13 - Chapter 5 PDF

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CHAPTER 5:THE SUPRA-SEGMENTAL FEATURES
5.0 Introduction:
The English which is spoken in India is different from that spoken in other
regions of the world, and it is regarded as the unique variety which is called
Indian English. Indians have intentionally and unintentionally customized
English to better suit our needs and to discuss some of the problems and
situations which can and do arise when Indians use or experience English in
different settings. Attitudes about English and English speakers in India are also
explored.
Indian English is a distinct variety of the English language. Many Indians claim
that it is very similar to British English, but this opinion is based on a surface
level examination of lexical similarities. Of course, one must keep in mind that
not every linguistic item is used by every Indian English speaker and that a
great deal of regional and educational differentiation exists. Even so, items can
be identified which are indicative of Indian English speech and which are
widely used. These operate on various phonological, morphological, lexical,
and syntactic and supra-segmental levels.
A segmental study of a string of sounds requires that each sound or segment is

perceived as an entity separate from the surrounding elements. A segmental
study perceives a string of sounds as a sequence of individual sounds produced
over a time continuum.
e.g. | 1 |2|3|4|5|6|7|8| etc.
It is possible to produce fairly effective oral communication by uttering

segments in sequence. In broad terms, in such strings of segments, the longer
the gaps or silences between each segment, the clearer the speech segment
perception. If we make the gaps between the segments longer in time it is more
easily understood but it is unnatural. This type of speech in communication is
found associated with robotic or machine speech. The phenomenon of leaving
gaps between segments is called "segmentation".
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The human speech communication involves not just the production of sounds
as segments but a complex of acoustic variants which are called supra-
segmental features. Such acoustic variants include accent, pitch, rhythm and
intonation. Given that they come together in varying degrees in a mixture of
acoustic features, such variants are difficult to identify and study as separate
entities and to quantify. Prosodic or supra-segmental features cannot
conveniently be studied as digitalized concepts as can segmental features
among students whom I interviewed.
Supra-segmental features are more difficult to study and to quantify because we

cannot look at them as digital concepts. Supra-segmental features are a complex
system of acoustic features which result in differentiated auditory perceptions.
The basic parameter of a complex of supra-segmental features is the duration of
the air-stream.
The basis of the study of supra-segmental features cannot be the single segment
in isolation. Instead, the smallest basic unit for the analysis of supra-segmental
features is the syllable. The minimal syllable is a string comprised of only one
vowel.
The concepts used for the study of prosodic features are usually expressed in
terms of the textualisation of the strings, as follows:
1. shortest string > syllable (minimal syllable = one vowel)
2. relatively longer string than 1. > word
3. relatively longer string than 2. > compound-word, made up of two or

three elements
4. relatively longer string than 3. > phrase
5. relatively longer string than 4. > clause
6. Longest string is 5. > sentence
In phonetic terms, these concepts are differentiated only on the basis of

differing air-stream duration, e.g. a sentence is produced on an air-stream of
longer duration than that of a syllable. Provided there is a successful
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assimilation of a language’s prosodic or supra-segmental elements —stress,

rhythm, intonation—, the learning of its individual sounds is substantially
favoured. By the same token, if we use the supra-segmental features of our
mother tongue when we speak a foreign language, we are very likely not to be
understood.
5.1 The Stress of English:
Many authors have made a number of observations and given helpful

suggestions regarding English word stress patterns. However, no infallible rules
have been discovered yet for stress assignment in English. The following
"possible" rules illustrate this:
0. Two-syllable verbs are stressed on the last syllable, e.g. beware, collide,
deceive. Exceptions: cover, threaten, notice. 2. Two-syllable prepositions
are stressed on the second syllable, e.g. about, beyond, behind.
Exceptions: under, over, after. 3. Two-syllable nouns of English origin
and old borrowings are stressed on the first syllable, e.g. window,
costume, village. Exceptions: account, excuse. In English, stress shift
may bring about a change in meaning, which the following pairs of
words illustrate:
Table : 55 Stress shift
export (n) export (v)

/’ekspD:t/ /eks’p3:t/
conduct (n) /’kDndAkt/ conduct (v) /kan’dAkt/
insult (n) /’inSAlt/ insult (v) /in’SAlt/
progress (n) /’praugres/ progress (v) /prau’gres/
Before advancing any further, it is necessary to define some terms and explain
some representation symbols which will be used throughout this chapter, due to
the fact that specialists have not used the same terminology to refer to the same
facts of language and therefore in some papers one may read and understand,
for example, "primary stress", which means to refer as "nuclear tone".
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Stress can be defined as the prominence given to a syllable in a word. This

prominence may depend on one, some or all of the following components:
Intensity: Muscular effort and breath pressure involved in the articulation of a
syllable. Pitch: Wherever a stress occurs, a rise in pitch accompanies the higher
intensity of the syllable. Quality: Vowels in stressed syllables usually have a
different quality than those in unstressed syllables. Duration: Vowels in
stressed syllables usually have a different duration than those in unstressed
syllables. The syllables in English words have three degrees of prominence:
primary, secondary and weak.
The primary stress is the point of greatest prominence in the word. It is found
in monosyllables pronounced in isolation and in one syllable of all
polysyllables. It will be symbolized here by a short vertical mark above the line
before the stressed syllable.
effort /’efat/
The minimal or weak stress is the lightest emphasis given to one or more
syllables in a word. It is found in practically all English words of more than one
syllable and it will be left it unmarked.
The secondary stress is an intermediary stress between the primary and the
minimal. It is found in many words of three or more syllables and will be
symbolized here by a short vertical mark before the stressed syllable but below
the line.
educate
Stress is very commonly associated with —or manifested by— the quality of
the sounds in the syllable. The English vowels occurring in a stressed
syllable may be /i/, /i:/, /e/, /ae/, /a/, /u:/, /u/,ai/ 3\l or / D /. Those in a non-
stressed syllable, except in some cases, are normally /a/, /ou/, III and —less
frequently— /u/. / a / occurs in the non-stressed syllables of the majority of
English polysyllabic words and it substitutes other English vowels and
diphthongs appearing in a stressed syllable when this is not stressed. This
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relationship between stress and vowel quality is illustrated by the following

pairs of words:
Table : 56 Relationship between stress and vowel quality
/ou/ tel
propose /pra'pouz/ proposition /ipr3p.zian/
/ai/ tel
apply / a’plai/ application aepla’kei Jan/
/d/ /a/
proposition /)pr3p9'zi/9n/ propose /pra’pauz/
1x1 tel
application />sepii’kei/sn/ / a’plai/
Notice also:
/ 3:/ /a/
permit> (n) /'p3;mit/ permit (v) /pa’mit/

Id III
rebel (n) (adj) /'reblV rebel (v) /ri’bel/
These are only a few examples of a phenomenon of great generality in English.

It is known as "vowel reduction": English unstressed vowels are pronounced
indistinctly and shorter than those in stressed syllables, which retain their full
quality and quantity. Vowel reduction is obligatory in English. When an
English word has more than three syllables, there is a great probability that this
type of stress occurs in one or two of its syllables. Accuracy: The reader may
pronounce stressed syllable(s) with twice the emphasis required and make
unstressed syllables as less prominent as possible without affecting the
intelligibility of the utterance. The speed of the segments in the utterance should
be consciously controlled. Speeding up favours the pronunciation of obscured
(neutralised) vowels; slowing down, the pronunciation of clear (full) vowels.
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S.lJTone groups of Supra-segmental features:

In English, intonation patterns are on groups of words, which are called
tone groups, tone units, intonation groups or sense groups. Tone groups
are said on a single breath and, as a consequence, are of limited length,
more often being on average five words long or lasting roughly two
seconds. The structure of tone groups can have a crucial impact on the
meaning of what is said. For example:
-/du ju ni:d aeniGiq/Do you need anything?

-/ai daunt | nou / / don’t, no
-/ai daunt nou/1 don’t know (contracted to, for example, -/ai daunou/1 dunno
in fast or colloquial speech which deemphasises the pause between don't and
know even further)
5.1.1.1 Characteristics of intonation (stress accent)
English is a stress-timed language, i.e., certain syllables in each multi-syllablic

word get a relative prominence/loudness during pronunciation while the others
do not. The former kind of syllables are said to be accentuated/stressed and the
latter are unaccentuated/unstressed. All good dictionaries of English mark the
accentuated syllable(s) by either placing an apostrophe-like ( ' ) sign either
before (as in IPA, Oxford dictionary) or after (as in Webster's dictionary) the
syllable where the stress accent falls. In general, for a two-syllable word in
English, it can broadly be said that if it is a noun or an adjective, the first
syllable is accentuated; but if it is a verb, the second syllable is accentuated.
In a sentence, each tone group can be subdivided into syllables, which can
either be stressed (strong) or unstressed (weak). The stressed syllable is called
the nuclear syllable. For example:
That | was | the | best | thing \ you | could | have | done!
Here, all words are unstressed, except the syllables/words "best" and "done",
which are stressed. "Best" is stressed more and, therefore, is the nuclear syllable.
The nuclear syllable carries the main point the speaker wishes to make. For
example:
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John hadn't stolen that money. (... Someone else had.)

John hadn’t stolen that money. (...You said he had.)
John hadn't stolen that money. (... He was given the money.)
John hadn’t stolen that money. (... He had stolen some other money.)
John hadn’t stolen that money. (...He stole something else.)
Also
I didn’t tell her that. (... Someone else told her.)

