Why you should study English pronunciation

Имени Франциска Скорины»

ПРАКТИЧЕСКАЯ ФОНЕТИКА

АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА

ПРАКТИЧЕСКОЕ ПОСОБИЕ

для студентов специальности

Английский язык»

 

Гомель

УО «ГГУ им. Ф. Скорины»

 2008

Министерство образования Республики Беларусь

Учреждение образования

«Гомельский государственный университет

Имени Франциска Скорины»

ПРАКТИЧЕСКАЯ ФОНЕТИКА

АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА

ПРАКТИЧЕСКОЕ ПОСОБИЕ

 

Гомель

УО «ГГУ им. Ф. Скорины»

 2008

УДК 811.111 (075.8)

ББК  81.432.1-932.1

     Б 484

         

Рецензенты:

С. И. Сокорева, доцент, кандидат педагогических наук;

кафедра теории и практики английского языка учреждения

образования «Гомельский государственный университет

имени Франциска Скорины»

 

Рекомендовано к изданию научно-методическим советом учреждения образования «Гомельский государственный университет имени Франциска Скорины» 

              

               Практическая фонетика английского языка: практическое   

Б 484   пособие  для   студентов  специальности 1 – 02 03 06 01                                                                               «Английский язык» / Н. В. Берещенко, Н. Л. Анфилова,            Н. В. Насон, Н. Н. Павлова; М-во образования РБ,

Гомельский государственный университет им. Ф. Скорины. –                    Гомель: ГГУ им. Ф. Скорины, 2008. – 105 с.

                                                                                        

                ISBN

 

В пособии по курсу «Практическая фонетика английского языка» систематизируются звуковые явления английской речи, и дается углубленный анализ нормативных основ английской интонации. Все разделы пособия включают в себя теоретическую часть, а также тренировочные речевые упражнения. Пособие также содержит материал для дополнительной работы: скороговорки, стихотворения, диалоги, направленные на совершенствование произносительных навыков.

Практическое пособие адресуется студентам 2 и 3 курсов специальности 1 – 02 03 06 01 «Английский язык», прошедшим вводно-коррективный и основной курсы фонетики английского языка.

 

                      УДК 811.111(075.8)

                                                                                           ББК 81.432.1-932.1

ISBN                                            © Берещенко Н. В., Анфилова Н. Л.,                                                              Насон Н. В., Павлова Н. Н.,  2008

                                                              © УО «ГГУ им. Ф. Скорины», 2008

Contents

Введение                                                                                

Foreword to ESL Students ………………………………………

Unit 1 Sound revision. Vowels in Contrast ……………………

Unit 2 Sound revision. Consonants. Consonants in Contrast …..

Unit 3 Intonation ………………………………………………..

Unit 4 Basic Nuclear Tones of English …………………………

Unit 5 Utterance Stress …………………………………………           

Unit 6 Rhythm ………………………………………………….

Unit 7 Types of Heads in English……………………………….

Unit 8 Basic Nuclear Patterns of English ………………………

Unit 9 Expressive Means of English Intonation…………………         

Appendix ………………………………………………………..

Литература………………………………………………………   

 

 

 

Введение

Цель пособия – совершенствование произносительных навыков студентов. В пособии систематизируются звуковые явления английской речи, и дается углубленный анализ нормативных основ английской интонации. Материал пособия излагается в девяти частях, охватывающих сегментную (части 1-2) и надсегментную (части 3-9) области фонетики. Все разделы пособия включают в себя теоретическую часть, а также тренировочные и речевые упражнения, направленные на правильное использование звуковых и интонационных моделей в различных речевых ситуациях.  В состав пособия также входит приложение, которое содержит материал для дополнительной работы: пословицы и поговорки, скороговорки, стихотворения, предназначенные для выразительного чтения и заучивания наизусть.                                                                                        Пособие предназначается для студентов 2 и 3 курсов специальности 1 – 02 03 06 01 «Английский язык», прошедших вводно-коррективный и основной курсы фонетики английскогоязыка. Наличие имитационных моделей и интонационной разметки в упражнениях и текстах способствует развитию навыков самостоятельной работы и самоконтроля, что положительно влияет на интенсификацию учебного процесса.

