P u b lis h e d zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA by Gamet Publishing Ltd. 8 Southern Court South Street Reading RG1 4QS, UK Copyright © 2010 Gamet Publishing Ltd. First published by Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1994. This edition first published 2010. The right of Michael Vaughan-Rees to be identified as the author of this work has been as erted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Ali rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Publisher. Any person who do es any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. ISBN: 978 1 85964 528 4 British Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. 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Printed and bound in Lebanon by International Press: interpress@int-press.com C o n t e n t s zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA l Generał introductiononmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJ Part I Syllables, stress and rhythm Chapter l Syllables, stres s and rhythm Part II Stress in words and phrases Chapter 2 Stress in verbs 24 Chapter 3 Stress in nouns and adjectives 30 Chapter 4 Stress in compounds and phrases 36 Chapter S Stress patterns in words and phrases 44 Chapter 6 Stress shift 45 4 III Fast natural speech PartXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA to fast, natural speech sa Chapter 7 Introduction Chapter 8 Elision 52 Chapter 9 Assimilation 57 Part IV Playing wit h poems Chapter 10 Limericks 72 Chapter 11 Other typesgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA o t poem 78 Chapter 12 Similes, sayings and sounds 86 Key to the tasks 92 Appendices Appendix l Appendix 2 Completed poems 105 Appendix 3 Book map 109 Appendix 4 CD-ROM thumbnails 112 iii G e n e r a ł zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA introduction This book uses a variety of different types of poem to make it easier for the learner of English to understand spoken English and also to be better understood by native speakers of English. The poem s range from very traditional forms, the limerick, for example, to contemporary forms such as the rap. But whatever the typegfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA o t poem, they have something in common: they all rhyme, and they all have a regular metre (that is to say, a regular beat or rhythm). This means two things: first, they are easy to repeat and remem ber; second, they can follow the natural rhythm of spoken English. This second point is very important, since English - unlike many languages depends on a fairly regular beat going from stressed syllable to stressed syllable. You have to make sure you stres s the correct syllables, since mistakes o t stres S are one of the main reasons why a person may be difficult to understand. The main beats in the poems in this book always correspond to the stressed syllables. This means that if you keep to the beat, then you automatically stress the correct syllables. Take the beginning o t two of the poems, each with the same o E two three, ONE two three beat: 1 Norman's from Nottingham, Martin's from Mottingham, Charley's from Chester and Lesley's from Lee; joyce is from jarrów and Henry's frorn Harrow, Laura's from Leicester and Dave's from Dundee. 2 Tina's a teacher, Priscilla's a preacher, Donald's a doctor and Ted drives a truck. Fred's a photographer, Joe's a geographer; Barry's a barrister down on his luck. The main beat (the ONE of the O E two three) is marked in bołd. Keep to that beat and you will soon become aware that the majority of two-syllable nouns are stressed on the first syllable. Not only that: you are torced, for example, to realize that L e ic e ste r has only twa syllables (like L a u ra , C h a r le y , te a c h e r , d o c to r), that D u n d e e (unusually) has the stress on the second syllable, and that p h o to g ra p h e r andbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED g e o g r a p h e r have the main stres s on the second syllable. And the regular rhyme scheme tells you, for instance, that L e ic e ste r rhymes with C h e ste r. ow look at another extract: 1 Percy persuaded the troops to surrender Betty became a quite famous celebrity Colin collected same marvellous furniture Avril averted a major catastrophe This time, the beat forces you to stres s the verbs, correctly, on the second syllable. And if you keep to the ongirial speed you must, again correctly, make the first syllable of each verb very, very short. You can come in at any point in the book. But there is a logic to the way it is laid out. Parts I and II concentrate on the main things that speakers may choose to do if they wish to sound more like native speakers: correct syllable length; linking; weak and strong forms; short and long vowels; rules for placement of stress. And if you want people to understand you better. then you should mak e sure you try to stres s the correct syllables. (Note, however, that you do not have to shorten weak syllables as much as native speakers do, unless you want to speak as fast as we do.) Part III looks at what really happens in fast, natural speech, sa this is where your ears will be trained in order to understand spoken English better (and where you will become aware o t how to sound more natural, if that is your aim). Part IV contains a num ber of poem s to help you practise what has been covered earlier, as well as providing a range of vocabulary wark. Vocabulary (and grammar) wark is, in fact, built into the course throughout. And many o t the tasks rely on skill in understanding the word s as well as the sounds and rhythm. But do not feel that you have to understand every word o t a poem before you can start to listen to ar repeat it. Before you even look at the vocabulary explanations, just listen to a given poem many, many times. Let the word s flow over you. Concentrate not just on the rhythm o t the language, but also on the musie, the way the words flow uponmlkjihgfe 1 R hym es a n d R h y t h m zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA and down (the intonation, in fact). When I learn a new language, I imagine the sentences swirnming by like great fish in the sea. I see them going up and down (and English goes up and down in a great way, in long flowing movements). So listen and listen first. Then take the book and listen agam while reading to yourself. Next, listen to short sections, stop the recording and repeat. Listen, stop and repeat. Finally, you will be able to read along with the recordings, as if you were swimming along to the rhythm and musie ot English. There are several icons in the margins to help you make the most of the bo ok: These icons give you the corresponding recording number on the accompanying audio CD, making it easy to find the correct one. These icons give a quick indication ot a poem's level of difficulty on a scale l (simplest) to 5 (complex).onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a These icons flag up supporting material in the teacher notes on the CD-RO:YL Also, look out for the tasks I've set you (TaskXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 1 , T a s k 2 , ...), these will challen e you to use the information and skills you have just leamt, reinforcing them through practice. Above all, enjoy yourselves. Have fun. That's what it's all about. Michael Vaughan-Rees London, 2010 2 P A R T baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA S y lla b le s , s t r e s s I r h y t h m onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA As I said in the Introduction, when the use of very rhythmic they speak. Most importantly, important and poems will help learners of English to sound more natural if you hit the beat correctly you will give correct importance to the most syllables. Or, as I say later: baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA I f y o u d o n 't w a n t Y o u 'v e g o t But y o u r E n g lis h t o s o u n d t o h it t h e b e a t , y o u 'v e got a m ess, t o h it t h e s t r e s s . gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA it's g o in g t o s o u n d f u n n y , it's g o in g t o g o w r o n g If y o u m a k e your w eak sounds m uch to o s tro n g . In this first Part, you will hear a lot about worry the most com mon vowel sound in English, the schwa. Now do not if you do not make this sound as short and weak as most native speakers do. Unless you want people to think you are British, or any other type of native speaker, you do not have to sound like us. (W hen I first started teaching English as a Foreign like me as possible. But that was long ago and opinions W hat I think speakers, is important I am certain, whose first language Language, I thought that my job was to help people sound as much have changed a great deal since then.) is to make the stressed syllables definitely find it difficult to understand longer than the very weak ones. Native zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihg speakers who get the stresses in the wrong is not English may not have su ch problems, place. (Speakers since they usually do not try to speak as fast as we do.) The most important