I didn’t tell her that. (... You said I did.)
/ didn’t tell her that. (... I didn’t say it; I could have written it, etc.)
I didn’t tell her that. (... I told someone else.)
I didn’t tell her that. (... I told her something else.)
The nuclear syllable is spoken louder than all the others and has a characteristic
change of pitch. The changes of pitch most commonly encountered in English
are the rising pitch and the falling pitch, although the fall-rising pitch and/or
the rise-falling pitch are sometimes used. For example:
When do you want to be paid?

Now? (Rising pitch. In this case, it denotes a question: can I be paid now?)
Ndw (Falling pitch. In this case, it denotes a statement: I choose to be paid
now.)
5.1.1.2 Error data collection :
The rationale behind this chapter was to touch the errors in supra-segmental
features committed by students while learning English. The learners chosen
were from std v to x. They were required to read a paragraph from their English
reader. [ text book ] as test material. The following errors were identified in the
aspect of word-accent, rhythm and intonation. The students were grouped into
three sections according to their class and age group. [ 1 ]std v and vi,2] vii and
viii 3] ix and x ]
5.1.1.3 Supra-segmental errors in reading; 1] Errors in word-stress. 2]

Errors in sentence stress 3] Errors in intonation.
Word stress or Word accent: is the magic key to understanding spoken

English. Native speakers of English use word stress naturally. Word stress is so
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natural for them that they don’t even know they use it. Non-native speakers who
speak English to native speakers without using word stress, encounter two
problems:
0. They find it difficult to understand native speakers, especially those

speaking quickly.
0. The native speakers may find it difficult to understand them.
In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis given to certain syllables in a

word. The ways stress manifests itself in the speech stream is highly language
dependent. In some languages, stressed syllables have a higher or lower pitch
than non-stressed syllables — so-called pitch accent (or musical accent). In
other languages, they may bear either higher or lower pitch than surrounding
syllables (a pitch excursion), depending on the sentence type. There are also
dynamic accent (loudness), qualitative accent (full vowels), and quantitative
accent (length, known in music theory as agogic accent). Stress may be
characterized by more than one of these characteristics. For instance, stressed
syllables in English have pitch excursions (e.g., low pitch on the stressed
syllable Sun in the question Is it SUNday? but high pitch on that syllable in
the statement It’s SUNday.), longer duration, and typically fuller vowels than
unstressed syllables, as well as being louder. In contrast, stressed and unstressed
vowels in Spanish share the same quality—unlike English, the language has no
reduced vowels.
The possibilities for stress in tone languages is an area of ongoing research.

Stressed syllables are often perceived as being more forceful than non-stressed
syllables. Research has shown, however, that although dynamic stress is
accompanied by greater respiratory force, it does not mean a more forceful
articulation in the vocal tract.
Timing and placement: English is a stress-timed language; that is, stressed

syllables appear at a roughly constant rate, and non-stressed syllables are
shortened to accommodate this. Homophonous words may differ only by the
position of the stress, and therefore it is possible to use stress as a grammatical
device. English language does this to some extent with noun-verb pairs such as
a record vs. to record, where the verb is stressed on the last syllable and the
related noun is stressed on the first; record also hyphenates differently: a rec
ord vs. to re-cord.
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5.1.1.4 Degrees of stress : Primary and secondary stress are distinguished in

some languages. English is commonly believed to have two levels of stress, as
in the words counterfdil [kaunt9fDil] and counterintelligence
[kauntaint£l9d59ns], and in some treatments has even been described as having
four levels, primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary, but these treatments
often disagree with each other.
Phoneticians such as Peter Ladefoged believe these multiple levels are mere
phonetic detail and not true phonemic stress. They report that often the alleged
secondary stress is not characterized by the increase in respiratory activity
normally associated with stress. In their analysis, an English syllable may be
either be stressed or unstressed, and if unstressed, the vowel may be either full
or reduced. This is all that is required for a phonemic treatment. In addition, the
last stressed syllable in a normal (default) intonation unit receives additional
intonational or "tonic" stress. (The intonational stress may occur elsewhere to
mark contrast or other prosodic effects.) This combination of lexical stress,
phrase- or clause-final prosody, and the reduction of some unstressed vowels
conspires to create the impression of multiple levels of phonetic stress:
• Lexical stress
1. Plus tonic stress: A syllable with both lexical and prosodic stress in
Ladefoged’s account corresponds to primary stress in the traditional account.
2. Without tonic stress: A syllable with only lexical stress corresponds to
secondary stress in the traditional account.
• No stress
3. On a full vowel: An unstressed syllable with a full vowel also corresponds

to secondary stress in the traditional account, and to tertiary stress in the fuller
account.
4. On a reduced vowel: An unstressed syllable with a reduced vowel is said be
unstressed or to have quaternary stress.
Therefore, in a phonemic transcription of English words that indicates reduced

vowels like schwa, only a single symbol for stress is required. For example,
counterfdil is only stressed on the first syllable, /kauntsfDil/; the last syllable is
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an unstressed but unreduced vowel. (Unstressed oi does not normally reduce in

English.) In counterintelligence both marked syllables are stressed, /
kauntBintEladjans /. The apparent differences in stress are due to prosody and
appear when the words are said alone in citation, as, ironically, they are when
being sounded out for transcription. They disappear when the words are moved
to non-final position, for example in counterintelligence operations are going
well, where only well has "primary" stress. (For some speakers, the first syllable
of counterintelligence may be unstressed but unreduced, / kaunt0int£l9Cf39ns /.
Unstressed ou/ow does not normally reduce in English.)
Different systems exist for indicating syllabification and stress.
• In IPA, primary stress is indicated by a high vertical line before the

syllable, secondary stress by a low vertical line. Example: [silae'bafake'ijan] or
/ silaea'b3f0kei/j9n /.
• In English dictionaries which do not use the IPA, stress is typically
marked with a prime mark placed after the stressed syllable: /si-lab'-i-fi-kay-
shun/.
• In ad hoc pronunciation guides, stress is often indicated using a
combination of bold text and capital letters. Example: si-lab-if-i-KAY-shun or
si-LAB-if-i-KAY-shun
The syllable on which there is a pitch change is said to have the primary or
tonic accent. Any other prominent syllable is said to have secondary accent.
Primary accent is marked with a vertical bar above and in front of the syllable
to which it refers, secondary accent , with a bar below and in front of the
syllable.
5.1.L5 Rules of Word Stress in English:

There are two very simple rules about word stress:
0. One word has only one stress: (One word cannot have two stresses. If
you hear two stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is
true that there can be a "secondary" stress in some words. But a secondary stress
is much smaller than the main [primary] stress, and is only used in long words.)
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0. Only vowels can be stressed, not consonants.
Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help one to understand
where to put the stress. But they should not be relied upon too much, because
there are many exceptions. It is better to try to "feel" the music of the language
and to add the stress naturally. But they should not be relied upon.
1 Stress on first syllable
rule example
Most2-syllable nouns PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble
Most2-syllable adjectives PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy
2 Stress on last syllable
rule example
Most2-syllable verbs to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE, to beGIN
There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change
with a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If
we stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent).
But if the second syllable is stressed, it becomes a verb (to offer). More
examples: the words export, import, contract and object can all be nouns or
verbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or second syllable.
3. Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)
rule example
Words ending in -ic GRAPHic, television, geoLOGic
Words ending in -sion and - television, reveLAtion

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tion
For a few words, native English speakers don’t always "agree" on where to put the
stress. For example, some people say television and others say TELevision.
Another example is: CONtroversy and conTROversy.
4. Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)
rule example
deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy,

Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy
geOLogy
Words ending in -al CRItical, geoLOGical
5. Compound words (words with two parts)
rule example
For compound nouns, the stress is on the first

BLACKbird, GREENhouse
part
For compound adjectives, the stress is on the

bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned
second part
For compound verbs, the stress is on the second

to underSTAND, to overFLOW
part
5.1.1.6 Error identification and error analysis:

Std V and VI [Age group: 10 to 111: The following words were selected from
the paragraph of the lesson read by the students.
Table : 57 Word-accent errors in reading
S.N English words Incorrect word-accent Correct word-accent

[Samples]
1 Hello ’alio hel'au
2 glad ’gila:d 'glsed
3 nearly 'niyar'li nia.1 i
4 give 'gi'vu 'giv
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5 with ’wi’5 ’wi5

6 hands h’ends hendz
7 farmer ’fa:r’mar ’fa:.m3
8 sat, am, glad, an, s’yat, /ket, 'saet,
cat, and, began h’end, ’yend, ’be’gin 'kaet, 'aend, ba'gaen
9 house h'aus 'hauz
10 called ,Ka: 'led told
11 shaking 'se.kin'g 'lei. kip
Performance of students: Out of the 23 students, 7 students were able to

recognise primary and secondary stress as well as syllabification while reading
the lesson. 10 students word-accent was partially correct. 9 students had errors in
word accent. This was because they didn’t understand what they read. Besides
this the teachers themselves have errors in word accent. Some of the students
have acquired these errors from their teachers. They had stressed the wrong
syllables. Influence of the mother tongue is another factor for word-accent
errors. Most of the students had no idea of syllabification that is the reason the
words which have one syllable is split into two while reading. Eg: ’gi’Ia:d, ’gi’vu,
’wi’5,. /ka:’led, ’be’gin
Table : 58 Word accent errors: STDVII and VIII lage group;12 to 131
S.N. English words Incorrect word-accent Correct word-accent

[samples
1 poor 'pu'war 'pu r [pu a]
2 lived liwu'd li'vd
3 Decided 'Disaid, 'disid di'saidec da'saidad
4 hall,called„caused ,ha:l, 1o:ld, 1<o:zd
a:l /ka:ld, 'kosed
5 Narrow, nero, 'naerau,
6 walked ’wa:Tced ’w a:kt
7 Surprised sa'praiz
/sar’prised, /sur’pris
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8 Suddenly sa’danly ’sAd dnli:

