English Prosody And Word Stress
Written by: Nimra Khan / Accent Modification / January 26, 2022 / 8 minutes read
Many clients who would prefer to modify their accent often consider speech sounds such as a different production of the sound ‘r’. However, another way to modify an accent is to consider the rhythm of the language. Every language has its own prosody which helps speakers sound more similar to native speakers. This can be an important area to consider when modifying an accent.
What is prosody?
Prosody is the rhythm, stress and intonation used in language. This can be conveyed through the loudness of your voice too. It provides more information than just the speech sounds or the word’s literal meaning and helps to convey emotion.
How do English speakers use prosody?
>>Intonation
At the end of a question or statement, we can make the pitch go up, which we call a rising intonation, or we can make our pitch go down, which we call a falling intonation.
Rising Intonation
Going from a lower higher pitch
Used when asking yes/no questions
Often means someone is surprised or is asking a question
Can be used in the middle of a sentence to make it more interesting
Falling Intonation
Going from a higher to lower pitch
Used when asking wh questions or to indicate the end of a list
Often indicates confidence or certainty
Flat Intonation
No change in pitch
Often indicates disinterest
Generally, it is best to avoid a flat intonation. Even when talking about a serious topic, the use of appropriate intonation (And syllable stressed, to be discussed) can convey a serious tone without appearing ‘bored’ in your voice.
>>Syllable stress
In each word, there is a syllable that receives the main stress. A stressed syllable can be louder, longer, and higher in pitch than the other syllables. In addition, many nouns have stress on the first syllable, while many verbs have their second syllable stressed. For example: import (noun) vs. import (verb). We stress words within sentences to show which words are more important or to clue the listener to pay special attention to certain words.
Using these two aspects together can help you sound closer to a native English speaker and you can also convey emotions more effectively. Many clients I’ve worked with have also found that occasionally a word will come up which they are unsure if they are pronouncing it correctly. Dictionary.com is helpful for this, as you can type in a word, and listen to it being said without appropriate word stress.
To speak with one of the speech-language pathologists at Well Said: Toronto Speech Therapy, schedule an initial consultation by clicking the link below or calling (647) 795-5277.