letting thing the sounds flow you łike the idea of making an Apple computer from going my friend from to do with the poems is to enjoy them. As I said earlier, listen to them over you. And I hope that you like the backing your own backing tracks (for your own language, and use the Garage Band application. Jon Starling. Thereare hundreds of different hip hop to jazz, Indian tabla to Middle use it. [ust drag and drop. traeks. which That's what rhythmic many times, many of the poems have. If if you wish) you can get hold of I have done for this edition, loops (percussion, with bass, guitar, help etc.), Eastern sarod. And it's all free to use, and so easy even I can C h a p te r 1 S y lla b le s , s t r e s s a n d r h y t h m H o w m a n y s y lla b le s ? onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM ( zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDC ----.... All words consist of one or more syllables. In that first sentence, for example, the wordsgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGF a ll, w o r d s , 0 (, baZYXWVUTSRQPON o n e , o r and m o r e just have one syllable, c o n s is t has two, and s y lla b le s has three. Listen to the following words. The number of syllables is given at the beginning of each graup. (one) jane / house / blue / Spain / pears / grow / work / watch / watched / loud / hunt / give (two) Susan / houses / yellow / Iapan / apples / grawer / working / watchful / aloud / hunted / decide / forgive / photo (three) Timothy / indigo / Germany / bananas / workable / workmanship / watchfulness / decisive / decided / forgiven / tomorrow / cigarette / photograph (four) Elizabeth / indecisive / Argentina / pomegranates / unforgiven / unworkable / photography photographic / Task 1 Decide how many syllables there are in each of the following words. biology bridge strength photographer watches unabridged support jumped jumpers policeman decided obeyed T h e im p o r t a n c e o f s t r e s s r to become aware of the number of syllables in a word. But if you want to speak English lItwithis important the correct rhythm, there is something even more important: the place of stress. Listen to the following seq uence: •• • Iane, Susan and Timothy. The first nam e has one syllable, the second has two and the last has three. But only one syllable in each word is heavily stressed. You can see this more clearly if we change the size of the written syllables, according to their relative importance. So, imagine them as: • • o • o o Jane, SUsan and Timothy J Stressed syllables, such as ane, Su and Ti, are different from unstressed (sometimes called weak) syllables in a number of ways. To start with, they tend to be both relatively loud and long; relative, that is not only to any other syllables in the same word but also to unimportant words such as a n d . The importance of stressed syllables in terms of rhythm can be shown if we change the order of the sequence of names. 4 Syllables, stress and rhythm P a r t I zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPON Listen to the following names. Then repeat each Iine, keeping to the same rhythm. CIap your hands, click your fingers or tap on the desk to keep to the beat. • • • • • • Iane, Susan and Timothy. Timothy, Susan and Jane. Susan, jane and Timothy. Iane, Timothy and Susano Timothy, Iane and Susano Susan, Timothy and jane . • • • pause • • recording • pause you Iane, Susan and Timothy. (lane, Susan and Timothy) Susan, Iane and Timothy. (Susan, Jane and Timothy) Timothy, Iane and Susano (Timothy, jane and Susan) Timothy, Susan and Iane. (Timothy, Susan and Jane) Iane, Timothy and Susano (lane, Timothy and Susan) Susan, Timothy and Jane. (Susan, Timothy and jane) ~oesn't matter that the three names have different numbers of syllables. And it doesn't matter in which order they are said. The time between the stressed syllables remains more ar less the same, which means that the beat stays the same. But we can only keep to thebaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a E T w a THREE beat if we make sure that: a) the stressed syllable is louder and longer than the others; lb) the weak syllables are really weak.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Task 2 C o m p le te th e ta b le u s in g th e w o r d s b e lo w a c c o r d in g to th e num ber o t s y lla b le s . Ann / elephant / Volga / Felicity / Spain / Wolverhampton / Nile / rhinoceros / Alexander / Jemima / ]apan / Amazon / bear / George / Cardiff / Ianet / Peter / Afghanistan / giraffe / Leith / Mississippi / Anthony / Manchester / Morocco Cities 1 syllable 2syllables 3syllables 4syllables Leith Cardiff Manchester W olverhampton Boys' names Girls' names Animals Countries Rivers W here is t h e s t r e s s ? Listen to the following two-syllable words. janet / Iapan / Volga / girafte / Cardiff / Peter • Each ot them ha s, ot course, one stressed syllable and one we ak syllable. But which is which? Which word s have the stress pattern • o (with the stres s on the fust syllable)? And which have the pattern o • (with the stress on the second)? baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 5 R h y m e s a n d R h y t h m zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Listen to the words once more. Two words start with a weak syllable, the rest with a stron g, stressed syllable. o • giraffe / Japan • o janet / volga / caraur / perer Do not be surprised that there are more of one pattern than the other; the vast majority of two-syllable nouns (names included) have the stress pattern • o. (Aswe shall see later, most two-syllable verbs are the other way round, having the pattern o •. ) With three-syllable words there are, of course, three possible patterns: = stress on L" syllable • o oonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA stress on 2nd syllable o • o = O = stress on 3 syllableXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA O rd • Task 3 th e m lis te n a c c o r d in g to th e th r e e -s y lla b le to th e ir s tr e s s w o rd s fr o m th e lis t b e lo w a n d c o m p le te th e ta b le p la c in g pattern. Manchester / Anthony / Jemima / elephant / Morocco / Amazon • o o o o. 0.0 Yes,there was nothing in the third column. In fact there are very few o o • word s of any sort. They c ig a r e tte and c h im p a n z e e , or words such as [ a p a n e s e and p ic tu r e s q u e , tend to be either imports, such asgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA where the ending is so strong that it becomes the main stress. Nouns with the o • opattern are quite rare too, unless they are derived from verbs (a c c o u n ta n t / a llo w a n c e / b e lie v e r / e n q u ir y / e x c ite m e n t, etc.). And many of them, like J e m im a and M o r o c c o , are imports ending in a vowelletter/sound; think about b a n a n a , to b a c c o , s p a g h e tti, for example. Task 4 Now lis te n to th e fo u r -s y lla b le word s, a n d c o m p le te th e ta b le a s b e fo r e . Felicity / Afghanistan / Alexander / Wolverhampton / rhinoceros / Mississippi Only two stress patterns are given, since it is rare for four-syllablewords to be stressed on the fint or last syllable. 6 P a r t I zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONML Syllables, stress and rhythm P r im a r y a n d s e c o n d a r y str e ss Listen agam to the four-syllable words. InbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA A le x a n d e r , W o lv e r h a m p t o n andgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA M ississip p i, those with the o o • o pattern, the first syllable sounds stronger than the second and fourth, but not as strong as the third. Think of them as: Alexd Ilder / wolverhampt:on / MisSiSsippi A similar thing happens in the case of three-syllable words with the o o • pattern, for example: cigarette / chimpanZee / ]apaneSe / picturesque It is not enough, then, simply to talk of syllables as being either stressed ar weak; with words of three ar more syllables it may be necessary to distinguish three degrees of stress: prim ary, secondary • • .o. .0.0 and weak (ar unstressed) o onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Sa, in the case of these twa pattems it might be better to show them as: (e.g., c ig a r e t t e ) = secondary stres s + weak (e.g., A le x a n d e r ) = secondary stress + primary stress, and + weak + primary stress + weak' W e a k s y lla b le s a n d s c h w a As a general rule we can say that every syllable contains a vowel sound.' A second general rule is that the shorter the vowel, the shorter and weaker the syllable. Naw let us take another look at same of the word s already examined, this time concentrating on the vowel sounds in the weak syllables. To help us do this we will start to use phonetic notation, where one symbol = one sound. This is because standard spelling often makes it difficult to see what the sounds reallyare. ]anet /'d3'fmt/ Peter .0 .0 Peter /'pi:td/ giraffe o. giraffe /d3d'ra:f/ ]apan o. ]apan /d3d'p'fn/ elephant /'ehfdnt Anthony /''fntdni/ Amazon /''fmdZdn/ ]anet elephant Anthony Amazon • oo • oo ar /'d3'fndt/ or /'eldfdnt/ Mo I'Occo /rna'rokau/ ]emima 0.0 0.0 ]emima /d3I'malmd/ cigarette • o. cigarette /,sIgd'ret/ Felicity o. oo Felicity /fa'ltsati/ rhinoceros o. oo rhi Il.Oceros /rai'nnsaras/ Wolverhampton • o. o Wolverhampton /,wulvd'h'fmptdn/ Mississippi • o. o Missl SSjppi /rnrsrsrpt/ ar /,mI"Sd'sIpi/ Morocco • oo or /d3d'malmd/ I 1 2 The rules of stress cover words in isolation, in their dictionary form. In Part II we will see how stress may shift according to word function. The exception is in such words as c u r ta in ar b o ttle where I n l and I I I may act as 'syllabic consonants', with no need for a precedlng short vowel. 