronounced at more equal
durations.
Rhythm contributes to the natural flow and musicality of speech, and it can affect how easily a
listener understands and processes spoken language.
Prosody:
Prosody encompasses the overall melody and rhythm of speech, including stress, intonation,
rhythm, and other suprasegmental features.
It helps convey a speaker's emotions, attitudes, and intentions, adding richness and nuance to
communication.
Prosody also plays a crucial role in parsing spoken language and understanding its meaning, as it
provides cues for segmenting speech into meaningful units like phrases and sentences.
In summary, suprasegmental phonology encompasses stress, intonation, rhythm, and prosody,
which are essential for conveying meaning, emotion, and intention in spoken language.
Understanding and mastering these aspects are crucial for effective communication and language
comprehension.

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Supra-segmental phonology

 Away (pronounced: a-WAY)

Which words should you stress in a sentence?

Pronoun Main Adverb Prepositio Determine Noun

I ran quickly to the desk.

unstresse unstresse STRESSE unstressed unstressed STRESSE

 I ran quickly to the desk. (emphasizes who is doing the running)

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