Suprasegmental Features

Segmental Phonemes
The segments of spoken language are the vowels, diphthongs and consonants. They are called
so because they produce speech segments. They are also called primary phonemes. They
combine to form syllables, words, phrases and sentences.
Suprasegmentals
There exist certain additional speech features like stress, pitch, intonation, length, juncture
etc. These features may affect speech sounds. They lie above (super) the morphological
features (sound segments). Hence they are called suprasegmental features. Sometimes, they
affect a change of meaning. They are also called secondary phonemes or prosodic phonemes.
They indicate phonetic phenomena affecting higher units of sound like words, phrases and
sentences and not single segments.
WORD STRESS
Word Stress refers to the prominence given to a syllable in a word. In English, all the
syllables in a word are not uttered with equal force. One or more syllables can be uttered with
more force than the others in a word.
 Stress is described as the degree of force with which a syllable is pronounced.
 Stressed Syllable: The syllable uttered with the greatest degree of force in a word is
called a stressed syllable or accented syllable. For example, in the word ‘table’ there
are two syllables, /teI/ and /-bl/. The syllable /teI/ is uttered with more force than the
second syllable. Hence it is the stressed or accented syllable.
 Primary Stress: The accented syllable will be uttered with the most degree of force in
a word. Hence it will receive the primary stress or tonic stress. Primary stress is
marked in IPA by putting a raised vertical line [ˈ] at the beginning of the syllable.
Example: enough - /əˈnʌf/
 Secondary Stress: The syllable next to that in the degree of force of utterance is said
to receive the secondary stress. Secondary stress is marked with a lowered vertical
line [ˌ] at the beginning of the syllable.
Example: photograph- /ˈfotəˌɡɹæf/
 In English, stress is both free and fixed.
 Free in the sense that it is not associated with a particular syllable in all the words.
 Fixed in the sense that stress falls on a particular syllable of any given word. For
example, in the word manner, the stress is always on the first syllable, below on the
second, politician on the third.
Some rules
1. Derivatives: Sometimes, morphemes are added to words to derive new and longer
words. In some of these words, the stress will keep shifting to the right of the word.
Although, there are words in which there is no stress shift.

ˈpolitics- poˈlitical- poliˈtician

ˈphotograph- phoˈtographer- photoˈgraphic
ˈpatriot- patrˈiotic
aˈcademy- acaˈdemic- acadeˈmician

2. Some disyllabic words are used as nouns/adjectives or as verbs. When they are used
as nouns/adjectives, the stress will fall on the first syllable and when they are used as
verbs the stress will fall on the second syllable.

Word Noun/Adjective Verb

Insult |ˈɪnsʌlt| |ɪnˈsʌlt|
Absent |ˈæbsənt| |æbˈsənt|
Conduct |ˈkbndʌkt| |kənˈdʌkt|
Object |ˈɒbdʒɪkt| |ɒbˈdʒɪkt|
Present |ˈpreznt| |preˈzənt|
Desert |ˈdezərt| |dɪˈzəːt|

3. Words with weak prefixes have the primary stress on the root. For example, words
that start a-, be-, re- etc.
aˈhead, beˈcause, reˈturn

4. Words with the suffix -ee, -eer, -aire etc. take the primary stress on the syllable
containing the suffix.
-ee trusˈtee
-eer auctioˈneer
_aire billioˈnaire

5. The English inflectional suffixes -ed, -es and -ing do not affect the stress.

-ed reˈlate reˈlated

-es ˈfocus ˈfocusses
-ing ˈsing ˈsinging

6. The derivational suffixes -age, -ance, -en, -ess, -ful, -hood, -ice, -ish, -ive, -less, -ly,
-ment, -ness, -or, -ship, -ter, -ure, -zen etc do not normally affect the stress.

-age ˈcarry ˈcarriage

-ance perˈform perˈformance
-en ˈlight ˈlighten
 -er ˈwork ˈworker
-ess ˈgod ˈgoddess
-ful ˈcare ˈcareful
-hood ˈchild ˈchildhood
-ice ˈcoward ˈcowardice
-ish ˈfool ˈfoolish
-ive aˈbuse aˈbusive
-less ˈaim ˈaimless
-ly ˈbad ˈbadly
-ment inˈvolve inˈvolvement
-ness ˈbitter ˈbitterness
-or ‘conquer ˈconqueror
-ship ˈfellow ˈfellowship
-ter ˈlaugh ˈlaughter
-zen ˈcity ˈcitizen

7. Words ending in -ion will take primary stress on the penultimate (second last)
syllable.
cultiˈvation
appliˈcation

8. Words ending in -ic, -ical, -ically, -ial, -ially, -ity, -ious, and -ian have primary stress
on the syllable immediately preceding the suffix.

