Prof Francisco Zabala - 2014 Sentence Stress In their citation form, every word has a lexical stress – or more However, when they occur in context some of them are not stressed at all and may even take a weak vowel (i.e .?+
h+
t+
H+
T.) It is convenient to think that there are two classes of words: those that carry more meaning and those whose function is more grammatical and less loaded with information Imagine that you get these two text messages: which is the more informative? The second message, though ungrammatical, is meaningful If we assemble the two messages together and read the text aloud, we can see that those meaningful words retain their stress need some cash for the new phone We Content or Lexical - More information - Keep their stress NAVA: Nouns Adjectives Verbs Adverbs Function or Grammar W O R D S - Less information - Unstressed (if monosyllabic) CAPPA: Conjunctions Auxiliaries Pronoun Prepositions Articles Read this conversation Underline all the content words ROB: I was sure I that I had my licence with me SAM: I can help you look for it When did you see it last? ROB: Not for some days I have been driving very little There is a lot of traffic, so I try not to drive into town SAM: I see Do you take a bus or the tube? ROB: Either I think that public transport is better for the environment and cheaper than a car park! Look at these highlighted words from the text and choose the correct alternative: a Was in line rhymes with: Oz – fuzz – neither b Can in line rhymes with: man – American – bun – barn c For in line rhymes with: four – chauffeur – neither d That in line rhymes with: Albert – hat – heart