Some key Ideas about Phonetics Courses for First Year LMD Students

20th August 1955, University –Skikda-

Department of Foreign Languages Teacher: Beghchich.S

Syllables and Stress

1/ The nature of the Syllable: in discussing syllables, we are concerned with two kinds of facts: the structure of a
syllable and the relative prominence of syllables when two or more occur in sequence. In discussing syllable structure, we
want to tell not merely the English syllables the structures of specific syllables; we want to describe what general
structures are possible for English syllables and what structures are impossible.

*Every English syllable must have a centre or Peak (also called nucleus) an element which is obligatory in the syllable
and is ,therefore (+ syllabic).

NB: All vowels (simple vowels or diphthongs) occupy a syllabic position in the syllable i.e. they are at the centre of a
syllable (+ syllabic).

*The peak may be preceded by one or more non-syllabic elements which constitute the Onset of the syllable,and it may

be followed by one or more non-syllabic elements which constitute the Coda of the syllable.

*The minimum syllable is the smallest syllable in English. It would be a simple vowel like: are /a:/ or diphthong like the
word eye /aɪ / .

* Some syllables have an onset (that is, they have more than just silence before the peak of the syllable e.g. bar /ba:/

*Syllables may have no onset before the peak but have a coda e.g. is / I z/.

*Some syllables have onset and coda e.g. fill /fil/.

NB: The consonants / m,n, l / become syllabic consonants in certain positions. Thus, every word has as many syllables as

it has syllabic elements, ie: simple vowels, complex vowels and syllabic consonants.

*A syllabic Consonant: a consonant that substitutes the Schwa/ / when it is dropped in rapid speech.

2/ Syllable Structure in English: every language has vowel and consonant phonemes, and every language has its own

common patterns in which phonemes are arranged to form larger units. In English ,
there are never than two vowels in sequence in a simple word (e.g. neon , poet, cruel , radio) , but clusters of two, three,
or more consonants are fairly common(.e.g. prescribe, district, splints, tempts).Still, not just any two, three,or more
consonants can cluster in English. There are definite limitations, or constraints on co-occurrence i.e.how many consonants
can occur in a sequence/cluster and what kind of consonants can follow each other.

*The possible structure of a single syllable in English is referred to as “the canonical form”. Thus, we can recognize
the canonical form of a syllable, morpheme, or a word; an item like: shrink or quilt is at the same time a single
syllable,a single morpheme and a single word.

*Canonical forms enable us to describe the possible shapes of syllables,morphemes and words in a language and to
compare the shapes of two or more words or syllables.

*neon has the canonical form of CVVC(two syllables)

*plant has the canonical form of CCVCC(one-syllable words)

*streets has the canonical form of CCCVCC (one-syllable word)

NB/ for a disyllabic word (having two syllables)or polysyllabic word(more than three syllables),the canonical form must
include an indication of stress by using a stress mark (vertical tick) before the stressed syllable.

Examples: 'Comic 'CV + CVC

'bucket 'CV+CVC

Arrest V+'CVCC

Event V+'CVCC

3/ Strong and Weak Syllables:

One of the most noticeable features of English is that many syllables are weak; that is true of many other languages.

Stress is a major factor in determining whether a syllable will be strong or weak. The main difference between strong and
weak syllable is mainly a matter of “stress”.i.e. Strong syllables are stressed; whereas, weak syllables are unstressed.

BUT
*What kind of vowels typically occur in strong and weak syllables?

*It is very important to note that a strong syllable will have as its peak any of the simple vowels or diphthongs listed in
the IPA except the Schwa/ ə/

*To identify unstressed vowels is not always so easy. The general principle is the following:

-Weak syllables can only have four types of peak:

1/ The neutral vowel /ə/ ( schwa) is the most frequent unstressed vowel.

2/ The high front vowel / ɪ/ as in sin, the second most common vowel in weak syllables.

3/ The high back vowel /u/ as in book.

4/The syllabic consonants /m/ , / n/ , /l/

*When we compare weak syllables containing vowels with strong syllables, we find that the vowel in a weak syllable
tends to be shorter or lower intensity/loudness and different in quality .E.g. father /fa:ðə./;the second syllable which is
weak is shorter than the first ,is less loud and has a vowel that cannot occur in a stressed syllable: /ə/ schwa.

