(2) Suprasegmentals
The features such as pitch, stress, and length, which are used
simultaneously with units larger than segments, are called
“suprasegmentals.”
(a) Pitch: The pitch of the voice refers to the frequency of the vocal cord
vibration. It is influenced by the tension of the vocal cords and the
amount of air that passes through them. The patterns of rises and
falls(pitch variation) across a stretch of speech such as a sentence
are called its intonation.
-> In tone languages, the pitch variation can signal differences in
word meaning; Sino-Tibetan languages(Mandarin, Cantonese),
Niger-Congo languages(Zulu, Yoruba, Igbo), and many Amerindian
] languages(Apache, Navajo, Kiowa) are called tone languages.
e.g.) The tone of [ma] of Mandarin Chinese:
[ma] high level tone [mā] ‘mother’
high rising tone [má] ‘hemp’
low falling rising tone [mă] ‘horse’
high falling tone [mà] ‘scold’
(2) Suprasegmentals
The features such as pitch, stress, and length, which are used
simultaneously with units larger than segments, are called
“suprasegmentals.”
(a) Pitch: The pitch of the voice refers to the frequency of the vocal cord
vibration. It is influenced by the tension of the vocal cords and the
amount of air that passes through them. The patterns of rises and
falls(pitch variation) across a stretch of speech such as a sentence
are called its intonation.
-> In tone languages, the pitch variation can signal differences in
word meaning; Sino-Tibetan languages(Mandarin, Cantonese),
Niger-Congo languages(Zulu, Yoruba, Igbo), and many Amerindian
] languages(Apache, Navajo, Kiowa) are called tone languages.
e.g.) The tone of [ma] of Mandarin Chinese:
[ma] high level tone [mā] ‘mother’
high rising tone [má] ‘hemp’
low falling rising tone [mă] ‘horse’
high falling tone [mà] ‘scold’
(b) Stress: Stress can be defined as syllable prominence. The prominence of a
stressed syllable over an unstressed one may be due to a number of
factors:
(a) loudness (stressed syllables are louder than unstressed syllables)
(b) duration (stressed syllables are longer than unstressed syllables)
(c) pitch (stressed syllables are produced with higher than unstressed
syllables).
-> Variation in syllable duration and loudness produces differences in rhythm.
stress-timed rhythm: Stressed syllables occur at roughly equal intervals
in time(English, Danish, German, Swedish, Norwegian,
Dutch, Russian, Arabic
e.g.) Whát did you hópe to discóver by this tést?
( ˊ )( ˊ )( ˊ )(ˊ )
: equal length between stressed and unstressed syllables
in four time
(b) Stress: Stress can be defined as syllable prominence. The prominence of a
stressed syllable over an unstressed one may be due to a number of
factors:
(a) loudness (stressed syllables are louder than unstressed syllables)
(b) duration (stressed syllables are longer than unstressed syllables)
(c) pitch (stressed syllables are produced with higher than unstressed
syllables).
-> Variation in syllable duration and loudness produces differences in rhythm.
stress-timed rhythm: Stressed syllables occur at roughly equal intervals
in time(English, Danish, German, Swedish, Norwegian,
Dutch, Russian, Arabic
e.g.) Whát did you hópe to discóver by this tést?
( ˊ )( ˊ )( ˊ )(ˊ )
: equal length between stressed and unstressed syllables
in four time
syllable-timed rhythm: The rhythmic beat occurs by the recurrences of
syllables, not stress; Spanish, Greek, French, Hindi,
Italian, Welsh, Cantonese, Korean, Turkish,…
(c) length: Length differences in vowels or consonants may be used to make
lexical distinctions in languages; Swedish, Estonian, Finnish, Arabic,
Japanese, and Danish can be cited for vowel length contrasts.
e.g.) Danish: [vilə] “wild”, [vi:lə] “rest”
In Italian and Trukish, different consonant length is responsible for
lexical distinctions.
e.g.) Italisan: [nɔnno] “grandfather”, [nɔno] “ninth”
=> However, English does not have such meaning differences entirely
based on vowel length. Examples such as beat-bit and pool-pull are
separated not simply on the basis of length, but also on vowel
height and tense/lax distinctions.
syllable-timed rhythm: The rhythmic beat occurs by the recurrences of
syllables, not stress; Spanish, Greek, French, Hindi,
Italian, Welsh, Cantonese, Korean, Turkish,…
(c) length: Length differences in vowels or consonants may be used to make
lexical distinctions in languages; Swedish, Estonian, Finnish, Arabic,
Japanese, and Danish can be cited for vowel length contrasts.
e.g.) Danish: [vilə] “wild”, [vi:lə] “rest”
In Italian and Trukish, different consonant length is responsible for
lexical distinctions.
e.g.) Italisan: [nɔnno] “grandfather”, [nɔno] “ninth”
=> However, English does not have such meaning differences entirely
based on vowel length. Examples such as beat-bit and pool-pull are
separated not simply on the basis of length, but also on vowel
height and tense/lax distinctions.
# Exercises -- page 24-30
Answer the given questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 13 for sure.
# Exercises -- page 24-30
Answer the given questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 13 for sure