Strong and weak forms
- 1. STRONG AND WEAK FORMS The small words that manage the grammar in English have two different pronunciations. These are called weak and strong forms. Weak forms The weak form or forms of a word are used only in unstressed positions. And the weak forms of the words are of much more frequent occurrence than their strong forms. Most weak forms have either schwa or short 'i' vowel sounds and they are difficult to hear. These words are very important for the pronunciation of English grammar Strong forms The strong form of a word is used when the word is said in isolation, or in connected speech in which the word should be stressed. It is also used in certain cases where the word is in unstressed positions. Formation of the Weak forms a, an, the, your, for, to, there: before consonants these words become weak form words. that': This word only has a weak form when used in a relative clause; when used with a demonstrative sense it is always pronounced in its strong form. his' : When used with a possessivesense, preceding a noun; as an object pronoun, this can also occurat the end of a sentence. But before consonant it will become weak. some': This word is used in two different ways. In one sense (typically, when it occurs before a countable noun, meaning "an unknown individual") it has the strong form: 'I think some animal broke it' It is also used before uncountable nouns (meaning "an unspecified amount of") and before other nouns in the plural (meaning "an unspecified number of"); in such uses it has the weak form s@m Importance of learning weak forms
- 2. There are two main reasons: 1) first, most native speakers of English find an "all-strong form" pronunciation unnatural and foreign-sounding, something that most learners would wish to avoid. 2) Second, and more importantly, speakers who are not familiar with the use of weak forms are likely to have difficulty understanding speakers who do use weak forms; since practically all native speakers of British English use them, learners of the language need to learn about these weak forms to help them to understand what they hear. The average foreigner uses far too many strong forms; it is impossible to speak English fluently unless the phenomenon of weak forms is properly understood and their use acquired, preferably from the earliest stage Use of strong forms the strong form is used in the following cases: 1) Many weak form words when they occurat the end of the sentence it becomes strong forms word. for example, the word 'ofhas the weak form əv in the following sentence: 'I'm fond of chips' aḬm fɒnd əv ʧḬps However, when it comes at the end of the sentence, as in the following example, it has the strong form ɒv: 'Chips are what I'm fond of ʧḬps ə wɒt aim fɒnd ɒv 2) When a weak-form word is being contrasted with another word; for example: 'The letter's from him, not to him' ə letəz frɒm ɪm nɒt tu: Im 3) When a weak-form word is given stress for the purposeof emphasis; for example: 'You must give me more money' ju mʌst gɪv mi mͻ: mʌnɪ 4) When a weak-form word is being "cited" or "quoted";for example: 'You shouldn't put "and" at the end of a sentence' ju: ʃʊdnt pʊt ænd ət i end əv ə sentəns Some weak words:
- 3. Preposition At, ət I'll see you at lunch In, ɪ n . He is in class room from, frəm I'm home from work to tə Try to stop on ən He is on time Auxiliary verbs Am əm I am a student are ə Where are you from? have həv Do you have some books? has həd Most had gone home does dəz What does it mean Modelverbs Can kən They can wait Will wɪl He will eat Would wəd I would like to have juice Shall ʃ əl She shall need to hurry must məst He must eat it Articles A ə Read a book An ən Eat an apple The ə Shut the door Note: before consonants the will be the weak form word (e.g ə, ﺩﺍ ) and before vowel it will the strongest form worb ( e.g i: .)ﺩﻯ