9 Strong and weak syllables Strong vs. weak syllables (i.e.

they differ in stress) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) !e@9-C? !gzo-h !SzMjit !aPs-k< !Sqds-m (father) (happy) (thank you) (bottle) (threaten)

/?/, /h/, and /t/ dont occur in strong syllables, nor do syllabic consonants like / /, / /. Weak syllables have a small number of possible peaks and they can have no coda. /?/ is ________, __________, lax vowel (the lips are in neutral position). It can correspond to many different spellings: <a>, <ar>, <ate>, <o>, <or>, <e>, <er>, <u>, <ough>, <ou>. /h/ and /t/ are close front and close back vowels respectively. It is difficult to distinguish between /h9/ and /H/ and /t9/ and /T/ in unstressed syllables. Still, they are more like /h9/ and /t9/ when they precede another vowel, less so when they precede a consonant or pause. /h/ i) ii) iii) iv) i) ii) ii) <-y>, <-ey> and in morphological related words (e.g. !gUqhHM) unstressed <re->, <pre->, <de-> + vowel (e.g. qh!zjs) <-iate>, <-ious> (e.g. ?!oqh9-Rh-dHs) he, she, we, me, be, the (+ vowel) (all unstressed) you, to, into, do (all unstressed and not immediately preceding a consonant) through, who (all unstressed) within a word: before another vowel (e.g. H$uzj-it!dH-R?m)

/t/

/k</ /m</ <

What is lateral release? In less common words or more technical words /?k/ can be used instead (e.g. !aPs-k< vs. ?!jvHs-?k) is most common after alveolar plosives and fricatives

/l</ and /M<</ occur only as a result of processes such as assimilation and elision (!hQol,<!aq?TjM<jh9) /q</ is very common in rhotic accents

Syllabic consonants can be found together: !mQRm<k<

Chapters 10 and 11 (Stress in simple and complex words) What is stress? Stress from a perceptual point of view: prominence 1) loudness 2) length (second most important) 3) pitch (most important; it is the perceptual correlate of the fundamental frequency of vibration of the vocal folds) 4) quality: [@], [i], [u], syllabic consonants Stress from a production point of view: muscular energy (e.g. higher subglottal pressure) Three levels of stress are usually recognised: primary, secondary, unstressed ?!q`Tmc $e?T-s?!fqze-Hj $zms-Sq?!oPk-?-cYh
(unstressed + primary stress) (secondary stress + unstressed + primary stress + unstressed) (secondary stress + unstressed + primary stress + unstressed + unstressed)

Is it possible to predict English stress placement? Other languages: French (last syllable), Polish (penultimate), Czech (first), Italian Some phonologists argue it is possible to predict stress placement (see Roach 2000: 98-100, among others, on simple words). To be sure, if a weak vowel is present, it cant be stressed. It is important to distinguish between simple words (e.g. father) and complex words. Complex words: 1) words derived from a basic form (base) with the addition of an affix person > personality (suffix) pleasant > unpleasant (prefix) impossible > im-bloody-possible (infix)

2) compound words (words usually made of two independent words, e.g. ice-cream, armchair) Remember that in three-syllable simple words the last syllable is usually quite prominent, so that in some cases it could be said to have secondary stress.

Derived words Suffixes 1) stress on the suffix; 2) stress on the last syllable of the stem; 3) stress not affected. Examples of 1): -ee: train > trainee (vs. trainer) -ese: journal > journalese -ette: cigar > cigarette -esque: picture > picturesque sqdHm > $sqdH!mh9 !cY29-m?k > $cY29-m?k!h9y rH!f@9+r?, > $rHf-?q!ds+!,,, !oHj-sR? > $oHj-sR?q!drj

Examples of 2): (-eous, -graphy, -ial, -ic, -ion, -ious, -ty, -ive) -eous: advantage > advantageous -ic: atom > atomic -ious: injure > injurious -ive: reflex > reflexive ?c!u@9m-sHcY > $zc-u?m!sdH-cY?r+,u@9m!,+,uzm!, !zs-?l > ?!sPl-Hj !Hm-cY? > Hm!cYT?-qh-?r+,!cYN9, !qh9-ekdjr > qH!ekdj-rHu+q?,

Examples of 3): (-able, -age, -al, -en, -ful, -ing, -ish, -like, -less, -ly, -ment, -ness, -ous, -fy, -wise, -y) -able: comfort > comfortable -age: block > blockage -al: refuse (v.), refusal -ance, -ant, -ary: see p.107 One more interesting case (try to think of examples employing the adjectives below): -ed: aged beloved blessed crooked cursed dogged learned eIdZId bIlvId blesId crUkId ksId dogId lnId (naked ragged rugged (sacred (wicked wretched one/three/four-legged neIkId) rQgId rgId seIkrId) wIkId) retSId legId (e.g. a three- legged stool) !jUlo-e?s > !jUloe-s?-ak<+!jUlo-e?-s?, akPj > !akPj-HcY qH!eit9y+q?, > qH!eit9-y?k+q?,