-ic eˈlectric, paˈthetic, graˈmmatic

-ical eˈlectrical, graˈmmatical, cateˈgorical
-ically ecoˈnomically, poˈlitically, ˈchemically
-ial meˈmorial, confiˈdential, dictaˈtorial
-ially inˈdustrially, confiˈdentially
-ity acˈtivity, caˈpacity, fuˈtility
-ious laˈborious, inˈdustrious, vicˈtorious

9. In most compound words, the stress falls on the first element.

ˈblacksmith, ˈbookshelf, ˈkingfisher, ˈfootprint

10. When a compound word denotes a single idea rather than a combination of two ideas
suggested by the original words, the first element is stressed.
ˈhoneymoon, ˈgoldsmith

11. When the meaning of a whole compound word is the meaning of the second element,
stress is on the first syllable.
ˈdinner-table, ˈsheepdog

12. Words compounded with a verb and an adverb are pronounced with stress on the first
element.
ˈmake-up, ˈset-back
 13. Some compound words have double stress.
ˈbad-ˈtempered, ˈafterˈnoon, ˈhomeˈmade

14. Double stress is used in compound adjectives in which the first element is an
adjective.
ˈred-ˈhot, ˈgood-ˈlooking

15. Some compound words which end in -self, -ever etc. take the primary stress on the
second element
herˈself, himˈself, whatˈever, forˈever, whenˈever

SENTENCE STRESS
In connected speech in English, all the words are not uttered with the same stress. Some
words are stressed and some are not. Prominence given to syllables in sentences are called
sentence stress.
Generally, content words- nouns, verbs, adjectives, demonstrative and interrogative
pronouns- are stressed.
The function class words- prepositions, conjunctions, articles, personal pronouns etc- are
unstressed.
The ˈtall ˈboy is a ˈbrilliant student.
The ˈleaves ˈrustle in the ˈgentle ˈbreeze.
If you ˈstudy ˈwell, you will ˈget a ˈfirst ˈclass.
ˈThis is the ˈkey to the ˈkingdom of ˈheaven.

Primary accent/ Tonic accent- When there are many prominent syllables in connected speech,
only one will receive the greatest force of utterance and that syllable is said to have
the tonic accent. This is usually the last prominent syllable. But the choice of the
syllable carrying the primary accent depends on the meaning the speaker wants to
convey.

The syllable which is stressed when a polysyllabic word is pronounced in isolation will be
stressed when it forms part of connected speech too,
The ˈbook is beˈlow the ˈtable.
RHYTHM
One of the important characteristics of stress in English is that it is a language with a stress-
timed rhythm. This means that in English, stressed syllables tend to occur at regular
intervals of time. In the below sentence,
ˈThis is the ˈdress I ˈlike
the time intervals between the accented syllables this, dress and like will be roughly the same.
Irrespective of the number of unaccented syllables between the two accented syllable, the
time interval between them would be roughly the same. It is this phenomenon that gives
English its characteristic rhythm. Such a phenomenon of certain features occurring at regular
intervals of time is called isochrony.

STRONG AND WEAK FORMS

The function class words in English are not stressed, hence most of them tend to “weaken”.
Many common English words have thus two or more forms of pronunciation, one ‘strong’
form and one or more ‘weak’ forms. This phenomenon is called gradation- the existence of
two or more pronunciation for the same word.
The strong forms are used when these words are stressed or pronounced in isolation. The
weak forms are used when they are unaccented.
Characteristics of weak forms
1. The weak forms are unstressed
2. They exhibit a reduction in the length of sounds
3. The weak forms often omit vowels and consonants from their strong forms.
4. The replacement of vowels by /ə/
Strong forms are used
1. When the weak form words occur finally in a sentence. For example,
Who are you waiting for?
2. When a weak form is stressed for the purpose of emphasis
The journey to Kochi not from Kochi.

Juncture/ Transition
Juncture (indicated by +) refers to the phenomenon of pauses in speech, the pause that we
make between to words to make out the meaning. Phonetic boundaries used to demarcate
words or other grammatical units are called junctures. It does not refer to transition from one
sound to the next within a word, but to transition from one word to the next. Thus, the
phonemic sequence /pi:stɔ:ks/ may either mean pea-stalks or peace-talks depending on where
the juncture or pause is. Examples of similar sequences are
A name – An aim
Icecream- I scream
Play track- Plate rack
A dress- Address