7 Rhymes and Rhythm If we enlarge the phonetic unstressed syllables. notation it is easy to see which is the most common /mo'mkao/ / d3d'ra:f! /d3d'p~n/ /fd'lIsdti/ /,srgd'ret/ /dgr'marma/ or /d3d'malmd/ /wolva'ha-mptan/ Morocco giraffe ]apan Felicity cigarette ]emima Wolverhampton Amazon Peter Anthony rhinoceros elephant ]anet vowel sound in the weak, t~mdZdn/ tpi:td/ t~ntdni/ /rai'nnsaras/ telIfdnt/ r teldfdnt/ 'd3tt'nrt ar td3~ndt/ l The most common sound by far is the one in blue. This is the vowel represented is the only vowel important enough to be given its own name: schwa. by the symbolgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJ la l and it The schwa (sometimes spelled shwa) is not only the most com mon vowel sound in weak syJlables; it is by far the most common vowel sound in the whole of the English system. Look at its distribution in the words above. It is found: • at the start of words, just before the main stress: la p a n , giraffe, F e lic it y e.g., Morocco,baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA • following main stres s (sometimes e.g., P e t e r , A m a z o n , Anthony • between secondary and primary e.g., cigarette, Wolverhampton • as an even shorter alternative to short I I I in fast versions e.g., ] a n e t , lemima, e le p h a n t twice in • stress: Schwa is not just short, it is the shortest presence o t schwa can make to a word. W o id s without a sport = claps = = train = blow of certain words: possible vowel in English. Listen to how little difference schwa Words with /SP:J:t/ /klreps/ prayed o o words): schwa /Sd'P:J:t/ = /kd'l<eps/ support = collapse /prerd/ the /po'reid/ /td'reln/ parade = /trem/ terrain = /bL~m/ below = /bs'lao/ /pa'lart/ zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA = plight = /plart/ polite Clyde = /klard/ collide hungry = Britney = = thAngri/ Hungary /'bntni/ Brittany = /ko'lard/ = = thAngdri/ tbntdni/ that there is no single written vowel that corresponds to schwa. 50 there is no point in trying to learn a11the possible written forms where the schwa sound can be found. fN o te Note ais o that schwa is not essential. T ask But do try to make strong sy11ables more important than we ak ones.baZYXWVUTSRQPONML 5 Listen to the tollowing words, all taken trom page 4, and circle the syllables containing schwa. (Note, not all words contain schwa.) grower yellow aloud hunted forgive photo Timothy Germany banana s workmanship tomorrow Elizabeth Argentina photograph photography photographic 8 Part I Syllables, stress and rhythmbaZYXWVUT S tr e ss a n d r h y th m • When we looked at the Iane, Susan and Timothy sequence, we saw that it is possible to keep to a more ar less regular beat, based on stressed syllables, provided that: a) the stressed syllable is louder and longer than the others; zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA b) the weak syllables are really weak.baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA J You can demonstrate this by using the first line of a famous children's rhyme called 'This is the house that jack built'. It has four beats, corresponding to the stressed syllables marked in bold in the previous line. But note that the first beat is followed by two weak syllables, the next by one, then by none. Sa you have to imagine the rhythm of the line as: TWO ONE • o o DAH du du This is the • THREE FOUR • DAH o DAH that house • DAH du built Jack (Note the use of DAH du du DAH du DAH DAH. You can always use these nonsense syllables to get the rhythm of sentences without having to wony about an exact pronunciation. Just remem ber that DAH is relatively long and loud while du is relatively short and guiet.) Task 6 Listen to what happens if we keep to the same tour-beat words and varying the number ot weak syllables. O E TWO • o o DAH du du These Bre the DAH o o du du es that hous • o DAH o du du gueline Ja the FOUR THREE • rhythm, while changing • DAH built ow try this longer sequence, still keeping to the same rhythm. TWO ONE This is the THREE FOUR house that Jack built built These are the houses that Jack These are the houses that Jagueline built that my mother designed Peter repaired This is the This is the Those That are the is the Those That are the is the Andrew is people not as we we met in the park the stairs sawon person I peopre we drove to the party who works for my mother and ThOmas gardener than glass Whatan Howcan bicycle taller Fancya Tom's house tall of as the Pe-e ttauan rest of the brandy? famuv amazingly liVely produCtion! possiu- get there in tim ei 9 - zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Rhymes and RhythmbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA S c h w a in g r a m m a t ic a l it e m s ( Schwa is found not only in lexical items (nouns, main verbs, adjectives and adverbs). It is regularly found in common, weakly-stressed grammatical iterns, especiaUy prepositions, articles, auxiliary verbs land pronouns. Listen again to the 'This house that Jack built' sequence and see if you can sp ot the grammatical containing schwa. S tr o n g a n d we ak f o r m s o f g r a m m a t ic a l In the previous task we concentrated on weakly stressed grammatical careful; do not assume that su ch items always contain schwa. items it e m s items, all containing schwa. But be This can depend on: • what the item is doing (i.e., its function) • where the item is found (i.e., its position). and/ar; th a t, for example, has two different functions. The wardgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 1 In 'This is the house that Jack built' it is a weakly stressed relative pronoun, 2 In 'That is the gardener who works for my mother' with a different, stronger voweL /ócet/ it is a strongly stressed demonstrative The definite article th e has two different pronunciations When the next word begins with a eonsonant schwa: /óa 'haus/ or /óa 'pnpal/. 2 But when foUowed by a vowel (as in th e o ld m a n ) it is pronounced the vowel /ói "aold meen/.' to changesaccording pronoun, according to the foUowing sound. 1 The preposition with schwa. /óat/ (e.g., th e h o u se / th e p e o p le ) it is the weak form with /ói/, with aonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM /j/ sound linking it to to the following sound and its position in the sentence. (e.g., to th e p a r ty ), the weak form with schwa is used: /ta óa 'po:ti/. 1 When followed by a eonsonant 2 When followed by a vowel (as in to a p a r ty ), it contains a stronger vowel with a /w/ sound linking it to the vowel: /tu w a 'po:ti/. 3 Finally, if to ends a sequence (e.g., T h a t's w h e r e I'm baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA g o in g to ), it is pronounced /tu:/ with an even stronger, longer vowel, as if it were to o or tw a . We can say the same about a number of other grammatical iterns, notably: the pronouns h e , h e r , h im and th e m ; the possessive adjectives h e r and h is ; and modal and auxiliary verbs. These, too, have various strong and weak forms, and the strongest form of all is used in contrast with another word. Take the pronouns and possessive adjectives. strong forms (associated with pointing Compare. and/or contrast) 1 He is the one who did it! (I'hdIZ O d 2 I gave it to him not her! (00' /tu 'hrm not 'hsr,') 3 It was them I saw, over there! (00' /'oem/ 4 It was her fault, not his! ('00 /'h3:/ 00' /,hIZ/) 5 We did it, not you! (/'wi:/ 00. /'ju/:) 3 The article th e also has the form /oi:/ when heavily stressed, as in the following exchange: 'M y [ a th e r m e t M ic h a e i Ia c k s o n o n c e .' 'T h e M ic h a e l J a c k s o n ? ' 10 WAll/ 00') 00' /'o e d !) / P art I Syllables, stres s and rhythm very weak forms (usua11yfound after a stressed verb)onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJI 1 Where's Peter? I think he's over there.baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA I al 'ell)gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA k iz i 2 Where's Iane? I've just left her on her own. I'd3As 'left d mn d 'rdunl 3 Where's John? I've just left him on his own. I d3AS 'left 4 Where are your parents? I've just left them on their own. Im DnI 'z d u n i I'd3AS 'left dm nn Od 'raon/) I'pleljll) d qr'tcr/ S She's aIways playing her guitar. Note that more than one weak form may be possibIe: for example, h e r can be /h d / or /d /; th e m can be /o d m / or /d m /; y o u can be /ju/ or /jd /. Note, too, that the very weak forms of h e r , h im and th e m can invoIve not onIy a weakening of the vowel, but aIso elision of the eonsonant at the start of the word. This will be Iooked at in greater detail in Part 3. R h y th m a n d lin k in g a r~----------------------------------------------------------------------------, In the previous section, the word linking was used for the fint time. So far, you have Iearned that in order to keep to the rhythm you have to hit the stressed syllabIes and weaken the weak syUabIes.But baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA there is one more important factor: the rhythm can onIy flow if words are properly linked. l I use the word 'flow' because it can heIp to think of words as a stream, with no division between them. Or you may prefer to imagine the words as a chain, aU joined (ar linked) together. