Verb. to be. Present: Strong & weak forms. uses (I)

Verb. to be. Present:  Strong & weak forms. uses

May God inspire Trump and be an angel his assistant!

Excellent Concession Speech of Hillary Clinton.

God bless America

Good luck America on your voting day

Good Luck America on your voting day

I wish you elect the better candidate.

A wise capable ruler will be good news for the world. Best wishes for the USA. 

Hail America!

Rythm- Sentence Stress

Rythm- Sentence Stress

English is a stress-timed language  and contrasts with many languages at this regard.

What is a stress-timed language?

a)     English speakers highlight the content words.They give particular emphasis to the most important items of information in any utterance; the essential elements of the message they wish to put across.

b)    Content words: nouns, adjectives, verbs  and, adverbs.

c)      Function words: a, the, at, to, of, from, him, her, his, it,  your, our, as, than, that

    Auxiliary verbs, articles,pronouns,  possessives, conjunctions

  

    English speakers, except for emphasis, pronounce function      words hastily, carelessly, and imprecisely.

      Function words have one strong, and several weak pronunciations.

In order to acquire the English rhythm is crucial to know when to use the strong and the weak forms.

          The weak forms are the most common. The inadequate use of  strong forms distorts rhythm and impairs communication.

SOUNDS: d, ð, θ

Slave to love by Bryan Ferry

LYRICS

Tell her I'll be waiting in the usual place
With the tired and weary and there's no escape
To need a woman you've got to know
How the strong get weak and the rich get poor

Slave to love
Oho
Slave to love

You're running with me
Don't touch the ground
We're the restless hearted
Not the chained and bound

The sky is burning
A sea of flame
Though your world is changing
I will be the same

Slave to love
Oho
Slave to love

Slave to love (Nananana)
Oho (Nananana)
Slave to love
I can't escape
I'm a slave to love

The storm is breaking or so it seems
We're too young to reason, too grown up to dream
Now spring is turning your face to mine
I can hear your laughter, I can see your smile

Slave to love (Nananana)
Oho (Nananana)
Slave to love
I can't escape
I'm a slave to love

Slave to love (Nananana)
Oho (Nananana)
Slave to love
I can't escape
I'm a slave to love

(Nananana)
(Nananana)
Slave to love
I can't escape
I'm a slave to love

(Nananana)
(Nananana)
Slave to love
I can't escape
I'm a slave to love

(Nananana)
(Nananana)
Slave to love
I can't escape
I'm a slave to love

SONG: sleiv tu lʌv - Write the spelling

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!

WORD STRESS CHANGES MEANING

In English word stress distinguishes nouns/adjectives from verbs.

Nouns/adjectives are stressed on the first, verbs on the second syllable.

WORD STRESS CHANGES MEANING

STRESS - INTRODUCTION

1)    Word stress

2)    Sentence stress

1.    Word stress

a)         English has  tonic stress,  but NOT orthographic accent.

b)         Words of Latin origin stress differently:

c)       Stress changes MEANING: nouns are stressed on the first syllable;

                                      verbs are stressed on the second syllable

 d) Stress and pronunciation vary in derived words:

 e)        Unstressed syllables are often pronounced [ə]

 f)        Auxiliary and Modal verbs use weak forms.

_________

[1]  dessert  [di’zә :t]  = sweet