 

Foreword to ESL students

Why you should study English pronunciation

First impressions

Pronunciation is definitely the biggest thing that people notice when you are speaking English.

When you meet a person, and you just say a sentence or two, do you think they will notice your poor vocabulary or bad grammar? Probably not. But they will notice if your pronunciation is good or bad. If your pronunciation is poor, they will immediately think about you as "the guy/girl who speaks bad English". Your pronunciation creates the first impression you make.

Communication

Good pronunciation should be one of the first things that you learn in English. You can live without advanced vocabulary — you can use simple words to say what you want to say. You can live without advanced grammar — you can use simple grammar structures instead. But there is no such thing as “simple pronunciation”. If you don't have good pronunciation, you have... bad pronunciation, and native speakers will have problems understanding you! Besides, if you start teaching English to other people, you will automatically transfer to them your poor way of speaking, for which nobody will ever be grateful to you.

Reading

Interview advice

If you happen to face a job-of-your-dream interview, here is some good advice. 

Leave nothing to chance. Prepare any unthinkable scenario. There is no replacement for hard work especially when you get only one shot. Project a good image. Take your cue from the interviewer. Keep it positive and do not stress out about it. Do not adopt a deer-in-the-headlights look if you get hit with one of those funky queries. Stimulate your creative juices. Have a spiel for every single question they could possibly ask you.

Look critically at yourself: Do you have a booger popping out of your nose, or are you presentable?

Unit 3 Intonation

Static and Kinetic Tones

 

In the study of intonation, pitch, loudness and length are the most important factors. They work together to make certain syllables stand out among others. On the word level, the cooperation of pitch, loudness and stress is referred to as stress, or tone. On the utterance level, the same concepts are referred to as intonation.

Classification

 

Tones are basic elements of English intonation. They are divided into two classes since they are produced in quite distinct ways:

1) by keeping the vocal cords at a constant tension thus producing a tone of unvarying pitch. Such tones are called static (level) tones; 

2) by varying the tension of the vocal cords thus producing a tone of varying pitch. Such tones are called kinetic, or dynamic, or moving.

According to their height within the speaker’s range static tones are divided into high, mid and low with two relevant gradations within each type: very high, fairly high, mid high, mid low, fairly low, very low. Thus the number of tones corresponds to the number of significant pitch levels.

 

Kinetic tones are generally classified according to the following principles:

1) the direction of the pitch change;

2) the width of the pitch change, or its interval;

3) the relative position of the pitch change within the speakers’ voice range.

The leading role in the differentiation of kinetic tones in English belongs to the first principle. The number of kinetic tones corresponds to the number of directional types of pitch changes.

 

The most common Falling tones in English are:

_____________________________________________

_________________High Narrow _________________ High Wide

_________________Mid Narrow _________________ Mid Wide

_________________Low Narrow _________________ Low Wide

 

 

The Rising tones are:

_____________________________________________

_________________High Narrow_________________

_________________Mid Narrow__________________ Mid Wide

_________________Low Narrow__________________ Low Wide

 

The Falling-Rising tones are:

______________________________________________

_________________High Narrow__________________ High Wide

_________________Mid Narrow___________________ Mid wide

_________________Low Narrow___________________ Low Wide

 

The Rising-Falling is

______________________________________________

_________________High Narrow__________________ High Wide

______________________________________________

_________________Low Narrow___________________ Low Wide

Functions

Static and kinetic tones differ not only in form but also in function. Static tones give prominence to words. The degree of prominence is proportional to the pitch height of the static tone: the higher varieties are usually associated with greater prominence. Kinetic tones are more important for the utterance. Alongside with stressing the words they

1) indicate the communicative type of an utterance;

2) express the speaker’s attitude towards the subject-matter, the listener and the situation;

3) single out the center of new information in an utterance or the point of greater semantic importance as viewed by the speaker.

The total number of tones (both static and kinetic) in an utterance is determined by the number of important (prominent) words; most typically there are from 1 to 5 tones. The tone carried by the most important word (which is generally the last notional word) is called the nuclear tone, it is always a kinetic tone.  

