Sunday, May 25, 2014

New learning experience

This week you will get a new learning experience with the addition of Padlet self learning materials I have uploaded.

Just follow the link given.

https://padlet.com/esalaem/hnde

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Articulatory System - Recap



There are seven main articulators

1.Pharynx

2.Velum/Soft Palate

3.Hard Palate

4.Alveolar Ridge

5.Upper Teeth

6.Lower Teeth
7.Lips



Monday, May 19, 2014

Sentence Stress



 Hello Scholars,

Given below is a gist of what I got from different reliable sources. Read it carefully and let's have the discussion next week. I look forward to see your comments on each post. All the best for the rest of the week!

Esala

Sentence Stress in English

Sentence stress is the music of spoken English. Like word stress, sentence stress can help you to understand spoken English, especially when spoken fast.
Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or "beat". You remember that word stress is accent on one syllable within a word. Sentence stress is accent on certain words within a sentence.
Most sentences have two types of word:
  • content words
  • structure words
Content words are the key words of a sentence. They are the important words that carry the meaning or sense.
Structure words are not very important words. They are small, simple words that make the sentence correct grammatically. They give the sentence its correct form or "structure".
If you remove the structure words from a sentence, you will probably still understand the sentence.
If you remove the content words from a sentence, you will not understand the sentence. The sentence has no sense or meaning.
Imagine that you receive this telegram message:

Will
you
SELL
my
CAR
because
I've
GONE
to
FRANCE
This sentence is not complete. It is not a "grammatically correct" sentence. But you probably understand it. These 4 words communicate very well. Somebody wants you to sell their car for them because they have gone to France. We can add a few words:
Will
you
SELL
my
CAR
because
I've
GONE
to
FRANCE
The new words do not really add any more information. But they make the message more correct grammatically. We can add even more words to make one complete, grammatically correct sentence. But the information is basically the same:
Content Words
Will
you
SELL
my
CAR
because
I've
GONE
to
FRANCE.
Structure Words
In our sentence, the 4 key words (sell, car, gone, France) are accentuated or stressed.
Why is this important for pronunciation? It is important because it adds "music" to the language. It is the rhythm of the English language. It changes the speed at which we speak (and listen to) the language. The time between each stressed word is the same.
In our sentence, there is 1 syllable between SELL and CAR and 3 syllables between CAR and GONE. But the time (t) between SELL and CAR and between CAR and GONE is the same. We maintain a constant beat on the stressed words. To do this, we say "my" more slowly, and "because I've" more quickly. We change the speed of the small structure words so that the rhythm of the key content words stays the same.
syllables

2

1

3

1

Will
you
SELL
my
CAR
because
I've
GONE
to
FRANCE.

t1
beat

t1
beat

t1
beat

t1
beat










Sentence Stress Rules >

See also: Word Stress

I am a proFESsional phoTOgrapher whose MAIN INterest is to TAKE SPEcial, BLACK and WHITE PHOtographs that exHIBit ABstract MEANings in their photoGRAPHic STRUCture.

 

Sentence stress


In spoken English, we use sentence stress to show our listeners which parts of our sentences are the most important (the parts that carry the most meaning).

We usually stress content words, for example, main verbs, nouns and adjectives rather than articles or auxiliary verbs.

We stress words by saying them slightly louder and more slowly than the other words in the sentence.

Listen
Helen: Have you seen the new film with Tom Cruise?

The bold words (a main verb, an adjective and two nouns) are the ones Helen stresses.
 





Sentence stress examples:

Listen
What did he say to you in the garden?

Listen
He's had a heart attack.

Listen
How long are you going for?

Shifting stress

If we want to contrast or show disagreement with what someone else has said, we use shifting stress. We do this by changing the usual patterns of sentence stress. So in this next example, John knows the conversation is about films and Tom Cruise so he doesn't have to stress those items. Instead he stresses the new or contrasting information:

Listen
Helen: Have you seen that new film with Tom Cruise?
John: No, but I saw the last one he was in. It was terrible!

Here are some more examples from The Flatmates:
 

Shifting stress examples:

Listen
Not your dad, my dad.

Listen
It's a one-way ticket I've booked.
Listen
I'm going back to Poland for good.

Vocabulary:


ommitment (n):
being ready to give a lot of your time, attention or love to something or someone because you believe in the person or thing is right or important

a one-way ticket:
a ticket you use to go somewhere but which you can't use to come back
for good:
for ever


Rules for Sentence Stress in English

The basic rules of sentence stress are:
  1. content words are stressed
  2. structure words are unstressed
  3. the time between stressed words is always the same
The following tables can help you decide which words are content words and which words are structure words:

Content words - stressed

Words carrying the meaning
Example
main verbs
SELL, GIVE, EMPLOY
nouns
CAR, MUSIC, MARY
adjectives
RED, BIG, INTERESTING
adverbs
QUICKLY, LOUDLY, NEVER
negative auxiliaries
DON'T, AREN'T, CAN'T

Structure words - unstressed

Words for correct grammar
Example
pronouns
he, we, they
prepositions
on, at, into
articles
a, an, the
conjunctions
and, but, because
auxiliary verbs
do, be, have, can, must

Exceptions

The above rules are for for what is called "neutral" or normal stress. But sometimes we can stress a word that would normally be only a structure word, for example to correct information. Look at the following dialogue:
"They've been to Mongolia, haven't they?"
"No, THEY haven't, but WE have.
Note also that when "be" is used as a main verb, it is usually unstressed (even though in this case it is a content word).

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Hello

Hello Scholars,

As promised to you I opened a new blog to enable you to learn in a different manner. This blog is for two subjects that I handle with you. However, priority will be given to Practical Phonology, the subject which you feel is difficult for you. IT IS A MYTH!

Here, I will make you join arguments, discussions which ultimately would evaluate your knowledge on the particular area. Cheer up! This will not be a difficult task for you. As the first thing, I want you to discuss something you know about Speech Organs. So why waste time? Let's see what you know!!

Esala