9 Dear, farmer /di’yar, fa:rmar did, fa:.md
10 house Tios /haus
11 Communication, 'Komjunikei'san, ka’mju:ni’ke:Jan, ’arli.a’st
Earliest, Modem, /iyar'liest,earl ist,far, mad.an
/mo'denvma'darn,
12 Our, au’war,
aud
13 centuries se’ntus, /sen’tfu:ri:z,
14 Flourished /flouri’shed, /folos ,flAri’Jt
15 Famous, ’femus, ’pemus, /fei’mds,
16 rivers modem ri’wers, riwerss, moder ’riv.az, ma’dan
17 Know ’no, keno ’nau [nou]
18 depended da’pended
’dipend,dipond3d
20 Civilization, /kivilisajen sivilisasdli sivdlaizeijdn
Performance of students: Out of the 26 students 7 students had read the words
with correct word-stress. 9 students had partially correct word-stress 10 students
had incorrect word-stress. Some students read without any stress. Most of the
errors committed by the students were due to mother tongue influence. Another
reason for their errors were due to their Kannada language speaking
environment. They also admit that they spend less time in reading and speaking
practice at home. Reading, speaking, and teaching the word-stress is not given
adequate importance at initial stages of learning the English language. Teachers
do admit that the periods allotted to teach English are not sufficient. Students do
not complete the given home assignment.
Table : 59 Word accent errors Std. IX and X
S.N. English words Incorrect word-accent Correct word-

[samples] accent
1 Birthright, berth’rail /b3:0'rait
2 tormented, against ’a:ganst, tormented, d’g:entst t D:men’tdd,
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3 whole, wol, hou:l

4 Thirteen, ’ther:ti:n, 0 3: 'ti:n,
5 martyer ’ma:r’tiyer, ’meri’ter ma:t9
6 against, ’yagei’nest, agnest, Y0:Z, 9’gentst,
7 arrogant ’ergent, aero'jent ae'ragent
8 dear di'yer 'dia
10 cute kAt, k'wit kju:t
11 look lur'k 'luk
12 monkey mog'ki 'mAgki
13 handy 'yendi, 'hendi, 'haendi,
14 Another,troublesome 'yenather, en'oder, a’naba, T:rAbls9m,
'trabl'sam
15 novel no'vel 'roval

16 singularly 'sig'larli 'siqgjulali
17 everything 'yewri'thing 'evari;0iq
18 knack 'kna:k naek
Performance of students: Out of the 31 students 10 students read with correct

word-accent. 11 students word-accent was partially correct. 10 students word-
accent was incorrect. Most of the mistakes occurred due to the ignorance of the
meaning of words. Secondly many of the students lacked fluency and they
struggled to read. Some of the students had split one word into two due to
incorrect word-accent eg; 'berth'rait, 'tor'mented, 'ma:r'tiyer 'yage:'nest,
'yewri'thing and 'siq'larli. After having gone through the word-stress errors the
researcher strongly feels that drilling of words at initial stages of learning in
lower classes is not given adequate importance. This is one of the reasons that
students in high school continue to use faulty word-accent.
5.1.1.7 Sentence Stress in reading :

Sentence stress is the music of spoken English. Like word stress, sentence stress
can help one to understand spoken English, especially when spoken quickly.
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Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or "beat". As it has been
mentioned earlier word stress is an accent on one syllable within a word.
Sentence stress is an accent on certain words within a sentence.
Most sentences have two types of word: l]Content words 2]Structure words
Content words are the key words of the sentence. They are the important words
that carry the meaning or sense. Structure words are not important words, [but
they are stressed by the students while reading and speaking.] They are small,
simple words that make the sentence correct grammatically. They give the
sentence its correct form or "structure".
If the structure words are removed from a sentence, it is still possible to

understand sentence. If the content words from a sentence are removed, the
sentence cannot be understood . The sentence has no sense or meaning.
Imagine that this message is received:
SELL CAR GONE DELHI
This sentence is not complete. It is not a "grammatically correct" sentence. But

it is possible to understand it. These 4 words communicate very well, that
Somebody wants you to sell their car for them because they have gone to Delhi.
We can add a few words:
SELL my CAR I’ve GONE to DELHI
The new words do not really add any more information. But they make the
message more correct grammatically. And can be added 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 DELHI.
Structure Words
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In the sentence, the 4 key words (sell, car, gone, Delhi) 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 one speaks (and listens to) the language. The time
between each stressed word is the same.
In the sentence, there is 1 syllable between SELL and CAR and 3 syllables
between CAR and GONE. But the time (0 between SELL and CAR and
between CAR and GONE is the same. A constant beat is maintained on the
stressed words. To do this, we say "my" is said more slowly, and "because I’ve"
more quickly. The speed is changed of the small structure words so that the
rhythm of the key content words stays the same.
syllables
2 1 3 1
you SELL my CAR because I’ve GONE to DELHI.
BEAT . BEAT T BEAT . BEAT

tl ---------- tl ---------- tl ---------- tl ----------
5.1.1.8 Rules for Sentence Stress in English:
The basic rules of sentence stress are:
0. Content words are stressed

0. Structure words are unstressed
0. The time between stressed words is always the same
The following tables can help one to decide which words are content words
and which words are structure words:
Content words - stressed

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Words carrying the meaning Example
main verbs SELL, GIVE, EMPLOY
nouns CAR, MUSIC, MARY
adjectives RED, BIG, INTERESTING
adverbs QUICKLY, LOUDLY, NEVER
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 what is called "neutral" or normal
stress. But sometimes it is possible to stress a word that would normally
be only a structure word, for example to correct information. Look at the
following dialogue: The above rules are for what is called "neutral" or
normal stress. But sometimes it is possible to 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.
It is to be noted also that when "be" is used as a main verb, it is usually

unstressed (even though in this case it is a content word).
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5.1.1.9 Sentence stress errors in reading]: STD V AND STD VI [age group: 10 to 11]:
The students were asked to read a passage from the text books. The samples and
the identified errors are given below.
A] 'Ravi: 'Hello, I’m 'Ravi, 'glad to 'meet 'you .

samples ;1] Ravi: 'Hello 'I’m 'Ravi 'glad 'to meet 'you.
2] 'Ravi: 'Hello Tm 'Ravi 'glad 'to 'meet 'you.
B] ’Vani: [’shaking ’hands with ’Rani ] ’Hello I’m ’Vani, ’glad to ’meet you.
Samples: l]'Vani: [shaking hands 'with Rani ] Hello I’am 'Vani, glad 'to meet
'you.
2]'Vani: ['shaking ’hands \vith ’Rani ] ’Hello ’I’’am ’Vani, ’glad to tneet you.
C] 'Once a 'farmer 'bought an old 'house .

samples : 1] Once 'a farmer 'bought 'an old house .
2] 'Once 'a 'farmer 'bought 'an 'old 'house .
D] The 'farmer 'bought a big blue 'cat.

Samples: l]'The farmer 'bought a 'big 'blue cat.
2] 'The 'farmer 'bought 'a 'big 'blue 'cat.
E] It 'began to 'kill the 'mice.

Samples; 1] 'It 'began to 'kill 'the mice.
2] 'It 'began 'to 'kill 'the 'mice.
Performance of students: Out of the 23 students, 8 students were able to read

with correct sentence stress. 8 students responses were partially correct. 7
students responses were incorrect. They stressed on every word of the sentence
because they took time to read every word of the sentence. Eg. Second response
in every Samples of sentences. Some of the students read without any stress in
the sentences. Some had stressed the structure words. The errors had occurred
because the students were in their initial stages of learning. Some students
found difficulty in recognizing alphabet. In some cases the teachers themselves
were not certain of the sentence stress. Some students were able to read only
after the promptings by the scholar.
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STDVII AND STD VIII [age group: 12 to 13]: The students were asked to read a
passage from their text book. The samples and the identified errors are given
below.
A] ’Oneday a poor ’woodcutter was ’walking down a narrow ’path in a ’forest.

Samples: 1] ’One day ’a poor ’wood ’cutter was ’walking down ’a narrow ’path in
’a ’forest.
2] ’One ’day ’a ’poor ’woodcutter ’was ’walking ’down a ’narrow ’path ’in a ’forest.
B] He was in ’search of ’dry ’wood.
Samples: 1] He was ’in ’search ’of dry wood.
2] He ’was in ’search ’of ’dry ’wood.
C] He ’walked to the side and saw a ’tiger in a ’cage.