NB/ numerous English words contains one stressed vowel and a schwa in every unstressed syllable.

Salad /’sæləd/, command/kə’mænd/, annoyance/ə’nɔɪəns/, purpose/’pɜ:pəs/, suppose/səpəuz/

*In longer words(polysyllabic), there is often a sequence of “strong’ and “weak” syllables alternating with one another,
but not in a very regular way.

Un/der/stand/,ʌndə’stænd/ , ar / che/ o/lo/ gy /a: kɪ ‘ɒ lə dʒɪ/, com/ pre/hend/ /kɒmprɪ’hend/

4/ Syllable Division: a dictionary provides information about how a written word should be syllabified-where it can be
divided in case one has to put part of it on one line and the rest on the next part. But here we are interested in speech i.e.
the spoken word. Syllable division of spoken words can be indicated according to certain conventions, like the use of
vertical bar ( / ) to separate syllables.

Here are some basic rules for syllable division in spoken English:

1/ A syllable contains one and only one vowel sound ( simple vowel, or diphthong or a syllabic consonants (/ m, n, l /)

2/Recognition of certain prefixes and suffixes, which are not divided i.e. belong to the same syllable.

Examples: mis/ treat (2 syllables), un/a/ble (3 syllables), dis/con/nect ( 3 syllables), free/ dom (2 syllables)

Work/ ing (2 syllables), his/ to/ric/ al (4syllables).

3/A diphthong (i.e. a combination of two vowel sounds into a single phoneme) occupies a single syllable, though it is
represented by two or more vowel letters in the orthography.

Examples: fa/ mi/ liar (03syllables) /fə/ mɪ / lɪə/

Care/ less/ ness (03 syllables) /kɛə/ ləs/nəs/

Am/ bi/ guous (03 syllables)/æmbɪgjʊəs/

4/If two separate vowel sounds/ phonemes occur in sequence, the syllable break is between the two vowels (V / V)  ; they
belong to two separate syllables.

Examples: ne /on /’ni:/ɒn/ , cha/ os /’keɪ/ɒs/, re/ a / li/ ty /rɪ/’æ/lɪ/tɪ/

Bi/o/ lo/ gy /baɪ/ 'ɒ/ lə/ dʒɪ/ , ge/ o/ lo/ gy /dʒɪ/ ‘ɒ /lə/ dʒɪ/

5/ a- If one consonant occurs between two vowels and the second is strong, whether stressed or not the consonant is part
of the second syllable. E.g. re/pent /rə’pent/, va/ca/tion /væ/ keɪ/ ʃən/

b- If one consonant occurs between a strong vowel and a weak one, the consonant is ambisyllabic; it is also ambisyllabic
if it occurs between two weak vowels.

Examples:'mo/ del or 'mod/ el

'de/ vil or 'dev/ il

'ci/ ne/ ma or 'cin/ em/a

Segmentals and Suprasegmentals in English

1.1/Segmentals : one of the characteristic features of the sound system of any language is its inventory of phonemes,
i.e. the particular combination of vowels and consonants that make up this inventory .Linguists refer to this inventory of
individual vowels and consonants as the “Segmental features” of language ,i.e. the sequence of sounds or segments
words are composed of. Thus, the proper name Henry consists of a sequence of sounds/ segments, transcribed as
/henri/.But this segmental transcription does not, of course, tell us very much about other aspects of speech, that is,
stress, intonation, referred to as “suprasegmentals”.

1.2/ Suprasegmentals: in addition to having their own inventory of vowels and consonants (segments of
speech),languages also have unique features that extend beyond the level of individual sounds or segments, to cover
larger units of speech,i.e. whole syllables, words, phrases and sentences. Such features, which are not an inherent property
of individual vowels or consonants, are therefore called “ suprasegmentals”.They involve such important aspects of
speech as stress(word-stress),rhythm(sentence-stress) and intonation.

Word-stress: in the example above, the name Henry is pronounced with segmental/phonemes indicated, i.e. /'henri/,but
also with the first syllable much stronger and prominent than the second one.This is shown in transcription by a mark
placed before the syllable which carries the stress: /'henri /. Stress is ,therefore, not a property of individual vowels or
consonants but of whole syllables.

