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Rhythm
As you know, spoken English words with two or more syllables have different
stress and length patterns. Some syllables are stressed more than others and
some syllables are pronounced longer than others.
The same is true of phrases and sentences. Different words in a sentence have
stronger stress and are pronounced longer and other words are weaker and
shorter. This pattern of strong and weak stress and short and long pronunciation
gives English its rhythm.
It is important for non-native speakers to understand and master the rhythm
of English. If the wrong words are stressed in a sentence or if all words are
pronounced with the same length or loudness, the speech will be difficult to
understand.
Words that have the most stress in English are called content words. Content
words are usually the nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns
(demonstrative, possessive, reflexive, and interrogative).
These words are important to express the main meaning of the sentence.
Nouns: Terry, car, dinner
Verbs: eat, study, drive
Adjectives: blue, large, oval
Adverbs: quietly, smoothly, equally
Pronouns:
that, theirs, himself, what
Function words are those words that are weaker and shorter. They include
auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions, determiners, and possessive
adjectives. These words are less important in expressing
the meaning of the sentence.
Auxiliary verbs: may, do, have (if not the
main verb)
Prepositions: under, around, near
Conjunctions: but, not,
Determiners: the, some, each
Possessive adjectives: my, your, our
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Listen to the following sentences.
Note that the content words (in bold) are stressed more
(pronounced louder and longer) than the functions words.
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When are you coming to dinner? |
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I have never liked the color red.
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Motorcycles can be dangerous to drive or ride on.
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Last month
Carol got a new job in San Francisco.
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Not everyone likes chocolate ice cream,
but I do. |
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Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday.
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Stress Timing
Some languages are syllable timed and others are stressed timed. In syllable
timed languages, the syllables are the same length and the number of
syllables determines the length of time required to say something.
English is a stressed time language. In a stressed time language, speakers
try to make the amount of time to say something the same between the stressed
syllables. If there are three or four unstressed syllable between the stressed
syllables, the unstressed syllables will be spoken faster, so that the speaker
can keep the rhythm. Also, in order to keep the rhythm, if there are no
unstressed syllable between stressed syllables, the stressed syllables are
stretched out to space them equally. The time it takes to say something in
English depends on the number of stressed syllables, not the number of syllables.
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The following group of numbers each have 4 stressed syllables,
but the actual syllables in each group is different. |
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(actual
syllables) |
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a. |
one |
two |
three
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four |
4
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b. |
five
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six |
seven |
eight
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c. |
nine |
ten |
eleven |
twelve |
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d. |
thirteen
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fourteen |
fifteen
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sixteen |
8
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e. |
seventeen |
eighteen |
nineteen |
twenty
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To practice getting the beat and rhythm of English try counting from one to
twenty. Tap with your finger on a table as you count the numbers. Keep the tapping
evenly spaced. The beginning of each number should occur on the tap. |
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Look and listen to the three sentences
below. They all have the same number of stressed
syllables, but a different number of unstressed
syllables.
Practice the beat and rhythm again try tapping with your finger on a table
while saying the sentences. The stressed syllables should be said on the tap.
All three sentences have four stressed syllables and should take about the same amount of time to say.
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Bob ate some corn.
4 syllables |
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Kenny
has swam to France and back.
8
syllables |
play |
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The Americans are
buying
some souvenirs and posters. 15 syllables |
play
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For more practice try saying the sentences below. In the first
sentence the taps should come on the second word (bought) and the
fourth word (book) and should be about a second apart. Continue with
this beat and add each new phrase to the sentence.
She bought the book
She bought the book for his birthday
She bought the book for his birthday
today
She bought the book for his birthday
today she had read
She bought the book for his birthday
today she had read long ago in
college
She bought the book for his birthday
today she had read long ago in
college as a freshman
She bought the book for his birthday
today she had read long ago in
college as a
freshman about daffodils
She bought the book for his birthday
today she had read long ago in
college as a freshman about daffodils and how to
grow them.
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