The term “tone” should be distinguished from the term “ tune ” which is used to refer to the pitch pattern of the whole intonation group. The notion of tune is wider than that of tone. A tune may comprise several tones. A tune of a minimal size coincides with a tone realized in a monosyllabic utterance, e. g.: ‵Yes.,Well. 

 

The Rising Tone

 

The Rising type of pitch change in English has two structural varieties:

1) the rise of the voice takes place on the stressed syllable; 

2) the rise is carried by the unstressed syllables following the stressed one while the latter is pronounced on a steady pitch. The first variant occurs when the nuclear syllable is the last syllable of an intonation group, i.e. when there is no tail; the second is found in intonation groups having a tail,

e.g.: Yes ____  I know it. ___________ Beautiful.  __________

 

         ____            ___________                      __________

 

For practical purposes four relevant variants of a nuclear rise should be distinguished in English. 

4.1.1 Forms of the Rising Tone:

1 The Mid Wide Rise (m). The voice rises from a mid to a high pitch level, e.g.                   

Is it o k?              Did you take my papers, Wendy?

__________       _________________________

 

__________       _________________________

 

2 The High Narrow Rise (m). The voice rises from a mid high to the top of the voice range, for example: ΄Jack?                   ΄Pardon?

                                 __________         _____________

         

                                __________          _____________

 

3 The Low Wide Rise (m). The voice rises from a low to a mid high pitch level, for example:,June,| Ju ly, |,August….

                ___________________

  

                ___________________

 

4 The Low Narrow Rise (m). The voice rises from the bottom and ends in the mid low zone, as in (preceded by low head)

                         

 I don’t,mind.        Nobody’s,happy.

 ___________       _____________

 

 ___________       _____________

4.4.2 Functions of the Rising tone:

 

1 The Mid Wide Rise (MWR) is typically used in genuine Yes/No questions where the speaker does not know the answer; in alternative (the 1^st intonation group) and tag questions (the 2^nd intonation group with the condition that the speaker is uncertain).

Examples: Isn’t he nice? Do you take cream in your coffee? Was that in April or `May? They won’t `come, will they?

 

2 The High Narrow Rise (HNR) is used when the speaker is asking for repetition or clarification, or indicating disbelief.

For example: 1) A: I’m taking up Taxidermy this autumn. - B: Taking up   ′what? (clarification). 2) A: She passed her driving test. – B: She ′passed?

 

3 The Low Wide Rise (LWR) is

- commonly pronounced in unfinished parts of utterances indicating that a continuation is going to follow (for example, in adverbial or subordinate clause followed by a main clause).

E.g.: When I passed my last e,xam | I was very `happy. If you,see him, | give my `message. He ‘joined the army | and spent all his time in `Aldershot;

- can be used in independent utterances with an effect of the speaker’s interest in the situation and in the listener’s response:

e.g.: I’ll be back by,lunch-time; Where did you,put it?

- used in enumerations (lists), showing incompleteness. If the list is closed, the falling tone is used on the final item.

For example: I got ‘calls from,Jason,,Mary,,Neil, and ‵Joe.

 

4 The Low Narrow Rise (LNR) is associated with non-assertiveness and lack of interest. It is used in various remarks, afterthoughts, etc.

E.g.: Of,course. I’ll `do it | if you don’t,mind.

 

Speech Exercises

 

The Falling Tone

 

The Falling tone does not depend structurally on the presence or absence of the tail as the Rising tone does. The downward movement of the voice is realized on the stressed syllable, while the syllables of the tail (if any) form a level sequence on the pitch to which the nucleus has fallen.

 

Examples:

        

`No.            Certainly.                     Go a`way, Janet.

________  ______________     _______________        

 

________   ______________          _______________

Forms of the Falling tone

 

According to the width of the fall and its position in relation to the speaker’s voice range four relevant variants of the fall are distinguished.

1 The Mid Wide Fall (m). This is the most common variety. It starts in the mid-high pitch zone and ends at the bottom of the voice range, e.g:

I saw him.                         I’ll report you to the headmaster.

