STRESS-TIMED >< SYLLABLE TIMED LANGUAGES

 There are two groups of languages:

1.      syllable-timed languages

2.     stress-timed languages

Syllable-timed languages

 Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Cantonese,Finnish, Brazilian Portuguese.

            Each syllable takes roughly the same amount of time.

Stress-timed languages

            English, German, Swedish, Russian, Arabic, European Portuguese

         Content syllables are given prominence:  louder and longer

         -stressed syllables are said at approximately regular intervals,  

         -unstressed syllables shorten to fit this rhythm

                                              

            Grammer words ( articles, pronouns, prepositions, conjuctives, anomalous finites,     etc) use weak forms to accommodate to the speech rhythm. For that reason  is  important to know their  weak and strong forms and when to use/ expect them, otherwise, even if your grammar and articulation is right, communication will fail.

           

            To mitigate the bother we will present the alternative forms in a song by Bryan Ferry   that expect you will enjoy. The song is in phonetics and you have to guess the spelling. After that you will be given tables with the weak/strong forms and when to  se them. Don`t skip  the guessing! Come on, sing along and enjoy learning!