Samples: 1] He ’walked to ’the side ’and saw a ’tiger in a ’cage.
2]He ’walked to the ’side and ’saw a ’tiger in a ’cage.
D] Do you ’know that ’rivers have ’played a great ’role in the life of our ’people ?
Samples: 1] Do you know ’that ’rivers have ’played a great ’role in the life of
our ’people ?
2] Do ’you know ’that ’rivers kave ’played a ’great ’role in ’the life of
’our ’people ?
E] Communi’cation and ’trade ’depended on the ’rivers for ’centuries before
modern ’day ’methods ’came into being.
Samples: 1] ’Communication ’and ’trade ’depended on ’the ’rivers ’for ’centuries
before ’modem ’day ’methods came ’into being.
2] ’Communication ’and ’trade ’depended ’on the ’rivers ’for centuries
before ’modem ’day methods ’came ’into being
3] ’Communication ’and ’trade ’depended ’on the ’rivers ’for ’centuries
before ’modern ’day ’methods came ’into being.
Performance of students: Out of the 25 students, 8 students were able to read

with correct sentence stress. 8 students responses were partially correct. 9
students responses were incorrect. They stressed on every word of the sentence
because they paused after every word including structure words. The students
had little fluency in reading. Besides this some of the students read without
understanding the words. The English teachers of these students teach out of
necessity even if they are not trained in the subject. This is the reason the
students have acquired faulty sentence stress.
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STD IX AND STD X [age group: 14 to 15]: The students were asked to read a
passage from their text book. The samples and the identified errors are given
below.
A] The whole of India rose ’against the despotic ’rule of the ’British like a
tor’mented ’sea.
Samples:
1] The whole ’of India rose ’against ’the despotic ’rule of ’the ’British like ’a
’tormented ’sea.
2] The ’whole ’of India ’rose ’against the ’despotic ’rule ’of the ’British like a
’tormented ’sea.
B] Indians were boiling with ’rage at the many ’wrongs done by the ’arrogant
’British.
Samples:
1] Indians ’were boiling ’with ’rage at ’the many ’wrongs ’done by the ’arrogant
’British.
2] Indians were boiling ’with ’rage at ’the ’many ’wrongs done by ’the ’arrogant
’British.
C] ’Share another ’joke in your ’group.

samples : 11 ’Share ’another ’joke in ’your ’group.
2] ’Share ’another joke ’in your ’group.
D] ’Ask your ’friends what ’caused laughter.

Samples: 11 ’Ask ’your ’friends what ’caused laughter
2] Ask ’your ’friends ’what ’caused laughter
E] ’List out the ’factors in each of the ’incidents which ’made you laugh.
Samples: 1] List out ’the ’factors in ’each of ’the ’incidents ’which ’made you
laugh.
2] List ’out the ’factors ’in each ’of the ’incidents ’which made ’you
laugh.
Performance of students: Of the 31 students 9 students were able to read with

sentence stress. 10 students sentence stress were partially correct. 12 students
read with incorrect sentence stress. They admit that they do not have adequate
reading practice. Even in the classroom the teacher cannot take reading practice
due to over crowded classes, and the teacher expressed that time is not
326
sufficient to finish the syllabus [portion of English language] because the

exercises are excessive in number. The students too do not take trouble in
reading the lesson. In some schools the teachers do not have access to tape
recorders to teach the children correct sentence stress.
5.1.2.0 Intonation of English in the Process of Second Language

learning
Introduction: There is no language in the world which would be regarded as
entirely monotonous. In the process of speaking every syllable, every word,
every sentence is pronounced with the variation in pitch. Only in very unusual
situations we speak with a pitch of the voice which does not change. Various
approaches to a definition of intonation which appeared throughout the history
tried to present a precise explanation of intonation. But according to Roach
(1991,p.l33): There is no completely satisfactory definition of intonation, but
any attempt at a definition must recognize that the pitch of the voice plays the
most important part". In the process of second language acquisition the
intonation is probably one of those phenomenon in language without which one
can never speak like a native speaker. In everyday communication, faulty
intonation can sound ridiculous and defects in intonation can give rise to
misunderstandings. As for the learners of English language, whose mother
tongue is Kannada language, the area of intonation awareness seems to be very
complicated and difficult to learn. They express a feeling of non-confidence in
this field of English language learning and a "native-like" intonation remains a
dream which will never turn into reality. The main prosodic features in the
process of intonation analysis in experiment are pitch, volume and length.
Various intonologists offer different prosodic features for intonation analysis.
There is no general agreement with which prosodic feature should be
considered. The prosodic feature of length is supported by the measurements of
pauses between individual sentences (external pauses). In case of volume it can
be assumed that it is characterized by rise of the intensity of voice, thus it
appears in the rise of melody contour of individual speakers.
Intonation-groupS: In all languages speech is organized into stretches of

sound continuum with pauses between them (Brown, 1990). In the experiment it
is assumed that the stretches of utterance in the process of reading will be
identical with grammatical structure - phrase, clause or sentence. In English
327
such stretches are often patterned intonationally around one dynamic movement
of pitch, which is more salient than others in utterance (Brown, 1990). Thus, in
the text read aloud most readers, to a large extent, agree on intonation groups
which are comparable to those of other readers, especially where punctuation in
the text clearly marks boundaries of such groups. It means that the sentences
could be considered as the longest intonation-groups which are separated in the
process of reading by pauses. That is external pauses which occur at the end of
syntactic units (sentences) which are marked by a full stop in the written text.
Learning of English language Intonation:

The full description of intonation patterns is very complex. Only some
fundamental points will be explained in this section.
• Within each tone group, there will be the normal English combination of
stressed (strong) and unstressed (weak) syllables.
It was the best car for them to buy.
• Within the tone group, one syllable will be even more strongly stressed
than the other stressed syllables. This is called the nuclear syllable.
It was the best car for them to buy. (Buy is the nuclear syllable.)
• The nuclear syllable carries the main focus of information. It also carries
any new information.
We looked at the hatchback. (Hatchback is new information.)
The hatchback was old. (Hatchback is given information. Old is new

information.)
• The usual position for the nuclear syllable is on the final lexical word in
the tone group.
o It had a lot of rust in it.
• However, the nuclear syllable can appear in other positions if the sense
requires it.
Normal placement: Leela was wearing that black skirt.

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Contrastive placements:
Leela was wearing that black skirt, (not a red one)
Leela was wearing that black skirt, (a particular skirt referred to already)
Leela was wearing that black skirt, (not just carrying it)
Leela was wearing that black skirt. ( you said she wasn’t)
Leela was wearing that black skirt, (it wasn’t seema wearing it)
• The nuclear syllable sounds louder than the other stressed syllables. It
also has a change of pitch.
• The two most common pitch movements are:
rising pitch yes
falling pitch yes
It is also possible to have

a fall-rising pitch yes
a rise-falling pitch yes
I have compared the following replies:
Q: When would it suit you to come?

A: Now? (The intonation expresses a question: would it be OK if I came
now?)
Q: When would it suit you to come?

A: Now. (The intonation expresses a statement: I'll come now.)
The effects of the rising or falling pitch can be seen very clearly on sentences
with tag questions.
They're coming on Monday / aren't they, (statement anticipating the listener's

agreement)
They're coming on Monday / aren't they? (question seeking an answer, yes or no)
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In speech, we often hear a rising intonation pattern where we might expect one
which falls.
I went down to the shops / and I saw this girl / and she was riding a bike / and she
had this big bag /...
For some people, this sounds like questioning.

Questioner: Could you tell me where the Post Office is? reply: Just round the
comer?
This feature of intonation is known technically as a high-rising terminal

contour or HRT for short. When it was documented, especially in female
speech, it was at first interpreted as a sign of women's insecurity and need for
confirmation. Today, it is seen as a discourse feature that connects the speaker
with the listener, indicating "Are you with me?" It has the same function as the
"eh" ending, or phrases such as "you know" or "you see." Its function is to assist
conversation, and it can be a politeness marker, as in the example immediately
above.
-A falling tone is used to show completeness. A rising tone can indicate

incompleteness.
-A falling tone is normally used when a person is about to stop talking.
-If they finish the tone group with a rising tone, we are likely to understand that
they wish to continue speaking and are seeking feedback, by word or gesture.
-A falling tone is used at the end of a list to show that the list is complete.
-Would you like tea / coffee / fruit juice / or lemonade / (That's all I'm offering.)
-Would you like tea / coffee / fruit juice / lemonade / (There might be other
drinks as well that I haven't named.)
• Intonation shows the speaker's attitude. By changing the pitch that we can
indicate certainty, uncertainty, enthusiasm, boredom, can be indicated. We can
say "yes" so that it almost means "no". As listeners, we become skilled at
detecting fine shades of meaning in other people's speech. We can say they
sounded unhappy, tired, sneering, self-satisfied, sarcastic, and so on. These
attitudes are picked up from very fine variations in pitch and loudness.
330
These nuances can be tested by asking someone to express different attitudes or

emotions using only "mmmmm". enthusiasm? boredom? uncertainty? anger?
The variations in pitch can be quite difficult to analyze objectively. Just as we

can distinguish very fine differences can be distinguished in taste that are
difficult to analyze scientifically, so it is often very difficult to determine and
describe the exact changes in pitch that produce these different responses.
Some listeners find it easy to discern whether the pitch movement on a nuclear
syllable is rising or falling, but others find the distinctions almost impossible to
hear. It is fruitless - and distressing - to ask such people to try to say something
with a predetermined rise or fall. It is better to ask them to say something to
express a certain attitude. If they are asked to express finality or certainty, the
result is most likely to be a fall. If they are asked to say something in a
questioning way, it is most likely to be a rise. If they are asked to express
uncertainty, it will probably be a fall-rise. Fortunately, the ability to hear and
interpret intonation in everyday speech does not depend on the ability to
analyze it or replicate it in class.
Although intonation is an important feature of spoken English, it is represented

in written English only rather crudely by the use of such punctuation devices as
full stops, commas, question marks, and exclamation marks. Skilful writers can
convey shades of meaning in various ways. Some resort to a simple method of
adverbials.
"How are you today?" he asked cheerfully.

laconically.
bitterly.
wistfully.
5.1.2.1Errors in intonations:
The data which the research is based on is drawn from the learners of English
language [students of v to x ] The students were asked to read an extract of the
text without being told the purpose of the research.
fSTD V AND VI: [AGE GROUP 10 TO 111
Given item:
331
1] Ravi: Hello, I’m 'Ravi, / 'glad to meet you.

