Lecture 2:

Pronunciation: Syllable, Stress and Intonation

Speaking Style: Content and Sequencing

Pronunciation is the art/method/manner in which a letter, word or

sound is produced/delivered or said.
Hence, pronunciation is the speaker's manner of delivering sounds,
using particular devices of paralinguistic, such as- tone, accent, rhythm,
intonation, rate and pace etc
Syllable
• A syllable is the shortest
sound-unit of sound in a
word.
• A word may be divided into
sound-units, containing a
vowel sound and one or
more consonants.
Syllable Structure
A syllable consists of 3 major parts:-
Onset: The releasing consonant
sound.
Nucleus: The in-between Vowel-
sound.
Coda: The arresting consonant sound
Eg.: In P-E-T, /p/ is onset; /t/ is coda;
/e/ is nucleus.
Basic structure: V.
Eg.: “I” /ai/. “Oh” /eu/. Dipthong=2
vowel sounds combined into one.
Word Stress
• In English, we do not say each syllable with the same force or
strength.
• In one word, we accentuate ONE syllable. We slow our pace, and
increase our volume.
• All the other syllables are uttered fast and at a lower volume.

Eg.: ’Na-tion; [Na] is stressed. It sounds louder and pronounced longer

than [tion]. Employ-’ee
3 types of Word Stress
In smaller, di or tri-syllabic words, we have single stress.
Eg.: ’Na-tion. Emplo-’yee
But in polysyllabic, big words, we need two stresses.
The loudest syllable: ‘Primary’ stress
The second loudest syllable: ‘Secondary’ stress.
The rest syllables are called unstressed Syllables.
Eg.: ,ac-com-’plish-ment. ,un-der-’stan-ding
Stress in sentences
Word-Stress in a connected speech
Prepositions, articles, conjunctions and auxiliary verbs do not take stress generally.
They are called function words.

All other words—nouns, action verbs, adjectives and adverbs are called content
words. They contain new information in a sentence. So they can receive stress.

Normally, the last content word in a sentence receives stress.

I hail from ’Kanpur.
However, if the speaker wants to highlight a different kind of information, the
stress-position may change.
Eg> a. I hail from Kanpur. [not my roommate]
b. I hail from Kanpur… [but I work in Bangalore]
Intonation
 Tone Types

Falling Tone Rising-Falling

Tone

Rising Tone Falling-Rising

Tone
 High

Rising Tone
Low

• When we move from low to high Pitch, it is called Rising tone.

• We mainly use it when:

We show genuine concern to someone.
Eg.: Are you ok? Do you need water?
Falling tones in speech, particularly in the context of American
High at the
Falling tone
English, refer to the pattern where the pitch of the voice falls
Low
end of a statement or question. This intonation pattern is commonly
used in:
I. Used at the end of a complete sentence/list. Statements: To indicate that you
are finished with your thought or
Eg.: We study Physics, Chemistry and English that what you’re saying is
in first year. definitive1.
Commands: To give instructions
II. In issuing strict commands. or orders with a sense of
finality1.
g.: Wearing slippers in class is strictly prohibited!Information Questions: Often
used in “wh-questions” (who,
what, where, when, why, how)
III. When we state facts. to signal that you are asking for
information
Eg.: New Delhi is the capital of India. Understanding and mastering
falling intonation can greatly
enhance clear communication in
English
Falling-Rising Tone
We use this tone to indicate a replacement.
If you don’t have cash, you can pay with PayTm.
If Plan A fails, Plan B will take over.

It can also indicate hesitation, or something you do not want to speak.

Eg.: Isn’t she beautiful?
--yes she is, but… [she is arrogant]
Falling-rising tone indicates hesitation to speak the truth.
Rising-Falling tone
• Used in High excitement expressions.
Eg.:“ Wow!!!! That’s awesome!!” Po said to the Tigress, after she beat
him in kung fu.
• Used in sarcastic comments. “And I want a million dollars!” Chandler
exclaimed, when a beautiful lady came in, immediately after Ross
said, “I want a bride.”
Speaking Style: Content and Sequencing
Speaking Style: Content

Content of a speech is decided on:

Audience – the age, educational background, general areas of interest help

us determine the level of difficulty, the number of technical terms, the
number of infographics, type of examples we are going to use in our speech.

Purpose—informative; persuasive or entertaining. Depending on the

purpose, we make changes in our body language and voice dynamics.
Speaking Style: Sequencing
Beginning
• Open your presentation with an outline of the discussion points.
• Mention why the information—that you are going to share—is important.
Middle
• Detailed discussion of the topic with examples; graphs; charts; anecdotes,
etc.
End
• Recap of the points
• Ask the Audience to share feedback or questions.