bread and milk Some bread and some milk et us her purs It was dark in the room cold winter It was cold in the winter On the left hand side column we see sentences or phrases with three syllables among which two are stressed. On the right hand side column, there are four to nin syllables in each of the sentences. We notice, however, it takes about the same length of time to say each pair of these phrases and sentences because the number of syllables may vary but the number of stressed syllables are the same To achieve this"similar length of time ", we have to adjust the length of words ording to the context. The stressed information words are usually long, specially when there are few or no function words between them. When there are function words between the strong stresses, English speakers make them very short so they fit between the stresses by 1. reducing the vowels(using the weak vowel or schwa, for example) 2. linking words together, and 3. squeezing the words together and say them quickly Look at some more examples. Each of the following sentences is made up of four stressed content words. The content words are underlined and the stressed syllable of these words are in bold The number of unstressed syllables between the stressed syllables is different, from two to four. In normal speech, however, the stressed syllables follow each other at roughly equal intervals of time. So, each phrase in the following sentences takes about the same length of time to say. 1. Do you think you would be able to finish it in a month? 2. She said that she would like us to take it away 3. He turned to the left at the end of the street 4. I shouldn,'t have thought that she could appreciate the approach 话语节奏 本单元介绍的是英语的话语节奏。 言语节奏指的是人们在说话时胸部肌肉收缩和放松产生的节奏,是指人们感 知为响亮高峰音或节拍的重音所形成的模式。语言学家将言语节奏分为音节定时 节奏和重音定时节奏两大类:每个音节出现的时间间隔相等的为音节定时节奏, 重读音节等时重复出现的为重音定时节奏。法语通常被认为属音节定时节奏语 言,汉语的普通话也具有按音节定时的趋势。英语则通常被称为按重音定时的 英语话语的重读规律是:重读与非重读音节相间出现。重读音节与紧跟其后 的非重读音节一起组成重音组。在不受迟疑(可使人说话速度放慢)或激动(可 使人说话速度加快)等因素影响的情况下,话语中重音之间的间隔时间大致相 等。也就是说,根据英语的节奏规律,话语说起来所需的时间不决定于它有多少 个词,多少个音节,而决定于它有多少个句子重音。假如句子重音之间的非重读 音节数多,结果必然是说起来要快一些,含糊一些。同时,为了求得这种“大致 相等”,话语中单词的发音也可能由于受到语言环境的影响而产生不同程度的变bread and milk Some bread and some milk. Get a purse. Get us her purse. a dark room It was dark in the room. cold winter It was cold in the winter. On the left hand side column we see sentences or phrases with three syllables among which two are stressed. On the right hand side column, there are four to nine syllables in each of the sentences. We notice, however, it takes about the same length of time to say each pair of these phrases and sentences because the number of syllables may vary but the number of stressed syllables are the same. To achieve this "similar length of time", we have to adjust the length of words according to the context. The stressed information words are usually long, specially when there are few or no function words between them. When there are function words between the strong stresses, English speakers make them very short so they fit between the stresses by 1. reducing the vowels (using the weak vowel or schwa, for example), 2. linking words together, and 3. squeezing the words together and say them quickly. Look at some more examples. Each of the following sentences is made up of four stressed content words. The content words are underlined and the stressed syllable of these words are in bold. The number of unstressed syllables between the stressed syllables is different, from two to four. In normal speech, however, the stressed syllables follow each other at roughly equal intervals of time. So, each phrase in the following sentences takes about the same length of time to say. 1. Do you think you would be able to finish it in a month? 2. She said that she would like us to take it away. 3. He turned to the left at the end of the street. 4. I shouldn't have thought that she could appreciate the approach. 话语节奏 本单元介绍的是英语的话语节奏。 言语节奏指的是人们在说话时胸部肌肉收缩和放松产生的节奏, 是指人们感 知为响亮高峰音或节拍的重音所形成的模式。语言学家将言语节奏分为音节定时 节奏和重音定时节奏两大类：每个音节出现的时间间隔相等的为音节定时节奏， 重读音节等时重复出现的为重音定时节奏。法语通常被认为属音节定时节奏语 言，汉语的普通话也具有按音节定时的趋势。英语则通常被称为按重音定时的。 英语话语的重读规律是: 重读与非重读音节相间出现。重读音节与紧跟其后 的非重读音节一起组成重音组。在不受迟疑（可使人说话速度放慢）或激动（可 使人说话速度加快）等因素影响的情况下, 话语中重音之间的间隔时间大致相 等。也就是说，根据英语的节奏规律，话语说起来所需的时间不决定于它有多少 个词，多少个音节，而决定于它有多少个句子重音。假如句子重音之间的非重读 音节数多，结果必然是说起来要快一些，含糊一些。同时，为了求得这种“大致 相等”，话语中单词的发音也可能由于受到语言环境的影响而产生不同程度的变