Raju :['shaking hands with Ravi ] 'Glad to meet you. 'I’m 'Raju.
2] 'Once a 'farmer 'bought / an old ' house . ’He and his 'wife / 'lived in that
' house. 'There were many 'mice . /They ate all the rice/ and all the ' wheat. 'So
the farmer bought a big ' blue ' cat / ’which began to kill the ' mice.
Students incorrect responses : a) 1] ’Ravi : 'Hello, I’m 'Ravi ,/ 'glad to/ meet
you.
'Raju :[ 'shaking hands// with Ravi ] Glad to/ 'meet 'you. TmRaju.
2] ’Once a/ ’farmer 'bought an/ old 'house . 'He and / 'his wife lived /'in that
house. There/ 'were many/ 'mice they/ 'ate all the rice / 'and all the wheel. So
the/ 'farmer bought/ 'a big blue/ 'cat which began/ /to kill the /mice.
b) 1] 'Ravi: 'Hello, I’m / 'Ravi, glad /'to meet you.

'Raju :[shaking hands/' with Ravi ] Glad to/' meet you. I’m/ 'Raju.
2] 'Once a/ 'farmer 'bought /'an old 'house . He and/ 'his wife lived/ 'in that
house. There were /'many mice /'they ate all/ 'the rice/ 'and all the/ 'wheet. So
the/ 'farmer bought a/' big blue/ 'cat which began/' to kill the/' mice.
Performance of students : Out of the 23 students, 5 students read with adequate

intonation patterns. 6 students intonation was partially correct. 12 students read
with incorrect intonation . While reading they had grouped the words wrongly in
sentences. There was no falling and rising of tone in their reading . So one could
not understand what they read. Most of their reading sounded monotonous.
Students admitted that they spend very less time in reading English. In adition to
this they do not have English speaking environment
STD vn AND VIII: [AGE GROUP 12 TO 13]

Given item:
1] Oneday a poor 'woodcutter /was 'walking down a narrow path/ in a forest.// He
was in search of dry ' wood.// ’Suddenly he heard a voice/ ’calling out his' name. //
2] Do you 'know that/ 'rivers have 'played a great 'role/ in the 'life of our
people?// /Communi'cation and 'trade 'depended/ on the 'rivers/ for 'centuries
before modem 'day 'methods/'came into being.//
332
Students incorrect responses : A]l] ’Oneday a poor/ ’woodcutter //was ’walking

/down a narrow ’path// in a ’forest.// ’He was in / ’search of dry // ’wood.
Suddenly he/ ’heard a voice// ’calling out his name.//
2] Do you Tcnow/ ’that/ ’rivers have ’played a// ’great ’role/ ’in the life// of our/’
people ? Communi’cation/ and ’trade// ’depended on/ ’the ’rivers// ’for centuries
before/ ’modem ’day ’methods//’came into /being. //
B] 1] ’Oneday a/’poor ’woodcutter ’was //’walking down a/ ’narrow ’path/ in a

’forest. He/ ’was in search /’of dry wood. Suddenly/ ’he heard a voice/
’calling out his name.//
Do you /loiow that/ ’rivers have/ ’played a great ’role/’ in the life of our/ people ?
Communi’cation and /’trade/ ’depended on/ the ’rivers for /’centuries before//’
modern ’day ’methods came / ’into ’being.//
Performance of students: Of the 25 students , 5 students were able to read with

adequate intonation patterns. 9 students responses were partially correct. 11
students had incorrect intonation. The students did not know to differentiate
between sentence and phrase. They had cut the sentences by pausing in the wrong
places. They read without expression. The students have very few opportunities
to listen to the model reading, as some of the teachers are not trained in the
subject
STD XI AND X [AGE GROUP: 14 TO 15]
Given item:
1] The ’story of Narayan Mahadev ’Doni/ a thirteen year old boy of /’ Lamington
High School Hubli / who laid down his life/ at the feet of mother India.// On 9th
august 1942/Gandhiji served an ultimatum to the British/ to 'quit india .//
2] Baby monkey : Oh! Mother /’I am so 'ugly.//
Mum monkey: look at the one who is reading 'this.//

333
’Share another ’joke/ in your group.// Ask ’your ’friends /what ’caused
' laughter.//
’List out the ’factors/ in each of the ’incidents/ which ’made you ' laugh.//
Students responses : a] 1] The ’story of Narayan Mahadev 'Doni //’ a thirteenyear

old ' boy /’of Lamington High ' School// Hubli who laid ' down/ Tiis life at the/
’feet of mother India . On 9th 'August / ’1942 Gandhiji ' served// ’an ultimatum to
the ' British/’ to quit ' india//.
2] Baby monkey : ’Oh! /Mother 1 am so ugly//
Mum monkey: look //’at the one who is reading ' this./
’Share another joke in your/ ’group. ’Ask ’your / ’friends what caused// laughter
List out// the ’factors in each/ of the ’incidents/ ’which made you ' laugh./
B] 1] The story of /’Narayan Mahadev ' Doni/’a thirteenyear old boy// ’of
Lamington High School// Hubli who' // ’laid down his ' life/ ’at the feet of mother
India.// On 9th august 1942/Gandhiji served ' an/ Ultimatum to the British//’ to
quit ' india./
2] ’Baby monkey : Oh! Mother /I am so ugly/
Mum monkey: look at the/ one who is reading this.//
’Share another/ joke in your 'group./ ’Ask your'/ ’friends /’what ’caused
' laughter/
List out the ’factors// ’in each of the ’incidents/ ’which made you ' laugh./
Performance of students: Of the 31 students, 9 students had correct intonation

pattern in their reading. 8 students intonation was partially correct . 14 students
had incorrect intonation pattern. They need a lot of practice in reading with
334
intonation. They often tend to cut the sentences where it is not necessary. They
also had done mistakes in the division of utterance into groups.
5.1.2.2 Result:
Table : 60 Word-stress and intonation errors
WORD-STRESS ERRORS Correct Partially Incorrect

Responses correct Responses
Responses
Age group 10 to 11 [v to vi ] 1 10 9
Age group 12 to 13 [vii to 7 9 10
viii ]
Age group 14 to 15 [ix to x ] 10 11 10
SENTENCE-STRESS
ERRORS
viii ]
INTONATION ERRORS
viii ]
5.1.2.3: Performance of students: In the process of second language learning

the readers have difficulties with the word identification or correct pronunciation
in the process of reading. Then the readers orientate their readings more towards
language than towards the listener. Even more complicated situation appears in
case of internal pausing (within the sentences). The reader, of course needs to
chunk the sentences, especially the longer ones, in to smaller pieces. Finding the
according to which the sentence or clause could be divided into smaller parts is
very difficult. The leading signal for intonation-group identification within the
sentence becomes, similarly as in the external intonation-group boundary
identification, the pause (internal pause). The internal pauses remarkably differ
from the pauses realized between the sentences. The pauses in the sentences are
shorter i.e. below the level of perception of the listener. In a very substantial
number of learners the problems arise when the reader tries to work out
335
pronunciation word or even recognize the word. The question is whether these
pauses should be regarded as indicators of intonation-group boundaries or not.
Pausing for word identification causes the impression of non-coherent reading
and influences further intonation. The students in the experiment encountered
many problems with pronunciation and word identification. The lack of
confidence in the second language probably played a key role in "less confident"
reading. Uncertainty in reading is one of the factors which probably influences
the development of melody contours of the readers.
Nucleus placement : Each intonation-group comprises only one nucleus, the
most prominent syllable of the individual intonation-groups. The stress placement
plays the most important role in the development of melody contours of the
readers. The shifts in nucleus placement were the most commonly observed
differences in the development of the individual melody contours of individual
speakers of the experiment. Selection and decision on the most prominent
syllable in the readings is of course highly in competence of the readers. In the
process of second language learning Kannada learners of English encounter
problems with English language stressing. Whereas Kannada language has no
stresses. This fact causes difficulties in rhythm and intonation awareness to
Kannada learners of English language. A difficulty for Kannada learners of
English in learning English intonation is not mostly the different melodic system
of English. Frequent mistake with Kannada learners of English is to produce very
long utterances without any turn of intonation, as long monotonous sequences of
syllables. The intonation contour is said to be "neutral" and consists of equal
peaks of prominence. The readers who feel more confident in word recognition
produce the wider range of variation in intonation and the most prominent
syllables are identified clearly.
Nuclear tones :The two main nuclear tone: falling and rising, which are most
frequent nuclear tones in both languages, have on the whole the same linguistic
function in the two languages. The falling nuclear tone indicates completeness of
thought and the rising incompleteness. The falling nuclear tone is used in
statements, questions containing a special interrogative word and commands. The
rising nuclear tone is used in all types of questions, polite requests and friendly
greetings. In the text read aloud falling nuclear tones can be expected at the end
of syntactic units - sentences (simple, complex, compound). The text involved
declarative, exclamatory and commands and statement sentences ; falling tones
were realized at the end of individual sentences. The difference in use of tones
appeared at the end of intonation-groups, where low rise or mid-level nuclear
tones appear in the reading. The Kannada readers often use the falling tones or
336
rising tones at the end of intonation-groups in the sentences, where a mid-level or

low rise tone would be expected, most of the time they speak with unstressed
words. [ for example: /The story of Narayan Mahadev /Doni/’a thirteenyear old
boy// ’of Lamington High School// Hubli who' // laid down his life/ ’at the feet of
mother India.//] At the end of the first intonation-group In almost every respect
one should realize the low rise tone, which expresses non-finality in the
utterance. /The story of Narayan Mahadev 'Doni/ In the readings of Kannada
learners of English the falling tone is realized. Then the readings sounds more
"unmarked' or even "bored'. It is found that many students have high pitch in
their reading. They often tend to cut the sentences where it is not necessary.
5.1.2.4 Word-stress errors in speech :