__________                    _______________________

 

__________                    _______________________

 

2 The High Wide Fall (m). The voice falls from the high pitch zone and ends in the mid-low zone.

 Examples:

I `did it!            `Good!              What gorgeous `flowers! _________     __________         _________________        

 

________      __________         _________________

 

3 The Low Narrow Fall (m). The voice goes down from the mid-low pitch level and ends at the bottom of the voice range.

E.g.: Nobody. It’s out of the question.

__________     ______________________

 

__________      ______________________

 

4 The High Narrow Fall (m). The voice falls from the high pitch zone and ends in the mid-high zone.

E.g.: `Sue! `Certainly!

 _________        ______________

 

 _________        ______________

 

4.2.2 Functions of the Falling tone

 

A Falling tone is by far the most commonly used tone of all. It signals a sense of finality, completion, assertiveness, and so on. A speaker, by choosing a falling tone, also indicates to the addressee that that is all he has to say, and offers a chance to the addressee to comment on, agree or disagree with it. This tone does not solicit a response from the addressee. The falling pitch change is associated with finality and completeness, decisiveness, assertiveness, but each of its four common varieties has clearly distinct range of meanings.

 

1 The Mid Wide Fall (MWF) is the most neutral variety. Examples: I left him some money. What’s the ‘reason of that? Mike is pre paring for the final test.

 

2 The High Wide Fall (HWF) sounds complete, final, and insistent. It can express

- personal involvement, concern. E.g.: A: What do you think of Nick? – B: He’s a real bore. He talks about himself ‘‘all the `time!

- strong agreement, e.g.: It was fan`tastic!

- disagreement, protest, e.g.: A: You didn’t listen. – B: I `did.

- word/idea contrast, e.g.: A: I can’t stand Jane. - B: But you were so `pleased with her!

 

3 The High Narrow Fall (HNF) has the least degree of finality of all the falling tones. It sounds light and airy and is typically used in direct address and short comments expressing agreement, etc; e.g.: `Helen, | ‘come  here. `Nice.

Very often the HNF is used to give extra prominence to words other than the nucleus, e.g.: The `giant| had ‘grown rich ….

 

4 The Low Narrow Fall (LNF) gives a detached, unemotional statement of fact. It often sounds cool, phlegmatic, and reserved, e.g.: A: Will you give him a ring? – B: Yes. A: Why didn’t you inter`fere? – B: I was a way.

 

Speech Exercises

 

The Falling-Rising Tone

 

The Falling-Rising nuclear tone is a bi-directional complex tone. The fall and the rise may be realized within one syllable. In this case the falling and the rising elements of the tone are united at their lowest points by a glide.

     E.g.: Fine. __________                                       

 

                       __________

When the nuclear syllable is not the last syllable of the intonation group, the Fall-Rise is split in form, the fall being carried by the nucleus and the rise – by the tail. Example:

Perfectly.         I doubt it.                  Is he travelling?

________       __________         ________________        

 

 ________      __________         ________________

 

The first element of the tone – the fall – is phonetically more prominent than the second one – the rise.

The Fall-Rise (FR) has an implicatory meaning. It gives the impression that the speaker intends the hearer to understand more than the words themselves convey. The implication expressed in an utterance may be that of emphasis, contrast, correction, hesitation, doubt, uncertainty, warning, apology, partial agreement, etc. In each case the exact implication stands out clearly from the context. For example:

1 A: They aren’t in the least alike. – B: They are. (contradiction)

2 A: Do you think she’ll manage to do it? – B: She may. (hesitation)

3 A: Let’s stay a little longer. – B: There’s little time. (warning)

4 A: His brother’s name is Jerry. – B: Geoff! (correction)

5 A: This is the best school in the city. – B: Yes. (partial agreement, hesitation)

6 A: Can all of you drive a truck? – B: ‵I,can. (partial agreement)

7 A: Do you like mint candies? – B: I `love,candies (likes and dislikes).

8 ‵Sorry I am,late. (apology).

9 Fall-Rise is used when somebody makes a general statement which avoids answering a question. E.g. A: Have you had dinner? – B: I’ve ‘had something. A: Has he sent the letter? – B: He was going to. A: What’s the time? – B: It must be late.

