Linguistics III

Suprasegmentals (or prosodics < Greek ‘sing with, accompanying’) are features that
occur above the level of segments. They may extend over more than one segment.
Supersegmental (Prosodic) aspects refer to features of speech that extend beyond the level of
individual segments (such as consonants and vowels) and encompass larger units like
syllables, words, phrases, and sentences. These features include intonation, stress, rhythm,
and tempo. They play a crucial role in conveying meaning, emphasis, and emotions in spoken
language.
Stress
In linguistics stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a
word, or to certain words in a phrase or sentence. English is what is known as a stressed
language; stressed languages that are with differing levels of emphasis for the different
words and syllables in the sentence. Native speakers of English use stress naturally. Word
phrase or sentence is so natural for them that they don’t even know they use it. Non-native
speakers, who speak English to native speakers without using word stress, encounter two
problems. They find it difficult to understand native speakers, especially those speaking
fast and the speakers of English will get insight in learning the rules of stress.
Syllable Timed and Stress Timed Languages:
Language is the vital means of communication. Verities of people and communities are
living in the world having different languages with their different written and spoken forms.
So far as speaking is concerned these languages may be broadly divided into two categories:
1- Stress timed 2- Syllable timed
English language is called a stress timed language because the time taken to speak a sentence
depends on the number of stressed syllables and not on the total number of syllables.
Languages such as Hindi, odia, Bengali etc. on the other hand, are called syllable timed
languages, because the time taken to go from one syllable to the next, whether stressed or
unstressed, is always the same. The time taken to speak a sentence depends on the total
number of syllables and not on the number of stressed syllables, as in English.
In English some syllables are spoken with a greater degree of force than the others are.
Syllables that are pronounced more forcibly than the others are said to be stressed. Syllables
that are pronounced without much force are called unstressed. Roach (1993, p. 85-86)
writes: all stressed syllables have one characteristic in common, and that is called
prominence; stressed syllables are recognized as stressed because they are more prominent
than unstressed syllables. How important is teaching to place stress on the right syllables in
English, it would be worth quoting to Clifford et. al. (1985, p.19) who says that stress: is the
key to the pronunciation of an English word and the location of the accent always be learned
with the word.
Word stress, or sometimes lexical stress, is the stress placed on a given syllable in a word.
The position of word stress in a word may depend on certain general rules applicable in the
language or dialect in question, but in other languages, it must be learned for each word, as it
is largely unpredictable. In some cases, classes of words in a language differ in their stress
properties; for example, loanwords into a language with fixed stress may preserve stress
placement from the source language, or the special pattern for Turkish placenames.
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The 3 Levels of Syllable Stress In English

1. Primary Stress: The syllable with the Primary Stress is the loudest and longest syllable
in a word. It has a very noticeable change in pitch on the vowel. In one-syllable words, that
one syllable gets the primary stress.
Examples:
“blue” = /BLUUU/
“ten” = /TEHN/
The only exceptions to this rule are a handful of function words like “the” which are usually
unstressed or reduced.
2. Secondary Stress: These are the syllables that are stressed, but not as much the primary
stress, so they are loud and long with a change in pitch, but not as loud or as long as the
syllables that get the primary stress. The change in pitch on the vowel is not quite as
noticeable.
Example:
“disappear” = /DIH-suh PEEER/ (syllable with secondary stress is underlined)
3. Level 3 is the completely Unstressed Syllable: These are the syllables that have no
stress at all so we rush through them and shorten them so much that the vowel in the syllable
is almost completely gone. The change in pitch on the vowel is barely noticeable, but it is
there.
Example:
“prepare” = /pruh-PAIR/ (unstressed syllable is underlined)
Stress in English Because of the nature of word-stress in English its placement within
a word is difficult to predict and is a complex matter. However, word- stress does have
certain patterns and some rules can be framed. In order to decide on stress placement the
following information is required: 1. The number of syllables in the word. 2. The
grammatical category to which the word belongs ( noun, verb, adjective etc) 3. Whether the
word is morphologically simple or whether it is a complex as a result of containing one or
more affixes (prefixes or suffixes) or because it is a compound word. 4. The phonological
structure of the syllables in the word. The rules of stress placement are complex and most
rules have exceptions. Still these rules are useful in as much as they provide general
guidance.

