Introduction to phonetics and English phonology: Uttalslära Introduction to phonetics and English phonology: Sounds in Context Stress

Why doesn’t synthethic speech sound natural? • All sounds tend to be pronounced in all words. • The stress patterns are not natural, or all words are stressed equally much • Pauses between words tend to have exactly the same duration

Example text, read by speech synthesiser Text-to-speech systems are beginning to be applied in many ways, including aids for the handicapped, medical aids and teaching devices. The first kind of aid to be considered is a talking aid for the vocally handicapped. According to the American Speech and Hearing Association there are over one million people in the United States who are unable to speak for one reason or another.

Sounds in context Sounds in isolation are sometimes different from sounds in words Words in isolation are sometimes pronounced differently from words in sentences

A sound in a word can be different from a sound in isolation, because neighbouring sounds affect each other. In English, a sound in one word can also affect a sound in a neighbouring word, especially in rapid speech.

Some of the processes of change are • linking /r/ and intrusive /r/ in RP • assimilation • elision • weak forms of some words in connected speech

Assimilation Assimilation means that the pronunciation of a sound is influenced by a sound that comes immediately after (regressive) or immediately before (progressive). Swedish example of regressive assimilation: min bil where /n/ becomes /m/ because of the following /b/ /mım bi:l/

Regressive assimilation A sound is changed by the following sound. Examples: light blue /laıp blu:/ /t/ → /p/ gunpoint /'gumpɔınt/ /n/ → /m/ ten cups /teŋ kʌps/ /n/ → /ŋ/

Progressive assimilation A sound is changed/influenced by the previous sound. Examples: washed /wɒʃt/ /ıd/ → /t/ loved /lʌvd/ /ıd/ → /d/

Elision Elision means that a sound is omitted (removed), in particular in rapid or casual speech. Especially noticeable in consonant clusters. Elision makes a word or phrase easier to pronounce. don’t know /'doʊnt 'noʊ/ → /də'noʊ/ fifth /fıfθ/ → /fıθ/ George the Sixth’s throne /sıksθs θrəʊn/ → /sıksθrəʊn/

Weak forms of words Many function words have a strong and a weak form. These words come from the following word classes: Auxiliaries, conjunctions, prepositions, determiners, pronouns. There are about 40 such words in English.

Weak forms of words • Reduced vowel to /ə/ or /ı/ • Reduced or removed /h/ at the beginning of words • End consonant reduced (esp. in and)

Strong and weak forms The strong form is used • at the end of a sentence (pronouns can have the weak form at the end of sentences) • for emphasis or contrast

Strong and weak forms The Weak forms: /ðə/ (before consonants) “Shut the door” /ðı/ (before vowels) “Wait for the end” Strong form: /ði:/ “He is the man to ask”

Strong and weak forms and Weak forms: /ən/, /n/ “I’d like to meet John and Jack.” Strong form: /ænd/ “I said that I’d like to meet John and Jack, not John or Jack.”

Strong and weak forms some Weak form: /səm/ “Have some more” Strong form: /sʌm/ “I’ve had some”

Strong and weak forms him Weak form: /ım/ “I met him there.” Strong form: /hım/ “I asked him, not her.”

Strong and weak forms to Weak forms: /tə/ + consonant, /tu/ + vowel “I went to see her”, “To answer your question…” Strong form: /tu:/ “I didn’t mean to.”

Stress When a syllable in a word is pronounced more forcefully than the other syllables, we say that the syllable is stressed.

Stress • Word stress (which syllable in a word is stressed) • Sentence stress (which word(s) in a sentence is/are stressed)

Word stress – the syllable A syllable is a unit of sound consisting of one vowel sound and, often, one or more consonants. Words with one syllable include: I, out, too, cap, snap, check Words with several syllables include: ba•lance, ar•ti•cle, a•ca•de•my, am•bi•gu•i•ty

Word stress – the syllable In phonetic writing, stress is marked with a short vertical line immediately before the stressed syllable in the transcription. machine /mə'ʃi:n/ television /'teləvıʒən/ suppose /sə'pəʊz/

Word stress Some words have a primary (stronger) stress and a secondary (weaker) stress. anthropology /ˌænθrə'pɒlədʒı/ appendicitis /əˌpendə'saıtıs/ beneficial /ˌbenə'fıʃəl/

Word stress The placement of stress in English words is so difficult to predict that it’s best to learn the stress when one learns the word.

Word stress Words with two or three syllables are often stressed on the first syllable. ar•ti•cle a•ve•rage ba•lance me•nu mo•del spe•ci•men Note that “cafe” has different stress in RP and GA!

Word stress Words with more than three syllables are normally stressed on the third syllable from the end. a•ca•de•my am•bi•gu•i•ty de•mo•cra•cy hy•po•the•sis

Double stress A few words have two main stresses. • thir•teen, four•teen .... nine•teen • Chi•nese, Japa•nese etc • some (not all!) compounds: week-end, first-class, absent-minded

Double or single stress Note the difference between compounds and phrases! Compound Phrase a black•bird a black bird a dark-room a dark room the White house the white house

Stress shift Sometimes, the stress in a word changes when a word is part of a phrase. thir•teen thir•teen wo•men in•side in•side in•for•ma•tion

Regular stress shifts Words with two syllables that can be both a noun/adjective and a verb have a regular stress shift pattern. The noun/adjective is stressed on the first syllable, the verb is stressed on the second syllable.

con•duct (n) con•duct (v) ab•stract (adj or n) ab•stract (v) in•sult (n) in•sult (v) ex•port (n) ex•port (v) per•fect (adj) per•fect (v) re•cord (n) re•cord (v)

Thank you for listening!