The students were asked to answer the following questions to test their word-
stress in speech the following errors were identified. Only std viii to x were given
the following test because the lower classes were not able to speak or understand
English.
Std VIII TO X
1J What is your name ? 2] What is your father’s name? 3] What is your father
doing 4] What will you do after you finish your 10th. 5] Where is your house ? 6]
Who teaches you english? 7] In which standard are you studying ? 8] Are you
coming to school tomorrow? The following words were picked up from their
conversation
Table : 61 Word-stress errors in speech
S.N. English words Samples Correct-word stress
1 Name n'aim 'neim
2 Farmer far'mar 'fa:ma
3 Studying stediqg ’stAdi:ir]
4 Teacher ti:car 'ti:tfa
5 Driver dre'var 'draiva
6 house aous 'haus
7 teaching ti:c'iog tktfir)
8 father fa: 'dar 'fa: 5 a
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9 engineer 'injiniar endgi'nia

10 doing du: 'vif]g 'du:i0
11 School 'isku:l 'sku:l
12 tomorrow tum'aro ta'mDrou
14 carpenter kar'pentsr ka:rpen'tar
15 buisnessman bisness 'biznessman
Performance of students: Of the 45 students 23 students had spoken with

correct word-stress. 8 students’ word-accent was partially correct. 14 students’
word-stress was in-correct. Some of the students spoke without any word-stress.
5.1.2.5 Sentence stress errors in speech std viii to x : The following sentences
were selected from their conversation. The sentence-stress errors in speech
identified are given below.
Questions : a] What is your name ?
Correct response: My 'name is San'gamesh.
Incorrect responses: 1] 'My name...Sangamesh
2] 'Vidhadara my name is.
3] 'name is Rajnikanth
b] What is your father’s name?
Correct response: My ' father’s name is 'Nagraj .
Incorrect responses: l]'My...father name 'is..'nagraj

2] Fath...er 'is Raghavendra
c] What is your father doing?

Correct response: My ' father is a 'driver.
Incorrect responses:
1] 'Driveru... 'my father.
2] 'My fathe...ris carpenter
3] 'My father 'photographer
338
4 ] 'My father 'doing 'buisness

5 ] 'My... father 'is..... kuli work [labourer]
d] What will you do after you finish your 10th.

Correct responses: I ' will study to 'become a teacher.
Incorrect responses: 1] My teacher studying.

2] 'I... 'study college. 2] I ' will go to 'college.
3] 'My father 'say I 'doing. 3] I ' will do what my 'father tells
4] 'I no 'think . 4]I ' did not 'think about it
5] 'My injineer [ engineer ] 'like but 10th good 'marks get no...
5] I ' d like to 'become an 'engineer
e] Where is your house ?

Correct responses : 1] My ' house is in 'Khilla
1] 'My house in 'Khilla
2] 'House....is 'karigara woni.
3] 'Megalpete my 'house.
Performance of students: Of the 45 students of std 8th to 10th only 13 students

were able to speak with correct sentence stress. 10 students sentence-stress was
partially correct. 22 students had incorrect sentence stress. These errors had
occured due to lack of fluency of the language. Students struggled to respond in
English. Mother tongue influence is another factor for incorrect sentence-stress
5.1.2.6 Intonation errors in speech: The students were asked to answer

few questions inorder to test their intonation errors. The following errors were
identified.
Correct response: My ' name is ' Sangamesh.
339
Incorrect responses: 1] 'My name..".Sangamesh

2] 'Vidhadara my name ..is.
3] 'name is .".Rajnikanth'
b] What is your father’s name?
Correct response: My " father’s name is Nag' raj.
1] 'My...father ../name 'is., nagraj
2] Fath...er 'is/ 'Raghavendra
c] What is your father doing?

Correct response: My " father is a ' driver.
Incorrect responses: 1] 'Driveru... 'my father.
2] 'My fathe...r is car.'.penter

3] 'Myfather., 'photographer
4 ] 'My father 'doing .".buisness
5 ] 'My... father 'is..... kuli .".work [labourer]
d] What will you do after you finish your 10th?
Correct responses: 1] I will "study to 'become a 'teacher
Incorrect responses: 1] My teacher studying.
2] 'I... 'study college. 2] I will "go to college.
3] 'My father 'say I ' doing. 3] I will " do what my 'father ' tells
4] 'I no ' think . 4] I didn’t " think ' about it.
5] 'My injineer [ engineer ] 'like but 10th good ' marks get no...
5] I’d "like to ’become an engineer.
e] Where is your house ?
Incorrect responses:Correct responses : 1] My "house is in 'Khilla.
340
1] 'My house in ' Khilla

2] 'House....is ' karigara woni.
3] 'Megalpete my ./house.
Performance of students: Of the 45 students 13 students were able to speak

with intonation. 10 students speech intonation was partially correct. 22 students
had poor intonation patterns. The 13 students who did well in their speech had
teachers who had been trained for the subject. The remaining students had errors
in intonation becuse their teachers were not trained in the subject.
5.1.2.7 Suggestions for teaching supra-segmentals:

Over the years there has been, a shift away from this atomistic view of
language learning towards a more holistic, "top down" approach which has been
reflected in both syllabus and material design, as well as in testing and in
classroom practice. (Thombury 1993) The current emphasis on pronunciation
teaching is on the broader phonological aspects of connected speech, and their
link to meaning on discourse level, and has resulted in renewed interest in the
place of pronunciation in communicative language teaching. (Evans & Jones
1995). It is this holistic, integrated approach to pronunciation teaching, through
focus on the supra-segmental aspects of phonology, that I find particularly
interesting as a language teacher.
The supra-segmental features are those which operate over longer stretches of
speech, such as, stress, rhythm, intonation, pitch, and voice quality as opposed to
the segmental features which are referred to as the individual sounds. In his book,
pronunciation, Laroy asserts that:
It is impossible to speak without rhythm and intonation, and these deeply affect
the quality of speech sounds. (Laroy 1995:39)
It is commonly agreed upon that it is intonation that has the greatest likelihood of
impeding intelligibility in a learner’s speech. By giving prominence to a word that
conveys an altogether different message than what was intended or by using an
inappropriate pitch key when speaking which confuses whether or not the
speaker is making a statement or asking a statement are just two examples of
341
potential problems that could occur. Although the supra-segmental features are
sometimes called the ’unteachables’, Laroy (1995) suggests that they are not’
unlearnable’.
Beginning at the top: By beginning with the overall voice setting or voice
quality of English and engaging the learner in activities which raise his or her
awareness to the way the language sounds, (perhaps by comparing it with other
languages), is in line with a holistic, "top-down" approach. This integrates
listening and speaking skills, involves the students’ personality and opinions, and
raises their awareness of how English and other languages they are familiar with
differ, or are somehow similar: In this light O’Connor states the following:
The basis of articulation has already been shown to be important in foreign-

language teaching: better results are achieved when the learner gets the basis of
articulation right rather than trying for the foreign sound sequences from the basis
of his own language (O’ Connor, 1973:289 in Thombury 1993).
Thombury also takes a clear position on this issue when he writes:
Until the learner is able to approximate the voice-setting features of the target
language, work on individual phonemes is largely whistling in the dark.
(Thombury 1993)
Because it is the supra-segmental features that control the structure of

information, the misuse or under-use of these features (such as; stress, unstress,
rhythm, intonation, linking and pausing) can cause an utterance to be understood
in a way other than was intended, and can cause frustration, and possibly de-
motivation, the learner who is not aware of how these features operate in the
target language.
In oral language, some words carry more importance or information than others.
This prominence is shown through a combination of volume, length and pitch
movement affecting syllables, whole words and over whole ’chunks’ of speech.
(Dalton & Siedlhofer 1994). It is necessary to point this out to learners,
consciencely raising their awareness, in order for them to grasp the importance of
how and why this is done: Intonation is not only central to conveying meaning
but attitude as well. Students must understand the function of intonation in
342
conveying attitude and be able to recognize the difference between different

intonation contours. (Avery & Ehrlich 1992)
Personal experience in the classroom that, this is definitely an area requiring work
from students and appreciate working on intonation. It often indicates like such a
mystery, it can be quite satisfying to ’crack the code’ to how meaning is conveyed
in their new, second language. This is especially true for students from language
backgrounds that are syllable-timed languages or tonal languages. In my present
experience with Kannada speakers, who have a somewhat narrower pitch range
than English speakers, work on how pitch range can express interest, boredom,
and is necessary and important to their success as English speakers. Because
Kannada is a syllable-timed language, work on prosodic features can prove
enlightening as it helps to demonstrates the phenomenon of vowel reduction,
which is not a feature of Kannada. In a high school class of Kannada speakers,
was asked to write for ten minutes, without pausing, about their feelings and
experiences concerning pronunciation. The results were interesting to read.
Although unfortunately not a big surprise, everyone made reference to how
difficult acquiring pronunciation was from his or her point of view. There seemed
to be a common consensus that it was confusing, complicated and something that
Kannada speakers could not do well.
Many mentioned problems with the ’tone’ and ’stress’ and others expressed
considerable concern with how complicated it was to Tmow how to put your
mouth, the position of the tongue, touching the teeth or not, and so on.’ Overall
there was an overbearing air that English pronunciation was something they could
never get right or at least something that they all had problems with and would
like to improve upon.
Students typically have problems with approximating the natural rhythm of