Intonation: taking the same example, there are different ways of saying Henry according to specific contexts/
situations, i.e. the same utterance can be pronounced with different tones (speech melody), e.g.

● Henry, with a falling tone, in answer to the question: «what is your name ?», or

● Henry, with a rising tone, as, for instance, an attitude of surprise (Is it really Henry?).

Here again, it is clear that the tone used applies to complete words or syllables of words, not to single vowels or
consonants.

Unlike other languages, there are weak and strong syllables in English words. When words are pronounced ,at
least one syllable carries the stress, but in connected speech many changes may take place; some smaller words such as:
and, to him, it (function words) may completely unstressed. The vowel may be reduced to /ə/ little vowel or may
disappear all together. E.g. and /ænd/ /ənd/ /nd/ /n/ (with vertical bar under it)

Bread and butter/bred n bʌtə/

1/Definition of Stress: a stressed syllable is produced by pushing more air out of the lungs. A stressed syllable has an
increase in respiratory activity. A stressed syllable is often louder than an unstressed syllable. It has also a long vowel

again /ə’gen/. We need to be clear that the term “Stress” can be used in two different ways: Production of stress

perception of stress

a/ Stress in the Production Level: can be defined as the amount of muscular energy or increased respiratory force/effort
which goes into the production of a syllable by the speaker. In stressed syllables, the energy level in the articulatory and
respiratory muscles is higher than in others(i.e. the speaker produces a stressed syllable, there is greater pressure on
his lungs to drive out more air.)

b/Stress in the Perception Level: is defined as the overall prominence of stressed syllables over unstressed ones. In this
level, stress does not relate simply to one auditory feature such as loudness , but represents the combined effect of
several factors responsible for the prominence of stressed syllables.

Four Factors

Loudness Pitch movement Syllable length Vowel quality

Stressed syllables seem Stressed syllables are Stressed syllables are The vowels in stressed
to be louder to the pronounced on a higher longer than unstressed syllables have clear or
listener’s ear than pitch (note) than the ones(vowel is stretched full vowel quality .
unstressed ones. unstressed ones. out taking more time .
2/ Functions of Stress: stress has different functions in English:

1/ It can be used simply to give special emphasis to a word or to contrast one word with another .

Example: 'John and 'Mary should 'go.

2/ It can indicate the syntactic relationship between words or parts of words as in verb /noun oppositions

Examples: 'insult (N) to in'sult (v)

a 'record (N) to re'cord (v)

In these pairs of words, the noun has been stressed in the first syllable . The verb has it on the last syllable. The placement
of stress indicates a syntactic function of the word.

3/Similar oppositions occur in cases where two word phrases form compounds

Examples: a'walkout to 'walk 'out

a'pushover to 'push 'over

*In these cases, there is stress only on the first element of the compound for the nouns but on both elements for the verbs.

4/ Stress has a syntactic function in distinguishing between a compound noun such as: a'hot dog and an adjective
followed by a noun: a 'hot 'dog. Thus, compound nouns have a single stress on the first element as in “’ 'hot dog” and
adjectival phrases have stress in both elements as in “ ‘hot ‘dog”.

3/ Degrees of Word- Stress: refers to stress within the word; this means that we are looking at words as they are
pronounced in isolation, that is, single words. Relying on the order of prominence; from the most to the least prominent
level of stress, we can define three degrees of stress in English words.

a/ Primary Stress /TONIC: every English word in isolation(i.e. as it appears in a lexicon or dictionary) receives a
primary stress on its most prominent syllable. If we consider the word “conflict”which may fuction either as a “verb”
or as a “noun”, we can get two different stress pattern:

*The noun: 'CONflict has the primary stress on the first syllable: stress pattern = /20/

*The verb: con'FLICT has the primary stress on the second syllable: stress pattern = /02/

Example: Let us imagine the following short exchange between speaker A and B:

A : What’s the English word for the French term “conflict”?

B: 'CON flict (= noun).

