Phonetics - L2 - Lessons

Dr.
Ahmed Zellouma
Lessons of Phonetics - Third Semester

Course Objectives
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Independently transcribe individual words into phonemic transcription using the
symbols of the I.P.A and showing stress marks.
- Describe syllable structure in English and principles of syllabification.
- Identify stressed and unstressed syllables and explain the differences between
them.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the English stress rules and patterns at the level
of individual words.
- Identify and explain the stress patterns of simple and complex words using the
notation convention 0, 1, 2.
Lesson One: Syllables and Stress

1. Definition
A syllable is a phonetic unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or
without surrounding consonants, forming the whole or a part of a word. For
example, there is one syllable in the word “sit”, two syllables in the word “father”,
and three in “espresso”.
2. The Nature of the Syllable
From a phonetic point of view, syllables are usually described as consisting of a
center which has little or no obstruction to airflow and which sounds comparatively
louder than the other part(s). Before and after the center, there will be greater
obstruction to airflow and/or less loud sound(s).
3. Syllable Structure in English
The structure of English syllable is, thus, the following: syllable = onset + center
(peak) + coda. Peak and coda are sometimes referred to as the rhyme. Which means
that syllable = onset + rhyme (nucleus + coda).
1
Dr. Ahmed Zellouma
4. Strong and Weak Syllables

Syllables have two types: strong and weak. It is important to understand the
difference between strong and weak syllables especially when we consider stress,
elision, and intonation.
 The differences between strong and weak syllables:
 Length: Strong syllables are longer than weak syllables.
 Loudness: Strong syllables are louder than weak syllables.
 Quality: Strong syllables have vowels the differ in quality from the vowels of
weak syllables.
NOTES:
- It is always the vowel sound that makes the syllable longer, louder, or different
in quality.
- The syllable is weak when it has the short vowel /ə/ (Schwa).
Example: better /betə/ - The second syllable is weak.
- The syllable is weak when it has the close front unrounded vowel /i/.
Example: city /sɪti/ - The second syllable is weak.
- The syllable is weak when it has the close back rounded vowel /u/.
Example: thank you /θæŋk ju/ - The second syllable is weak.
- The syllable is weak when it has a syllabic consonant /m, n, ŋ, l, r/
Example: couple /kʌpl/ - The second syllable is weak.
- The syllable is weak when it ends with the short vowel /ɪ/ and the next syllable
starts with a consonant.
Example: design /dɪzaɪn/ - The first syllable is weak.
- /ə/ is the weakest vowel in English and the most frequently occurring one.
- nly fi e onsonants an be syllabi in En lish: /m, n, ŋ, l, r/
List of important words with syllabic consonants:
cattle wrestle bottle muddle

trouble knuckle panel kernel
pedal threaten eaten happen
often uppermost preference Hungary
veteran garden rhythm bottom
literal visionary couple struggle
blossom Handle parcel Petal
national history seven Heaven
2
Dr. Ahmed Zellouma
5. Syllabification (Syllabic Division)

We can figure out the number of syllables in a word by counting the number of its
vowel letters (a, e, i, o and u). However, there are some (03) rules to follow.
 First, the final “e” in a word is not counted (site, white, wife, knife, etc.), except
when it comes after two consonants (gentle, subtle, horrible, middle, etc.).
 Second, when two vowels occur together, they will be counted as one (soap,
boat, moon, food, beautiful, etc.), except for some scientific words like
“ eolo y”, “biolo y”, et
 Third, the semi-vowel “y” is often treated as a owel (Sydney, funny, beauty,
cozy, etc.), except when it occurs at the beginning of words and/or is
pronounced /j/ like in yummy, yesterday, etc.
Syllable division rules show us how to break up a multi-syllable word into its
syllable parts. There are few main syllable di ision “rules” to uide us
How is Syllable Division done?
- It all starts with the vowels. Find the vowels in the word. It helps to underline or
highlight them.
- Find the pattern of the consonants and vowels (VCV, VCCV, VCCCV, VCCCCV,
C+le, VV).
- Use the syllable division rule (shown below) to divide the word into its syllable
parts.
The first thing to know is that every syllable must have a written vowel. The very
definition of a syllable is an uninterrupted unit of speech with one vowel sound.
 One consonant between the Vowels (VCV Pattern): if there is a consonant

between two vowels, we move it either to the right or to the left. Here, you
3
Dr. Ahmed Zellouma
would split VCV syllables the before that consonant. This leaves your first
syllable open, so the vowel would be long.
 Two consonants between the vowels (VCCV): in words with the VCCV pattern,
there are two consonants between the two vowels. Usually, we split between
those consonants.
 Three consonants between the vowels (VCCCV): in the case of three
consonants between the vowels, we usually split after the first consonant. For
example, in the word conflict, the letters “nfl” are between the vowels. The first
consonant “n” goes with the first syllable and the other two “fl” go to the 2nd
syllable: con-flict.
 Four consonants between the vowels (VCCCCV): this is very similar to the last
one. Split after the first consonant, unless it is a compound word. There are not
so many of these words, and when you are getting into words this big, you
should tend to shift focus to morphology.
 Consonant -le: if a word ends with a consonant –ly, split before that consonant.
 The VV rule: when there are two vowels next to each other, but they are
NOT vowel teams or diphthongs (more than one letter making one sound
together), then you split between the vowels. These two vowels do not share a
single sound.
6. Syllabic Consonants
A syllabic consonant or vocalic consonant is a consonant that forms a syllable on
its own, like the m, n and l in the English words rhythm, button and bottle, or is the
nucleus of a syllable, like the r sound in the American pronunciation of work.
4
Dr. Ahmed Zellouma
Lesson Two: The Nature and Levels of Stress