connected speech productively as well as receptively. This, as well as intonation,
are the areas that they would most benefit from working on and makes a case for
concentrating first on the supra-segmental areas of pronunciation and later
dealing with individual sounds.
343
The teacher should have a good knowledge of how the supra-segmentals are
employed in English. Supra-segmentals are those sounds which are overlaid on
segmentals. These do not occur without the segmentals which carry them.
Stress, rhythm, and intonation are the three important elements of the Supra-
segmental system used in English. Some syllables may be produced with more
force or intensity than others. This is called stress. English is a free stress
language, unlike Kannada in which the stress always falls on the last syllable of
the utterance. In English the stress can be placed on any syllable of the utterance
in order to achieve a variety of purposes. The meaning of single words can be
changed by shifting the stress. Words which are not ordinarily stressed may be
stressed for emphasis.
It is to be remembered that recognition (and production) of vowels and

stress in English is very difficult for the second or foreign language learners of
English. Some rules have been identified to explain why, where, and when the
stress falls in a word in English. “Unfortunately, there are no infallible rules for
determining which syllable of a word should be stressed. Many times you will
need to turn to the dictionary unless you hear the word spoken by someone
familiar with it. Certain observations, however, should be of help.
Focusing on selected sounds: One should not in the initial stage teach the
sounds of English individually. The sounds should be part of a meaningful word
or phrase or sentence. Students generally pick up the sound system by listening to
your model or voices on cassette, etc. However, the presentation of sounds in a
carefully selected word or phrase or sentence will help to direct the students’
learning process. And this will help to monitor progress. By practicing words and
phrases which contain the sounds to be learned, students are able to master the
production and use of these sounds.
Introduce the sound. Focus students’ attention on the teaching point.

Present a sentence or line/text which has the sound. Underline the sound in the
text. Avoid complications of stress, intonations, etc. Include examples of the
sound in all the positions.
Helping students to recognize and discriminate sounds: Some

suggest that only those sounds that are not common between English and the
native language of the learner should be focused upon for special treatment in a
344
pronunciation lesson. Some others suggest that “when an individual begins the
study of a foreign language, the new phonemes are often immediately obvious to
him, and he, therefore, tends to learn them rather quickly” (Prator, Jr., and
Robinett 1972: xiii).
It may be helpful to make use of a contrastive study of the phonetics of

English and the native language of the second or foreign language learner.
Through this study we will identify the sounds of English that are not found in
the native phonetic and phonemic system of the second or foreign language
learner.
Sounds that are used as allophones in the native language may be used as
phonemes in English. There may be differences in the number and kinds of
phonemes between English and the source language of the learner. Even if all the
phonemes of English are found in the source language of the learner, it is
possible that their distributional patterns may not match those of the phonemes
used in English.
It is also possible that the phonemes of English may occur in combinations

that are unfamiliar in the source language. English and the native language of the
learner may have similar phonemes at different points of articulation.
However, such a contrastive study may or may not be available to us. If we

have to prepare such a contrastive study on our own, we will need more skills in
linguistics than we may have right now. Making a contrast between English and
the native language of the learner should lead to the setting of a hierarchy of
possible errors in pronunciation. Otherwise mere contrast will be only a futile
exercise.
Scholars have found out that there are “large categories of speech
difficulties which all or many” learners of English have in common. In an
exhaustive study of errors committed by a variety of second or foreign language
learners of English, Prator, Jr., and Robinett (1972) found out that substitution of
one phoneme for another was relatively infrequent in the speech of their students.
Only a few such substitutions—/iy/ for /I/, HI for /iy/, /o/ for /ow/, /a/ for Id/, Is/
for /z/, Itl for Idl, Idl for 161, etc.— accounted for the great majority of cases. I
support this view because I found the errors in most of my Kannada medium
students.
345
Most others, while theoretically possible or even likely, were actually quite
uncommon and certainly could not be regarded as a problem of major
importance. I found students having no trouble with/m/ or the diphthongs /ay/,
/aw/, etc. even in those where the mispronunciation should have resulted in
giving the word a different meaning bit as /biyt/ (beat) instead of /bit/, the
context made the intended meaning quite clear. In other words, the substitution
seldom seemed to result in a misunderstanding . . . The students appeared simply
to fail to understand a word more often than they mistook it for some other word.
I did not understand them a great deal more frequently than I misunderstood them
. . . When an individual begins the study of a foreign language, the new
phonemes are often immediately obvious to him/her, and s/he therefore tends to
learn them rather quickly . . . But s/he may never notice or reproduce certain
other features of the new sound system, unless these are pointed out to him/her . .
The solution has been to regard unintelligibility not as the result of phonemic
substitution, but as the cumulative effect of many little departures from the
phonetic norms of the language. The fact that any phonetic abnormality can
contribute to unintelligibility does not mean, either, that all departures from the
norm should be treated as though they were of equal importance.
Main pronunciation problems should be identified that our students have.

Pronunciation problems will vary greatly from one place to another. Teachers
should already have prepare and publish a list of common errors of pronunciation
found in a particular class. If not, keep a diary of errors in pronunciation
committed by students and prepare a general list which can be used to develop
remedial drills.
1. The most common errors include the following: 1. Difficulty in

pronouncing sounds which do not exist in the student’s language. For example,
the sound / 5 / in the, [3:] Id/ in bird.
1 Confusion of similar sounds, for example, /i:/ in eat or fU in it, or lb/ and
/p/.
0. Use of simple vowels instead of diphthongs, for example, use of /i:/

instead of /I /.
0. Difficulty in pronouncing consonant clusters, for example, desks, fifth.
346
5. Tendency to give all syllables equal stress, and flat intonation.
Teaching stress and intonation: The syllable should be well understood

by the teacher who should be able to identify the syllables in an utterance. The
teacher should be skilled in identifying and counting the syllables in words,
phrases, and sentences.
It is to be remembered that most words with two or more syllables have one
stressed or strong syllable and one or two unstressed or weak syllables. Stress is
not dependent upon fixed place in the sentence. Stress can occur on any syllable.
Generally speaking, only nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, demonstratives and
interrogatives are stressed.
Often the vowel in the unstressed syllables is pronounced as / d / or HI. The

vowel in the beginning of the following words: Asia, apart, attack. All these
words have / d / in the beginning which is unstressed. Notice the first vowel in
the word between, and the last vowel in the word wanted. The vowel used is HI.
In the words able, and table, the “a” is pronounced as /el/. In vegetable and
syllable, it is reduced to Id/. In the word day, the “ay” is pronounced /el/ but in
the words Monday, and Tuesday, it is often reduced to III.
Note that the vowels in many conjunctions and prepositions such as and,
but, at, for, of are normally reduced unless the word is being specially stressed
for meaning conveyed. It is stressed in the construction John and Mary, both of
them.
Reducing vowels in this way is a feature of normal spoken English. It is,

however, very difficult for the second/foreign language learner to master, we
should use and demonstrate reduced vowels in our own speech in the classroom.
We should discuss what is meant by stress with our students if their native
language does not use stress. Whisper stressed words. This will show how the
stressed syllables are more prominent than the others. Pronounce a few selected
words, and ask students to underline stressed syllables. Prepare exercises to
demonstrate how stress changes the meaning.
“Strong stresses are one of the distinguishing features of English language; the
important syllables in English are more prominent, the unimportant syllables less
347
prominent than in most other languages. Stress is the key to the pronunciation of
an English word. If the wrong syllable is stressed, it may be quite impossible for
anyone listening to understand what is being said ... People who learn English as
a second language often make the mistake of pronouncing unstressed vowels the
way they are spelled . . . Unless you consult a pronouncing dictionary or a
competent English-speaking person, there is no sure way of knowing whether the
unaccented vowels of an unfamiliar word should be / d / or N. Frequently it
makes no difference . . . Unfortunately, there are no infallible rules for
determining which syllable of a word should be stressed. Many times we will
need to turn to the dictionary unless you hear the word spoken by someone
familiar with it... ” Prator, Jr., and Robinett (1972).
When it comes to teaching stress in English, especially to adult learners, it is

important that we combine modeling for production with auditory recognition
and explanation of possible rules for the placement of the strong stress (primary
accent). For this purpose, present several words of polysyllables and ask students
to decide which syllable is stressed in each word thus presented. They will mark
the primary accent on the vowel in the written word. This may be followed by an
exercise in which the students will identify which of the syllables are unstressed
in the words given.
The goal is to increase the ability of the students to recognize and place stress. To
achieve this it is important to give students groups of graded lists of words, such
as two syllabic, three syllabic, four syllabic, and five syllabic words. Perhaps
each group may consist of five or six words, and students will be asked to listen
to the oral model provided and to mark the syllable or syllables which are
stressed. The task may be made more complex by asking students to mark not
only the stressed but also the unstressed syllable of the words.
Auditory recognition must be followed by oral production. Production of

individual words must be followed by the production of phrases and sentences in
that order. It is to be remembered that English is a stress-timed language. This
means that the length of time between stressed syllables is always about the
same, and if there are several unstressed syllables they must be said more
quickly. He wrote a letter. He wrote a long letter. He wrote a very long letter. In
each of these sentences, the unstressed syllables (a, a long, a very long) take
about the same amount of time to say. So, “a very long” has to be said more
quickly.
348
We should emphasize that this stress timing is a very important feature of spoken
English. If students become accustomed to hearing English spoken with a natural
rhythm in class, they will find it easier to understand real English when they hear
it spoken outside the class. According to my experience we can use several
devices to demonstrate visually where there should be stress and where should be
no stress. This can be done aurally. Say the sentence, exaggerating the difference
between stressed and unstressed syllables.
This can be done also by using gesture. Use of arms as would a conductor of an
orchestra, use a stronger gesture for the stressed syllable. Clapping or tapping on
a desk more loudly for the stressed syllables, and less for the unstressed syllables
is another technique that can be adopted. Use the black board. Circle the element
in a word which is unstressed, and underline an element that is stressed. Write the
stressed syllable in heavier letters.
Prator, Jr., and Robinett (1972:28) suggest tackling the problem of