*B’s answer will be produced with a primary stress on the first syllable of the word but also with a certain
melody or tone,i.e. falling tone typically used for words being quoted or used in isolation. Thus, the melody /tone (a fall
here) occurs on the syllable which carries the primary stress .i.e. on the first syll. ( as a noun) /kon-/,the pitch of the
voice falling from a higher note to a lower note. It is because of this pitch movement/ tone that occurs on the main
syllable of the word that the hearer perceives that syllable as receiving the primary stress.
 The primary stress is ,therefore, the strongest and most prominent degree of stress in English. It is also referred
to as the tonic stress since it is that syllable which carries the tone (intonation).

In the example above, speaker B pronounces “'CONflict” with a falling tone on the first syllable,whereas,the
second syllable /-flikt/ is not prominent (unstressed) and is said on a low note (see figure a) .

*If speaker A asked speaker B: what ‘s the English word for the French term “s’opposer à” ,B’s response would,
this time, be :(to) con'FLICT (= verb). In that case, the falling tone (pitch movement) will occur on the second syllable
'flict/ ,which receives the primary stress,whereas,the first syllable will be unstressed and said on a low note (see figure b)

We can diagram the pitch movement as shown below,where :

1/the two parallel lines represent the speaker’s upper and lower pitch limits.

2/The small dot(•) stands for an unstressed syllable.

3/The tick curved line ( ....) for the tonic stress ( falling tone here).

Upper pitch limit

Lower pitch limit

Fig.(a) 'CONflict (noun) Fig.(b) con'FLICT (verb)

/ 20/ / 02/

b/Secondary Stress/ NON-TONIC: English polysyllabic words(having 3 syllables or more),often have more than one
stressed syllable. Indeed, polysyllabic words frequently have two stressed syllables, one of which is more prominent than
the other. We say that the most prominent syllable bears the primary stress and the next most prominent carries the
secondary stress. Let us take the word “psychological”. In this example, we can identify two main syllables that are
more prominent than the others (the 1st and the 3rd syllables) . These stresses are represented in phonetic transcription
with stress marks: i.e. a vertical tick before the stressed syllable, above the line ( ' )/-'lo-/for the primary stress
and below the line (¸ ) for the secondary stress /,sai-/

But: HOW DOES THE HEARER DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE PRIMARY AND THE SECONDARY STRESS?
*When the word is used in isolation ,the falling tone ( typical of single words) or falling pitch movement occurs on the
3rd syllable/ - 'lo-/ and not on the 1 st syllable ¸/sai-/ . You may notice that the 1st syllable /saɪ-/ in the word
“psychological” /,saɪkə’lɒdʒɪkɒl/,which bears a secondary stress ,there is no pitch movement or tone on it, i.e. the
pitch of the voice remains flat or level ( ) contrary to the descent/fall observed with the primary stress.We
therefore say that the secondary stress is a strong stress (it has some prominence) but it is non-tonic since it is not the
syllable which carries the tone/intonation.All the other syllables in the word “psychological” i.e. the 2 nd,the 4th,and 5th
are unstressed and said on a low note because of their lack of prominence.

* We can diagram the pitch of the voice of the word “psychological”:

 • • •

Psy - cho- 'LO- gic - al

c/ Weak/ Unstressed syllables: till now, we have identified two degrees of stress: tonic strong(or primary) and

non-tonic strong(secondary).To this should be added a third degree of stress which corresponds to weak/unstressed
syllables and is regarded as the absence of any recognizable amount of prominence. Let us take another polysyllabic
word like: “photo'GRAphic” /fəʊ tə’græ fɪk/ has two weak syllables (2nd and the 4th one) with the weak vowels:schwa
and short V/ I /,whereas the 1st and 3rd syllables are stressed and strong, the primary stress falling on the third syllable
and the secondary stress on the first one. Notice also the strong vowels in the stressed syllables.

I/ Stress Placement in Simple Words

Definition: a simple word is a word which consists of a single stem without affixes( prefixes or suffixes)

Placing the stress in words depends on four main criteria:

1/ the grammatical nature or function of the word i.e. verbs, adjectives and nouns.

2/ the phonological structure of the last two syllables;

2.a/Open syllable: a syllable ending with a vowel (simple or diphthong) and no consonant after it (no coda).Eg.sea,play.

