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Lngllsh edagogy
oqllsb lbooetlcs ooJ lboooloqy. 5opto-seqmeotols, 5ecooJ 1etm 2012

Text One:
Identify the lexical units that can be categorized as Function Words in the following text.

As we saw during last semester here at Ucinf, and as you might recall then, you might know that
English is a language in which word stress is highly important and significant for effective
communication. You might also remember that we can make a syllable more prominent than
others by altering or, rather, modifying the speech energy through our vocal tract and by the
direct and indirect actions from our articulators. As we perceive such prominent syllables,
stressed ones are notoriously higher in pitch and usually longer in duration. Reduced syllables,
on the opposite, are often lower in pitch and usually pronounced or uttered very, very quickly. For
example, when uttering the sentence a) "My moms at the store, the lexical units Moms' and
store will be higher in pitch. Such words will then receive more prominence, and therefore, be
stressed in this utterance (a). In the same example, then, the lexical units 'at' and 'the' are
sounded very quickly: at the, at the, and they're also lower in pitch: My moms at the store
A relevant and important question then arises from here on: How do we know which lexical units
within a sentence should receive more prominence and, therefore, be stressed? Lexical units that
are usually stressed in a sentence are called content words. Words that are not usually stressed,
sometimes reduced, are called function words.
A noun can be a person, place, or thing. For example, Rachel, sister, glass, phone, beach,
school. In the instance given earlier (a), "My moms at the store, both Mom and store are
classified as nouns. A verb is the part of speech that communicates the principal action in one
idea (usually depicted within a single sentence). Such actions can be drive, eat, say, think, etc. In
the sentence (b) "He went to the bank," went is the part of speech communicating the main
action, so it is the verb, and when uttering this sentence or even hearing it, then it will be rather
noticeable that such lexical unit is more prominent than other syllables: It is higher in pitch.
Continuing with the same example, the lexical unit store is also higher in pitch, therefore, it is a
prominent syllable. It is a noun, which is also a content word.
An adverb is a lexical unit that describes the performance of a particular action, so it modifies it.
Adverbs often, though not always, morphologically end in -lee. Examples of such parts of speech
can be quietly, quickly, often, usually. In the following sentence (c) "I'll be here soon", 'soon' is the
adverb. It is stressed, higher in pitch.
An adjective is a lexical unit that denotes and describes another lexical unit - a noun. For
example: boring, smart, funny. In the following utterance (d) "They took the blue car," red is the
adjective. It is stressed, higher in pitch.
So these are the four principal categories of content words.