“All stressed syllables in words have one characteristic in common, and that
is prominence. Prominence is produced by four main factor:(i) loudness (intensity), (ii)
length, (iii) pitch (Fundamental Frequency/F0), (iv) quality. Generally these four factors
work together in combination, but experimental work has shown that these factors are not
equally important; the strongest effect is produced by pitch, and length is also a powerful
factor. Loudness and quality have much less effect” (Roach 2009:74).
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Since stress is manifested as rise in pitch, greater intensity (loudness) or greater vowel length,
the analysis of stress must include various elements of acoustic analysis, like waveform,
spectrogram, and pitch contour.

Figure: The waveform, spectrogram, and pitch contour of sound

 at the top, the waveform indicates the greater intensity of the stressed syllable
 in the middle, it shows the higher pitch shown in the pitch track
 at the bottom, the spectrogram indicates the greater length of the stressed syllable

Prosodic Stress
Prosodic stress, or sentence stress, refers to stress patterns that apply at a higher level than
the individual word – namely within a prosodic unit. It may involve a certain natural stress
pattern characteristic of a given language, but may also involve the placing of emphasis on
particular words because of their relative importance (contrastive stress).Prosodic stress is
also often used pragmatically to emphasize (focus attention on) particular words or the ideas
associated with them. Doing this can change or clarify the meaning of a sentence; for
example:

I didn't take the test yesterday. (Somebody else did.)

I didn't take the test yesterday. (I did not take it.)
I didn't take the test yesterday. (I did something else with it.)
I didn't take the test yesterday. (I took one of several, or I didn't take the specific test that
would have been implied.)
I didn't take the test yesterday. (I took something else.)
I didn't take the test yesterday. (I took it some other day.)

Pitch
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Pitch is the vocal element that determines the accentuation and prominence of speech. It is
similarly significant in the individual word or full sentence level. The normal pitch of any
voice depends on the vocal cord at play and in what frequency it vibrates. The frequency of
the vocal cord’s vibration is solely dependent on the length, thickness and tension.

Martha Pennington states in her book titled, Phonology In English Language Teaching: An
International Approach that somebody’s average pitch level is determined by the size of the
vocal cords. Men have longer vocal cords compared to women and children and so men’s
vocal pitch tends to be lower or deeper in general.
Few Concept to under the Pitch
1. Fundamental Frequency (F0): This is the basic frequency at which the vocal cords
vibrate during speech production. It determines the perceived pitch of the voice. In
speech, F0 varies according to factors like stress, emotion, and linguistic structure.
2. High Pitch vs. Low Pitch: Pitch can be categorized broadly into high and low
pitches. High pitch corresponds to higher frequencies, while low pitch corresponds to
lower frequencies. Variation between high and low pitch contributes to the melody of
speech.
3. Pitch Range: Pitch range refers to the span between the highest and lowest pitches
used by a speaker. A wider pitch range can convey more emotional expressiveness
and emphasis.
4. Pitch Contour: Pitch contour refers to the pattern of pitch variation across a sequence
of sounds, words, or sentences. Common pitch contours include rising, falling, or
level patterns, which can convey different meanings or emotions.
5. Tone: In tonal languages, pitch is used to distinguish between different lexical or
grammatical meanings. Each syllable may have a specific pitch pattern associated
with it, known as a tone.
6. Stress-related Pitch: Pitch often increases on stressed syllables within words or
stressed words within sentences. This stress-related pitch variation helps to highlight
important information and contributes to the rhythmic structure of speech.
7. Intonation Patterns: Intonation refers to the use of pitch variations across entire
phrases or sentences. Different intonation patterns can signal different speech acts,
such as questions, statements, commands, or exclamations.

