Suprasegmentals Part 1 2nd Ed

Suprasegmentals:
Part 1
Marla Yoshida
University of California Irvine Extension
English & Certiﬁcates for Internationals
Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certiﬁcate Program

Second Edition

•Next slide •Previous slide •Title slide •Word stress •Sentence stress •Rhythm •Adjustments in connected speech

What are segmental and
suprasegmental features?
• Segmental features of pronunciation:
The individual sounds (phonemes) of a
language–vowels and consonants.
• Suprasegmental features of pronunciation:
Aspects of pronunciation that affect more than
just one sound segment, such as stress,
rhythm, and intonation*–the musical aspects of
pronunciation.
• * We’ll learn about intonation in Suprasegmentals Part 2.

Is this really important?
• Yes. If we want our speech to be understood,
suprasegmental features are just as important
as the pronunciation of individual sounds.
• In the classroom, we need to help our students
learn about and practice both individual sounds
and the overall musical pattern of the language.


Now let’s look at the main
suprasegmental features of
English.


Suprasegmental Features of English
Part 1
• Adjustments in connected speech
• Syllables and word stress
• Sentence stress (introduction)
• Rhythm
These topics are in Suprasegmentals Part 2:
• Thought groups / Intonation units
• Sentence Stress / Prominence
• Intonation

Adjustments in Connected Speech
• In normal speech, people don’t pronounce
each word as a separate, individual unit. The
words blend together, change, and are
shortened.
• This is not sloppy, lazy, or incorrect. It’s just
normal, natural speech.
• Adjustments in connected speech occur in all
languages, although not always in the same way.


There’s a general principle at work:
• The Law of Economy: Your mouth doesn’t
want to work any harder than it has to, so it
tries to blend all the sounds together.
• On the other hand, listeners need to be able to
hear the difference between different sounds,
or they won’t understand what you’re saying.
• Our mouths have to ﬁnd a balance when we
speak: Comfortable, but not too sloppy.

• Students don’t necessarily have to produce all
of these changes all the time, but they really
need to understand them when they hear
them. And whenever they listen to real
English, they will hear them.


• Here’s an example. If we say this sentence very
slowly and carefully, it sounds like this:
Don’t you think we are going to have fun?

• If we say it at a normal speed, it sounds like
one long, blended word, like this:
/downtS´TIèNkwIrg´n´hQvf√èn /
There are several types of adjustments in
connected speech. Let’s look at some of them.


• Contractions and blends: Sometimes two words
blend together to make a shorter word.
is+not = isn’t that+is = that’s I+am = I’m
• If the two-word combination is written as one
word with an apostrophe, we call it a
contraction. (isn’t, that’s, I’m)
• If it’s not commonly written as one word, we
call it a blend. (this’ll, these’d, when’d)
• It’s not important to remember the difference between a contraction and a blend.
For pronunciation purposes, it’s OK to think of them as basically the same thing.


• Linking: In normal speech, the last sound of one
word is often linked or blended with the ﬁrst
sound of the next word so that the two words
sound like one unit.
• For example, a word-ﬁnal consonant usually
links to a following vowel:


• Linking: In normal speech, the last sound of one
word is often linked or blended with the ﬁrst
sound of the next word so that the two words
sound like one unit.
• For example, a word-ﬁnal consonant usually
links to a following vowel:

I foun dout that pronunciatio nis fun.
found out pronunciation is
C+V C+V


• Linking: When two identical consonants come
together, they merge and lengthen.


• Linking: When two identical consonants come
together, they merge and lengthen.

My sonnneedsa pet tiger.
son needs a petttiger.
C+C C+C
(Not really!)


• Linking: When two similar consonants come
together, they also blend together.
• When two stops come together, the ﬁrst is
not released.


• Linking: When two similar consonants come
together, they also blend together.
• When two stops come together, the ﬁrst is
not released.

My petcat will eatthe mouse.
pet cat will eat the mouse.
C+C C+C
(Well, maybe.)