Pitch and Intonation

In connected speech, the pitch of the voice is continually rising and falling.
Pitch: The pitch of the voice depends on the frequency at which the vocal cords vibrate.
Frequency means the number of times the vocal cords vibrate per second. The faster and
more rapidly the vocal cords vibrate, the higher will be the pitch.
Tone: In connected speech, the pitch of the speaker’s voice goes on changing constantly.
Sometimes the pitch goes up and sometimes it goes down. The change of pitch is known as
tone.
o Static Tone: An accented syllable uttered on level pitch has a static tone.
o Kinetic Tone: An accented syllable on which the pitch change takes place has
a kinetic tone.
Intonation: This refers to significant changes of pitch and stress in relation to utterances, in
other words, utterance bound pitch is called intonation. The voice pitch keeps on varying in
connected speech. Four pitch levels, ranging from the lowest, marked [1] to the highest,
marked [4] are generally used. Most utterances begin at pitch level [2] and the voice normally
rises to level [3] just before the end of an utterance and the end is characterized by a terminal
contour (TC).
Breath group: When we speak, we divide stretches of speech into manageable groups of
words between which we pause. We pause in order to breathe. A group of words uttered in a
single breath is called breath group.
Before going on about the different kinds of intonations in English, three factors about
utterance must be discussed.
1. Tonality
A tone group of tone unit is indicated by pauses and they often coincide with clauses.
There are many tone groups as there are clauses in an utterance.

When I went to the beach, I met Meera. - this sentence has two tone groups and two
clauses.
 This can be identified by commas, semicolons and full stops. In ‘one, two, three,
four’., we have three commas and one full stop, marking four tone groups. There are
certain exceptions.
When we want to give emphasis to a particular item of information in an utterance,
we give it the status of a tone group. Thus, normally we utter the sentence.

John went to the party with Mary.

Usually this sentence is uttered as a single tone group. But to emphasise the fact that
he went with Mary and not anyone else, we would utter it as two tone groups.

John went to the party// with Mary//

2. Tonicity
The most prominent syllable in a tone group is called the tonic syllable or nucleus. In
normal speech, unless some special meaning is intended, the tonic falls on the last
stressed syllable. The choice of a syllable on which there is a pitch variation is
referred to as tonicity.
For example,
I went to the party with Mary. (The last stressed syllable is /meə/ in Mary and this
syllable will carry the tonic.)

The stressed syllables are marked with short vertical lines on top and the tonic is
marked with a slanting line, going up or coming down.

ˈI ˈwent to the ˈparty with `Mary.

ˈI ˈwent to the `party with ˈMary (if you want to put emphasis on ‘party’)
`I ˈwent to the ˈparty with ˈMary (if you want to put emphasis on ‘I’)

3. Tonic
After dividing an utterance into tone groups and deciding which syllable carries the
tone, the next step is to decide which tonic to use.
Different types of intonation patterns
1. Falling Tone: The pitch movement is from a higher to a lower pitch. Indicated using
[`]
a. Declarative sentences without any implications
I went to the `party.
b. Wh- questions expecting information in answers and sometimes uttered in a cold,
unfriendly way.
Why are you `late?
c. Commands
Get `out!
Will you stop `writing please?
d. Exclamations
What a lovely `sight!
 What a fine `day!
e. Question Tags in which the speaker is certain about what he said and he just wants
the listener to confirm his statement.
He is `well,// `isn’t he?//

2. Rising Tone: The movement from a lower to a higher pitch. Indicated using [´]

a. Used in incomplete utterances, often in the first of the two clauses in a complex
sentence, which indicates something more to follow.
He is ´late, // because he missed the `bus.// (first clause)
´One, ´two, ´three and `four (in listing items)
b. Declarative sentences used as questions.
We will go for a ´picnic?
You are ready for the ´test?
c. Yes/No questions
Are you ´dreaming?
Has your friend ´come?
d. Wh- questions asked in a warm friendly way, indicating politeness and interest.
Why are you ´late?
Where did you ´go?
e. Polite requests
Please pass the ´salt.
Please open the ´door.
f. Question tags in which the speaker wants the listener to answer his question and
give information
She has done the `work, ´hasn’t she?
Mary is `coming, ´isn’t she?

3. Fall-Rise tone: The movement from a higher to a lower pitch and then back to higher.
Indicated using [`´] above the syllable in which pitch change takes place.

a. Used to imply things which are not indicated directly.

The girl is pretty (but she is rude).
The houses are nice (but not the people in them).
b. Used for linking words.
However, he is very busy.

4. Rise- Fall tone: The movement from a lower to higher pitch and then back. It is like
the fall, but it is more emphatic or exclamatory. It also expresses disagreement or
irony. It is rare in English (RP) but present in Welsh, Irish and Indian English.
The Functions of Intonation
1. A grammatical function: It helps us distinguish between statements, questions etc.
2. An attitudinal function: It helps the listener ascertain the mood of the speaker,
whether he is sarcastic, impatient, shocked or concerned etc.
 Falling Tone Rising Tone
1. Declarative Sentences Declarative Sentences used as questions
2. Wh questions Yes/No questions
3. Commands Polite Requests
4. Exclamations Wh questions asked politely
5. Question tags in which speaker Question tags in which the speaker needs a
just wants a confirmation reply from the listener.
6. Only comes in complete Incomplete utterances often carry this
utterances, towards the end. tone.