Prefixes and infixes Same rules as those for words without prefixes. 3

Compounds Normally, stress is on the first element: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) !sxod$vqhsdq !b`q,$edqqx !rtm$qhrd !rths$b`rd !sd`,$bto

An interesting contrast: (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) but: (12) a childs !bicycle (a kind of bicycle) Some exceptions: 1) the first element is an adjective and the second element ends in ed: (13) $a`c,!sdlodqdc (14) $g`ke,!shladqdc(A half-timbered house is usually old and shows the wooden structure of the building on the outside walls.) (15) $gd`ux,!g`mcdc 2) the first element is a number: (16) $rdbnmc,!bk`rr (17) $ehud,!ehmfdq (e.g. five- finger exercise: on the piano; fig. an easy task) (18) $sgqdd,!vgddkdq '(BrEng) a car that has three wheels ; (AmEng) a vehicle that has three wheels, especially a
motorcycle, tricycle, or special wheelchair)

an !English teacher (a teacher who teaches English) an English !teacher (a teacher who is English) a !dolls house (a kind of house) my brothers !house (not a kind of house!) !goats milk (a kind of milk) the goats !tail (not a kind of tail)

3) the first element functions as an adverb: (19) $gd`c,!ehqrs (e.g. I fell head-first down the stairs) (20) $mnqsg,!d`rs (21) $cnvm!rsqd`l (e.g. a boat drifting downstream)

Remember also that we often have alternatives (which may depend on the context the word occurs in). Consider the following examples (syllable: preferred stress; only BrE shown): Based on Wells (2000) controversy comparable contribute dispute (noun) (the verb is always dispute) distribute exquisite formidable irreparable (___ non-RP) irrevocable kilometre lamentable necessarily preferable (___ non-RP) primarily reputable (___ non-RP) temporarily From Jones (2003) !jPm-sq?-u29-rh+,u?-rh:j?m!sqPu-?-rh !jPl-o?q-?-ak< j?m!sqHa-it9s+!jPm-sqH-ait9s+,i?s cH!roit9s:!cHr-oit9s cH!rsqHa-it9s:!cHr-sqH-ait9s+,sq?, Hj!rjvHy-Hs+dj,:!dj-rjvH-yHs+,y?s !eN9-lH-c?-ak<:eN9!lHc-?,+e?, H!qdo-?q-?-ak< H!qdu-?-j?-ak< jH!kPl-H-s?+!,?,:!jHk-?T$lh9, !kzl-?m-s?-ak<+,Hm,:k?!ldm !mdr-?-r?q-?k-h+!,H,+,H-kh:$mdr-?!rdq,+,H!, !oqde-?q-?-ak< oq`H!ldq-?k-h+,!ld?-q?k,+,H-kh:!oq`H-l?q-?k,+,H-kh !qdo-i?-s?-ak<+,iT !sdl-o?q-?q?k-h+,H-kh+,oq?q,

Two-syllable (simple) words with identical spelling belonging to two different word-classes: Adjectives (A) or Nouns (N) !za-rsqzjs'A( !jPm-cUjs+,c?js (N) !jPm-sqzjs (N) !jPm-sq@9rs(N) !cdy-?s (N) !dr-jN9s (N) !dj-roN9s (N) !Hl-oN9s (N) !Hm-rUks (N) !Pa-cYHjs+,cYdjs (N) !o29-eHjs (A) !o29-lHs (N) !oqdy-?ms(N, A) !oqPc-it9r+!oqPcY-t9r (N) !oq?T-sdrs (N) !qda-?k (N) !qdj-N9c (note AmE !qdj-c) (N) !rUa-cYHjs+,cYdjs (N) All verbs za!rsqzjs+?a, j?m!cUjs j?m!sqzjs j?m!sq@9rs cH!y29s+c?, H!rjN9s+dr!jN9s: but !dr-jN9s also possible Hj!roN9s+dj,:!dj-roN9s Hl!oN9s+$Hl,+but !,, also possible Hm!rUks ?a!cYdjs o?!edjs+o29, o?!lHs oqH!ydms+oq?, oq?!cit9r+,!cYt9r oq?T!sdrs qH!adk+q?, qH!jN9c+q?, r?a!cYdjs+rUa,: but !rUa-cYdjs+,cYHjs also possible 5

abstract conduct contract contrast desert escort export import insult object perfect permit present produce protest rebel record subject

Variation also due to: 1) Connected speech: (22) a !bad-tempered !teacher (23) a !half-timbered !house (24) a !heavy-handed !sentence 2) Idiolectal variation (see also the list on the previous page): (25) !ice-$cream, $ice-!cream