10 The Fall-Rise is often called a referring tone. The speaker chooses a FR when he/she is referring to something already stated or implied in the conversation, to something which is part of the background knowledge or experience he/she shares with the addressee. Examples:

1 A: What shall we do after lunch? – B: ‘When we’ve ‘finished,lunch | we’ll look at the ‵photos.

2 A: What shall we give Grace? – B: ‘As she ‘likes reading, | we shall ‘give her a ‵book.

3 A: Shall I order a steak for you, Dad? – B: I’m a vege tarian.

 

The Fall-Rise exists in two forms. The FR Unit is realized on one word, the FR Divided is realized on two different words which are both given nuclear prominence. Examples:

I ‘don’t know his name. (FR Unit) I ‵know his,name. (FR Divided)

 

The difference between the forms lies in the number of ideas. The FR Divided makes two ideas prominent instead of one. Functionally both variants are similar, they impart implicatory meaning to the utterance.

 

Speech Exercises

 

The Rising-Falling Tone

 

The Rising-Falling tone is a bi-directional complex tone. It comprises two elements – a rise and a fall, which can be realized within one syllable: the voice rises form a mid to a high pitch and then immediately falls to the bottom of the voice range,

 

e.g.:  Nice.                         

                __________                                       

 

                __________

 

The fall and the rise may also be distributed between two syllables. According to the number of the syllables involved in the pitch change two structural variants of the nuclear Rise-Fall (RF) are distinguished: one-syllable type is realized on monosyllabic words,

e.g.: Fine.

                __________                                       

 

                 __________

Two-syllabletype is spread over two syllables. The first one, which is stressed, carries a sharp and short rise from the mid to the top of the normal voice range, from where the second syllable falls without stress to the bottom,

e.g.: Never! 

          ___________

                                     

               ___________

 

Three-syllable type involves three syllables. The first one also takes a greater importance and it is pronounced on a steady pitch level. The other two are not so prominent and while the second is pronounced on the top, the third syllables goes to the bottom. All the other unstressed syllables that follow (if any) are said on a low steady pitch. They form a tail.

 

e.g.: Perfectly!

                ___________                                       

 

                ___________

 

It is necessary to determine the beginning of the tail in sentences with the nuclear rising-falling tone which is marked by a low pitch sign (_) or, if the syllable happens to be partially stressed, by a low stress. Compare:

 

e.g.: How should ^I _know it?           How should  ^I know it? 

___________________            _________________

 

___________________            _________________

 

The difference between the three structural variants is not confined to the form of the rising-falling tone. There is a certain functional difference as well: the more syllables are involved, the greater prominence they get.

 

The RF is used in a lively, emotional conversation. It shows that the speaker is impressed, either favourably or unfavourably, or expresses his quizzical attitude to the situation. For example: I am  ^ sure he knew that.

 

Speech Exercises

Unit 5 Utterance stress

Semantic factor

Stressing words in an utterance depends very much on the context. It is nevertheless possible to predict for most utterances a “normal stressing”. Some words carry higher information content in the utterance and are usually stressed while those carrying lower input (information) are left unstressed. The important words are ‘ content ’ (notional) words as opposed to ‘ function ’ words. Most content words are polysyllabic while function words are not.  

 

Table 2 - Stressed and Unstressed Words

 

Content/Stressed Words	Function/Unstressed Words
verbs	modal verbs
nouns	auxiliaries
adjectives	articles
adverbs	particles
question words	conjunctions
prepositional adverbs	prepositions
negatives	pronouns

 

Rhythmic factor

 

Stress creates the rhythmic structure of an utterance, but rhythm, in its turn, can influence utterance stress. For example, there is a general tendency to place the nuclear stress in a content word in utterance final position, and this is an important feature of the rhythmic organization of English speech. Consider the following:

1) I’m ` go ing. 2) I'm ‘going to ` Lon don. 3) I'm ‘going to ‘London for a ` ho liday.

But when a content word is separated from the end of the utterance by some function words, there is a high probability for the last of them (or the penultimate one) to acquire some degree of prominence and thus maintain rhythm. For example:

His `friends might be.with him. Or  His ‘friends might be `with him.

