1. Rhythm Word Stress Sentence Stress Rhythm and Its Features
I. Kinds of stress
II.Stress Placement
III.Stress Influence Meaning of words
Word Stress
Sense stress
Logical stress
Emotional Stress
Sentence Stress I.
Rhythm
Rhythm Group and its Division
Features of English Rhythm
Rhythm and Its Features
Sense-groups and Pausing
Sense-groups and Their Divisions
Pausing

2. Stress may be defined as the degree of force or loudness with which
I. Word Stress
Definition of stress :
Stress may be defined as the degree of force or loudness with which
a sound or syllable is articulated.
Stress can be classified as word stress and sentence stress.
2.Classification of English words in phonetics :
In phonetics , English words can be divided into three groups according to
the number of syllables contained , they are :
1) monosyllables, 2) disyllables, 3) polysyllables.
3.Word stress:
In every English word of two or more syllables at least one syllable should
be articulated with more force or loudness than the rest, we call this phenomenon word stress.

3. 4. Types of Word Stress :
It is possible to distinguish many levels of stress, but from the practical point of
view, it is sufficient to distinguish three principal kinds:
(1) Primary stress ----heavily stressed , usu. Marked with a vertical stroke
on the upper left hand corner of a syllable carrying the stress.
(2) Secondary stress ----stressed but subordinate to the primary stress , usu.
marked with a vertical stroke on the lower left hand corner of a syllable
concerned, as in |contri|bution.
(3) Double stress /even stress----Certain English words have double stress or
even stress. Double stress can be marked by a high vertical stroke before
each of the stressed syllables, as in |fif|teen, |Ber|lin.

4. Some rules to observe in stress placement：
A): General rules of stress placement for simple words :
1) For most English words of two syllables the stress usu. Falls on the first syllable.
common, nation, open, study , sorry
2) For words of three or more syllables the stress usually falls on the third syllable from the end .
universe, article, relative, democracy, economy
B): Compounds:
1) most compounds (esp. Nouns) bear primary stress on the first element.
sports-ground, bathroom; language teacher
2) Some compounds have double stress:
paper tiger, leather shoes, cotton cloth, boiling water;
3) A very few compounds bear primary stress on the second element:
With-out, mankind, whatever, myself, forever. .

5. C):Rules for Derivatives:
1) For words of two or three syllables with one of the following prefixes,
the stress usu. falls on the second syllable .
arise , awake , asleep, beside, before, believe;
complain, compress, complete; Consist, consult, connect;
detect, destroy, decide;
Embrace, embody, employ ; display, discover, discuss;
Enlarge, enforce, enclose; escape, establish , esteen;
Exclaim, excite, exclude; imply, imprison, impress;
Incline, include, inform; mistake misfortune, miscarriage;
Observe, obstruct obtain; per-, pre-, pro- sub-trans-

6. 2) For words with one of the following suffixes the stress usually falls on the
preceding syllable of the suffix.
–eous , -graphy, ial, ,ian, ic ics, -ience,
-ient, ify, ion, ious, ity, ive:
Courteous, biography, editorial, historian systematic
phonetics, experience, sufficient, identity,
perfection, ambition , curiosity, protective.
Words with the following suffixes do not change their stress placement .
-able, reasonable, marriage, proposal,
forgetful, machinery, brotherhood, deepen ,
childish, childhood, doubtless, confinement,
bitterness, vigorous glorify, clockwise , jealousy.
4) Some suffixes attract the primary stress onto themselves . In such cases there
is usually a secondary stress on the first syllable if the stem word consists of
more than one syllable.
payee, employee, journalese, cigarette, picturesque.