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _J There are four main ways of linking words. Here is a simple sequence to heIp you remember them. One apple, two apples, three apples, four appIes In each case, the number links smoothIy to the foUowing voweI sound, so that the next word sounds as if it doesn't start with a voweI at a11.Imagine it like this: written as sounds like phonetic notation 1 One appIe wu nappIe IW A 2 Two appIes two wappIes 3 Three appIes three yappIes nzepal/ /tu: w eepolz/ /On: j~ p d lz l 4 Four apples four rappies Ib : reepalz/ Now let's Iook at these four types of linking in greater detail. C o n so n a n t to v o w e l one apple r~--------------------------------When a word ending in a eonsonant is foUowed by a word beginning with a vowel, there is a smooth linko If the word beginning with the vowel is stressed, then the moment of stress seems to begin with ~e preceding consonant. Compare the foUowing sequences, which sound exactIy the same. a) What we need is a name. b) What we need is an aim. This is the most common form of linking. and there were several exampIes in the 'This is the house that Jack built' sequence, including: a glass~oLltalian brandy Tom's not jas taILas the rest~of the family. That js the person} saw on the stairs. 11 a n d R h y t h m onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA R hym es R o u n d e d v o w e l to v o w e l tw o appleszyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFE la u l, la u /, lu :1 (as in s a , n a w , to o ) there is a Where a word ends with one of the rounded vowelsbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA link. lw i J For example: so (h)e's left! = /s~JUwi:z 'left/ too old /tu: w';mld/ = Andrew is taller = tcendru: wIZ 'to.la/ This is presumably due to the fact that the lips are coming together anyway, and the consequent parting of the lips in preparation for the next vowel torces a lw i. S p r e a d /s tr e tc h e d v o w e l to v o w e l three apples When a word end s with 1 i:1 (as in s e e , h e , s h e ) or one of the diphthongs ot which element ( la li, le li, I" J I/, as in m :y , th e y , b o y ) there is an off-glide to Ij/. /II is the second _~J For example: yes, lam = very often = Irl /je sal jcem/ Fancy agiass? = /veri jnfdn/ my uncle /feensi = jd ' 91G:s/ /rnar jAI)kdl/ t o v o w e l gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA [ o u r apples In many dialects of English (including General American and several found in Britain), the written l' inl words such as m o th e r , fo r and fa r has a corresponding [t] sound. But in RP,an [ t ] sound is only heard when there is a following vowel. Compare the following: far = for weeks = mother = Peter I . = Two o th e r /fu.r» Iwei/ /fG:/ far away /fd 'wi:ks/ for ever = tm A O d / mother-m-law tpi:td/ Peter and Tom = [o rm s o f linking -- = /fd IreVd/ = tmAodnn b:/ tpi:tdrdn 'tum/ -- -- -- ~ There are two other types of link which you should know about. Don't feel that you have to imitate them, but you will be able to understand spoken English more easily if you are aware of them. ------------------------------------ Irl 'I n tr u s iv e ' ~ to v o w e l In many word s ending with the written eonsonant l' the fina l vowel sound is one of the following: schwa (teacher I harbour I actor I etc.); I" J :I (four I door I pour I etc.) and 1 0 :1 (car I far I bar I etc.). o doubt as a result of this, there is a tendency to insert alinking /rl when a word ends in one of these vowel sounds, even when no written l' exists. -----' For example: America and Asia = /a'menka ra 'nerga/ Asia and America te I3 d law and order = ra na 'menka/ O ): ra 'no.da/ Shah of Persia = /fG: rav 'p3:fd/ = or t p 3 : 3 d / Careful with this one. Many people consider that 'intrusive' imitated.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 12 [t] is sub-standard, and certainly not to be j P art I C on son an t to eonsonant Syllables, stress and rhythm lin k in g Many words in English start with clusters of two or three eonsonant sounds. For example,gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJ p la y baZYXWVUTSRQPON I S P la y j tra in I st:ra in I d ry I try I f/y , and so on. ' So when a word ending in a eonsonant sound is followed by a word beginning with another eonsonant with which it can form a cluster, then there is a tendency for that eluster to occur. That sounds rather complicated, but is actually a description of what happens with, for example, c o ld ra in , where the Id l is drawn towards the [t] (since the initial eluster Id r l is highly productive) so that it sounds like c o a l d ra in , with the stress starting on Id r l and not on /r /. Other examples include: a actual words sounds like phonetic notation ice cream I scream I next week necks tweak I,n e k s six trains sick strains I,s rk might rise my tries I,mar 'trarz Regent's Park region spark l,ri:d3Jn(t) 'spcrk/ ar 'skri.m/ 'twirk/ 'stremz/ B illy y a t e a n a p p I e , a n ic e r i p a p p I e Below, there is a chant to help you practise the first three types of linking. The chant is written with the correct spelling on the left of the page, but you actually say it the way it is written on the right. baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Vocabulary notes A p p le s, o ra n g e s and a p ric o ts are fruit; o n io n s, a rtic h o k e s and a u b e rg in e s e e ls look like snakes, but live in nvers or the sea; o y ste rs are shell-fish alittle lemon-juice; c ru n c h y here is the opposite of s o f t ; T L ln n y means sm o k e different types of fish, salmon, for example. How it's written Billy ate an apple, a nice ripe apple Beattie ate an orange, a nice juicy orange Lucy ate an ice cream, a nice creamy ice cream Flo ate an apricot, a nice yellow apricot Mo ate an omelette, a nice runny omelette Chloe ate an egg, a nice brown egg Nelly ate an almond, a nice crunchy almond Sally ate an onion, a nice Spanish onion Alex ate an artichoke, a nice tasty artichoke Andrew ate an aubergine, a nice spicy aubergine Mary ate an olive a nice Greek olive Caral ate an eel, a nice smoked eel Alice ate an oyster, a nice fresh oyster are vegetables; a L m o n d s are nuts; which you cut open and eat with not cooked for long; you can How it sounds Billy yate a nappie, a nice ri papple Beattie yate a norange, a nice juicy yorange Lucy yate a ni scream, a nigh screamy yi scream Flo wate a napricot a nice yellow wapricot Mo wate a nornelette, a nice runny yomelette Chloe yate a negg, a nice braw negg Nelly yate a nalmond, a nigh scrunchy yalmond Sally yate a nonion, a nigh Spani shonion Alec sate a nartichoke, a nigh stasty yartichoke Andrew wate a naubergine, a nigh spicy yaubergine Mary yate a nolive, a nigh scree colive Caro late a neel, a nigh smoke teel Alice sate a noyster, a nice fre shoysterXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 13 Rhymes and RhythmbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA A n d w h a t k in d o t s u m m e r d id y o u h a v e l a Here is a chance for you to practise what we've been looking at so far. The poem below has a simple, driving ONE two three ONE two three beat. But you will only keep to the beat if you remember to: zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 1 hit the main stressed syllables (shown in bold in the first three verses); 2 watch out for the weak syllables in the names; a lot of them start with an unstressed syllable containing schwa; to , a n d , th a t and o t, 3 watch out also for the weak forms of short grarnmatical words such asgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 4 make the links between words where necessary; 5 and don't be afraid to leave out (elide) the occasional sound. We'll be looking at this in greater detail in Part 3, but for the moment just note that a n d often loses its final zd/, especially when folIowed by a t v t and become schwa, a1sowhen folIowed by a consonant. AlI of these consonant; and o fm a y lose itsbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA things happen in the second verse, as you can see when it is written in phonetic notation . • /WI 'draov Oru: oa /ta 'tjuz Intsa • 'nart 'burz tu • • 'VIhd3 'brxsalz/ an i:(t) 'plsnti 'masalz/ w3 Vocabulary notes b o o z e (n o u n /v e r b ) is slang for '(alcoholic) drink'; to fa lte r is to stop doing something smoothly; talking for instance; a F ie s ta is a type of Ford car; g e a r is a general word for 'things'; a fe e is money paid for professional services (to a lawyer, architect, etc.); a la n a is a person who prefers to be alone; m u sse ls are shellfish which are very popular in Belgium; re p le n ish is a formal verb meaning 'fill'. We travelled to Venice then on to Verona to test a Fiesta with only one owner. We drove through the night to a village near Brussels to choose lots of booze and eat plenty of mussels. We later decided to head off to Spain via France for a chance to drink lots of champagne. But after a week of good living and booze we agreed that we'd need to rest up in Toulouse. Then we drove to Madrid before heading to Lisbon to me et our friend Pete who'd just flown in from Brisbane. We drove farther south to a town near Granada to find lots of wine to replenish the larder, and then spent a week just outside Algeciras, but folk that we spoke to refused to come near us. We stayed for a while in the town of Pamplona where Pete walked the street (he's a bit of a loner). We drove fairly fast to a hotel in Cannes where we tried to confide our affairs to a man, who gave us some goods to deliver in Rome for a fee we'd not see until safely back home. We sailed down to Malta to stay in Valetta but a fax sent from Sfax made us think that we'd better cross over to Tunis then drive to Algiers to speak to a Greek I had known for some years.