The most important word may sometimes be placed in the middle or even at the beginning of an utterance. In such case the notional words occurring in the post-nuclear part (the tail) will have, as a rule, some kind of prominence and the last of them often becomes a second nucleus bearing a Low Fall or a Low Rise,

e.g.: ^|This is the `other bedroom. Or   We’ve ‘got a ‘non-`smoking rule in the ‘rooms we _\ share. Or      We can ‘take her to the `sports centre on,Sunday.

 

Speech Exercises

Now read this dialogue between a local newspaper reporter (A) and a witness (B):

A: … so he was a `short man? – B: No, he was a `tall man.

A: … and fair-haired, you said? – B: No, dark-haired.

A: … and he’s in his mid-forties? – B: In his mid-thirties.

A: … and he was carrying a knife, wasn’t he? – B: No, he was carrying a gun.

A: … and you saw him going out of the post-office? – B: No, he was going into the post-office.

A: … and he got away with five thousand pounds? – B: No, he got away with ten thousand pounds.

A: … Well, thank you very much for your help. – B: Not at all.

 

Memory work

No enemies

by Ch. Mackay

 

You have no enemies you say?

Alas! My friend, the boast is poor;

He who has mingled in the fray

Of duty that the brave endure,

Must have made foes! If you have none,

Small is the work that you have done.

You’ve hit no traitor on the hip,

You’ve dashed no cup from perjured lip,

You’ve never turned the wrong to right,

You’ve been a coward in the fight.

 

Compare:

We seldom have /h æv/ time. – We have had a nice day /wɪ v  hæd/.

She always does /d ∧ z/ her best. – Does /d ə z/ she know you? 

I ‘knew that / ð ə t/ he was a`way. – I didn’t `know that /ðæt/.

I must answer that /ðæt/ letter.

Full forms are used instead of contractions to give extra emphasis,

e.g.: I ` am surprised. I ` have got a sore throat. She ` will be disappointed. ` Do have a drink. I ` did see him at that place. 

Or   A: Do you want pizza or spaghetti? – B: I want ‘pizza ` and spaghetti!

Speech exercises

Ex. 1 Weak form of and /ænd/ - / /ənd/ - /ən/ - /n/

a) Practise saying the names quickly in pairs. Example: Linda and Sarah.

Hannah, Laura,

Patricia, Sheila,

Sandra, Amanda,

Bobby, Andy,

Lizzie, Cathy,

Charlie, Susie,

Tom, Peter,

Paul, Vincent,

Wendy, Vicky,

Nathaniel, Geoff,

Andrew, Jackie,

Sue, Neil,

Romeo, Juliet,

Othello, Desdemona,

Yoko Ono, John Lennon,

Victoria, Albert,

Mickey, Minnie.

 

b) Practise saying foods which are often found together in Britain:

salt and pepper;

cheese and biscuits;

bread and butter;

fish and chips;

toast and marmalade;

nuts and raisins;

strawberries and cream;

bacon and eggs;

apple pie and custard;

gin and tonic.

 

Ex. 2 Weak forms of at /æt/ - / /ət/

A: Cagney and Lacey ’s on BBC, isn’t it?

B: Yes, that’s right, it’s on at 9.25.

At is usually pronounced as / ə t/ the dialogue. It’s a weak form. On has its strong form. Practise the weak forms and linking. You can start at the end of the sentence, like this:

    …….. nine twenty-five.

     …..at nine twenty-five.

  …on at nine twenty-five.

It’s on at nine twenty-five.

 

Now read the dialogues:

1) A: Gardener’s World ’s on BBC2, isn’t it?

B: Yes, that’s right, it’s on at 1.45.

 

2) A: Postman’s Pat ’s on BBC1, isn’t it?

B: Yes, that’s right, it’s on at 8.35

 

3) A: Countdown ’s on Channel4, isn’t it?

B: Yes, that’s right, it’s on at 5.30.

 

4) A: The Big Shot ’s on Channel 4 too, isn’t it?

B: Yes, that’s right, it’s on at 11.15.

 

5/ A: Family Fortunes is on BBC4, isn’t it?

B: Yes, that’s right, it’s on at 6.00.

 

Ex. 3 Weak forms of was /wɒz/ and were /wɜ:/ with the Past Continuous

Was is pronouncedas /wəz/ Were is pronounced as /wə/.

