Sorais Francisco Valentim

Individual Assignment III

Universidade Rovuma
Nampula
May, 2024
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 Sorais Francisco Valentim

Individual Assignment III

Evaluation in Phonetics and

Phonology subject to be submitted
at Faculty of Language,
Communication and Arts Sciences.

Lecture: Hermenegildo da Helena

Nicolau

Universidade Rovuma
Nampula
May, 2024

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Contents
Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4
Prosodic suprasegmental fratures ------------------------------------------------------------5
The syllable--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5
The nature of the syllable----------------------------------------------------------------------5
The structure of English syllable--------------------------------------------------------------6
The strong syllable------------------------------------------------------------------------------6
Weak Syllables – the vowel Schwa-----------------------------------------------------------6
Syllabic consonants-----------------------------------------------------------------------------7
Stress in simple words--------------------------------------------------------------------------8
The nature of stress-----------------------------------------------------------------------------8
Level of stress-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------9
Placement stress within a word---------------------------------------------------------------9
Complex word stress--------------------------------------------------------------------------10
Aspects of connected speech-----------------------------------------------------------------10
Rhythm------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10
Assimilation------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10
Elision Linking---------------------------------------------------------------------------------11
Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12
Bibliography Reference-----------------------------------------------------------------------13

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Introduction
The present Assignment I of Phonetic And Phonology, will discuss about, Prosodic
suprasegmental fratures and Aspects of connected sounds.
The objective of this present Assignment is to invite the students know about
Consonants and the Phonology, to improve his knowledge about the English language in
our country.
This assignment have the great importance, because it is will show that, A weak syllable
is a syllable that is pronounced with less emphasis or stress compared to strong
syllables.- In English, weak syllables often contain schwa sounds (ə) or reduced vowel
sounds that are less prominent and may be pronounced more quickly and with lower
pitch.
In phonetics, rhythm is the sense of movement in speech, marked by the stress, timing,
and quantity of syllables.
For doing this essay provided and used many sources how read the books, watch videos
and internet consult.
This essay structured by: Introduction, development, conclusion and Bibliography
Reference.

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Prosodic suprasegmental fratures
The syllable
According to Rodoanel(2008.pg:59), say that, A syllable is a part of a word that contains
a single vowel sound and that is pronounced as a unit.
A syllable is a single, unbroken sound of a spoken (or written) word. Syllables usually
contain a vowel and accompanying consonants. Sometimes syllables are referred to as
the ‘beats’ of spoken language.
Syllables differ from phonemes in that a phoneme is the smallest unit of sound; the
number of syllables in a word is unrelated to the number of phonemes it contains. For
example: /b/, /k/, /t/, /ch/, /sh/, /ee/, /ai/, /igh/, /ear/ are all phonemes. The word ‘chat’ is
made up of three phonemes (/ch/ /a/ /t/). The word ‘light’ is made up of three phonemes
(/l/ /igh/ /t/).
Examples:
Cat has one syllable (words of one syllable are monosyllabic)
Water has two syllables (wa / ter)
Computer has three syllables (com / pu / ter)
Category has four syllables (cat / e / gor / y)

The nature of the syllable

Second Rodoanel(2008.pg:67), told that, - from a phonetic point of view, syllables are
usually described as consisting of a centre which Has little or no obstruction to airflow
and which sounds comparatively loud; before and after. The centre, there will be greater
obstruction to airflow and/or less loud sound.
- syllables are basically carried by obligatory vowels which can be preceded and
followed by Optional consonants.
Example 1: err /Ǭ:/
Example 2: fur / fǬ:/
Example 3: furs /fǬ:z/
Basic structure of the syllable:

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- the obligatory vowel within the syllable structure = peak (centre)
- the optional consonant(s) that can precede the peak = onset
- the optional consonant(s) that can follow the peak = coda