7. 5. Stress influence on meaning of words:
A: There are some pairs of two-syllable words which are identical in
spelling but differ from each other in stress placement, apparently according to
word class . If it is an adjective,or noun, the stress falls on the first syllable;
if it is a verb,stress falls on the second syllable. Some pairs possess the same
or approximately the same meaning, but some pairs are semantically quite
different.
absent, present, import, increase, decrease,
conduct, contract, object, progress, rebel, record.
B: there are also several pairs of phrases, one of which is a single-stress compound,
the other is formed by an adjective and a noun with two normal stresses or one falling on the second element. The meaning of such a pair is quite different.
|greenhouse, green ︱house, |blackbird, black|bird,
darkroom, leatherjacket, old girls, bluebottle, ginger bread.

8. The stress in a sentence is called sentence stress.
II.Sentence stress
Sentence stress
The stress in a sentence is called sentence stress.
2. The types of sentence stress:
Sentence stress can be classified into three types : sense stress, logical stress
and emotional stress.
1) Sense stress
It is very common phenomenon in connected speech . In normal speech we put stress on content words not form words.
2) Logical stress
Its distribution is subject to the speaker’s will. The speaker puts stress on any word he wishes to emphasize. So a word logically stressed may stand at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a sentence and it usually implies some idea of contrast. E.g.

9. ``We heard Mary singing upstairs. ( Not they heard .)
Sometimes the idea of contrast is clearly pointed out . E.g.
I bought it for `you , not for `him .
`They can’t do it, but `we can .
3) Emotional Stress
It is a special kind of stress. In spoken English when the speaker
wants to show strong emotion , he can put strong stress on the word he wishes to
emphasize. But it doesn’t imply any idea of contrast . The high –falling tone should
be used in speaking or reading aloud such stressed word.
E.g.
It’s `` wonderful ! We suc``ceeded.

10. 2. Rhythm group and its division 1) Rhythm group
III. Rhythm and its Features
Rhythm
1) It is the internal law of English language. It is the regular occurrence of phonetics in a given time.
2) Rhythm in English speech is based on stress. It is, in brief, the pattern of regular arrangement and alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables.
2. Rhythm group and its division
1) Rhythm group
The smallest unit of English rhythm is the rhythm group,which is called a foot
in English poetry. The rhythm group is made up of only one stressed syllable plus what unstressed syllable(s) that may follow.
2) Silent beat
Any unstressed syllables that precede the first rhythm group may be regarded as silent beat.
|John and his / |brother / | went into the / `room/.
|Would you / |mind / |calling back /`later/?
It’s /|not /|quite what I / `wanted /.

11. 3. Features of English Rhythm
English rhythm has two prominent features:
1) The basic tendency of English rhythm is that the stressed syllable follow
each other at roughly equal interval of time. The correct English rhythm is
natural and wave –like .
English is a stress –timed language,which implies that stressed syllables tend
to occur at a fairly regular intervals of time, i.e., the period of time from each
stressed syllable to the next is approximately the same, irrespective of the number
of intervening unstressed syllables.
| Pat is / |staying at the / |cheap ho/ `tel /.
| Have you any / |silk of this / |colour and / ``pattern/
This feature of English rhythm has great influence upon the speed of utterance and
the length of sounds, especially the vowels.

12. I/ |think he / |wants to /`go/ .
The |Daniel |Jones Pro |nouncing |Dictionary | lists |most |versions of |modern |English pronunci `ation.
It would have been/ |better not to have / |paid for it be / |fore you had re/ `ceived it.
2) The other characteristic of English rhythm is the alternation of the stressed and unstressed syllables.
In actual speech , stressed syllables are not always evenly separated by unstressed ones. In order to maintain an evenness of the beat throughout the utterance,it is necessary for us to regulate the distribution of stresses, thus we can attain smooth rhythm in speaking or reading aloud.