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 14 P a r t I zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONML Syllables, stress and rhythm We drove through Morocco to reach Casablanca to discuss, without fuss, aur affairs with a banker. Then headed back north, crossed the Straits of Gibraltar but passed through sa fast we were starting to falter, and round about then I began to remember I had to meet Dad on the tenth of September. We sold the Fiesta and loaded a pIane then with some gear from Tangier then we got on a train, which roared through the night till it reached Santander where we stayed one more day just to breathe in the air, then a boat brought us back to our own native shores. So that was my holiday, how about yours? T a s k 7 XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Y o u r task is: a) to write the place names in the table according to their stress pattern (two have been done as examples); b) to find the odd one out; that is to say, the name which follows a pattern not represented in the grid. o. • .0.0 0.0 .0 onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVU Valetta Madrid R h y m e s, r h y th m a n d a llit e r a t io n The remaining practice poems in Part I include one extra element, alliteration; that is to say, the repetition of initial eonsonant sounds at the start of words. N am es In the first poem, 'Nam es from the British Isles', each line contains an English first name, folIowed by a British place name, both starting with the same sound (usually a consonant, but there are two examples of vowels being repeated). As with the previous poem - 'What kind of summ er did you havel' - this has a simple ONE twa three ONE two three waltz beat. But you can only keep to the beat if you remem ber the folIowing: 1 Several common place name endings have become so weak that the vowels have been reduced to schwa.baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA -h a m gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA = /d m / Nottingham = /'nntII) d m / -s te r = -to n = -fo rd /S td / /tdn/ = /fdd/ Birmingham = /'b3:mII) d m / Leicester = /,lestd/ Gloucester = Paignton = /'pemtdn/ /'str~tfdd/ Taunton = Stratford = Oxford = /'glnstd/ /'t:):ntdn/ /'nksfdd/ 2 Most two-syllable nouns start with a stressed syllable and end with a weaker syllable (often containing schwa). Place names are no exception. But watch out for those that have the main stress on the second syllable, for example: Dundee xndare Argyll /a:'gaIl/ carlisle /ko.'larl/ 15 RhymesbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a n d R h y th m 3 Most two-syllable first nam es also start with a stressed syllable. But a number of names (especially - a ) have the main stress two syllables from the end, for example: those end ing withbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA PatriciaonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA = /pa'tnja/ AIllanda = /a'meenda/ s-lina, = /bo'lmda/ Thel'Csa = /td'ri:Zd/ or /td'relzd/ This happens with place names such asgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA R e n a , M o n ta n a and C o L o r a d o . (Look at the poem on page 17 for words such as b a n a n a , s p a g h e tti and lib r e tto .) 4 The preposition [ t o m is found in its weak Ifr a m l form throughout. But the pronunciation o t a n d depends on what the next sound is. The Id l is only certain to be heard when tollowed by a vowel (so a n d A n n e = /'dcen/). But the Id l is elided in a n d S ta n , to r example, and we hear lan 'stan/. S Sometimes when the Id l disappears it allows assimilation to take place. This means that a sound changes to be more like the tollowing sound. In a n d P a tric ia , for example the Id l goes and then the In l becomes Im l because ot the tollowing Ip l and we end up with lam pat'nja/. In the same way, a n d K a te = la IJ 'kert/. (The symbol IIJ I represents the eonsonant sound at the end o t s o n g , th in g , w r o n g , etc.) (Don't worry if this is not very elear at the moment. We willlook at elision and assimilation in more detail in Part III.) 6 And be careful with the links in, for example, a n d ~ A n n e , C h e s te r o n d , I o y c e js , { r o m ~ A r g y ll, etc. N a m e s f r o m th e B r itis h Is le s l Norman's from Nottingham, Martin's from Mottingham, Charley's frorn Chester and Lesley's from Lee; Joyce is frorn Iarrow and Henry's from Harrow, Laura's from Leicester and Dave's from Dundee. 2 Ted comes from Taunton and Stan comes from Staunton Billy's from Bolton And Willy's from Ware; Mary's from Marlow, and Harry's from Harlow Mike's from South Molton and Kate's from Kildare. 3 Ken's from CarlisIe and Anne's from Argyll, Fanny's from Fawley and Harriet's from Hull; Teddy's from Tenby and Den is from Denbigh, Chris comes from Crawley and Millie's from Mull. 4 Ed comes from Eltham and Fred comes from Feltham, Brian's from Braintree and Chris comes frorn Crewe; Colin's from Kerry and Bobby's from Bury, Ada's from Aintree So, how about you? N a m e s fr o m th e A m e r ic a s 1 Mo's from Montana and Sal's from Savannah, Dave's from Daytona and Mary's from Maine; Nell's from Nebraska and Al's frorn Alaska, Will 's from Winona and Fred's from Fort Wayne. 2 Rick com es from Reno and Chick comes from Chino, Brian's from Brampton and Rita's from Rome; Al's from Aruba and Connie's from Cuba Ned's from orth Hampton and Nora's from Nome. W here do y O ll t h in k 3 Hank's from Havana and Guy's from Guyana, Beth comes from Benton and Nick's from orth Bay; Charley's from Chile and Phil com es from Philly, Trudy's from Trenton and Luke's frorn LA. you're g o in g ? This is another poem in 3 /4 time. The beat is strictly as follows: and ONE 2 2 2 3 ONE 3 ONE 3 du DAH du du DAH du du DAH du du I'm go lib ing to Leeds lo cate a to I'm go steal sti ing to Stock a holm to 16 ONE DAH re le 2 (and) du tto ttoXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA P a r t I zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLK Syllables, stress and rhythm It is important to remember the following:onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM The place names are either monosyllablesbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA tL e e d s , S lo u g h , gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA C o tk , C o w e s , etc.) or have the stress pattern • o, as is normai for two-syllable nouns ( B r ig h io n , V e n t n o r , P o la n d , etc.). l 2 The verbs are either monosyllables ( b u y , v ie w , normai for two-syllable verbs ( p r o v id e , s u p p ly , 3 s e ll, p in c h , c o lle c t , etc.) or have the stress pattern o ., as is lo c a t e , p ro m o te , c o n s u lt , re fo rm , c o n fu s e , b e c o m e ) . the three-syllable nouns at the end of lines have the pattern o • o. This is either because they derive from o • verbs ( p r o fe s s o r , c o n fe s s o r , r e la tio n , c o m p u te r, c o m m u t e r ) or because they are loan words from other languages all ending in a vowel sound ( b a n a n a , p y ja m a , v a n illa , c o n f e t t i, s p a g h e t t i, L ib r e t t o , AU s tile tto , b a lo n e y ) . 