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Strong and weak syllables

Here are the sentences with vowels filled in: 1. The c_ttl_ w_r_ gr_z_ng _n th_ f__ld. The cætlə wərə grɑɪzɪŋ ɪn ðə fi:ld. 2. H_ w_nt t_ b_y _ b_ttl_ _f m_lk. Hə wənt tə baɪ ə bɒtl̥ əv mɪlk. 3. Sh_ w_s v_ry h_ppy _b_ut _t

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•Strong English syllables Pronunciation •Weak syllables
baiSER gaLLEta GUAgua This is also true of many other languages
It is necessary How these weak sylables are pronounced Where they occur in English
Which is very important in Stress deciding wheter a syllable is strong or weak
Elision Intonation
We find the vowel in a weak “data” syllable tends to be shorter, of /deΙtƏ/ Syllable lower intensity Consonant The weak syllable contains “bottle” /bɒtl/ no vowel at all
Stress Strong syllables are stressed Weak syllables are unstressed
The vowel Ə (“schwa”) A close front unrounded vowel in the general area of i:, I, symbolised i A close back rounded vowel inthe general area of u:, Ʊ, symbolised u
 happy /betƏ/  Better /hæpi/  thank you /Ɵæɳk ju/
 Open /ƏƱpƏn/  Sharpen /ʃɒ:pƏn/
 “photograph” /fƏƱtƏgrɒ:f/  “radio” /reIdiƏƱ/  “influence” /InfluƏns/
 “architect” /a:kItekt/
PHONOLOGY TAMARA CABRERA GENNY NAZARENO VANESSA SISALEMA 4th «B»
THE VOWEL (“ SCHWA”)
The most frequently occurring vowel in English It is generally Is always described as associated lax-that is, not whit weak articulated syllables with much energy
Examples - halfway - between - close - open Note.- Not all weak syllables contain ə, though many do.
Learners of English need to learn where ə is appropriate and where it is not We have to use information that We must consider traditional phonemic spelling theory.
 Spelt with “ a”; strong pronunciation would have æ
“ attend” /ətend/ “ barracks” /bærəks/ “ character” /kærətə/
Spelt with «ar»; strong pronunciation would have ɑ:
“pɑrticular” /pətɪkjələ / “monɑrchy” /mɒnəki / “molɑr” /məʊlə /
Adjectives endings spelt “ ate”; strong pronunciation would have eɪ
“ intimɑte” /ɪntɪmət/ “accurɑte” /ækjərət/ “desolɑte” /desələt/ (although there are exceptions to this: “private” is usually /praɪvɪt/)
Spelt with “o”; strong pronunciation would have ɒ or əʊ
“tomorrow” /təmɒrəʊ/ “potato” /pəteɪtəʊ/ “carrot” /kærət/
Spelt with “or”; strong pronunciation would have ɔ:
“forget” /fəget/ “ambassador” /æmbæsədə/ “opportunity” / ɒpətʃu:nəti/
“settlement” /setəlmənt / “violet” /vaɪələt/ “postment” /pəʊstmən/
 Spelt with “er”, strong pronunciation would have ɜ:
 “perhaps” /pəhæps/  “stronger” /strɒŋgə/  “superman” /su:pəmæn/
 Spelt with “u”; strong pronunciation would have ʌ
 “autumn” /ɔ:təm/  “support” / səpɔ:t/  “halibut” /hælɪbət/
 Spelt with “ough” ( there are many pronunciations for the letter- sequence “ough”)
 “thorough” /θʌrə/  “borough” /bʌrə/
 Spelt with “ou”; strong pronunciation might have ɑʊ
 “gracious” /greɪʃəs/ “ callous” /kæləs/
One close front Weak syllables: They are equal Other close back rounded
Strong syllables: Easy to distinguish FOR FOR
Example: “beat” [bi:t] We can distinguis “bit” [bIt] h sounds
“easy” [i:zI] We can´t distinguis “busy” [bIzi:] h sounds
Vowels in Questions: They sound like [i:] and [u:] when they precede another vowel.
For BBC pronunciation: Within strong syllables sound [i:] is NEUTRALIZED in weak syllables.