Individual Pitch Range

Apart from having an average pitch or modal pitch, every individual has a set pitch range at
their disposal. The pitch range can be achieved or altered by making adjustments to the
strength of one’s vocal cord. With some exercises, musicians can make planned adjustments
to their voices although most would just work on expanding their natural vocal range which
involves extending the highest and lowest pitch they are able to sing at.

For effective speaking too, one has to practice similar adjustments to their vocal cords but at
a bare minimum compared to the musicians, of course. To raise the pitch of one’s voice, the
vocal cords or folds must tighten. Lowering the pitch would mean loosening the vocal cords
for that matter. With the changing of the tension in the vocal cords, the pitch variations in
speech are realized. When the right amount of variations are present, the speech becomes
more meaningful and accurate to the listeners.

Pitch Explained with Examples

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The vibration of the vocal cords is the basis of the change in pitch. The increase in the
vibration of the vocal folds means that the pitch climbs with it. Normally, the pitch range of
an average person remains inside the 70 Hz to 200 Hz mark.

In the case of everyday speech, the pitch range of the utterance denotes the attitude of the
speaker towards the information or the listener in front. The neutral, unmarked, mid-pitch is
the speaker’s modal pitch and it conveys the simple-neutral manner that the statement is
delivered in.

oThe high pitch range marks the informational contrast in the statements given
as examples.
I’m going to Dhaka, not Chittagong!
He’d never say that.
o The low pitch indicates that the speaker wants to emphasize the fact that two
items in the successive tone units are somewhat similar in nature.
I’ve already shown you, man.

(The lowered pitch at the end entails that the “you” and the “man” are in fact the same
person.)

How Does the Pitch Range Fluctuate in Statements?

Below are a few common statements and the pitch fluctuations in them. Getting at least these
few categories of

List of Things:

The pitch raises with the opening of a statement, does not completely drop until all the
intended information is unfolded. The pitch lowers where the information has stopped
coming in right after a sudden rise.

Yes/No Questions:

The vocal pitch tends to rise as much as uncertainty is imminent in the statement. With the
Yes/No questions, the pitch will finally rise at the very end as the uncertainty and
incompletion peaks.
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Yes/No questions are usually half of the interaction that ends an incompletion. As the reply
comes against the question, the information is complete.

WH-Questions:

The WH-questions (questions starting with what, who, when, where, why, which and how)
on the other hand, finish with a high but falling pitch although there is missing information in
these statements.

Some of these rules are broken when it comes to non-native speakers barely mastering the
pitch and intonation used in various situations. Sometimes they mistake finishing the WH-
questions in raised pitch.

Tag Questions:
Tag questions can finish with a raised or falling pitch depending on what is asked and how.

Questions Ending with “You Know”:

The common expression among the native English speaker, “you know” usually sits at the
very end of the statement and the pitch here is raised or fallen depending on the manner of
using the expression.

Pseudo Yes/No Questions:

The statements are constructed with the same formula as the Yes/No questions yet they are
not questions hence, not meant to be answered.
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Selecting the Right Pitch

One must keep in mind the kind of pitch and the pitch range to maintain before giving any
particular speech. Selecting a suitable pitch and the pitch range depends on a few things.

The Audience

The most important fact to consider is whom your speech would be directed towards. A
female speaker talking to a group of men about women’s equality would have a different
pitch range than while talking to a group of enthusiastic women audience. Then again a male
speaker in the same situation will have to adjust his pitch range in a slightly different manner.

So the type and mindset of the audience would be monumental for a speaker. S/he has to be
able to read the room and adjust his/her tone and pitch accordingly before or during the
speech.

The Venue

The size of the room and the distance of the audience seating arrangements from the speaker
would be the most significant elements to consider. The size of the room would come into
play since there is a matter of the sound echoing inside the room is too big compared to the
size of the crowd. The speaker may use a microphone but that would mean the position of the
speakers set inside the room would come into consideration and their position and the
distance from the sundance would have to be checked.