acquiring a good English speech rhythm under five parts:
0. Giving proper emphasis to stressed syllables, and making these recur

rather regularly within a thought group.
0. Weakening unstressed words and syllables, and obscuring the
vowels in most of them.
0. Organizing words properly into thought groups by means of pauses.
0. Blending the final sound of each word and syllable with the initial
sound of the one following within the same thought group.
0. Fitting the entire sentence into a normal intonation pattern.
Intonation: Intonation is speech melody. The way our voice goes up and down
during speech. Intonation is very important in expressing meaning, and especially
in showing our feelings, such as surprise, anger, disbelief, gratitude, etc.
Intonation patterns are quite complex, and it is better for students to acquire them
naturally rather than try to learn them consciously. That is, modeling and
imitation in an unconscious way is important.
Rising intonation is used in asking yes/no questions, and to express

surprise, disbelief, etc. The voice rises sharply on the stressed syllable. Is he your
friend? Do you want some tea? “In English, rising intonation is normally used at
the end of questions which do not begin with an interrogative word (that is to say,
349
questions which may be answered merely by yes or no)” (Prator, Jr., and Robinett
1972:54). Falling intonation is used for normal statements, commands, and for
WH-questions. The voice rises slightly earlier in the sentence, and then falls on
the key word being stressed. “What’s your name?” Remember that the voice rises
slightly earlier in the sentence, and then falls on the key word being stressed.
Remember that “the voice often does not rise and fall (suddenly); ... the change
from one tone to another may be gradual and extend over several syllables”
(Prator, Jr., and Robinett 1972:42, footnote).
It is necessary to emphasize that students should weaken the unstressed vowels,

blend words together, fix the intonation in their mind, ear, and speech habits. For
this they should repeat the short sentences themselves until they sound natural to
them (Prator, Jr., and Robinett 1972:47).
The way to practice stress and intonation: The easiest way for students
to practice stress and intonation is by repetition. Prepare sets of sentences with
contrasting intonations and give them to the students to practice. Identify such
sentences, wherever possible, from within the lesson.
We should give a good model of the sentence. Say it at normal speed,

making a clear difference between stressed and unstressed syllables, and using
natural intonation. Indicate the stress and intonation clearly, using gestures. Say
the sentence in sections, starting with the end of the sentence and gradually
working backwards to the beginning. For example, living here/been living
here/have you been living here?, etc. we have to ask groups of students to repeat
the whole sentence, then individual students should be asked to repeat the whole
sentence. Watch carefully whether the students pay attention to stress and
intonation when they repeat the sentence.
As a teacher of English language, it is necessary to do “more homework”

when we wish to teach stress and intonation. Before we begin giving the drill,
practice saying the sentence ourselves. Mark the stressed syllables. Mark places
where we could divide the sentences for working backward. Mark rising or
falling intonation.
350
5.1.2.8 Conclusion; Performance of the Students:
The performances of students are compared and contrasted on the basis of the
variables chosen such as sex, economic position, parental education. The table
shows the overall performance of the students in supra-segmental features of
English language.
Table : 62 Performance of students in % in the aspects of supra-segmental

features
S.N Error types Sex Economic Parental

position education
A Reading skill M F Total LIG MIG HIG UED ED
1 Word stress 39.0 35.0 74.0 35.0 35.0 4.0 60.0 14.0
2 Sentence stress 38.0 30.0 68.0 31.0 29.0 8.0 59.0 9.0
3 Intonation 35.0 30.0 75.0 31.0 29.0 5.0 60.0 15.0
Average 37.3 31.6 68.93 32.3 24.3 5.6 59.6 12.6
B Speaking skill
1 Word stress 29.0 20.0 49.0 24.0 20.0 5.0 40.0 9.0
2 Sentence stress 36.0 35.0 71.0 36.0 34.0 1.0 60.0 11.0
3 Intonation 36.0 35.0 71.0 36.0 34.0 1.0 60.0 11.0
Average 33.6 30.0 63.6 28.6 29.3 2.3 53.3 10.3
Total average 35.4 30.8 66.2 30.4 26.8 3.9 56.4 11.4
M - Male, F - Female, LIG - Low Income Group, MIG - Middle Income Group,
HIG - High Income Group, UED - Uneducated, ED - educated.
Findings:
The data analysed shows that out of the 45 students of high school 37.3 % of the
male 31.6% of female students had suprasegmental errors in reading. In the same
way 33.6% male and 30% female had suprasegmental errors in speech. It was
found that the mean score between MIG and LIG, is 3.6% . The mean score
between MIG, and HIG is 22.9%. and the mean score between LIG and HIG is
26.5%. The mean score between UED and ED is 45%. The mean score
between male and female students is 4.6%. The performance of students coming
from economically well placed and educated background is better than the
351
students coming from low Income group and middle Income group. The
performance of female students was better than the performance of male students.
It was found that the performance of Kannada Medium high school students was
poor. The reason for the low performance of students is that they are mostly first
generation learners and they have less exposure to English. Further they come
from rural illiterate background. In the process of reading second language
learning students have difficulties with the word identification or correct
pronunciation. The performance of female students was better than the
performance of male students. The performance of high income and middle
income group back ground students is better than low income group. The
students in the experiment encountered many problems with pronunciation and
word identification. The lack of confidence in the second language probably
played a key role in dess confident' reading. Uncertainty in reading is one of the
factors which probably influences the development of melody contours of the
readers.
It was found that the students had difficulty in acquiring pronunciation.They found
it was confusing and complicated. Many mentioned problems with the 'tone' and
'stress' and others expressed considerable concern with how complicated it was to
'know how to put your mouth, the position of the tongue, touching the teeth or not,
and so on.’ Overall there was an overbearing air that English pronunciation was
something they could never get right or at least something that they all had
problems with and would like to improve upon.
Students typically have problems with approximating the natural rhythm of

connected speech productively as well as receptively. This, as well as intonation,
are the areas that they would most benefit from working on and concentrating
first on the supra-segmental areas of pronunciation and later dealing with
individual sounds.
si* *1* si* si* si* si* Jrf) si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* S^ si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* 4* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si* si*
i^i *Js ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^ ^ *p* *Js ^ *^s *f* *7* ^s *j% *7* *^s ^ *j* *7* *Js *y* ^s *js *Js *js *7» *7* *7* *7* *ys *7»

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305

CHAPTER 5:THE SUPRA-SEGMENTAL FEATURES

A segmental study of a string of sounds requires that each sound or segment is

e.g. | 1 |2|3|4|5|6|7|8| etc.

It is possible to produce fairly effective oral communication by uttering

Supra-segmental features are more difficult to study and to quantify because we

1. shortest string > syllable (minimal syllable = one vowel)

2. relatively longer string than 1. > word

3. relatively longer string than 2. > compound-word, made up of two or

4. relatively longer string than 3. > phrase

5. relatively longer string than 4. > clause

6. Longest string is 5. > sentence

In phonetic terms, these concepts are differentiated only on the basis of

assimilation of a language’s prosodic or supra-segmental elements —stress,

5.1 The Stress of English:

Many authors have made a number of observations and given helpful

Table : 55 Stress shift

export (n) export (v)

Stress can be defined as the prominence given to a syllable in a word. This

relationship between stress and vowel quality is illustrated by the following

Table : 56 Relationship between stress and vowel quality

permit> (n) /'p3;mit/ permit (v) /pa’mit/

These are only a few examples of a phenomenon of great generality in English.

S.lJTone groups of Supra-segmental features:

-/du ju ni:d aeniGiq/Do you need anything?

5.1.1.1 Characteristics of intonation (stress accent)

English is a stress-timed language, i.e., certain syllables in each multi-syllablic

That | was | the | best | thing \ you | could | have | done!

John hadn't stolen that money. (... Someone else had.)

I didn’t tell her that. (... Someone else told her.)

When do you want to be paid?

5.1.1.3 Supra-segmental errors in reading; 1] Errors in word-stress. 2]

Word stress or Word accent: is the magic key to understanding spoken

0. They find it difficult to understand native speakers, especially those

In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis given to certain syllables in a

The possibilities for stress in tone languages is an area of ongoing research.

Timing and placement: English is a stress-timed language; that is, stressed

5.1.1.4 Degrees of stress : Primary and secondary stress are distinguished in

3. On a full vowel: An unstressed syllable with a full vowel also corresponds

Therefore, in a phonemic transcription of English words that indicates reduced

an unstressed but unreduced vowel. (Unstressed oi does not normally reduce in

Different systems exist for indicating syllabification and stress.

• In IPA, primary stress is indicated by a high vertical line before the

5.1.L5 Rules of Word Stress in English:

0. Only vowels can be stressed, not consonants.

1 Stress on first syllable

Most2-syllable nouns PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble

Most2-syllable adjectives PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy

2 Stress on last syllable

3. Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)

Words ending in -sion and - television, reveLAtion

4. Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)

deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy,

Words ending in -al CRItical, geoLOGical

5. Compound words (words with two parts)

For compound nouns, the stress is on the first

For compound adjectives, the stress is on the

For compound verbs, the stress is on the second

5.1.1.6 Error identification and error analysis:

Table : 57 Word-accent errors in reading

S.N English words Incorrect word-accent Correct word-accent

5 with ’wi’5 ’wi5

Performance of students: Out of the 23 students, 7 students were able to