weak and strong forms, Apuntes de Fonética y Fonología Españolas

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WEAK AND

STRONG

FORMS

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION (Also chapter 5. Connected speech (pages 79-82)

Weak and strong forms

 In English weak pronunciations are much more frequent than strong ones, and so they should ne regarded as basic. On the other hand, strong forms are called exceptional.  Which words have weak and strong forms?  Prepositions, auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, pronouns, possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns, conjunctions, articles , i.e. GRAMMAR WORDS, also called function words.

Features of weak forms

 Weak forms are characterized by the following features:  (1) Reduction in length (b e [bi] instead of [bi:]). (2) Vowel reduction or obscuration towards weak vowels ( are [ə] instead of [a:]). (3) Elision of vowels ( i s [z] instead of [ɪz]). (4) Elision of consonants ( h im [ɪm] instead of [hɪm]). Function words with elided /h/ are more common than the unelided ones (except in sentence-initial position, where only the latter are posible).

Features of weak forms



(5) In those function words which have

alternative weak pronunciations ,

one with a schwa/vowel and another

one with schwa/vowel delition (as in

the case of and, can, does, was and will ),

the former generally occurs before

vowels (e.g. kən ) and the latter before

consonants ( kn̩ ).

Why should we learn weak

forms?

• Listen to the sentences. Pay attention to the weak form of the prepositions.
• Now listen to some foreign students saying the same sentences. Do they pronounce the prepositions correctly with weak forms? Mark them correct or incorrect.

When do weak forms become

strong?

 Listen to the dialogues. Pay attention to the underlined verbs. Extract rules for the weak and strong forms of verbs. 

1. A: Can I see you at two? B: Yes, you can. 2) C: Has he got a tattoo? D: Yes, he has. 3) E: Have you dyed your hair blue? F: Yes, I have. 4) G: Does he work at the zoo? H: Yes, he does.

When do weak forms become

strong?

 Answers 

1. A: Can /kən/ I see you at two? (weak) B: Yes, you can. /kæn/ (strong) 
2. C: Has /həz/ he got a tattoo? (weak) D: Yes, he has. /hæz/ (strong) 
3. E: Have /həv/ you dyed your hair blue? (weak) F: Yes, I have. /hæv/ (strong) 
4. G: Does /dəz/ he work at the zoo? (weak) H: Yes, he does. /dʌz/ (strong)

When do weak forms become

strong?

 Answers 

5. I: Do /də/ you hate having flu? (weak) J: Yes, I do. /du:/ (strong) 6) K: Are /ə/ your friends coming too? (weak) L: Yes, they are. /ɑ:/ (strong) 
6. M: Were /wə/ you waiting for Sue? (weak) N: Yes, we were. /wɜː/ (strong) 
7. O: Was /wəz/ that phone call for you? (weak) P: Yes, it was. /wɒz/ (strong)

When do weak forms become

strong?

 Listen to the dialogues. Pay attention to the underlined prepositions. Extract rules for the weak and strong forms of prepositions. 1) A: Where’s that from? B: It’s from the garden shed? 2) C: What’s that made of? D: It’s made of bread. 3) E: Who did you talk to? F: I talked to Fred. 4) G: What are you looking at? H: I’m looking at your bed. 5) I: What’s that for? J: It’s for my head.

When do weak forms become

strong?

 Answers 1) A: Where’s that from? /frɒm/ (strong) B: It’s from /frəm/ the garden shed? (weak) 

2. C: What’s that made of? /ɒv/ (strong) D: It’s made of /əv/ bread. (weak) 3) E: Who did you talk to? /tu:/ (strong) F: I talked to /tə/ Fred. (weak) 4) G: What are you looking at? /æt/ (strong) H: I’m looking at /ət/ your bed. (weak) 5) I: What’s that for? /fɔː/ (strong) J: It’s for my head. /fə/ (weak)

When do weak forms become

strong?

 (1) When they occur at the end of a sentence ; Compare I’m fond of chips /aɪm fɒnd əv tʃɪps/ with Chips are what I’m fond of /tʃɪps ə wɒt aɪm fɒnd ɒv/.  (^) Other function words that occur in their strong forms when they are in final position of a sentence are: at, for, from, to (partial exception), as, have, has, had.  (^) Stranded auxiliaries and prepositions may occur non-finally, but still in these cases they tend to have a strong pronunciation, as in I can, of course /aɪ kæn I əv kɔːs/, or Peter was laughed at by his classmates /pi:tə wəz la:ft æt baɪ ɪz kla:smeɪts/

When do weak forms become

strong?

 (2) When a function word is stressed for one or several of the following reasons:  It is being cited or quoted , e.g. Spell the word “was” /spel ðə wɜːd wɒz/  It is emphasized , as in You must give me more money /ju mʌst gɪv mi mɔː mʌni/  It is contrasted with another word, e.g. The letter’s from him, not to him /ðə letəz frɒm ɪm nɒt tu: ɪm/.  Coordinated use of prepositions: A work of and about literature /ə wɜːk ɒv ən əbaut lɪtrətʃə/

When do weak forms become

strong?



Weak and strong forms

