【外語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)】實(shí)用英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)音學(xué)電子教案c6

1、【外語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)】實(shí)用英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)音學(xué) 電子教案 c6Chapter 6 Sentence StressWe have seen that every word of two or more syllables, when said alone, has a stress on one of its syllables. This is called But in connected speech we do not hear a stress on every word. Some words lose their stresses, especially when we talk quickly, o

2、ther words keep their stresses and these stressed syllables form what is called sentence-stress.Sentence-stress has two main functions:Its first function is to indicate the important words in the sentence (from the point of view of grammar, meaning or the speakers attitude). For example:I could hard

3、ly believe my eyes./ai k?d ha:dli bili:v mai aiz/In this sentence the words “hardly”, “believe” and “eyes” stressed because they areimportant in meaning.The second function of sentence-stress is to serve as the basis for the rhythmical structure of the sentence. The rhythm of English speech is forme

4、d by the recurrence of stresses syllables at more or less regular intervals of time and by the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. Under the influence of the latter peculiarity ofrhythm of English speech, important words in meaning which are usually stressed may be pronounced without s

5、entence-stress. For example:Very good. Not very good/veri gud/ /n?t veri gud/Words which are usually stressed in English unemphatic speech belong to content words(實(shí)詞 ), namely, nouns, adjectives, numerals, principal verbs, adverbs, demonstrative, interrogative, emphasizing pronouns and the absolute

6、form of the possessive pronouns.Those which are usually unstressed in English unemphatic speech are form words, namely, auxiliary and modal verbs, verb to be, monosyllabic prepositions, monosyllabic conjunctions and articles, personal pronouns, possessive pronouns (except absolute ones: mine hers .)

7、, reflexivepronouns are usually unstressed. Examples:I am reading a very interesting novel. Who was that on the phone?You must do it yourself. Twenty is enough.Dress yourself more neatly They help each other.The book that I have just read is here.Note: nuclear fall or nuclear rise is also a kind of

8、sentence-stress.For this see Part Three “Intonation”.However, it is necessary to point out that any word in a sentence may be logically stressed if it implies special emphasis or contrast.Examples:We heard John talking. (plain statement of fact)We heard John talking. (implied contrast “but we didnt

9、him ”.)We heard John talking. (implied contrast- “but we didnt Mary ”.)We heard John talking. (implied contrast- “but others didnt”.)We heard John talking. (implied contrast- “but we didnt hear him singing ”.)A word which is logically stressed may stand at the beginning, in the middle or at the end

10、of asentence, and is usually the last stressed word in it. Sentence- stress on words following logicalstress disappears,Here are some other examples:I didnt know you were leaving. (I thought it was he who wasleaving.)What did Tony say to He spoke to me.(not to Sally)I cant do the job. (Dont think I

11、cant do I dont know if you mean to see Peter.But if you see him, (please give him my good wishes).(I know she has been working very hard.) But what does she for?Some form words are stressed in certain special cases:Auxiliary and modal verbs, as well as the link verb to be, stressed in the followingc

12、ases:At the beginning of a sentence, that is to say, in general alternative questions, e.g.Are you on duty today?Have you finished your homework? Do you like swimming or skating?Note that in the examples above, the initial auxiliary or modal verbs or verb to be may beunstressed, but this may make th

13、e questions sound casual.When they are final, used as short answers to general questions,e.g. Have you read the book? Yes, I have. Are you on duty today? Yes, I am.However, they are not stressed when used as answers to special questions, e.g. Who is on duty today? I am.Who has a rubber? Tom has.In c

14、ontracted negative forms, He wont be late.It doesnt matter.Verb “to be” is stressed when final and preceded by subject which is unstressed, e.g. Here you are.I dont know where she wasThe auxiliary verb “to be ” is stressed in emphatic constructions, e.g.Do come again.He did write to me.Modal verbs “

15、ought to”, “must” (repressing strong certainty and expectation), “should”(meaning ought to) and “may” (indicating possibility) are always, e.g.You ought to do it now. He must be a teacher.It should be fine tomorrow. It may be fine tomorrow.“Will” and “would” expressing determination or desire receiv

16、e sentence-stress, e.g. Of course, we will do our work well.I will work hard.Prepositions are usually stressed in the following cases:If they consist of two or more syllables and are followed by unstressed personal pronoun at the end of a sense-group, e.g.The dog ran after him.Tell me about it.Note

17、.Prepositions consisting of one syllable in this position are usually unstressed. They mayhave either strong forms or weak forms.e.g. Here is a letter for you. /f?:/ or /f?/If they are at the beginning of the sentence or after verb be” and followed by anunstressed syllable, they may be stressed, e.g

18、.In the countryside, he made many friends. Its in my pencil-box.Conjunctions are usually stressed if they stand at the beginning of a sentence and are followedby an unstressed word, e.g.If he comes, please ring me up.When I got there, there was no one in.Some content words are not stressed in certai

19、n cases. The most important of them are as follows:A word that has just been used is not stressed, as it is a message, e.g.How many times? Three times.Soon the man was joined by another man.Theres Mr. Smith and Miss Smith.The word “street” in manes of streets is never stressed, e.g.Wall Street Fleet

20、 StreetIn exclamatory sentences such words as “what”, “how” etc, usually not stressed in order to give emphasis to the adjectives (or adverbs), e.g.What a good comrade! What lovely weather!How hard they are working!Note, however, that “what” in sentence (1) may be stressed for rhythmical reason as i

21、t is followed by an unstressed syllable (i.e. a).The word “so” is not stressed if it replaces a noun or a clause and is used as the object of a verb, e.g.I think I hope so.but: Let it be so.The word “most” is not stressed when it means “very” “extremely” except for specialemphasis, e.g.It is a most

22、interesting book.“More” and “most” forming comparatives and superlatives often stressed, and the stress on theadjective may be weakened, e.g.This exercise is more difficult than that one.It is the most interesting book Ive ever read.Very frequently, however, the adjective takes strong stress, and “more” and “most” arecompletely unstressed, e.g.This exe