Degrees of utterance stress

Words in an utterance receive different kinds and degrees of prominence. First of all, there is an opposition of nuclear and non-nuclear stresses. The nuclear stress is the only obligatory stress in an intonation group, signalling its central point. The nuclear stress is kinetic, it occupies a relatively fixed position in an intonation group (final), though any word in any position can become a nucleus provided it carries the most important information. Non-nuclear stresses are subdivided into full and partial stresses.

Full stresses occur only in the head of an intonation group. Partial stresses occur also in the prehead and the tail. Partial stresses are subdivided into high and low. High partial stresses normally occur in the head of an intonation group and in the tail after a rising or a falling-rising tone, while they are quite rare in the prehead.

E.g.: ‘Don’t forget to keep me ,posted.

Low partial stresses are used in the tail after a falling or rising-falling nuclear tone and in the prehead.

E.g.: She was un^\certain about her coming back.

Partial stresses are given to words of reduced informative value either because they are repeated from a previous context or because they denote ideas of smaller importance.

Speech Exercises

Ex. 1 Read out the sentences each time giving the nuclear stress to the last notional word in an utterance.

Model: He can ‘sort it ‵out. He can ‘sort it out ‵easily.

1 A big elephant. She can see a big elephant. 2 Jack and Eddy. She can see Jack and Eddy. 3 Next Sunday. He can do it next Sunday. 4 Forget it. Bill must forget it. 5 A balcony. See a balcony. Ben can see a balcony. 6 A candle. Give me a candle. Jane will give me a candle. 7 Joe was away. Joe was away in France. Joe was away in France for a week.

Now you go on. Make up extended sentences with the Falling tone. Use the prompts:

fetch the vase;

meet at seven;

get a rise;

break his promise;

play chess;

tell the truth;

buy bananas;

swim two miles;

stay at home;

learn the poem;

dance a waltz

<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
B) Read the sentences. Make sure you use the weak forms of the verbs, and the Low Wide Rise in unfinished parts of utterances.	\|	Ex. 2 Act out the following conversations. Comment on the stressing of the auxiliary verbs and prepositions in B’s part.

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