The structure of English syllable

For Kohlo(2017.154),say that , Let us now look in more detail at syllable onsets. If the
first syllable of the word in question begins with a vowel (any vowel may occur, though
Ʊ is rare) we say that this initial syllablehas a zero onset. We now look at syllables
beginning with two consonants. When we havetwo or more consonants together we call
them a consonant cluster. The s in these clusters iscalled the pre-initial consonant and
the other consonant (t, w, m in the above examples) theinitial consonant. These clusters
are shown in Table. In phonology a syllable is divided into the onset (the initial
consonant(cluster)) and the rime (the rest). The rime consists of the nucleus (the vowel
part) and the coda (the consonant(cluster) at the end).
A word that consists of a single syllable (like English dog) is called a monosyllable and
is said the monosyllabic. Similar terms include disyllable (and disyllabic; al
The strong syllable
Strong syllables bear primary stress and contain full vowels, whereas weak syllables are
unstressed and contain short, central vowels such as schwa.
Strong syllables are longer lasting in terms Of length.
They are louder and have higher intensity.
They are articulated with high quality
We do not pronounce them rapidly.
They are always stressed syllables.
They are composed of all vowel sounds
Except /ǝ, i, u/ as their peak.
Because they are stressed, risingintonation starts from them and they can
Never be removed in a word.

Weak Syllables – the vowel Schwa

According to Kohlo(2017. 162), A weak syllable is a syllable that is pronounced with
less emphasis or stress compared to strong syllables.- In English, weak syllables often

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contain schwa sounds (ə) or reduced vowel sounds that are less prominent and may be
pronounced more quickly and with lower pitch.
- Weak syllables are generally less prominent in the rhythmic structure of a word
compared to strong syllables.
Weak syllables are short in terms of length.
They are quite low and have low intensity.
They are articulated with low quality.
They are said more quickly in words.
They can never be stressed.
They are composed of only /ǝ, i, u/ vowel Sounds plus syllabic consonants /m, n, ŋ, l, r̩/
as their peak.
Because they are unstressed, risingintonation does not start from them and they are
always under the effect of elision.
Characteristics of Schwa Vowel Sound
 The Schwa sound is the most frequently occurring vowel in English.
 It always makes weak syllables, so it is always unstressed.
 Regarding its sound quality, it is mid central which means it is halfway between close
and open and halfway between front and back.
 It is not articulated with much energy that is why it is described as lax. This is
basically the reason why this sound is not sonorous and can never make strong
syllables.
 The quality of this sound is not always the same in all words. For instance, in some
words, its sound is too low; thus, it makes the following consonant a syllable.
 It is the main source of the occurrence of the five syllabic consonants.
 Not all weak syllables contain /ǝ/ as their peak, though many do.
 In order to know where exactly schwa sound occurs in words, we have to consider
the spelling of the words and looking at the letters one by one.

Syllabic consonants
For Rodoanel(2008.pg:78), A syllabic consonant or vocalic consonant is a consonant
that forms a syllable on its own, like the m, n and l in some pronunciations of the
English words rhythm, button and bottle, respectively. To represent it, the understroke
diacritic in the International Phonetic Alphabet is used,

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In many ways, a syllabic consonant is really just another voiced consonant; what makes
it able to become a whole syllable is that the consonant is long. The voiced
consonants /b/ /d/ /g/ and /dʒ/ are not long enough to make a whole syllable and the
voiced consonants /v/ /z/ /ð/ and /ʒ/ are not used as whole syllables in standard English.
On the other hand, the consonants /m/ /n/ and Dark L /ɫ/ can and do occur as whole
syllables. Very often in dictionaries, we might see the following transcriptions:
Kettle /’ketəɫ/ – even /’i:vən/ – rhythm /’rɪðəm/

Stress in simple words

Stress is the force by which the syllable is uttered. This can be illustrated in the
following words:
Father /fa:ðə/, open /əupn/, camera /kæmrə/ (in such words the first syllable is stressed).
Potato/pəteitəu/, apartment/əpa:tmənt/, relation/rileiʃn/ (the second syllable is stressed).
Stress can be studied from the point of view of production and of perception. The
production of stress depends on the speaker using more muscular energythan is used for
unstressed syllables. From the perception point of view, all stressed syllables have one
characteristic in common, and that is prominence. Stressed syllables are more prominent
than unstressed syllables. There are four factors that make a syllable prominent:
loudness, length, pitch and quality. Stressed syllables are louder and stronger than
unstressed syllables. In addition they have high pitch. There are two main levels of
stress: primary and secondary. Consider the following word in which the first syllable
has a secondary stress and the the fifth syllable has a primary stress.:
indivisibility/indivizibiləti/.

