1. Stress, Rhythm, & Intonation in Spoken English
San Jose State University

2. Review of Terminology Stress
The linguistic means of making a syllable more “prominent”

3. Review of Terminology Stress
The linguistic means of making a syllable more “prominent”
This is done by changing the
________
of the vowel in the stressed syllable

4. Review of Terminology Stress
The linguistic means of making a syllable more “prominent”
This is done by changing the
Pitch
Length
Volume
of the vowel in the stressed syllable

5. Review of Terminology Rhythm *At the phrase or sentence level*
Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables that create the “music” or “melody” of a language

6. Review of Terminology Rhythm *At the phrase or sentence level*
Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables that create the “music” or “melody” of a language
The workers are going on strike tomorrow.

7. Review of Terminology Rhythm *At the phrase or sentence level*
Patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables that create the “music” or “melody” of a language
The WORkers are GOing on STRIKE toMORrow.
_  _ _  _ _  _  _

8. Review of Terminology Rhythm
The WORkers are GOing on STRIKE toMORrow.
_  _ _  _ _  _  _
** When determining the rhythm of an English utterance, look first for the content words—they are usually the words that will contain the “beats” in the rhythm. **

9. Review of Terminology Rhythm
In the utterance below:
How many syllables total? _____
How many “beats”? ____
“She would’ve liked to have gone to the movie.”
_ _ _  _ _  _ _ _ : “

10. Review of Terminology Rhythm
In the utterance below:
How many syllables total? Eleven
How many “beats”? Three
“She would’ve liked to have gone to the movie.”
_ _ _  _ _  _ _ _
Content words:
“Liked” (verb) / “Gone” (verb) / “Movie” (noun)
“She” = unstressed because it is a pronoun
“would’ve” = unstressed because it is a modal verb

11. Review of Terminology /ʃiy wʊdəv layk tuw həv gɑn tə ðə muwviy/
“She would’ve liked to have gone to the movie.”
_ _ _  _ _  _ _ _
/ʃiy wʊdəv layk tuw həv gɑn tə ðə muwviy/

12. Review of Terminology Intonation Are  you ready yet? 
*At the sentence level*
Patterns of pitch changes and variations within a phrase or utterance
Often conveys the speaker’s mood, intentions, attitude
The variations still follow rhythm patterns (stressed syllables are the ones that receive the pitch changes—overall pitch changes made in relation to the other pitches in the whole phrase or utterance)
Are  you ready yet? 
You can’t  be serious! 

13. Review of Terminology Rhythm & Contrastive Stress
Think about the context of the utterance—what words are probably the most “important” to the speaker? They will likely carry the “beats.” These may sometimes be function words:
A: “Are you going to the theatre?”
B: “No, I’m coming from the theatre.”

14. Contrastive Stress
I did not say you stole my red hat.

15. Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat.
(She said you did.)

16. Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat.
(She said you did.) (I completely, strongly deny it.)

17. Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat.
(She said you did.) (I completely, strongly deny it.) (I implied it.)

18. Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat.
(She said you did.) (I completely, strongly deny it.) (I implied it.) (I said she stole it.)

19. Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat.
(She said you did.) (I completely, strongly deny it.) (I implied it.) (I said she stole it.) (I said you borrowed it.)

20. Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat.
(She said you did.) (I completely, strongly deny it.) (I implied it.) (I said she stole it.) (I said you borrowed it.) (I said you stole her red hat.)

21. Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat.
(She said you did.) (I completely, strongly deny it.) (I implied it.) (I said she stole it.) (I said you borrowed it.) (I said you stole her red hat.) (I said you stole my blue one.)

22. Contrastive Stress I did not say you stole my red hat.
(She said you did.) (I completely, strongly deny it.) (I implied it.) (I said she stole it.) (I said you borrowed it.) (I said you stole her red hat.) (I said you stole my blue one.) (I said you stole my red bat.)