THOUGHT GROUP
English speakers help their listeners to understand
them by separating words into thought groups, orally by making a pause and
using a falling pitch or in writing by using punctuation marks at the end of
each thought group.
v What
does mean a thought group?
A thought group is a group of words that belong together;
it can be a short sentences or part of a longer sentence.
v Each thought group has a focus word.
“Some of words have been taken of Pronunciation, Practice Activities, and A
resource book for teaching English pronunciation. Martin Hewings pág 129, Unit 15.”
THOUGHT
GROUP RULES
Examples:
I love traveling.
“Let`s go to the mall,” Peter said. But Kristin
replied, “OK.”
Examples:
(4x3) + 3 = 15
four times three plus three
equals fifteen
My dog is cute, your cat too.
“Some of words have been taken of Pronunciation, Practice Activities, and A resource book for teaching English pronunciation. Martin Hewings pág 129,131,133 Unit 15.”
INTONATION
RISING AND FALLING INTONATION
Declarative statements, commands and Wh- Questions
usually use falling intonation.
Examples:
v
Declarative statements:
·
I live in Los Angeles, CA.
·
I do not like cauliflower.
v
Commands:
·
Get up!
·
Sit down!
·
Come over here!
v
Wh- Questions
·
How`s your father?
·
Where do you live?
·
Who do you live with?
v Yes/No questions usually use rising intonation:
Examples:
·
Have you done it?
·
Will you go?
·
Are you sure?
·
Do
you like it?
v Tag questions eliciting agreeing usually use falling
intonation and tag questions signaling uncertainty usually use first falling
intonation and at the end rising intonation:
Examples:
1. Tag questions eliciting agreeing:
·
You aren`t a tourist, are you?
2. Tag questions signaling uncertainty
·
You like jazz music, don`t you?
CONNECTED SPEECH
Connected speech is really
important when you are trying to speak English like, most native speakers
stringing words together because speech is a continuous stream of sounds,
without clear-cut borderlines between them.
The pronunciation of a word will
change depending on the words around it. Changes in pronunciation within and
across word boundaries include changes to individual sounds and new sounds
being inserted. Learners have to become aware of these changes in order to
understand authentic speech, and to help their pronunciation.
SOME ASPECTS OF CONNECTED SPEECH
1. LINKING
Link words is when we join words
in a sentence, because of this words tend to sound different that when we
pronounce them individually. We tend to link final consonants to initial vowels
or vice versa.
Examples:
v Get on. ( geton )
v Not at all. ( notatall )
v It´s no joke. ( snow joke)
v Put on ( puton )
v Get out ( getout )
v Come out ( cumout )
1. Elision:
Elision is the disappearance of
a sound in connected speech, vowels from unstressed syllables are the first to be elided in
non-precise pronunciation. / h /, / t / and / d / sounds are commonly elided.
Examples:
v Chris(t)mas.
v Int(e)rest.
v Sim(i)lar.
v Libr(a)ry.
v Mus(t) be.
v You an(d) me.
v You
shouldn´t (h)ave
v Tell
(h)im.
1.
REDUCTIONS
Reductions are reduced forms of
English word groups. Reduced forms are used only on speaking or very informal
writing. *These are not real words.
Examples:
v Want to = wanna
v Going to = gonna
v Got a = gotta
v Kind of = kinda
v Could have = coulda/ couldav
v Get you = getcha
"All of these aspects of
connected speech, among others, will help you to sound more natural when you are
speaking"
