Fonetyka AM, handout #5 Paweł Rydzewski

SENTENCE STRESS1

1) CONTENT WORDS (STRONG FORMS)

Words that carry lexical meaning (content words) are normally STRESSED. Those are the

following:

a) nouns

b) adjectives

c) numerals

d) adverbs

e) verbs (except auxiliaries)

f) negative forms of verbs

I can swim vs. I can’t swim

g) interrogative pronouns and question words

who /ˈhu/ | /ˈhu:/

which /'witʃ/

when /ˈwɛn/ | /ˈwen/

where /ˈwɛr/ | /ˈweə/

h) demonstrative pronouns

this /ˈðɪs/

that /ˈðæt/

these /ˈðiz/ | /ˈði:z/

i) possessive pronouns

mine /ˈmaɪn/

yours /ˈjɔrz/ | /ˈjɔ:z/

hers /ˈhɝz/ | /ˈhɜ:z/

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Where relevant, the differences in transcription are accounted for in the following fashion: /GA/ | /RP/.

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Fonetyka AM, handout #5 Paweł Rydzewski

j) indefinite pronouns

much /ˈmʌtʃ/

many /ˈmɛni/ | /ˈmeni/

everybody /ˈɛvriˌbɑdi/ | /ˈevriˌbɒdi/

2) FUNCTION WORDS (WEAK FORMS)

Monosyllabic words which carry grammatical meaning (function words) are usually

UNSTRESSED. Those are the following:

a) articles

a;an /ə/; /ən/

the /ðə/; /ði/

some /səm/

b) personal pronouns

he /hi/

she /ʃi/

it /ɪt/

c) possessive adjectives

my /maɪ/

your /jər/ | /jə/

her /hər/ | /hə/

d) auxiliary verbs

must /məst/

can /kən/

should /ʃəd/

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Fonetyka AM, handout #5 Paweł Rydzewski

e) prepositions

at /ət/

on /ɔn/ | /ɒn/ EXCEPTION

for /fər/ | /fə/

f) conjunctions

and /ənd/; /ən/

but /bət/

g) relative pronouns

who /hʊ/; /hə/

that /ðət/

which /wɪtʃ/

3) INTRICACIES

a) “that”

 that is unstressed when it is a relative pronoun

The dog that bit me was ugly. /ðə ˈdɔg ðət ˈbɪt mi wəz ˈʌgli/ | /ðə ˈdɒg ðət ˈbɪt mi wəz ˈʌgli/

 that is stressed when it is a demonstrative pronoun

That dog was ugly. /ˈðæt ˈdɔg wəz ˈʌgli/ | /ˈðæt ˈdɒg wəz ˈʌgli/

b) “have”, “has”, “had”

 have, has, had are stressed when they refer to: possession, obligation & to eat (lexical

meaning)

I have a dog. /aɪ ˈhæv ə ˈdɔg/ | /aɪ ˈhæv ə ˈdɒg/

I have to go. /aɪ ˈhæv tə ˈgoʊ/ | /aɪ ˈhæv tə ˈgəʊ/

I have dinner at 8. /aɪ ˈhæv dɪnər ət ˈeɪt/ | /aɪ ˈhæv dɪnər ət ˈeɪt/

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Fonetyka AM, handout #5 Paweł Rydzewski

 have, has, had are unstressed when they function as auxiliaries (grammatical meaning)

I have been studying. /aɪ həv bɪn ˈstʌdɪŋ/ | /aɪ həv bi:n ˈstʌdɪŋ/

c) “the”

 is pronounced/transcribed as /ðə/ before consonants (including /j/ and /w/)

the boy /ðə ˈbɔɪ/

the uniform /ðə ˈjunəfɔrm/ | /ðə ˈju:nɪfɔ:m/

the winner /ðə ˈwɪnər/ | /ðə ˈwɪnə/

 is pronounced/transcribed as /ði/ before vowels

the apple /ði ˈæpəl/

the hour /ði ˈaʊər/ | /ði aʊə/

the honesty /ði ˈɑnəsti/ | /ði ˈɒnəsti/

d) “to”

 is pronounced/transcribed as /tə/ before consonants (including /j/)

to give /tə ˈgɪv/

to you /tə jʊ/

 is pronounced/transcribed as /tʊ/ before vowels (including /w/)

to eat /tʊ ˈit/ | /tʊ ˈi:t/

to win /tʊ ˈwɪn/

to honor /tʊ ˈɑnər/ | /tʊ ˈɒnə/