4 The two loan words with four syllables ( s a r s p a r ilt a and m a c a r o n it have the pattern • o • o, i.e., there is secondary stress on the first syllable and primary stress on the third. S If the place has only one syllable ( L e e d s , P e r th , C o r k , etc.) then the verb has two syllables ( p r o v id e , s u p p iy , c o l/ e e t ) . But if the place has two syllables ( S t o e k h o L m , S o h o , P o la n d , B a s e / ) then the verb has one tb u y , s t e a l, p in e h ) . Vocabulary notes b a lo n e y is a type of sausage (from Bologna in Italy); a e o m m u t e r lives in the suburbs and travels (or commutes) into the city to work; c o n f e t t i are bits of coloured paper thrown over the couple after a wedding; a lib r e t t o is the words of an opera; p a s tra m i is a type of smoked beef (US); p in c h is a colloquial word for steal; s a r s p a r illa is a soft drink made frorn the sarsparilla plant; a s t e e p le is the tower of a church; a s tile tto is a sharp, pointed knife; v a n illa comes from a type of bean and is used for flavouring desserts. Now listen to the poem very carefully and answer the questions on the next page. Where do you think you're going? I'rn going to Brighton to buy some bananas I'm going to Perth to provide some pyjamas I'rn going to Ventnor to view some vanilla I'rn going to Slough to supply sarsparilla t G~EEKS1.WI.'!XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA I'm going to Soho to sell some salami I'm going to Poland to pinch some pastrami I'm going to Cork to coIlect some confetti I'm going to Spain to secure some spaghetti I'm going to Leeds to locate a libretto I'm going to Stockholm to steal a stiletto I'm going to Prague to promote my professor I'm going to Crewe to consult my confessor I'rn going to Rye to reform a relation I'm going to Stansted to stare at the station I'm going to Basel to boi! some baloney I'm going to Minsk for some mixed macaroni I'rn going to Plymouth to please all the people I'rn going to Stockport to stand on the st eple I'rn going to Cowes to confuse a com puter I'm moving to Kent to become a commuter 17 R hym es Task 8 a n d R h y t h m XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA W h ic h o f t h e t w o - s y lla b le p la c e n a m e s h a v e s c h w a in t h e f in a l s y lla b le ? W h ic h m a y h a v e s c h w a ł A n d w h ic h d e f in it e ly d o n o t h a v e s c h w a ł Task 9 W h ic h o f t h e f in a l w o r d s in e a c h llne h a v e s c h w a in t h e f ir s t s y lla b le ? Task 10 W h ic h o f t h e f in a l w o r d s a ls o h a v e s c h w a in t h e la s t s y lla b le ? Task 11 W h ic h o f t h e v e r b s h a v e s c h w a in t h e f ir s t s y lla b le ? T h e d o - it - y o u r s e lf • t o n g u e - t w is t e r k it zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIH Every language has what are called tongue-twisters: sequences with so many examples of alliteration P e te r P ip e r that even native speakers have problems saying them fast. (Examples in English include:gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHG l? ic k e d a p e c k o f p ic k le d p e p p e r and S h e se lls se a sh e lls o n th e se a sh o re .) baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA In 'Names from the British Isles' there were just two examples of each eonsonant sound; M a r tin 's baZYXWVUTSRQPONML [to m In 'Where do you think you're going?' it went up to three; I'm g o in g to B rig h to n so on. In this section, we will end up with five or sometimes six. But we'll make it easier for you by starting with just two examples o t the same sound, then building up to three, four, and so on. (It's called 'The do-it-yourself tongue-twister kit' because you start off easy and take your time working up to the more difficult ones.) M o ttin g h a m , for example. to b u y so m e b a n a n a s, and Two-part alliteration The most important syllables in this part are found in the name and in what the person buys to eat or drink. The word b o u g h t is more important than the very weak so m e (= Isa m /), but it is less important than the main syllables, because it is repeated. Watch out for the words (including names) with stress on the second syllables: potatoes, bartanas. tomatoes, Sal Ome, camin». Patricia They all have schwa in the first weak syllable! Vocabulary notes c a b b a g e s and p o ta to e s are vegetables; p e a c h e s and b a n a n a s are fruit; d o u g h n u ts, c h o c o la te and fritte rs contain sugar; c o d is a fish, and sa la m i is a type ot sausage. • Kenneth bought some cabbage. Polly bought some peaches. Sally bought some salad. Dennis bought some doughnuts. Charles bought some chocolate. Shirley bought some sugar. Freddy bought some fritters. Camilla bought some cod. Tina bought some tomatoes. Barbara bought some bananas. Salome bought som e salami Patricia bought some potatoes. • \ • Three-part alliteration Now we add another word to say how much food or drink is bought. This can be a eontainer (a p a c k e t, tin , c ra te , etc.); a quantity (a d o ze n , slic e , p o u n d , k ilo , etc.); or we can add - f u l to same of the nouns. The main syllable in the new word is stressed, but the linking word ofis very, very weak. When folIowed by a vowel, we usually pronounce it la v l, but when followed by a consonant, it often reduces to schwa. This means that a k ilo o f c a b b a g e sounds like a k ilo a c a b b a g e and a b u n c h o f b a n a n a s sounds like a b u n c h a b a n a n a s . 18 Syllables, stress and rhythm P a r t I zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM Kenneth • boughta onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA kilogfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA ot cabbage. • • PolIy boughta packet o t peaches. SalIy boughta sackfulot salad. Dermis boughta dozen doughnuts. Charles boughta chunk o t chocolate. Shirley boughta shopful o t sugar. Freddy boughta fridgeful o t fritters. Camilla boughta crate o t cod. Tina boughta tin o t tomatoes. Barbara boughta bunch o t bananas. Salome boughta slice o t salami. Patricia boughta pound o t potatoes. • A r th u r b o u g h t a n a r m f u l o f a r t ic h o k e s Let's practice this three-part alliteration with the tolIowing poem. You will get the rhythm if you pause very slightly after b o u g h t in each line. Be careful though, the tollowing lines contain to u r examples o t the same initial sound: jeremy bought a giant jar o t jam, Linda bought a large leg o t lamb. Charlie bought a chunk o t cheap cheese. To keep to the rhythm in these lines you have to be careful to reduce the word o fto a simple schwa and link it to the word before it. It has to sound like a g ia n (t) ja r a ja m / a la rg e le g a la m b / a c h u n k a c h e a p c h e e se : Vocabulary notes Important! Don't teel you have to understand every single word betore you start listening to the poems. Concentrate on the rhythm and intonation; listen and start repeating; then check the meaning, if you need to. A rtic h o k e s, b e a n s, p e a s and sp in a c h are vegetables; a p ric o ts, le m a n s sa rd in e s are fish; la m b , m in c e and ste a k reter to meat (m in c e is the square piece; d o u g h n u ts are a type of bun cooked in deep ta t and and q u in c e s are fruit; b re a m and meat in hamburgers); a c h u n k is a covered with sugar; m u e sli is a m u g is like a cup, but shaped like a cylinder; a sto n e is 14 pounds, about 6 kilos; to ffe e breakfast cereal; abaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA is made with sugar; th re a d is used for sewing clothes, and when you are sewing, you put a th im b le on your finger to push the needle through. Arthur bought (pause) an armful of artichokes, Belinda bought (pause) a barrelful of beans, Catherine bought (pause) a kilo o t cabbages, and Sandra bought (pause) a sack of sardines. Harriet bought a handful of handkerchiefs, Jeremy bought a giant jar of jam, Lola bought a litre of lemon juice, and Linda bought a large leg of lamb. Peter bought a poeketful of peanuts, Queenie bought a quarter pound quince, Shirley bought a shop full o t sugar lumps, and Michael bought a milligram o t mince. Salome bought a slice o t salami, Charlie bought a chunk of cheap cheese, Spencer bought a spoonful o t spinach, and Pamela bought a packet full o t peas.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 19 Rhymes and Rhythm Philippa bought a folder for her photographs, Step hen bought a stone of steak. Amos bought an acre ot apricots, and Katie bought a kilogram of cake, Cuthbert bought a cupful of custard, Brenda bought a bucketful of brearn, Matilda bought a mugful of mustard, and Christopher bought a crateful of cream. Kenneth bought a carton of coffee, Benedict bought a basket fulI of bread, Tina bought a tinful of toffee, and Theo bought a thimble full of thread. Brian bought same bread for his brother, David bought same doughnuts for his Dad, Muriel made same muesli for her mother But Mary had no money and she just felt sad. Four-part alliteration b o u g h t and put in its place another alliterative word. This will give it a O E twa ow we drop the wordgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA three O E twa three beat. Careful with the verbs select, collect and deliver, with stress on the second syllable and schwa in the fi.rst. Vocabulary notes and se e k (pastonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA = so u g h t) are relatively formai verbs; their less formal equivalents arebaZYXWVUTSRQPONM buy, and Z o o k fo r; to sh ift = 'move from one place to another'; and a d o ze n = 12. p u rc h a se , se le c t c h o o se (ar p ic k ) 11[3 Kenneth collected a kilo of cabbage. Polly purchased a packet of peaches. Saliy sought a sackfulof salad. Dermis delivered a dozen doughnuts. Charles chewed a chunk of chocolate. Shirley shifted a shopful of sugar. Freddy fried a fridgeful of fritters. Tina tasted a tin of tomatoes. Salome selected a slice of salami. Patricia picked a pound of potatoes.baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA A r tfu l A r th u r This is the finał part of 'The do-it-yourself tongue-twister' sequence. Of course each noun, adjective and verb is stressed. But in order to do this as a rhythmic chant there has to be four main beats (indicated in bold in the first few lines). And remember to link the word s where necessary. You should be doing it automatically by naw. Sa say: Artful Arthur argued for an armful of artichokes. = /'a:tfd 'la:8d 'rrnqju.d fdrd 'nnimfala 'vnrtttjauks/ Because the vocabulary is fairly difficult you will have to use a dictionary quite a lot in order to understand it. Sa we end up with twa matching tasks to help you remem ber the meanings of most ot the verbs and adjectives. 