1、Sentence Stress 语句重音（一）语句重音指的是人们在朗读连贯的语句时哪些词要重读哪些词不重读的规则。下面介绍的是有关语句重音的最一般的但却是最重要的规则：（一）在连贯的语句中需要重读的词有：名词、形容词、数词、实义动词、副词、某些代词（指示代词等） 、疑问词、叹词等。这条规则可以用四个词来总结：实词重读。1)名词 一般情况下名词在句中应重读。例如： An elephant is an animal.(大象是一种动物)2)形容词一般都有语句重音。如：Her shirt is blue and white.(她的裙子是蓝、白色)3)数词分为基数词和序数词，两者在句中都应重读。例如：J
2、ohn is nine.(约翰 9 岁)My second brother is a doctor.(我的二哥是个医生)4)实义动词实义动词有完整的意义，能在句中作谓语，一般都有语句重音。例如：Mary loves her dolls.(玛丽爱她的洋娃娃)She sings well.(她很会唱歌)5)副词大都在句中要重读。如：speaks English slowly and carefully.(他说起英语来又慢又小心 )（6）代词指具有语句重音的代词，如指示代词：this, that, these, those 返身代词：myself, yourself, himself 如：He hi
3、mself hurt his own feet.(是他自己伤着了自己的脚)不定代词：some, every, all, both, none, other, many, few, somebody, something 等等。如：Everybody was late.(每个人都迟到了)We are many, they are few. (我们人多，他们人少。) Some are red, some are blue.(有一些是红色的，有些是蓝色的)疑问代词：who, whom, whose, what, which 等。如：Who is that? (那是谁?) Whose bag can
4、it be?(这能是谁的包呢?)What would you like to eat?(你想吃点什么?)Which is your sister? (哪位是你的姐妹?)7)叹词 叹词在句中一般都要重读。例如，Oh, its snowing!(啊，在下雪。) Hey, thats a nice shot!(嗨，那是个好球!) My, what a downpour!(哎呀，好大的雨啊!)Dear me!（表示惊讶：哎呀!）语句重音(二)(二)在连贯的语句中不重读的词有：1)冠词 冠词有两种：a(或 an) the, 两者在句中一般都不重读。2）代词 指没有语句重音的代词。如：人称代词 I, me
5、, you, he, him, she, her 等。物主代词 my, your, his, her, its, or, their 3）动词 指非实义动词 如:助动词 be(am, is, are, were, was), shall(should), will(would)have(has, had), do(does, did) 情态动词can(could), may(might), must, have to(has to, had to), shall(should), will(would), ought to, dare, need, used to 等。这些情态动词在语句中一般
6、没有重音。4）连词 一般在句中不重读的连词有等立连词，如：and, or, for, but；比较连词，如：as, than 从属连词，如:（if, when, while, since, now that, as if(though 等。5）介词 介词（尤其是单音节介词）如出现在句子中间时一般不重读。常见的单音节介词有：at, by, for, from, of, to, into 等。CONTENT WORDS FUNCTION WORDS electron, lens, radius, species, strata expel, irrigate, maintain, revolve,
7、 transact crucial, feasible, legal, obsolete, valid annually, arbitrarily, optionally, pragmatically, theoretically mine, yours, his, hers, theirs this, that, these, those; e.g. This looks interesting. who, what, when, where not, cant, isnt the, a, an be, have, do I, you, s/he, we, they this, that,
8、these, those; e.g. I like this university. in, on, over, near, to and, because, yet, so 上面讲解的只是语句重音的一般规则，但语句重音并不是一成不变的语音现象。根据说话时的不同心态、不同的着重点、不同的强调内容、不同的语气等可以使原来在句中应重读的词失去重音，而原来不重读的词却又成了重读的词。这些较为特殊、复杂的规则就无法在语音小常识中做详细的讲解，只能留到以后的学习阶段再来学习、探讨了。Sentence StressSince speech is made up of words strung togeth
9、er, we must also look at these words in groups, in phrases or in sentences in order to observe what happens to the stress pattern. In natural connected speech, for various reasons, some words are stressed, others are not. The stress in a sentence is called sentence stress (句重音). Sentence stress can
10、be classified into three types: sense stress (表意重音), logical stress (逻辑重音 ) and emotional stress ( 感情重音).I. Sense stressSense stress is a very common phenomenon in connected speech. The distribution of such stresses is subject to the meaning that the speaker wishes to convey. In normal speech we put
11、 stress on words semantically important. Such words are called content or lexical words (实词), such as nouns, adjectives, adverbs, notional verbs, numerals, interjections, demonstrative, interrogative pronouns and the absolute form of the possessive pronouns; the unimportant ones are called form or s
12、tructural words (虚词或结构词),which are used to join together the words that carry meaning. In unemphatic speech, such words are usually unstressed. They are articles, monosyllabic prepositions, monosyllabic conjunctions, personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, reciprocal pronouns, reflexives and relativ
13、e pronouns, auxiliary and modal verbs and verb to BE.Examples for words with sentence stress:1. NounsJohn is a teacher from American.2. AdjectivesWhat a beautiful sight!3. AdverbsIve seldom met him recently.4. Notional verbsThey would die rather than yield.5. NumeralsTwo plus three equals five.His a
14、d dress is forty-six Linden Street.6. InterjectionsOh, its Vwonderful!7. Demonstrative pronounsThis is our college.8. Interrogative pronounsWho was that on the phone?9. The absolute form of possessive pronounsThis book is mine.And yours is over thereExamples for words with no sentence stress:1. Arti
15、clesHe is a teacher of English.This is the book I want.2. Monosyllabic prepositionsHe was sur prised at her attitude3. Monosyllabic conjunctionsJohn, Henry and Robert all went but Peter didnt.4. Personal, possessive, reciprocal, reflexive and relative pronounsHe taught us EnglishHis brother is my be