 

Last month Mr. and Mrs. Bailey went away for a holiday. They left their teenage children at home. Because of bad weather, they came home early. This is the scene they found when they arrived home:

Their teenage children were having a party. Their son Philip was watching a Kung Fu video. Their son Peter was smoking his father’s cigars. Their daughter Sue was dancing on the table. Philips’ girlfriend was lying asleep on the floor. Sue’s boyfriend was drinking Mr. Bailey’s beer. Peter’s girlfriend was phoning her brother in Austria. Two of Philip’s friends were playing poker. Two of Sue’s friends were arguing loudly.

 

Ex. 4 Weak forms of should / ʃʊ d/ - / ʃ əd/

Should is not stressed. If it is stressed, it sounds very emphatic and in the wrong situation it could sound rude.

a) Read the following using weak forms of should:

1 I think we should tell him about it.

2 He should have finished it earlier.

3 You should call for the doctor.

4 Jane should work very hard.

5 You should have taken that chance.

6 What do you think I should do?

7 I don’t think you should worry.

8 You shouldn’t take it close to heart.

9 You should hold your breath.

10 You should drink a glass of water.

11 You should take a little lemon juice.

B) Mini-dialogues

A: I’ve got a terrible cold! – B: You should go to bed.

A: Trains in Britain are so expensive! – B: You should take the bus.

A: My hands are freezing cold! - B: You should wear gloves.

A: I feel so sleepy! – B: You should have a cup of coffee.

A: I’ve got the most terrible toothache! – B: You should go to the dentist’s.

A: I’ve got an awful cough again. – B: You should stop smoking.

A: I feel so unfit these days. – B: You should start jogging.

A: I never practise speaking English. – B: You should go to England.

 

Read out the phrases:

a)

would not have seen;

would not have noticed;

couldn’t have done,

could have done;

could have broken;

might have loaded;

mightn’t have landed;

should have follow;

shouldn’t have got;

mustn’t have crossed;

must have puzzled;

must not have touched;

would not have passed;

might not have taken;

would have participated.

 

b) Read the sentences. Make sure you use the weak forms of the verbs, and the Low Wide Rise in unfinished parts of utterances.

1 I should have called him then. 2 He might not have skidded if the road hadn’t been icy. 3 If we’d been going much faster, we might all have been killed. 4 We couldn’t have afforded it if she hadn’t taken her credit card. 5 If they’d searched more carefully, they might have found the jewels. 6 Things would have been perfect if the engine hadn’t caught fire. 7 If she’d gone by plane, it would have been simpler. 8 We wouldn’t have crashed into him if he hadn’t braked suddenly. 9 If I’d known what was going to happen, I probably wouldn’t have gone. 10 Had it not been for his brilliance, his drinking could have been a problem. 11 He should have discussed the matter with Ike. 12 She could have written a memo. 13 Jim might have seen a ghost. 14 Sue could have mentioned his name. 15 I couldn’t have noticed him. 16 She wouldn’t have said that. 17 Joe might have got scared. 18 Barbara should have informed you about it last month. 19 The cloth must have been woven in the 17 century. 20 They shouldn’t have denied that.

 

Degrees of utterance stress

 

Words in an utterance receive different kinds and degrees of prominence. First of all, there is an opposition of nuclear and non-nuclear stresses. The nuclear stress is the only obligatory stress in an intonation group, signalling its central point. The nuclear stress is kinetic, it occupies a relatively fixed position in an intonation group (final), though any word in any position can become a nucleus provided it carries the most important information. Non-nuclear stresses are subdivided into full and partial stresses.

Full stresses occur only in the head of an intonation group. Partial stresses occur also in the prehead and the tail. Partial stresses are subdivided into high and low. High partial stresses normally occur in the head of an intonation group and in the tail after a rising or a falling-rising tone, while they are quite rare in the prehead.

E.g.: ‘Don’t forget to keep me,posted. 

Low partial stresses are used in the tail after a falling or rising-falling nuclear tone and in the prehead.

 E.g.: She was un^\certain about her coming back. 

Partial stresses are given to words of reduced informative value either because they are repeated from a previous context or because they denote ideas of smaller importance.