The natural volume of the speaker’s voice would be another crucial matter when it comes to
adjusting the pitch range. The trick would be to practice speaking in any new setup
beforehand so that the speaker can take mental notes of the required pitch and volume of
his/her voice while speaking before an audience.

The Timing

The time of the day the talk is scheduled would be another one of the biggest aspects to
consider. There are certain parts in a day when most people are more attentive and active and
other parts when they lose focus and are mostly inactive on average. So scheduling talks in
the more active part of the day would be clever and then you can pitch your talk efficiently.

For example, the hour after lunch is known as the “Graveyard” session in training circles.
Can you imagine yourself shouting at a graveyard? Similarly, you cannot let out high-pitched
sneers at your sleepy crowd and expect them to participate in efficient listening just because
of the sheer volume or the accurate pitch of your voice.
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Depending on the length of your speech and how long it is till the end, you have to time your
pitch to perfection. Like comic timing, the pitch must be timed to ensure the most
effectiveness. One must time the segments in the talk and keep a clock guiding each minute.
That way pitching the portions would be a matter of intent and emphasis. Too calculative a
speech would lack in force.

Intonation
The rise and fall of the vocal sound or tone in speech is intonation. With the accurate use of
intonation, speaking and listening would become more effective, to-the-point and foolproof.
Intonation does not require specific practice but learning to speak any language fluently
would result in automatic accuracy. The rise and fall of pitch throughout is called
its intonation contour.
English has a number of intonation patterns which add conventionalized meanings to the
utterance: question, statement, surprise, disbelief, sarcasm, teasing.

Intonation, on the other hand, is like the melody of your speech. It’s the rise and fall of your
voice that conveys emotion, emphasis, and intent. Mastering intonation helps you express
enthusiasm, urgency, curiosity, or empathy. Imagine telling an exciting story with a
monotone voice – it would lose all its energy and impact! Intonation also helps to avoid
misunderstandings, as it guides listeners on how to interpret your words. When you master
both pronunciation and intonation, you become a compelling speaker, able to captivate your
audience and convey your thoughts and feelings with precision. These skills will serve you
well not only in everyday conversations but also in future academic and professional
endeavors.

Types of Intonation
There are three types of intonation in spoken English and they are –
Rising Intonation means the pitch of the voice rises over time.
Falling Intonation means that the pitch falls with time.
Dipping or Fall-rise Intonation falls and then rises.
Rising Intonation

Rising Intonation refers to the rise of tone at the end of the sentence. The yes-no questions
usually end in a raised intonation.

↗
Is this your shirt?
↗
Do you like chicken?
Falling Intonation

The tone of the voice falls at the final stressed syllable of a phrase and that is Falling
Intonation. The WH questions tend to finish with a falling intonation.

↘
Where are you headed?
↘
How are you still doing that?
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The falling intonation comes into play when there is assurance and definite clarity in speech.

↘
Here is the magazine you asked for.
↘
You’ve just been outplayed.
Circumflex Intonation

With the circumflex intonation, the voice falls and then rises. This variant of intonation is
heard when someone isn’t sure about the statement or uses tentative phrasing in it.

↘ ↘↗
I don’t need any help at the moment.
↘↗
It rained every day during the first week.

This circumflex intonation is used in questions that request information and invite someone
to do or have something. In this case, with the right intonation pattern, the inquiry sounds
more polite.

↘↗
Is this your camera?
↘↗
Would you like some coffee?

Why Care about Intonations?

Without the proper use of intonation, people have often misunderstood in their day-to-day life
let alone when it comes to speaking in formal settings or delivering a public speech.
Decoding the speech of someone who completely avoids the correct usage of tones is often
too hard to carry out a smooth communication.

That is why it is absolutely monumental for second language users to learn and practice
correct intonations. New users or learners of a language would take some time to get used to
the intonations used in it but listening to native speakers and practicing to imitate similar
speech delivery.