The nature of stress.

According to Kohlo(2017.173), Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes
physical, emotional, or psychological strain. Stress is your body’s response to anything
that requires attention or action.
Although the basic concepts associated with stress are generally the same for all human
beings, when working with children, we need to keep in mind that the stressors
experienced by children may be quite different than those experienced by adults. We
also need to remember that how we, as adults, cope with stressful events serves as role
modeling for children. Taking care of children can be very stressful and it benefits
everyone for adults to practice self-care and healthy coping as much as possible.

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There are different types of stress.
Distress is the negative stress that most people think of when they think of stress.
Eustress is generally positive stress that may involve personal growth and can improve
health. Things such as planning a party or completing a big project involve eustress.
Acute stress is intense and lasts for a short time. In contrast, chronic stress continues
over time and causes damage to the body. Traumatic stress is often a result of
experiencing traumatic events and can lead to PTSD.
The fight/flight response is believed to have evolved for the purpose of physical
survival of the species. Today, though physical threats still exist, they are not as
common as in the days of primitive people. However, many individuals respond to non-
life threatening situations in ways that evoke a stress response that can negatively
impact health.

Level of stress
Feeling pressure to meet a deadline, juggling tasks at home, experiencing relationship
conflicts, or struggling with symptoms related to health issues are typical stressors.
While it’s important to understand what triggers your stress, learning how it affects your
body may give new insight on how to handle it.
The stages are part of a process the body goes through when stress occurs, including
mental and physical effects. These mental and physical effects are the body’s reaction to
stressors as a form of defense. The three stages of stress include the following:
Alarm: Anything can trigger the response, and each person has different levels of
tolerance and sensitivity. You may notice na increased heart rate, sweating, nervous
fidgeting, or feeling tense, anxious, worried, or scared as your body reacts to the cause
of your stress.
Resistance: The second stage of the stress response is when our bodies attempt to return
to a normal balance, counteracting the “alarm” response in the first stage. Generally,
when you enter into this stage, you’ll begin to feel calmer. The parasympathetic nervous
system begins to bring down the heart rate, your body’s physiological functions return
to normal, and you can better focus on attending to the source of the stress.
Exhaustion: The final stress stage is exhaustion, which results from your body trying to
combat stress for na extended period. Typically, in this stage you find yourself feeling
run down and having far less energy than normal. You may fall ill more easily as your
immune system can also weaken due to stress. This stage is a signal that your stress is
severe. Long-term psychological changes can occur as well, causing you to become
depressed, possibly sleep deprived, or chronically anxious.

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Placement stress within a word
In English grammar, the word “stress” refers to the emphasis given to a specific syllable
in a word. The stressed syllable is usually louder, longer, and pronounced with a higher
pitch than the other syllables. Knowing a word’s stress is important because a misplaced
stress can change the meaning of a word or confuse listeners.
The best way to learn the stress of a new word is to keep repeating it until the stress
comes naturally and a different stress sounds wrong. Remember “repetition is the
mother of learning.” However, this method is only possible if you are able to hear the
new word being pronounced correctly.

Complex word stress

The stress patterns in complex words (compounds, affixed words) differ from those in
simplex, underived words. That is, many of the generalizations on stress placement
apply to individual constituents of words (e.g. the stem) but not to the complex word as
a whole. However, there are also specific generalizations concerning stress in complex
words: for instance, some affixes do not affect the stress pattern of their base word at
all, others attract it, and still others move it towards a syllable, and others again attract
word stress.
Complex words can be subject to stress shifts, which are of two kinds. The first type of
stress shift is sensitive to the syntactic position of the relevant complex word: adjectival
compounds that have a weak-strong stress pattern in predicative position (can) exhibit a
strong-weak pattern in attributive position.

Aspects of connected speech

Rhythm
Second Costello(2016.29) say that, In phonetics, rhythm is the sense of movement in
speech, marked by the stress, timing, and quantity of syllables. Adjective: rhythmic.
In poetics, rhythm is the recurring alternation of strong and weak elements in the flow
of sound and silence in sentences or lines of verse.