• Linking: When a word ends in /iy/, /ey/, /ay/,
or /çy/ and the next word begins with a
vowel, we hear a linking /y/ sound between
them.


• Linking: When a word ends in /iy/, /ey/, /ay/,
or /çy/ and the next word begins with a
vowel, we hear a linking /y/ sound between
them.
y y
We’ll be able to say it well.
/iy/+V /ey/+V
(We already can!)


• Linking: In the same way, when one word ends
in /uw/, /ow/, or /aw/ and the next word begins
with a vowel, we hear a linking /w/ sound
between them.


• Linking: In the same way, when one word ends
in /uw/, /ow/, or /aw/ and the next word begins
with a vowel, we hear a linking /w/ sound
between them.
w w
Blue is now in fashion.
/uw/+V /aw/+V
(I like blue.)


• Assimilation: Sometimes a sound becomes more
similar to a sound that comes before or after
it. This makes the words easier to pronounce.
• Every language has some kind of assimilation,
although not all languages use assimilation in
exactly the same way.


• In assimilation, most often, the second sound
causes the ﬁrst to change:
• have to /voiced+voiceless > /hQft´/
hQv tuw/ > both voiceless
• in May /In mey/ > /Immey/
alveolar+bilabial > both bilabial

• in Koreaalveolar+velar / >> /INkçriy´/
/In kçriy´
both velar

• This is called “regressive assimilation” or “anticipatory assimilation.” You don’t have
to remember those names. Just remember “assimilation.”


• Less often, the ﬁrst sound causes the second
sound to change.
• -s and -ed endings: The endings are voiced after
a voiced sound, voiceless after a voiceless sound.
• bags /bQgz/ moved /muwvd/
voiced+voiced voiced+voiced

• backs voiceless+voiceless
/bQks/ ﬁshed /fISt/
voiceless+voiceless

• This is called “progressive assimilation” or “perseverative assimilation.” You don’t have
to remember those names. Just remember “assimilation.”


• In another kind of assimilation, two sounds blend
together to make a new sound.
• /s/+/y/=/S/ miss you /mIsyuw/ > /mISuw/
• /z/+/y/=/Z/ please you /pliyzyuw/ > /pliyZuw/
• /t/+/y/=/tS/ don’t you /downtyuw/ > /downtSuw/
• /d/+/y/=/dZ/ did you /dIdyuw/ > /dIdZuw/
• /ts/+/y/=/tS/ wants you /wAntsyuw/ > /wAntSuw/
• /dz/+/y/=/dZ/ needs you /niydzyuw/ > /niydZuw/
• This is called “coalescent assimilation.” These are examples of a kind of coalescent
assimilation called “palatalization” or “assibilation.”


• Deletion: In normal speech, a sound may
disappear or not be clearly pronounced in
certain contexts. This is also called “omission.”
• In English, contractions are the most familiar
example of deletion:
• cannot > can’t is not > isn’t
• we are > we’re he is > he’s
• they will > they’ll I would > I’d


• Some very common expressions have
shortened forms with some sounds deleted:
• going to > “gonna” /g´n´/
• want to > “wanna” /wAn´/
• should have > “shoulda” /SUd´/
• Remember that “gonna,” “wanna,” etc. are acceptable, normal forms in speech, but
we don’t normally write them this way. We should write the full forms: “going to”
and “want to.”


• In some words, an unstressed syllable is
deleted.
• chocolate > /tSAkl´t/
• interesting > /Intr´stIN/
• aspirin > /Qspr´n/
• restaurant > /rEstrAnt/
• family > /fQmliy/
• If you like big words, you can call this process “syncope” /sINkowpiy/.


• In certain combinations of three or more
consonants, the middle sound can be deleted.*
restless /rEstl´s/ > /rEsl´s/
months /mńTs/ > /mńs/
hands /hQndz/ > /hQnz/
exactly /EgzQktliy/ > /EgzQkliy/
sixth spot /sIksTspAt/ > /sIksspAt/
ask Scott /QskskAt/ > /QsskAt/
* You can’t delete the first or last consonant–only the middle one.


