Mastering English Pronunciation: Sounds and Stress

Rhythm in English Speech

English speech is rhythmical, exhibiting a stress-timed rhythm at regular intervals. The unit used to measure this rhythm is called a foot.

Types of Assimilation

  • Progressive Assimilation: The preceding sound influences the following sound. For example, in regular past tense verbs:
    • “Moved” (voiced ending)
    • “Worked” (voiceless ending)
  • Regressive Assimilation: The assimilated sound precedes and is affected by the conditioning sound. Examples include:
    • “Grandpa” often becomes “Graenpa”
    • “Pancake” often becomes “Paenkeik”
    • “Have to” often becomes “Haeftə”
    • “Has to” often becomes “Haestə”
    • “Used to” often becomes “Justə”
  • Coalescence: Sound A + Sound B = Sound C. Examples:
    • This year /ʃ/
    • Does your /ʒ/
    • That your /tʃ/
    • Would you /dʒ/

Elision (Deletion)

Elision is the dropping of sounds. Here are some common instances:

  1. Loss of /t/ when /nt/ is between vowels: “winter,” “Toronto,” “enter.”
  2. Loss of /t/ or /d/ when they occur second in a sequence of three consonants: “restless,” “exactly,” “hands.”
  3. Loss of final /t/ or /d/ when the following word begins with a consonant.
  4. Loss of unstressed medial vowel (schwa): “chocolate,” “every,” “evening,” “laboratory.”
  5. Loss of the first non-initial /r/: “February,” “governor,” “surprise.”
  6. Loss of final /v/ in “of” before words with initial consonants, due to reduction of schwa: “Lost of money,” “waste of time.”
  7. Loss of initial /h/ and /ð/: “Ask her,” “tell them.”

Linking

  • Consonant to Vowel: “Send it” becomes /sendɪt/, “camp out.”
  • Vowel to Vowel: A glide /j/ is added: “Be a sport” becomes /biːjəspɔːrt/.
  • Simple Consonant Next to a Vowel: “Push up,” “come in.”
  • When a Stop is Followed by Another Stop: “Hot dog,” “black dog.”
  • Identical Consonants: “Keep practicing,” “less serious.”

Stress

Production (Speaker): The speaker uses more muscular energy for stressed syllables than for unstressed syllables.

Perception (Listener): Stressed syllables are recognized because they are more prominent. Prominence is characterized by:

  • Loudness: Stressed syllables are louder.
  • Length: Lengthening a syllable makes it sound stressed.
  • Pitch: Pitch relates to the frequency of vocal cord vibration (high or low notes).
  • Quality: A syllable is prominent if its vowel quality differs from neighboring vowels.

Stress Shift

Prominence can move to the secondary stressed syllable in a word when followed by a word with another prominent syllable, particularly when the first syllable of the following word is prominent.

Suffixes and Word Stress

  • Some words maintain stress on the same syllable as the root: `danger – `dangerous.
  • Some suffixes change the stressed syllable: `commerce – com`mercial.

Suffixes that usually don’t change stress:

-able, -age, -al, -er, -ful, -less, -ness, -ous, -ful. EXCEPTIONS: Medi`cinal – `preferable – agri`cultural.

Suffixes that usually receive the main stress:

-ee, -eer, -ette. refu`gee – engi`neer, ciga`rette. EXCEPTIONS: `omelette, `etiquette.

Main stress is usually on the syllable immediately before these suffixes:

-ial, -ic, -ion, -ive, -ity. `editor – edi`torial, `atmosphere – atmos`pheric.

Words ending in -ance, -ant, -ent, -ence, often have different stress placement from the root:

ig`nore – `ignorant, re`fer – `reference.

The suffix -ment: Usually doesn’t change the stress pattern: a`gree – a`greement, `govern – `government. EXCEPTION: `advertise – ad`vertisement.

Pronunciation of -tion and -sion

When a word ends in /t/ or /s/, and the suffix -ion is added:

  • -TION is pronounced /tʃən/ after the letter ‘s’ (suggestion, digestion) and /ʃən/ after other letters (education, adaptation).
  • -SION is pronounced /ʃən/ after a consonant (extension) and /ʒən/ after a vowel (decision, persuasion).
  • -SSION is pronounced /ʃən/ (admission, expression).

Stress in Compound Nouns

A compound noun is a fixed expression made up of more than one word, functioning as a noun. They can be written as two words, hyphenated, or as one word.