 

Speech Exercises

Speech Exercises

Ex.1 Read the nursery rhymes with very different rhythms. ( ‘ ) stands for any stressed syllable. Why does rhythm vary from one rhyme to another?

a) ‘Jack and ‘Jill went ‘up the ‘hill

   To ‘fetch a ‘pail of ‘wa-‘ter.

   ‘Jack ‘fell ‘down and ‘broke his ‘crown,

   And ‘Jill came ‘tumbling ‘af-‘ter.

 

b)      A ‘farmer went ‘trotting u‘pon his grey ‘mare

    ‘Bumpety, ‘bumpety, ‘bump;

     With his ‘daughter be’hind him, so ‘rosy and ‘fair,

     ‘Lumpety, ‘lumpety, ‘lump.

 

c) ‘Hey diddle ‘doubt, my ‘candle’s ‘out, my ‘little maid’s ‘not at ‘ home.

     ‘Saddle my ‘hog, and ‘bridle my ‘dog, and ‘fetch my ‘little maid ‘home.

 

The High Head

 

In the High Head all the syllables are said on the same rather high pitch. There is only one fully stressed syllable in the High Head, namely the stressed syllable of the first important word, the onset. Other syllables of the head are either unstressed or can take partial stresses.

The High Head is commonly used in conversations, where it occurs more frequently than the Stepping head,

e.g. He ‘keeps ˙making the ˙same mis`take.

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The High Head sounds light and airy.

The Sliding Head

The Sliding Head is formed by a sequence of slides, i.e. downward pitch changes, associated with each fully stressed syllable of the head (indicated by m). The stressed syllables in the Sliding Head may be said on the same pitch or form a gradual ascent or descent. The most common of all the Sliding Heads is the Gradually Descending Sliding Head. The descent in pitch has a jumpy character. This is due to the pitch contrast between the end of the preceding stress-group and the beginning of the following: the latter is higher in pitch as a result of a considerable downward pitch change inside the preceding stress-group realized either as a glide on the stressed syllable (when there aren’t any unstressed syllables following) or as a jump in pitch between the stressed syllable and the following unstressed ones,

e.g.:  We haven’t been hearing from Jake for ` ages.

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The Sliding Head is most frequently combined with the Fall-Rise. It is widely used in lively expressive conversations and in reading emotionally coloured texts.

The Rising Tone Pattern

1 High (Stepping) Head + High Narrow Rise Contour

This contour has a strong interrogative force transforming any sentence-type into a question.

The meaning of the contour:

In statements: (they are actually Yes/No questions with direct word-order) – mild query or puzzlement, disbelief and disappointment. Often used in echoing what has just being said,

e.g.: A: Sit down there. – B: Down ΄here? // “Four thousand”, said Bob sadly. “Four thousand? But it’s just a shock!”

In questions: asking for repetition, echoing the listener’s question before answering it.

E.g.: A: What would you recommend? – B: What would ΄I recommend?

2 High (Stepping) Head + Mid Wide Rise Contour

This contour is typically heard in Yes/No questions, alternative questions and tags conveying neutral attitude.

E.g.: Did ‘everything go   well? Was it black or ‵brown? You came a‵lone, didn’t you?

 

3 High (Stepping) Head + Low Wide Rise Contour

The meaning of the contour:

In statements: non-categoric, encouraging further conversation, sympathetic and friendly,

e.g.: We’re so ‘pleased to.meet you.

In Yes/No questions: genuinely interested, warm and friendly.

E.g.: Are you tired?

In Wh-questions: interested, warm and friendly, showing as much interest in the other person as in the subject. 

E.g.:  ‘When are you ‘coming,back?

In imperatives (requests, reassurances ): friendly, encouraging, soothing, reassuring,

e.g.: ‘Take it,easy.  ‘Don’t be,long. ‘Have another,helping. Shall I call the doctor? Could you ‘get me some aspirin?                 

4 Low Head + Low Narrow Rise Contour

In all sentence-types: calm, reserved, casual, disapproving,

e.g.: No I  ,haven’t.  He can’t make up his  ,mind. 

Speech Exercises

Exclamation