• Students sometimes hesitate to use these
sound changes. Teachers have told them that
they should pronounce every word carefully,
and it seems that this should be their goal. But
in order to sound really natural, words need to
be blended, reduced or shortened.
• It’s good to reassure students that these sound
changes are natural and acceptable, but at the
same time, we shouldn’t try to force students
to produce them all.

What are syllables?
• A syllable is a rhythmic unit. It’s a unit of sound
that gets one “beat” in a word.
• A syllable has a vowel. It might also have one or
more consonants before the vowel and one or
more consonants after it.
• Or a syllable can have a syllabic consonant.
That’s a consonant that’s stretched out and acts
as a vowel. For example, the last syllable in
“button” or “bottle” is usually pronounced as a
syllabic consonant.

For example...
• “Eye” has one syllable (just one vowel
sound: /ay/)
• “Strength” also has one syllable (three
consonants, one vowel, two
consonants: /strENT/)
• “Potato” has three syllables: po-ta-to
/p´ tey tow/
• “Pronunciation” has ﬁve syllables:
pro-nun-ci-a-tion /pr´ n´n siy ey S


Practice Counting Syllables
• How many syllables do these words have?


Practice Counting Syllables
• How many syllables do these words have?
teacher 2: teach-er
reliable 4: re-li-a-ble
sports 1: sports
book 1: book
responsibility 6: re-spon-si-bil-i-ty
watched 1: watched
wanted 2: want-ed


Word Stress
• In English, every polysyllabic word* has one
stressed syllable.
• The stressed syllable is emphasized. It can be
longer, louder, and higher in pitch than the
others. It stands out from the others.

* Polysyllabic words have more than one syllable.
(“Poly” means “many.”)


Word Stress
• In English, every polysyllabic word* has one
stressed syllable.
• The stressed syllable is emphasized. It can be
longer, louder, and higher in pitch than the
others. It stands out from the others.

SYL la ble

* Polysyllabic words have more than one syllable.
(“Poly” means “many.”)


Word Stress
• Which syllable is stressed in each of these
words?


Word Stress
• Which syllable is stressed in each of these
words?

elephant EL e phant

giraffe gi RAFFE

hippopotamus hip poPOTa mus

Word Stress
• In addition to the main stress, some words also
have a syllable with weaker stress (like the
second syllable in “responsibility.”)

• We can call these degrees of stress:
• primary stress (strongly stressed)
• secondary stress (weakly stressed)
• unstressed

Word Stress
• In addition to the main stress, some words also
have a syllable with weaker stress (like the
second syllable in “responsibility.”)

re spon si BIL i ty

• We can call these degrees of stress:
• primary stress (strongly stressed)
• secondary stress (weakly stressed)
• unstressed

Word Stress
• For the purpose of teaching pronunciation,
primary stress is very important, but
secondary stress is much less important. If
students can get the primary stress in the right
place and make the other syllables unstressed,
they can be understood easily.
• Because of this, we’ll only talk about stressed
and unstressed syllables in the rest of this
section.


Word Stress
• The vowels in unstressed syllables often
become less distinct than in stressed syllables.
• Many (but not all) unstressed syllables contain
the vowel /´/ (called “schwa”).


Word Stress
• The vowels in unstressed syllables often
become less distinct than in stressed syllables.
• Many (but not all) unstressed syllables contain
the vowel /´/ (called “schwa”).

POTa mus
hip po

/hIp´pAt´m´s/
´ ´ ´

Word Stress
• It’s important for unstressed syllables to be
much weaker than stressed syllables. This helps
the listener recognize the whole stress pattern
of the word.
• In this example, there’s not enough contrast
between stressed and unstressed syllables...