20 Part I Syllables, stress and rhythm Vocabulary notes [en u g reek and v a n illa are all used for flavouring food; These notes are just for the nouns;baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA c a r d a m o m , gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA g a zp a c h o is a Spanish swnmer soup, made with tomatoes and cucumber; n o u g a i is a type of sweet, or candy, from France; c la m s are shellfish; a sliv e r is a very thin slice; stu rg e o n and tu n a are fish; tre a c le comes from sugar. Artful Arthur argued for an armful of artichokes. Able Amos ached for an acre ot apricots. Barmy Barbara bargained for a basket of bananas. Beautiful Belinda boiled a barreiful of beans. Brash Brenda brandished a briefcase full of brano Careful Catherine cooked a kilo of cabbages. Carmen calmly carte donmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA off a cartload of cardamom. Cheerful Charlie chose achewy chunk of chocolate. Clever Chloe dung to a eluster of clams. Dirty Duncan dreamed of adozen dainty duck-eggs. Fragrant Freda fried a fridge full of fritters. Furtive Freddy fondled a fistful of fenugreek. Gorgeous Gertrude gasped for agallon of gazpacho. Greedy Grenville grasped for a grass of green grapefruit. Happy Harry hauled away a hamper fuli of ham. jerky Gerald juggled wit h some jars of jam. Lazy Lawrence lugged away a lorry-load of lettuce. Little Lola lapped up a litre of lemon juice. Merry Michael munched a milligram o t mince. Naughty Norma gnawed a knob of nutty nougat. Posh Patricia purchased a pound o t Polish peaches. Queasy Quentin quaffed a quarter-pint of quince-juice. Sad Sally savoured a sa ck full of sandwiches. Sheepish Shirley shattered a shop full of shell-fish. Sly Salome sliced off a sliver ot salami. Spotty Spencer spattered a spoonful of spinach. Stocky Stephen stood on a stone of sticky sturgeon. Tiny Tina tasted a teaspoonful of tuna. ----- - Tricky Trevor traded a trunkful of treacle. Vicious Victor vanished in a van full of vanilla. Weary Wanda waded in a waggon lo ad of watercress. Task XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 12 Match the adjectives wit h their definitions 1 artful a) having a bad skin condition 2 able 3 barmy 4 brash S cheerful 6 fragrant 7 furtive 8 gorgeous 9 greedy 10 jerky 11 merry 12 naughty 13 posh 14 queasy lS sad 16 sly 17 spotty 18 stocky 19 tiny 20 tricky or synonyms. b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i) nice-smelling, perfumed really small happy (possibly because of the effect of alcohol) clever, full of tricks, cunning, sly uncontralled in one's movements, clumsy misbehaved, or possibly slightly impraper happy, in a good mood capable, skilful, clever j) always wanting more things, especially to eat k) rea1ly beautiful l) over-confident, loud, tOG fuli of oneself m) mad, crazy, not a1l there n) dishonestly tricky, unwilling to confide in others o) quite short, but well-built p) feeling slightly sick, uneasy about a possible action q) deceitful, clever in cheating, difficult to handle. r) sly, not wanting to be seen, up to no good s) upper-class, over-conscious of one's importance t) unhappy, down in the dumps, miserable 21 Rhymes and Rhythm Task 13 Match the verbs with their definitions or synonyms. 1 ache a) to transport 2 argue b) to breath in suddenly and loudly c) to cut a thin section tram a loaf of bread, a cake, etc. 3 bargain d) to grab and hol d on to with one ar both hands 4 boil e) to wave in the air 5 brandish 6 eling f) to cook in water at 100 degrees Celsius g) to hurt, be in pain, long for 7 fry h) to bite steadily at something till it is wam away 8 fondle i) to drink steadily (old-fashioned) 9 gasp j) to try to get something for a lower price 10 grasp k) to drink the way a cat doesonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 11 haul 1) to eat ar taste while enjoying the flavour 12 juggle m) to hold tight1y to something with both arms 13 lug n) to throw liquid ar serni-liquid matter on to something 14 lap o) to move ar transport with difficulty 15 munch p) to dispute, quarrel, disagree verbally 16 gnaw q) to keep three ar more objects in the air simultaneously 17 purchase r) to walk in liquid which comes up high er than the ankles 18 quaff s) to stroke gently and affectionately 19 savour t) to chew carefully and steadily, while making same noise 20 shatter u) to disappear 21 slice v) to break something tragile into many small pieces 22 spatter w) to cook in oil ar fat 23 vanish x) to buy 24 wadebaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 22 P A R T baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA S t r e s s in w o r d s II and p h r a s e s onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA In Part l, the following points were made about stress: • In words of two or more syllables, one syllable is more important than the other(s). If all the other syllables are weak, then we can cali this the stressed syllable. • In words of three or more syllables we may have to distinguish three degrees of stress, however. The most important syllable will carry primary stress, the next in importance will carry secondary stress and the rest can be called weak. • The weakest possible syllables contain the schwa vowel, the shortest and most common vowel sound in English. • Grammatical items are usually weak, many of them containing schwa (though some mayaiso have a stron g form). • Certain word-stress patterns are more common than others. Two-syllable verbs, for example, usually have the pattern o •. Two-syllable nouns, by contrast, usually have the opposite pattern zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA .0. In Part II, we willlook in more detail at the rules for stress, both in words and in phrases. And we will see exactly when certain rules can be broken. t C h a p te r 2 S t r e s s in v e r b s I n t r o d u c t io n zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA In this section, we will consider seven different stress patterns for verbs. Before we Jook at . zhat the ruJes are, carry out the following introductory task.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Task 14 R e a d a n d lis te n to th e v e r b s in th e lis t b e lo w . • Look at the tables, where you will find an example of the seven stress patterns. • Place each verb in its correct place. (Two have already been put in as examples.) Som e patterns are easier to see (and hear) than others. The purpose of this task is for you to discover if there is any which cause you problems. Those are the ones that you will need to concentrate on. clarify pre-set prefer accelerate contradiet wander soften enliven refuse sentimentalize interfere defuse apologize damage collect abolish co-chair identify occupy measure undertake circularize defend prepaint consider substitute surrender overwhelm monopolize determine remove demist understand wony idolizeonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJI 1 surprise 2 develop 3 reload 4 introduce collect 5 tremble contradict 6 estimate 7 realise (Note that the numbers 1-7 correspond to the different subsections in this main section.) 24 Part II T w o - s y lla b le Stres s in words and phrasesbaZYXWVUT o. verbs Most two-syllable verbs, as we have seen, start with a weakly stressed syllable. Here are the most common of these initial syllables, together with a selection of the verbs containing them. They are grouped by vowel. schwagfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA those containing a- ab- co- c o m - c o n - [ o r - absorb / collide / / persuade surprise / suspect im - / police / pollute / produce / protect / subside / subject / suggest / shortbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA III those containing ts- pro- su- sur- sus- sccount / accuse / allow / amuse / announce/ avert / aVOid / collect / command / compare / compose / conduct / forget / forgive / object /observe / offend en- 0- o b - p e r - p o - in - endu re / engage / ignOre / imply /onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA mcrease / infect / include / invite / impOrt those containing short /I/, though schwa is an alternative b e - d e - d is - e - p r e - beCome endure / behave / enquire reffiove / re- se- / believe / / debate -qutp / escape «fer / restore / decide / defy / deny / derive / prefer / prepare / present / deVote / record / distract / recite / / regret / / seCure / sedate Note: this group includes a fairly Iarge category of verbs ~convict ~ contrast / deCreaSe / ferment / reCord / impOrt / inCreaSe / rebel / pervert / ob)ect / sub)ect) where the corresponding nouns have the opposite stress pattern: • o. See Chapter 3. T h r e e - s y lla b le verbs There are fewer o. o than o. verbs,Most start with one of the weak initial syllables you have just met: abOlish / aCCOmplish /assemue O _ / awaken O / beWilder / conxlder / continue / determine / deVelop / enCOUrage / reSemble / suIrender Note: that most o t these verbs end with a syllable that is norrnally weak: -e r , -e n , -is h , -a g e , - it. There will be more about final syllables on page 28.