Sentence Stress, Rhythm and

Intonation
 Introduction

⦿“Stress, rhythm, and intonation create the

‘music’ of a language and are as important as
the sounds of the language. Stress, rhythm,
and intonation help tell the listener what is
important in the sentence and how the speaker
feels about it.”
Linda Lane
 Syllables

⦿In English, a syllable usually has as its center a

vowel, which can be preceded and/or followed
by consonants. You need to think of the syllables
in a word as the “beats” in the word.
⦿Use your fingers to tap the syllables of the words.
 The Stressed Syllable
⦿When you say a word, one syllable should sound
longer and louder than the others.
⦿This is the stressed syllable.
⦿The length of the stressed syllable is very
important.
⦿Stressed syllables are almost always longer than
unstressed syllables.
Syllable Stress and Pitch
⦿ Pitch: a higher note

⦿ Stressed syllables are

often pronounced on
a higher pitch.
 Rhythm and Thought Groups

⦿Rhythm is created by the combination of stress,

length and timing, and in the grouping of words
together in phrases or sentences.

⦿When we speak, we do not use pause between

every word.
 Example...
⚫I left in the morning.

⦿ Most speakers will pronounce I left as one

“thought group” and in the morning as another.
⦿ There is no fixed rule for deciding which words to
include in a thought group.
⦿ Meaning and length determine which words
belong together.
⦿ Generally, closely related words, such as an article
and its noun, or an adjective and its noun, will be
in the same group.
Rhythm and Unstressed Word
Reduction
⦿Word List and Normal Pronunciation

› Some words have two pronunciations: a “full” or

word-list pronunciation, used when words are
being read in a list, and a reduced pronunciation
used in normal speaking.
› The reduced pronunciations of words are not slang
- they are normal pronunciations.
 Examples...
⦿and black and white
⚫ “blacken...”

⦿or black or white

⚫ “blacker...”

⦿to back to school

⚫ “t school”

⦿him call him

⚫ “callin”

⦿have could have gone

⚫ “could of”
Content and Function Words
⦿ Content words are ⦿ Function words are
usually stressed. unstressed.

› Nouns › Personal pronouns

› Verbs › Articles
› Adjectives › Short prepositions
› Adverbs › Conjunctios
› Question Words › Auxiliary Verbs
Intonation

Intonation is the music of the language,

the patterns of high and low notes which
occur in speech.
Intonation shows the emotional state and
attitude of the speaker.
The intonation you use will also affect
your listener’s attitude toward you.
 More....
⦿The combination of
⦿Stress, rhythm,
high pitch and heavy and intonation
stress on a particular contribute to the
word is used to characteristic sound
highlight or of each language.
emphasize that word. How you interpret
that sound depends
partly on your own
language.