Word Stress
• It’s important for unstressed syllables to be
much weaker than stressed syllables. This helps
the listener recognize the whole stress pattern
of the word.
• In this example, there’s not enough contrast
between stressed and unstressed syllables...

hip po pot a mus

Word Stress
• Sometimes a change in word stress indicates a
change in the part of speech:
Noun Verb
(stress on ﬁrst syllable) (stress on last syllable)

record REcord reCORD
progress PROgress proGRESS
present PREsent preSENT


Word Stress
• But this doesn’t work with all noun/verb pairs.
Often the stress stays the same:
Noun Verb
report rePORT rePORT
travel TRAvel TRAvel
comfort COMfort COMfort


Word Stress
• There are rules that can predict where the
stress will fall in many words. They take into
account...
• the historical origin of a word
• its preﬁxes and sufﬁxes
• its grammatical function in a sentence
• However, these rules are very complex, and it’s
not a good idea to try to teach all the details
to students. It’s just too much!


Sentence Stress
• Just as every polysyllabic word has one
strongly stressed syllable, every sentence or
clause has one syllable that receives the
strongest stress. This is called sentence stress.
• There will be more details about sentence
stress, or prominence, in Suprasegmentals
Part 2.


Rhythm
• Rhythm is the regular, patterned beat of
stressed and unstressed syllables and pauses in
an utterance.
• Music has rhythm...
• Every language has its own rhythm, too.


Rhythm
• Some languages have a very regular rhythm.
Each syllable gets about the same amount of
stress.
N N N N N N N N
• Other languages have a more irregular rhythm.
Some syllables receive a lot of stress and time,

N N N N N N N N N N


Rhythm
• English has the second type of rhythm. It’s a
stress-timed language. This means that the time
between stressed syllables remains fairly
steady, and the unstressed syllables have to
crowd in between them.


Rhythm
• English has the second type of rhythm. It’s a
stress-timed language. This means that the time
between stressed syllables remains fairly
steady, and the unstressed syllables have to
crowd in between them.

N N N N N N N N N N

PronunciAtion is FAS c i n a t i n g .


Rhythm
• Languages that give each syllable about the
same amount of time are called syllable-timed
languages.

• Speakers of syllable-timed languages sometimes
have trouble making the rhythm of English
sound natural. They tend to pronounce all the
syllables with the same amount of stress.
(Please forgive my bad pronunciation of this Japanese tongue twister!)


Rhythm
• Languages that give each syllable about the
same amount of time are called syllable-timed
languages.

N N N N N N N
• Speakers of syllable-timed languages sometimes
have trouble making the rhythm of English
sound natural. They tend to pronounce all the
syllables with the same amount of stress.
(Please forgive my bad pronunciation of this Japanese tongue twister!)


Reduced forms of words
• Because English is a syllable-timed language,
unstressed syllables tend to be very short and
indistinct. This helps form the rhythm of English.
• Many words that are often unstressed–articles,
prepositions, and other function words–are
usually pronounced with reduced forms.
• These reduced forms are a normal part of
natural speech. They don’t mean that the
speaker is sloppy or lazy.


• For example, the preposition “to” is /tuw/ when
we speak slowly and carefully, but /t´/ when we
speak at a normal speed: “Go to school.”
• Here are some more examples:
• and /Qnd/ > /n`/ bread and butter
• or /çr/ > /‘/ coffee or tea
• of /´v/ > /´/ cup of coffee
• than /DQn/ > /n`/ better than ever
• him /hIm/ > /Im/ help him
• them /DEm/ > /´m/ help them


• All the things we’ve learned about in this
section work together to give English its
characteristic rhythm. Stressed syllables stand
out. Unstressed syllables squeeze in between
the stressed syllables, and sound changes make
articulation easier so that regular timing can be
maintained. This helps produce the “music” of
English.


Summary of Part 1
• Suprasegmental features are the aspects of
pronunciation that affect more than just one
sound segment. They include:
• Adjustments in connected speech
• Syllables and word stress
• Sentence stress
• Rhythm


Suprasegmentals Part 1 2nd Ed

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Suprasegmentals Part 1 2nd Ed