2.b/ A syllable Closed : by a certain number of consonants (forming the coda).E.g. act, collect......etc

3/ We also need to consider the feature of vowel length,i.e. if the vowels in the last two syllables are short (V) or long (V)
or diphthongs(D).

I/ Verb Patterns: (disyllabic or trisyllabic):

Rule 01-a : if the ult (last syllable) contains : V/D (C), that is, a long vowel or diphthong in an open syllable (with no
consonant) ,or in a syllable closed by only one consonant ,then, it is the last syllable which receives Stress 2

Rule 01-b: if the ult (last syllable) contains: V+ CC ,that is, the last syllable is closed by two consonants (as the
coda),then Stress 2( or primary stress) will also fall on the last syllable.

Rule 01-c: in all other cases ,i.e. V or V+1 C, Stress 2 falls not on the last, but on the penult syllable (the second
syllable from the end) .

II/ Adjective Patterns: (disyllabic or trisyllabic)  :

Adjectives behave in the same way as verbs with regard to stress –placement, i.e. the same stress rules for 2/3 syllable
verbs, namely rules: 1a-1b- 1c.

III/ Noun Patterns:( disyllabic nouns):

Rule 02-a : if the ult (final syllable) contains : V (short vowel) ,then Stress 2 will fall on the penult syllable
Rule 02-b: if the ult (final syllable) of the noun contains : V/D ; a long vowel or diphthong, then Stress2 will occur on
the ult or final syllable

* In nouns of more than two syllables, with V/D in the final syllable, then Stress 2 may occur not on the last syllable, but
on the antepenult: 3rd syllable from the end. E.g. holocaust /’hɒ lə kɔ:st/

paradise /’pæ rə daɪs/

II/ Stress Placement in Affix Words: (Complex Words):

Derivatives: a derive word is a the one to which an affix is added to a stem (root).The affix can be a prefix or a suffix.

a/ Stress in Prefix- words: there are two types of prefixes:

a.1/True or active Prefix: is the prefix that carries meaning .E.g. write +re 'Rewrite (Re: means: again)

a.2/ False Prefix: is meaningless and cannot be dropped from the stem. E.g. re'pair

b/ Stress Placement in Suffix Words:

b-1/ Neutral Suffixes: have the property of having no influence on the primary stress of the stem to which they are
attached ,i.e. the suffix word is stressed as if the suffix was not there. These suffixes are of Anglo-Saxon origin.

The List of the most Common Neutral Suffixes

ED Demonstrated /demənstreɪtɪd/
ING demonstrating //demənstreɪtɪŋ/

Suffixes to form nouns age, dom , er , hood, ism, man, ment, ness, or, ship

Suffixes to form Adjectives able, ern, ful, ish, less, ous, some, wards, wise

a-2/ Stress-carrying Suffixes: this class of suffixes are strong because when added to a stem, they have the property of
attracting the primary stress onto themselves. These suffixes are borrowed from French and obey the French stress
rule,i.e. stress on the final syllable .

Most Common Stress-carrying

The Stress-carrying Suffixes Examples

----- ade persu'ade
-----aire millio'naire
-----ain enter'tain
-----ee refu'gee
-----eer ca'reer
-----ese portu'guese
-----ette mario'nette
-----esque roman'esque
-----ique tech'nique
-----oo kanga'roo
 -----oon ty'phoon
Exceptions: ee 'coffee, co'mmittee, 'pedigree
oo 'cuckoo, 'igloo,
ade 'centigrade, 'decade, 'marmalade, 'comrade
eer 'overseer

b-3/ Stress-shifting suffixes: are strong suffixes which make the primary stress to shift from one syllable of the stem to
another one. These suffixes are added to stems of Latin or Greek origin.

*Stress-shifting Suffixes Causing Penult Stress: /-----20/

Rule 01: English words ending in –ic(s) have the primary stress on the syllable just before the suffix i.e. the penult or last
but-one

Exceptions: 'Arabic , a'rithmetic(s), 'arsenic, 'catholic, 'heretic, 'lunatic, 'politics, 'rhetoric(s)

But: When a neutral suffix like –al, --ally, --ism is added to these exceptions, the latter are regularized by these
suffixes which re-establish the basic –ic rule; they are no longer exceptions but become regular words with stress 2
(penult) .E.g. 'Catholic (exception) + ism Ca'tholic(ism) neutral suffix

Rule 02: The rule of “LION” Penult stress /-----20/

i Ø

e + Vn+ + ( silent letter e) Penultimate Stress

u Cn

English words ending in letter i , letter e or letter u followed by any number of vowels (Vn), optionally followed by any
number of consonants,(Cn) and optionally by silent letter e carry the primary stress on the penult syllable (second
syllable from the end).