Possibilities, using our symbols: “easy” “busy” [i:zi: [bIzi:] ] [i:zI] [bIzI]
We find i occuring:
Words in the final position “y” or “ey” after one or more consont letter. <happy> [hᴂpi ] <valley> [vᴂli ]
In morpheme-final position when such words have suffixes beginning with vowels. <happier> [hᴂpi ] ə <easier> [i:ziə]
In the prefix such as those spelt „re‟, „pre‟, „de‟; if it precedes a vowel and is untressed. <react> [riᴂkt ] <create> [krieit] <deodorant> [diə dərənt]
In the suffixes :„iate‟, „ious‟, when they have two syllables <appreciate> [əpri:ʃieI t] <hilarious> [hileəriəs]
In the following words when unstressed: „he‟, „she‟, „we‟, „me‟, „be‟ and the word „the‟ when it precedes a vowel.
With [i] the sound is short close front unrounded vowel. <enough> [Inᴧf]
In weak syllables we found [u:]. „you‟, „to‟, „into‟, „do‟ When they are untressed are not immediatly preciding a consonant, „through‟ [θru:]
This vowel is also found before another vowel withing a word. <evacuation>[ivᴂkjueiʃṇ] <influenza> [influenzə]
Syllabic l
Small vertical l stands as the mark (,) to Syllables in peak of the which no indicate that a syllable instead vowel is found. consonant is of the vowel. syllabic.
If the preceding consonant is alveolar , the articulatory movement from the preceding consonant to the syllabic l is quite simple.  with alveolar consonant preceding: „cattle‟ kæt l̥ „bottle‟ b ɒ t l̥ „wrestle‟ rɛs l̥ „muddle‟ m ʌ d l̥
letters followed  le  with non-alveolar consonant preceding: „couple‟ k ʌp l̥ „struggle‟ strʌg l̥ „trouble‟ trʌb l̥ „knuckle‟ nʌk l̥
words usually lose their final letter „e‟ when s suffix beginning with a vowel is attached ,but the l usually remains syllabic.  „bottle‟ - „bottling‟ bɑt l̥ - bɑt l̥ ɪ ŋ  „muddle‟ – „muddling‟ m ʌ d l̥ - m ʌ d l̥ ɪ ŋ  „struggle‟ – struggling strʌg l̥ - strʌg l̥ ɪ ŋ
„coddling‟(derive Show a contrast d from the verb between syllabic „coddle‟) and non- syllabic Don‟t have the l: syllabic l „codling‟(meanin „coddling‟ kɒdl̥ɪŋ g “small cod", derived by „codling‟ kɒdlɪŋ adding the suffix „ling‟ to „cod‟.
syllabic words spelt, at the end , with one or more consonants letters followed by „al‟ or „el‟. „panel‟ p æ n l̥ „petal‟ pet l̥ „kernel‟ k ɜ ː nl̥ „pedal‟ ped l̥ „parcel‟ p ɑ ːsl̥ „Babel‟ be ɪ b l̥ „papal‟ pe ɪ p l̥ „ducal‟ djuːkl̥
• A close back rounded vowel BBC ACCENT instead (e.g. 'bottle‟ bɒtu)
it is not obligatory to pronounce syllabic l, əl may used instead: „missal‟ or m ɪ s ə l note!
Therefore
 In many accents of the type called “rhotic”  In american accents, the syllabic r is very common .  Examples : the word “particular”  Americans  BBC pronunciation  Future  Teacher  Never
 It isn t unusual to find two syllabic consonants together.  Examples:  National  Literal  Visionary  Veteran  In BBC the “schwa” vowel is very very weak.
 This about preliminary notions without a full explanation.  Familiar with the differences between stressed and unstressed and nature of the “schwa”  In the same way with “i” , ”u”  Logman pronunciation dictionary  The cambrige english pronouncing dictionary
Introduction of the “schwa” vowel has been deliberaty delayed until this chapter, since the author wanted it to be presented in the context of weak syllables in general. Since students sould by now be comporatively well informed about basic segmental phonetics, it is very important that their production and recognition of this vowel should be good before moving on to the following chapters.
This chapter is in a sense a crucial point in the course. Although the segmental material of the preceding chapters is important as a foundation, the strog/weak syllable distinction and the overall prosodic characteristics of words and sentences are essential to intelligibility. Most of the remaining chapterss of the course are corcened with such matters.
The following sentences have been partially trancribed, but the vowels have been left blanj. Fill in the vowels, takig care to identify wich vowels are weak; put no vowel at all if you think a syllabic consonant is appropiate, but put a syllabic mark beneath the syllabic consonant.
Strong and weak syllables
Strong and weak syllables