Intonation is absolutely imperative for effective communication. Learning to use them

accurately would have a direct effect on the language you are using and the fluent
communication in it. Following the above article thoroughly must clear most of your
confusions regarding intonation in the English language and how you can use them without
making too many mistakes.
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Visual Representation of Intonation

Connected Speech

Speakers connect words when speaking naturally and it can be hard to understand the
individual words. When people speak naturally, they do not say a word, stop, and then say the
next word. Some two word groups are joined together to help with the rhythm. The
pronunciation of the end and the beginning of the words may change too. These changes are
part of ‘connected speech’.

To understand connected speech, you need to know the difference

between vowels and consonants. The 5 vowels are: a, e, i, o, u. Consonants are all the other
letters of the English alphabet. It will also be helpful to learn the International Phonetic
Alphabet (IPA), so that you can learn the sounds. The IPA sounds and the English alphabet
are not always the same. Tophonetics is a great website that will change a word or sentence
into IPA.

Learn more about the five main types of connected speech.

Catenation (linking words)

Linking consonant to vowel: connect the final consonant in the first word to the vowel that
starts the next word. This will make it sound like the second word starts with a consonant.

For example:

 I want this orange –> thi sorange

 This afternoon –> thi safternoon

 Cats or dogs? –> Ca tsor dogs?

 I want that orange –> tha dorange

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Intrusion (adding an extra sound)

Linking vowel to vowel: when the first-word finishes in a vowel sound and the next word
starts with a vowel sound, connect the 2 words and add an extra sound. The three sounds
added are /w/, /r/ or /j/. /j/ sounds like the ‘y’ in yellow.

For example:

Extra /r/

 I saw a movie –> I saw ra movie

 Law and order –> Law rand order

 Tuna oil –> Tuna roil

 Victoria and Albert museum –> Victoria rand Albert museum

Extra /w/

 Do it –> Do wit

 Go out –> Go wout

 True or false? –> True wor false?

 How are you? –> How ware you?

Extra /j/

 I agree –> I jagree

 He asked –> He jasked

 She answered –>She janswered

 Tea or coffee? –> Tea jor coffee?

Elision (deleting a sound)

If the first word finishes in a consonant sound and the next word starts with a consonant
sound, the first sound disappears. This often happens with a /t/ or /d/ sound.

For example:

 Next door –> Nexdoor

 Dad take –> Datake

 Most common –> Moscommon

 Used to –> Useto

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Assimilation (joining sounds to make a new sound)

Sometimes when two consonant sounds are joined, it is very difficult to pronounce the new
sound. A new sound is made instead. This often happens with /t/ and /j/ which make /ʧ/.
Note: ʧ = ch. It also happens with /d/ and /j/ which make /ʤ/. Note: ʤ = dg.

For example:

 Don’t you — donʧu

 Meet you — meeʧu

 Did you — diʤu

 Would you — wuʤu

Geminates (twin sounds)

These are like twins — two of the same consonant sounds back-to-back. When the same
letter ends a word and starts the next word, you should connect the two words in your speech.
In this connection, you will say only one sound of that letter.

For example:

 Social life –> socialife

 Pet turtle –> Peturtle

 I want to –> I wanto

In spoken discourse the boundaries between words are very often not clear-cut. Words and
sounds are lost and linked together in different ways to enable us to articulate with minimal
movement.

This is one of the reasons learners find spoken discourse more difficult to understand than
written discourse. At higher levels it is often not a lack of vocabulary which prevents
understanding, but lack of ability to deal with these features of connected speech. Native
speakers are more able to use top-down processing to decide whether what they have heard
is red dye or red eye.