Examples: i +Vn+ (Cn)+ (silent e) ion gene'ration

e + Vn + (Cn)+ (silent e) 'linear

u+Vn + (Cn)+ (silent e) ha'bitual

Rule 03 : the verbal suffix -----ish : Penult stress /-----20/ (the second syllable from the end)

*English verbs ending in (----ish) carry the primary stress on the penult syllable

E.g. es'tablish , 'banish

NB/ “ ish” is a strong suffix only in verbs.

adjectival ( --- ish) is a neutral suffix.

*Stress- shifting Suffixes Causing “antepenult .Stress /------200/

Rule 01: the verbal suffixes – (ate, ize , fy)

*English verbs of 3 syllables or more ending in (---ate , ---ise ,--- ize, or--- fy) have the primary stress on the
“antepenultimate” (antepenult.) (i.e. the third syllable from the end)
Rule 02: The disyllabic suffixes: (--- ity)- (---ety) /-----200/

* English nouns ending in the disyllabic suffix (---ity or ----ety) have the primary stress on the third syllable from
the end.(antepenultimate stress) . E.g. elec'tricity , sim'plicity

Rule 03: the disyllabic suffixes : graphy, grapher, graphist English nouns ending in these suffixes, stress 2 will
Rule 03: the disyllabic suffixes: logy, loger, logist fall on the antepenult stress (3 rd syll. from the end)

Placing Secondary Stress in Polysyllabic Words

As we have seen together, every English word must have a primary stress, represented by number 2.The secondary
stress, represented by number 1,is optional, i.e. we find it in some words but not in others. For example, in the word “
pu'blicity”, there is no stress 1 (secondary stress), stress pattern being / 0200/. On the other hand, in the word
“responsi'bility”, there is a secondary stress on the second syllable, the complete stress pattern being /010200/. The
secondary stress often occurs in polysyllabic words,i.e. words containing 3 or more syllables ,and there are two
different types of secondary stress or two different processes for the placement of stress 1.

1/ Automatic Stress 1: when there are only two syllables before the primary stress (stress 2),we can determine the place
of secondary stress (stress 1) in a systematic way we therefore call it “automatic” stress 1. In other words, the secondary
stress necessarily falls on the first syllable of the word and the complete stress pattern of that word must be /102--/

But: Why is stress 1 AUTOMATIC ?

1/ The syllable just before stress 2 must receive a zero stress since the sequence /12--/ is not valid in English words.

2/ The first syllable of the word,i.e. the syllable before the zero stress, necessarily receives a secondary stress 1 since
the sequence /00--/ is not valid initially.

Examples: con sul 'ta tion en gi ' neer ing e lec ' tri ci ty pic tu ' resque

1 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 2

2/ Derivational Stress 1 : when there are 3 or more syllables before the primary stress (stress 2), the placement of stress
1 cannot be automatic but is the result of a derivation rule. Indeed, when three or more syllables precede stress 2 in a
polysyllabic word, the stress pattern of that word may be either /1002-/ or /0102-/. In other words, stress 1 may fall either
on 1st syllable of the word, i.e. / 10---/ or on the 2nd syllable ,i.e /01---/

In order to decide whether stress 1 occurs on the first or the second syllable, we must apply this rule:

Derivation Rule: the rule consists of three steps to follow:

1-Find the most direct ROOT from which the polysyllabic word is derived;

2-Determine the place of STRESS 2 in the root word, using the appropriate stress rule;

3-Reduce stress 2 in the root word to STRESS 1 in the derived word on the SAME syllable

Example 1: /10 0 2 0/ Ve ri fi 'ca tion “lion rule: penultimate stress 2”

1 0 0 2 0 (the 2 nd syll. From the end)