1. What is Stress?
Stress is the degree of breath force that is expending on each syllable of a word. It
is the process of emphasizing on a particular syllable by pronouncing it with greater
for e E : perfe t /ˈpɜːfekt/
2. Factors Responsible for the Prominence of Stressed Syllables
Prominence, then, is produced by four main factors: loudness, length, pitch and
quality. Generally these four factors work together in combination, although
syllables may sometimes be made prominent by means of only one or two of them.
3. Patterns of Word Stress
There are several patters of stress:
 Pattern One: two-syllable words
 Stress on the first syllable: cheesy, sandwich, terror, pony, melon, biceps,
triceps, chimney, napkin, necklace, pumpkin, grossly, popcorn, cupcake,
earring, rainbow, peanut, sunshine, headache, salad, coffee (vs. café),
London, pleasant, awkward, sorrow, etc.
 Stress on the second syllable: alone, machine, arrive, behind, discuss, about,
above, upon, indeed, award, success, because, between, himself, direct,
beyond, exchange, balloon, compete, accord, etc.
 Pattern Two: three-syllable words

 Stress on the first syllable: yesterday, bachelor, quantity, quality, cucumber,
hamburger, dinosaur, broccoli, microwave, positive, modesty, poverty,
adjective, comfortable, fashionable, handicap, prejudice, parody, journalist,
etc.
 Stress on the second syllable: important, relation, eleven, spaguiti,
consistent, banana, apponant, election, November, abandon, develop,
substantial, historic, formidable, accomplish, gymnastic, etc.
 Stress on the third syllable: cigarettes, magazine, entertain, referee,
kangaroo, volunteer, guarantee, understand, etc.
 Pattern Three: four-syllable words

 Stress on the first syllable: education, helicopter, criticism, category, eligible,
testimony, cemetery, miserable, etc.
5
Dr. Ahmed Zellouma
 Stress on the second syllable: remarkable, impossible, photography, obesity,

ironically, harmonica, emergency, accelerate, immunity, renewable,
advantage, polygamy, etc.
 Stress on the third syllable: diplomatic, information, indentation,
photographic, macaroni, superficial, independent, energetic, unpredictable,
adolescence, expectation, overwhelming, etc.
 Stress on the fourth syllable: misunderstand, misrepresent, etc.
 Pattern Four: five-syllable words

 Stress on the first syllable: capitalism, cannibalism, puritanism, etc.
 Stress on the second syllable: Catholicism, administrative, inevitable,
communicative, sophisticated, vocabulary, identically, illuminati,
extraordinary, etc.
 Stress on the third syllable: satisfactory, Aristocracy, incapacity, supernatural,
underestimate, creativity, anniversary, etc.
 Stress on the fourth syllable: consideration, examination, cannibalistic,
characteristic, Mediterranean, enthusiastic, monosyllabic, imagination, etc.
4. Levels of Stress in English Words

There are three different degrees of stress: primary or strong stress (') like in
father /ˈfɑːðə/, se ondary stress (ˌ) ex-husband /ˌeksˈhʌzbənd/, and weak stress
(unmarked) E : perfe tion /pəˈfekʃən/.
It is important to bear in mind that En lish has “free” or “mo able” stress, i e the
position of stress may change from one word to another.
Suggested Resources for Further Reading

A.C. Gimson, Edward Arnols. An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English.
J.D. Bowen, Newsburry House Publishers. Patterns of English Pronunciation.
L. Guierre. Drills in English Stress Patterns. Longman.
Roach, Peter. English Phonetics and Phonology (1998). Cambridge University Press

Phonetics - L2 - Lessons

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Phonetics - L2 - Lessons

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Phonetics - L2 - Lessons

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Dr.

Lessons of Phonetics - Third Semester

Lesson One: Syllables and Stress

4. Strong and Weak Syllables

cattle wrestle bottle muddle

5. Syllabification (Syllabic Division)

How is Syllable Division done?

 One consonant between the Vowels (VCV Pattern): if there is a consonant

Lesson Two: The Nature and Levels of Stress

 Pattern Two: three-syllable words

 Pattern Three: four-syllable words

 Stress on the second syllable: remarkable, impossible, photography, obesity,

 Pattern Four: five-syllable words

4. Levels of Stress in English Words

Suggested Resources for Further Reading

You might also like