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Rhythm may be defined as the way in which one or more unaccented beats are grouped
in relation to na accented one. … A rhythmic group can be apprehended only when its
elements are distinguished from one another, rhythm…always involves na
interrelationship between a single, accented (strong) beat and either one or two
unaccented (weak) beats.

Assimilation
According to Davis (2000. 76), Assimilation is a sound change in which some
phonemes (typically consonants or vowels) change to become more similar to other
nearby sounds.
Assimilation in phonetics is the process in which a sound is influenced by and becomes
similar to a surrounding sound. This means that the pronunciation can vary depending
on the order of certain letters in different words. This is usually done to ease
pronunciation, especially when words are said quickly.
Example:
Na example would be the word ‘handbag’. Native speakers rarely pronounce each letter
clearly as this does not flow well and is more difficult to pronounce in fast speech.
Instead, they would probably pronounce it as /hæmbæg/ (hambag).
This happens because both the /d/ and /b/ sounds have different places of articulation,
meaning they are pronounced using different parts of the mouth:
/d/ is pronounced by tapping the tongue against the alveolar ridge (the part right behind
your upper teeth). /b/ is bilabial, meaning it is pronounced by placing both of your lips
together. This makes it difficult to pronounce both of these letters sequentially, so the /d/
gets dropped.
The /n/ sound is also pronounced by tapping the tongue against the alveolar ridge, but,
because it comes before the bilabial consonant /b/, it is labialised instead. This means
that the /n/ sound turns into na /m/ sound. This makes it easier to pronounce the /m/
and /b/ sequentially, as they are both pronounced using the same parts of the mouth (the
lips).

Elision Linking
For Edwards (2000), In phonetics and phonology, elision is the omission of a sound (a
phoneme) in speech. Elision is common in casual conversation.
More specifically, elision may refer to the omission of na unstressed vowel, consonant,
or syllable. This omission is often indicated in print by na apostrophe.

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How Elision Is Used
“Elision of sounds can … be seen clearly in contracted forms like isn’t (is not), I’ll (I
shall/will), who’s (who is/has), they’d (they had, they should, or they would), haven’t
(have not) and so on. We see from these examples that vowels or/and consonants can be
elided. In the case of contractions or words like library (pronounced in rapid speech as
/laibri/), the whole syllable is elided.”
Elision means leaving something out. Usually, the omitted thing is a sound in a word,
resulting in a shorter version of that word. In most cases, the sound that’s omitted is not
a stressed syllable, making this a popular way for poets to conform to a set meter in
their poems.
Example: cam-ra for “camera”
Dunno for “don’t know”
Kinda for “kind of”

Conclusion
The present Assignment III of Phonetic And Phonology, concluded that: A syllable is a
single, unbroken sound of a spoken (or written) word. Syllables usually contain a vowel
and accompanying consonants. Sometimes syllables are referred to as the ‘beats’ of
spoken language.
A weak syllable is a syllable that is pronounced with less emphasis or stress compared
to strong syllables.- In English, weak syllables often contain schwa sounds (ə) or
reduced vowel sounds that are less prominent and may be pronounced more quickly and
with lower pitch.
Also concluded that, Stress can be studied from the point of view of production and of
perception. The production of stress depends on the speaker using more muscular
energythan is used for unstressed syllables. From the perception point of view, all
stressed syllables have one characteristic in common, and that is prominence.
Finally concluded that, Elision means leaving something out. Usually, the omitted thing
is a sound in a word, resulting in a shorter version of that word. In most cases, the sound
that’s omitted is not a stressed syllable, making this a popular way for poets to conform
to a set meter in their poems.

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Bibliography Reference
Ridouane, Rachid. “Syllables without vowels: phonetic and phonological evidence
from Tashlhiyt Berber.” Phonology 25, no. 2 (August 2008): 321–59.
Köhlo, Mikhaela. “A perfect end: a study of syllable codas in South African Sign
Language.” Thesis, Rhodes University, 2017.
Costello, Brigid Mary. “The Rhythm of Game Interactions: Player Experience and
Rhythm in Minecraft and Don’t Starve.” Games and Culture 13, no. 8 (May 11, 2016):
807–24.
Davis M. (2000) The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Work Book, New Harbinger
inc.
Edwards M. (2000) Stress Management for Cancer Patients: a Self Help M

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