Root: 'Ve ri fy “Verbal “FY” rule: antepenultimate Stress 2

2
 2 0 0 (the 3rd syll. from the end)

Example 2: /01 0 2 0/ an ti ci 'pa tion “ lion rule: penult. stress 2

0 1 0 2 0

Root: an 'ti ci pate “verbal « ATE » Rule : antepenult. stress 2

0 2 0 0 (the 3rd syll. From the end)

3/ Stress Placement in Compound Nouns: is a type of word that is composed of two or more stems, both of which exist
as independent words in English.In other words, a compound is composed of two or more word elements that constitute
one semantic unit. There are three shapes of compounds in terms of stress patterns:

1-If the first element in the compound tells you what is special about the person or thing described ,and the second
element gives you gives you the general type, special emphasis is usually placed on the first element and the stress pattern
will be /2 1/ Examples: *what kind of pot is it?---- It is a 'tea pot /2 1/ ( i.e. a pot used for serving tea)

*what kind of journey is it ?----It is a 'train journey /2 1 0/ (a journey by train)

This type of compounds give the function or the specificity of the thing described.

*As far as the placement of tone is concerned, the primary tonic stress falls on the first word-element, i.e. on the main
syllable of the first element, and so the tone (falling/ rising) occurs on that element ,i.e.

It is a new 'tea pot. (falling tone on tea ). Is it a new 'tea pot ?( rising tone on tea).This type of compounds is the most
frequent.

2- Some compounds have different stress pattern,i.e. a primary stress on each element of the compound /2+2/.

Such compounds have the same stress as adjective+noun phrases,that is,two primary stresses. In such compounds,the
first noun is used attributively.

Such compounds usually answer the question: what is it made of?(i.e. the first noun gives the material or ingredients
out of which the second noun is made. (a ring made of diamond It is a 'diamond 'ring (two primary stresses,
one on each element (main syllable) of the compound, with the tone on the second element.

Examples: *A bar made of steel = a 'steel 'bar /2+2/

*A dress made of cotton= a 'cotton 'dress /20+2/

BUT: When the second element of the compound is the word: cake, juice, milk or water, the stress pattern
becomes: 'N1+ N2,i.e. only a secondary stress on the second element.
*N1 cake • 'chocolate cake

*N1 milk • 'soya milk

*N1 juice • 'grape juice

*N1 water • 'mineral water

Stress, Rhythm and Intonation

1/Stress: is about which sounds are emphasized in words and sentences. For example, in the word “banana” the stress is
on the second syllable, in the word “orange” the stress is on the first syllable. In sentences, we usually stress the most
important “content words”.

2/ Rhythm: is about how we use a combination of stressed and unstressed words in sentences. Sentences have strong
beats(stressed words) and weak beats (the unstressed words).

3/ Intonation: is the way the pitch of a speaker’s voice goes up or down as they speak. We use intonation to help get our
message across.

Intonation in English: The Functions of the Intonation

Intonation and Communication: intonation is very important for communication, as it helps the addressee interpret the
message. There have been different proposals to explain intonation in different ways such as:

1/Intonation enables us to express emotions and attitudes as we speak (the attitudinal function of intonation).

2/Intonation helps to produce the effect of prominence on stressed syllables (the accentual function of intonation).

3/Intonation helps to recognize the grammar and syntactic structure of the utterance (the grammatical function of
intonation.

4/Intonation conveys the given-new information, or provides information for turn-taking: the discourse function of
intonation.

In this respect, intonation has three simple possibilities: level, falling, rising.

a/ Level tone: non-tonic. It is used the syllable which carries the secondary stress ( ).It is level or flat. ( no tone).

b/ Falling tone: this refers to the pitch of the voice when it is lowered at the end of the phrase or sentence.

It is the most common, neutral tone used in English. It suggests that speakers are simply conveying information. It is used
in : statements, questions that uses (who, what, when, where, why or how)

This type of intonation expresses: finality, certainty, completeness.(speakers are sure of what they are saying)

c/Rising tone: the speaker’s pitch goes up. It is used in the following cases:

yes/no questions, unfinished thoughts. This type of intonation expresses uncertainty, doubt, surprise, incompleteness