How to find stress in English?

Like many other languages, English can be divided into word stress and sentence stress.

1. 1 word stress

Some languages have fixed word stress, for example, the stress falls on the first syllable, the second syllable or the last syllable. English word stress is flexible, which can be placed before or after. However, different positions of word stress determine different parts of speech and sometimes different meanings.

1. 1. 1 The word form is unchanged, and the stress change can change the part of speech of the word. The stress of the same word form is a noun on the first syllable, but a verb on the second syllable, such as "'import (noun)" and "im'port (verb)"; In increase (noun), in create (verb).

The word stress of 1. 1.2 also exists in compound nouns and phrases with the same word form, such as' blackbird' and' blackbird'. However, their word stress is different. The former stresses the first syllable while the latter stresses the second syllable. Moreover, its meaning is different. The former refers to a special bird whose color is not necessarily black, while the latter refers to a bird whose color is black. Another example is that,

Hot dog (hot dog-smoked sausage with bread)

Whitebait (an insect)

Grandfather (grandfather or grandfather)

Green House (Green House) Green House (Greenhouse)

The stress change of 1. 1.3 also exists in the same phrase. But different accents have different meanings. For example,

Freezers, freezers, freezers.

Old girl (old lady) old girl (old classmate)

Old' boy' old boys (old classmate)

White house. White house.

An English teacher, an English teacher, an English teacher

1. 1.4 When the present participle with verb characteristics is used with nouns, the nouns should be stressed. For example,

They are eating apples. '

This sentence can be "What are you doing?" They are eating apples.

When a participle and a noun together form a compound noun, the first word of the compound noun should be stressed, for example,' They are eating an apple'. .

This sentence is a question' What are these?' They are sweet apples that can be eaten raw.

As can be seen from the above two examples, in foreign language communication, both sides should pay more attention to the stress of words and phrases. If the stress of a word or phrase is mispronounced or mispronounced, it means the change of part of speech and meaning, resulting in misunderstanding in meaning.

1.2 sentence stress

Stress exists not only in words and phrases, but also in sentences. It reflects the speaker's emphasis on one or several parts of the sentence. Generally speaking, in English sentences, substantive words such as nouns and adjectives should be stressed, while functional words such as articles and prepositions should not be stressed. For example,

The chairman may resign. The chairman may have to resign. )

However,' chairman' can also be particularly emphasized, while' resignation' is not emphasized.

The chairman may resign.

Only the chairman can resign, and no one else is involved.

When the function word may is used in negative sentences to mean "impossible", it should be stressed. For example,

He may not go tomorrow.

He may not go tomorrow.

If the stress falls not on the word' may' but on the negative word' not', the meaning will change: it means' not impossible' but' not allowed';

He may not go tomorrow.

I will not allow him to go tomorrow.

At the same time, when the auxiliary verbs' will' and' shall' express' determination', they all have sentence stress, but the executors of' determination' are different. For example,

Whatever you say, he will do it.

He insisted on doing it …

Whatever you say, he will do it.

I insist that he do it ...

It should be noted that for the purpose of "contrast", other functional words can also be emphasized. Real words that need to be stressed at ordinary times are not stressed. For example,

That is my book, not yours. That book is mine, not yours. )

In some cases, in order to express strong feelings, the tone of stressed syllables can be improved. Try to compare the following two modes.

He went to the office.

(1) and (2) are both declarative sentences (probably for' where did he go? Answer), and the two pronunciations mainly emphasize' office'. But the tone of the previous sentence is normal. The feelings it expresses are' neutral'. The latter sentence has a very high tone. It expresses the speaker's surprise or impatience.

2. Tone

English is an intonation language. Generally speaking, English has four intonations: falling tone, rising tone, falling tone and rising tone.

2. 1 falling tone

A falling tone can usually be used to state facts, such as "He is going home". . At the same time, it can also be used in special interrogative sentences to get more relevant information, such as' Who is going home? .

However, in falling tone sentences, the tone of the first stressed syllable is particularly important. Peter Roach believes that if the first stressed syllable of a sentence begins with a low-key door, then the sentence expresses a feeling of' calm but not excited'. On the contrary, sentences that start with a high profile express feelings that are' abnormal and excited'. For example,

Yes (generally, the unstressed' yes') Yes! (emphasize "yes")

2.2 rising tone

Generally, upward expansion is used in the following situations,

1) is used for general questions in the form of declarative sentences, such as,

He's going home?

2) General interrogative sentences used in inverted form, such as,

Is he going home?

However, in English communication, speakers and listeners should pay more attention to other uses of rising tone.

1) rising tone is used to express the speaker's uncertainty, doubt, comfort, apology, impatience and other emotions. For example,

That's not the book he wants.

He is not sure whether this is the book he wants. It is equivalent to a negative question: isn't that the book he wants?

