Gradation

ENGLISH PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY I

GRADATION

The Use of Strong and Weak Forms in English

Talk does not normally consist of single words as it often consists of a vast number of words connected together in phases, clauses, sentences, etc., that is, in whole texts of discourse. In most talk words pile upon each other and they affect the pronunciation of each other. This means that certain words have at least two possible pronunciations: a strong form with a strong vowel, and a weak form with a weak vowel. The choice between a strong or weak from depends upon the role a word has in an utterance. This is a choice at the level of discourse which is then reflected in the degree of prominence we give a word within a phrasal clause. As a general rule, lexical or content words like nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are made prominent because of their importance in a message. Grammatical or structure words like conjunctions, prepositions, determiners and auxiliary and modal verbs are usually pronounced without any prominence because

their role is basically to provide structure to phrases and clauses in utterances. 2

All of us are aware of the fact that, more often than not, one and the same English word may be pronounced in more than one way. This applies not only to the so-called 'small' words like and (/ænd, ənd, ən, nd, n/) but also to 'bigger' ones such as particular

(/pəˈtɪkjʊlə, pəˈtɪkjələ, pˈtɪkjələ, pˈtɪklə, .../) or police (/pəˈliːs, pliːs/).

Learners who aim at a native English accent must learn the weak form of function words and regard them as the regular pronunciation, using the strong form only on those limited occasions, where they are used.3

Weak forms are an essential feature of English pronunciation. Students who wish to acquire a high level of oral performance must be aware of their existence, since failure

to produce them will affect English rhythm quite considerably.4

 Strong forms

These words are used in the strong forms in the following cases.

Auxiliaries and verb to be.

1. Before a pause
2. When they are stranded in a sentence
3. When thet are followed by the weakest form of not
4.In Tag-questions
5. For emphatic affirmatives
6. In short questions (wh + aux/be + unstessed pronoun) 

Prepositions.

1. To show contrast
2. When they are stranded
3. unstressed syllable + prepositions + unstressed pronouns (this case is optional)

Pronouns

1. To show contrast 
2. Compound objects 
3. Compound subject
4. Appositive