16、st friendLets learn from each other.They help one another in their work.She thought herself better than anyone else.Do you know the man who is sitting /there?5. Auxiliary and modal verbsThey have been in the countryside recently.You may go now.6. Link-verb to BEHe is a good comradeSpecial cases with
17、 no stress on content words:1. A content word which appears for the second time in a sentence or in a short context is not stressed:How many times have you been there?Three times.He thinks of that as a child thinks.2. If a noun is preceded by another qualifying noun, the second one is often unstress
18、ed. And these two nouns are often connected by the sense, actually they may be considered as compound words, e.g.That is our classroom building.I met her at the railway station.3. To avoid repetition we often use substitute words. These substitute words usually have no sentence stress:Which dictiona
19、ry do you want?That small one.Will he come tomorrow?Yes, I think so.4. When demonstrative pronouns this, that, these, those indicate very weak demonstrativeness and are only the equivalent to the word “it“ or the definite article “the”, they are unstressed:I can easily do this.It is necessary to tak
20、e these pre cautions.5. In phrases this morning, this afternoon, etc., the demonstrative pronoun this is not stressed:We are rived this morning.6. In exclamatory sentences such words as what, how are usually unstressed:What a horrible day!How thoughtful she is!7. The word “street“ never bears senten
21、ce stress in street names:Oxford Street High StreetSpecial cases with stress on form words:1. Auxiliaries, modals and link-verb to BE bear sentence stress in the following cases:a. When they are in the in the initial position of a sentence, they are stressed:Do you like it?Can I help you?Are you a f
22、reshman?b. When they are in the final position, used as short answers to general questions, they are stressed:Do you like it?Yes, I do.Can you finish in time?Yes, I can.Are you a freshman?Yes, I amc. If they are in contracted negative forms, they are stressed:It doesnt matter.He isnt a doctor.I cant
23、 ac crept it.2. Modal verbs may, can, must, ought to are usually stressed in the following cases:a. When may expresses the meaning, of possibility, it bears sentence stress:They may come this evening.b. When can expresses the meaning of astonishment, it bears sentence stress:Can it be five already?c
24、. When must, ought to express the meaning of strong certainty and expectation, they are stressed:He must be in the room.You ought to have been there.3. Prepositions may be stressed when they are at the beginning of a sentence and followed by an unstressed syllable:In the box he found a letter.4. Sub
25、ordinate conjunctions are usually stressed when they are at the beginning of a sentence and followed by an unstressed word:If you wish, Ill help you.When he comes, Ill tell him about it.5. Reflexive pronouns in emphatic use are usually stressed:He couldnt come him self. Logical StressApart from sens
26、e stress there is another kind of stress which is called logical stress. The distribution of such stresses is subject to the speakers will. The speaker may put stress on any word he wishes to emphasize. So a word logically stressed may stand at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a sentenc
27、e and it usually implies some idea of contrast. For example:We heard Mary singing upstairs. (plain statement of fact)We “heard Mary singing upstairs. (But we didnt see her.)We heard “Mary singing upstairs. (But we didnt hear John.)We heard Mary “singing upstairs. (But we didnt hear Mary talking.)We
28、heard Mary singing “upstairs. (But we didnt hear Mary singing downstairs.)“We heard Mary singing upstairs. (Not they heard.)Sometimes the idea of contrast is clearly pointed out. e.g.I bought it for you, not for him.They cant do it, but we can.III. Emotional StressEmotional stress is a special kind
29、of stress. In spoken English when the speaker wants to show emotion, he can put strong stress on the word he wishes to emphasize. But such kind of stress doesnt imply any idea of contrast. The high-falling tone should be used in speaking or reading aloud such stressed words as: Its “wonderful! We suc“ceeded!