The following example further illustrates this point.

I am sorry to have kept you waiting. (Apologize)

He is such a person. (contempt)

I can't wait that long. (impatient)

2) The rising tone of questions starting with WH often means that the questioner didn't hear the answer clearly and asked the other person to repeat it. For example,

What's your name?

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The rising tone of this question means' What did you say your name was again?' .

3) Interrogative questions use rising tone to express the inquiry. For example,

This is Schubert's work, right?

We can sleep outside, can't we?

They won't be disappointed, will they

These three rhetorical questions are equivalent to negative sentences: "'Isn't this Schubert? Can't we sleep outside? Won't they be fired? .

4) Questions starting with WH-you can also express other feelings with rising tone. Please look at the following sentences.

What's your number? (showing tenderness)

what can I do for you? (show concern)

Who should I write to? (indicating discussion)

Where should I sit? (Expressed euphemistically)

In addition, when interrogative words are used alone, rising tone and falling tone have different meanings. The following dialogue illustrates this point.

John has a new girlfriend.

B: Who?

If B uses a falling tone, A will understand and B wants to know who John's girlfriend is. And A's answer is probably: John's girlfriend is … but if B uses the rising tone, A should understand that B doesn't know who has a girlfriend. And A's answer should be: I said John.

2.3 Descending and Ascending

When the speaker expresses "uncertainty" and "reservation", he uses the intonation "". For example,

That's not the book he wants.

Sentences expressed in this tone have other information besides literal meaning. In this regard, in addition to telling the obedient person that this book is not what he wants, the speaker also implies that he needs other books. The following example also illustrates this point.

I can't do it now. (implication: maybe later)

I do. I want to go, but ...

I posted your letter. It may imply: but these letters haven't arrived for a long time.

Get your fare ready. I know, everyone has prepared the fare. )

In addition, the rising and falling tone can also mean "warning", "comfort", "encouragement", "farewell" and "wish". For example,

Pay attention. (warning)

Have a good time. (wish)

2.4 Adjust up and down

Pitch can be represented by a ring. This tone is mainly used to express' contempt' and' ridicule'. For example,

You never. You know how to do it! Joke! )

2.5 Ascending sound

The symbol for rising and falling is usually''. This tone often expresses feelings such as hesitation, dissatisfaction, innuendo and resentment. Try to compare the following two groups of sentences.

Me, me.

(expressing hesitation) (expressing general possibility)

We'll ... we'll ...

(a polite refusal) (a positive acceptance)

Why not ... God? Why not ... God?

(Express dissatisfaction) (Express direct suggestions)

2.6 Active tone

The tone-dropping gate gradually drops from high to low. The active key, on the other hand, moves up and down between the treble door and the bass door according to the needs of emotional expression, with great changes. These two intonations also convey different meanings. For example.

1)' What a great idea!' Comparison of two intonations.

How ...! ! (more excited)

2) "Great!" Comparison of two intonations.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (He passed the exam)

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (I passed the exam)

3) Because of different speakers,' England won the World Cup!' It can be expressed in two different tones.

—––––––––––––––––––––––

——————————— (What the news announcer said)

—––––––––––––––––––––––

—————————— (What do football fans say)

Moreover, expressing the same sentence with different styles of active tone will produce different effects.

1) "Where is Peggy?" Several intonation forms and their different meanings.

(1) _ _ _ _ _ (He's thinking,' Where's Peggy? )

(2) _ _ _ _ _ _ (He asked anxiously,' Where is Peggy? )

(3) _ _ _ _ _ _ (He keeps saying,' Where have you been, Peggy?' )

(4) _ _ _ _ _ _ (He kept asking,' Where is Peggy? )

(He repeats in surprise, "Where's Peggy?" ? How strange! )

(6) _ _ _ _ _ _ (He asked eagerly,' Where is Peggy? Say it. )

2) Several intonation forms of "I don't know". And their different meanings.

(1) _ _ _ _ _ (He simply replied,' I don't know.' )

(2) _ _ _ _ _ _ (He said impatiently,' I really don't know.' )

(3) _ _ _ _ _ _ (He said mysteriously,' I have nothing to say.' )

(4) _ _ _ _ _ _ (He insisted,' I don't know anything.' )

(5) _ _ _ _ _ _ (He said angrily,' I don't know!' )

(6) _ _ _ _ _ _ (He repeated angrily, "I don't know anything." )

conclusion

To sum up, we can see that mood, tone and tone length play an extremely important role in expressing subtle semantics in English communication. English communicators should not only master the knowledge and usage of the most common rising tone and falling tone, but also master the knowledge of other intonations besides these two intonations, and can accurately apply these knowledge to communication. Only when stress and intonation are properly applied to the context can communication be successful.