Here are some of the more common features of connected speech:

Assimilation
Assimilation occurs when a phoneme (sound) in one word causes a change in a
sound in a neighbouring word. For example, try saying the following pairs of
words:
 in Bath
 last year
 Hyde Park
You’ll notice that the last sound of the first word changes in each case.
The /n/ sound becomes /m/, /t/ becomes /tʃ/ and /d/ becomes /b/.
 Linguistics III

Elision
Elision is the loss of a phoneme, most commonly the last phoneme of a word, and
most commonly the /t/ and /d/ sounds. Have a look at these examples:
 left back
 stand by
 looked back
 I must go
In each case the last phoneme of the first word is elided (lost). In the most simple
terms, the reason is that the time and effort required to change the mouth position
from the /t/ to the /b/ sound (as in the first example) or the /t/ to the /g/ sound (as in
the last example) is too great!

Delayed plosion
Our “red dye” and “red eye” is an example of this. To articulate “red dye”, we
must take a very short pause before the /d/ sound. The /d/ is an example of
a plosive, consonant sounds where the vocal tract stops all airflow. Other
examples are /b/,/d/, /g/, /p/, /t/ and /k/. This pause before the plosive gives us the
name of this feature, delayed plosion.
Another example: the right tie (delay) – the right eye (no delay)

Catenation
In catenation the last consonant of the first word is joined to the vowel sound at the
start of the second word. For example:
 pick it up – (learners will hear something like pi ki tup)
 what is it – (learners will hear something like wo ti zit)

Intrusion
Intrusion is what you might expect from the name – an extra sound “intrudes” into
the spoken utternace. Try saying the following pairs of words:
 media event
 I always
 go away
Do you hear the /r/ sound intruding after “media”, the /j/ sound intruding after “I”
and the /w/ sound intruding after “go”?
Liaison
When a word with a vowel in word-final position is followed immediately across a word
boundary by another word that has a vowel in word-initial position, the two words may be
linked by the insertion of an /r/ sound. Consider the following phrase.
more over /mɔ əʊvə/
The first word more has the vowel /ɔ/ in word-final position. This is immediately followed by
another word over that has a vowel in word-initial position, i.e. the vowel /əʊ/. Under these
circumstances, with one vowel following another, across a word boundary, the two words
may be linked by the insertion of an /r/ sound, i.e.
more over /mɔ əʊvə/ → [mɔ̃ːɹ əʊːvə↓]
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Of course, this particular liaison is only apparent in varieties of English, such as standard
British English, that do not allow /r/ in syllable-final position. In varieties of English that do
allow syllable-final /r/ the above liaison would not necessarily be noticeable, as the
word more may already be pronounced with a syllable-final /r/, i.e. /mɔr/. However, another
example drawn from standard British English should make the principle of liaison clear:
father of the bride /fɑðə ɒv ðə braɪd/
Consider just the first two words of this phrase, father and of. The first word father has the
schwa vowel /ə/ in word-final position. After the word boundary, the immediately following
word of also has a vowel in word-initial position. In this environment, with one vowel
immediately following another across a word boundary, the two words may be coupled by
the insertion of the sound /r/, i.e.
father of the bride /fɑðə ɒv ðə braɪd/ → [fɑːðəɹ əv ðə bɹaɪːd̥ ]
Here are some more examples.
lend me your ears /lɛnd mi jɔ ɪəz/ → [lɛ̃mb̚ mɪ jɔːɹ ɪəːz̥ ]
law and order /lɔ ænd ɔdə/ → [lɔːɹ ə̃n ɔːdə↓]
here and now /hɪə ænd naʊ/ → [hɪəːɹ ə̃n nãʊː]
We can summarize this process with the following statement.
Word-final vowels followed by word-initial vowels may be linked with /r/.
Liaison is a feature of the speech of most speakers of standard British English. The insertion
of /r/, as exemplified, is sometimes referred to by those who adhere to a prescriptive
grammar, and hence a prescriptive phonology, as intrusive-r. This value-laden label again
reflects an artificial notion of what constitutes so-called ‘good’ speech and what constitutes
so-called ‘bad’ speech. For descriptive phonologists, it is sufficient to merely describe the
processes that are commonly used by native speakers of a particular language without making
judgments about notions of correctness.
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