13. We generally regulate the distribution of stresses by the following two ways:
By dropping some stresses alternately.
If stressed syllables succeed one another in connected speech, we usually drop
some stresses.
e.g. The |big brown |bear ate |ten white `mice.
2.By shifting the placement of word stress
Words with two stresses ( including compound words ) may lose the first when
Closely preceded by another stressed syllable or they may lose the second when
closely followed by another stressed syllable.
e.g. |John can |speak Chi`nese.
The |Chinese |people are |hard |working `people .
tonetic-stress mark

14. The professor in the office| is a linguist.
VI. Sense –group and pausing
Sense-groups
Sense-groups are groups of words which are closely connected in meaning
and grammar.
e.g He is a professor .
The professor in the office| is a linguist.
The professor in the office |is a linguist |from America.
Sense-groups’ implications
Sense-groups are the minimum grammatical-semantic units which bear the
following implications:
1) A sense-group is an information unit.,which can show a relatively complete sense.
e.g. The Japanese |for some reason or other| drive on the
left| like the Westerners.
2) A sense-group is a grammatical unit. It may be a complete sentence or a clause or a phrase or even a single word.
e.g We study English.
When he 7comes, I’ll tell him about it.
As a rule,I get up at six every day.

15. 7Finally, I wish to thank all who cooperated in this important object.
3) A sense –group is a prosodic unit:
a. Each sense-group is a tone-group in intonation, and it indicates a particular tone pattern.
b. Each sense-group at least consists of one rhythm group, and it shows a particular rhythm pattern.
4) A sense-group is a breath-group or part of a breath-group---- a group of words uttered conveniently in a single breath.

16. The division of sense group :
The divisions of sense –groups are affected by lots of factors , so different people may divide the same sentence into different sense-groups. But some divisions are indispensable to clarity. The following sentence can be divided into two or three sense-groups according to the speaker’s needs:
I’ll come and sit by the fire and get warm |,and then I shall feel comfortable.
I’ll come and sit by the fire |and get warm|,and then I shall feel comfortable.
4.The factors that influence the division of sense-group:
When we divide sense-groups ,grammatical structure is usually take into
consideration. Punctuation marks are often the important basis for us to divide
such groups. In speaking or reading aloud, the limit of such a group is shown
by a pause. But sometimes stress and rhythm can be decisive factors in
dividing such groups. E.g.

17. What are you doing, John? (vocative )
It’s going to rain, I’m afraid. ( Parenthesis )
( For lack of sentence stress, they can not form a rhythm-group either.
Naturally, it is impossible to have a pause before them.)
4. Pausing
1)Pause:
A pause may be defined as a break, a stop, or a rest. In spoken English,
this is precisely what a speaker does when he or she divides a sentence into
two or more parts depending on the length of the sentence.
2)Purpose:
Pauses are frequently made mainly for the purpose of clarity, emphasis or
just taking breath.

18. 3) Types of pauses:
The pause in speech is by no means of random occurrence: together with the
tone-group, it tends to divide up the stream of speech into grammatically and
lexically relevant sections. Pauses may be made between sense-groups.
When one group is closely connected grammatically to the next, there is a slight
pause; and when two groups are not so closely connected, there is a longer pause.
A slight pause is usually marked by a single vertical line ( | ); a longer pause
is marked by double vertical lines (||).

19. 4) The factors that influence the pauses:
Pauses vary in frequency and length in response to the variations of the
following factors; style of writing, rate of speech, emotion and personal habits, etc.
Speech is more flexible than writing in allowing us to introduce a “space “ to suit
speaker’s or hearer’s needs, but the speaker must handle pauses with skill.
The following are some suggestions to help you have some idea about
when and how to pause:
(1)Do not take a pause between the following elements:
1) adj. and the n.
2) art. and n.
3). Aux.verb and main verb
4) prep. and its object
5) adv. and verb, or adj. or adv. ( definitely going, really good,
very quickly )
6) subject,verb, and object

20. (2) Location and length of pauses
Location of pauses
Length of pauses
Between two sense-groups (without any punctuation marks )
Half a beat
Between two sense-groups( with a comma or a dash )
One beat
Between two sense-groups (with a colon or a semi-colon )
Two beats
Between two sentences( with a full stop )
Three beats
Between two paragraphs
Four beats