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Listen to the following recording. Task 15 There is a series of sentences. each containing one of the verbs you have just met. There is no rhyme this tirne, but each sentence has the same beat, with a strong syllable followed by two weak ones. 2 3 ONE 2 (and) DAH du du DAH du (and) eon cert o for trum pet had wri tten a nov el 2 3 O E 2 3 O DAH du du DAH du du Con rad com posed a Ann ie a nounced she O E E 25 Rhymes and Rhythm You can only keep to the beat if you remem ber that each of the verbs starts with a really weak syllable. But it's time to mention one more thing about the stressed syllables: they are not just louder and longer than the weak ones; they are usually different in pitch. That is to say, that they are often high er or lower than the surrounding unstressed syllables. Not only that: a stressed syllable can change pitch, can go down or up smoothly. Before you repeat the various poems, chan ts, raps and so on in this book, you should do two things: listen to the rhythm of course, make sure you hit the stresses and shorten the weak syllables; but you also have to listen to the musie of the language, to the intonation (i.e. the way the voice goes up and down). So the sentence we have just looked at can be thought of as: COnrad composed a concerto for trumpet if we only think ot the rhythm. But we must not forget that it may also sound like: tru m Con pet a Now you have a choice. You can just listen to the sentences and repeat them. But, if you want to do some vocabulary practice first, try to match the beginnings (1-16) and endings (a-p) of the sentences in the word box belów, then listen to the recording. And when you repeat the sen ten ces, do not be fooled by the spelling of names and verbs at the start ot each sentence. Pairs such asgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA P e rc y /p e rsu a d e and C o n n ie /c o n d u c t may look as if they contain the same vowel sound. Listen carefully, however. Eaeh name starts with a stressed syllable, so the vowel sound in the name is always stronger than the weak vowel sound in the first syllable of the verb! Thus C o n n ie onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWV = 'koni, whereas e o n d u e t = kan'dxkt. 1 Perey perSUaded a) 2 Coue eollected b) a symphony 3 Dennis c) developed a Vd Ccine for pOlio Ol'chestra she had written anOvel 4 Reggie restored d) to start 5 Betty beCame e) a11the frescos 6 OScar objected f) a major 7 Benny behaved g) the troops 8 Av-u averted h) a classical 9 Annie i) all the men 10 ESther escaped j) a quite famous celebrity 11 DeSmond k) when O'l hers aCcepted announced deVOted up a bUSiness in FlOrence cal.dsrophe to surrender rece-a l) 13 Forster m) in a COntident manner 14 COnnie condUCted n) from a priSoner 15 Debbie o) his life to the peOple decided him a peaceen solUtion 12 Rita reCOrded forgave who'd betrayed of war camp p) some marvellous furniture 16 SUsie suggestedbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 26 P a r t I I zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLK Stres s in word s and phrases •• ( o ) v e r b s o. o. o witonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA h a t r u e p r e f ix a s f ir s t s y lla b le In most and verbs, the weak initial syllable comes from a preposition in Latin. In English, the original meaning is often hidden. The fact thatgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA s u b -, for example, originally meant 'under' is not elear in such words as s u b m it or s u b je c t (though it is elearer in word s such as s u b s e c tio n or s u b m a r in e ). In some verbs, by contrast, the original meaning is still very elear. In such cases, we can describe the first syllable as a true prefix. (The weaker equivalents may be thought of as semi-prefixes.) True prefixes have strong vowels and will be transcribed showing secondary stres s within the word. For example: prefix meaning re- 'again'baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA reload := I,ri:'laudl I r i: 1 rehouse := I,ri:'hauzl de- 'removing' I d i: 1 debug := l, d i: 'b A g I defuse := I , d i: 'f ju : z l co- 'with' Ikaul cohabit := I,kau'hcebltl co-chair := I,kau'tfeal p re - 'before' I p r i: 1 preload := /prit'laud/ preset := I , p r i: 's e t l pron. examples Be careful, however. Each of the above four has a weaker version, where the original meaning is less elear. Look at the following examples. with prefix repaint re set reform with 'serni-prefix' := l, r i: 'p e m t l := I , r i: 's e t l := I , r i: 'b : m l remove reject reform (:= form again) demist deselect co-exist co-chair pre-pay pre-paint deceive defend := IlkaUIg'zIstl I,kau'tfeal collide command := Ilpri:'peII := I , p r i: 'p e m t l prepare prefer := := /n'murv/ or Ira'mu:vl /rr'dgekt/ or /ro'dgekt/ := l, r i'b : m l or I , r a 'b : m l (:= improve, rectify) Ildi:'mIstl I,di:'sa'lektl := := := := I dr'sirv I or I da'sirv I := /dtfend/ or /da'fend/ := /ka'lard/ /ka'mumd/ := /pn'pea/ or /pre'peo/ := Ipn'f3:1 := or I p r a 'f 3 : 1 Note that the negative prefixes, such as u n -, m is - and d is - , may also carry secondary stress within the word. E.g., unbUrden/ unsetu- / disCOUrage / disfigure / discredit / mismanage, and so on. T h r e e - s y lla b le verbs .0 . In these verbs, the primary stress is on the third syllable and the middle syllable is very weak (usually containing schwa). But there is a noticeable secondary stres s on the first syllable. This happens for one of three reasons: a) The verb starts with a two-syllable prefix, for example: ,intro'duce / ,contra'dict b) A prefix is added to a regular ,disa'ppoint / ,reab'sorb o. / ,over'Whelm / ,under'stand verb, for example: / ,disa'llOW /.,reco'mmend c) There are two monosyllabic prefixes, for example: ,coin'cide / ,appre'hend / ,compre'hend 27 R hym es .0 a n d R h y th m v e r b s zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA lf a verb has this pattem it is due to the presence of a final syllable which is always weak, causing the previous syllable to be stressed. This rule applies whatever the number of syllables and overrides the generał rule that two-syllable verbs ten d to have the o. pattern. In the following tables, you will find the most common of these weak final syllables, together with their pronunciation and a selection of words containing them.gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJ -s u r e -tu r e Id ll onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA ar 1 1 / Id n l ar In l Id l Ifd l 1 3 d l Itfd l peopie reckon cater Censure Ifd l settle beckon wanae- treasure 13dl tremu- sof ten favour pleasure 13dl quarrel weaken Sdvour measure 13dl pedal threaten answer piCture rival liSten spatter Capture -le -e L -a l -o n -e r -o u r -o r -e n -is h -o w -a g e Id U I /Ifl rd 31 I baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA foue« damage houew Itfd l Itfd l - it -y /Iti li! vanisn edit enw manage banish posu tidy bOrrow ravage finish debit WOrry piuow savage nounsn creau SCUrry mellow piUage flounsn limit query reusn pron- chivvy A number of comments have to be made about verbs with these endings, however. • In many cases (p e o p le , p e d a ł, c r e d it, q u e r y , s a v a g e , [ in is h , h o llo w , [a v o u r, tre a su re , ete.) these verbs can also function as nouns. This particular stress rule applies whatever the class of word. • You have to be careful about word endings. The letters -e r may well end a word without being a suffix. In o. verbs such as deter, inter, refer, confer and defer, for example, it is the elements te r and (e r that are units, not -e r . • Be careful with -iu r e , too. In. words such as abjure: injure, perjure, COnjure (= 'do trieks' (= 'ask solemnly' - pronounced /,kan'd3ua/) the ju r e element forms pronounced /'kAnd3a/), conJure the unit. Confusion with the regular u re ending seems to be the cause of the inconsistency in pronunciation. • emit, And not aU verbs ending in - it have a final weak syllable. A number, including permit, transmit, remit and submit are standard o. verbs, since the m it element is the unit (c.f., m is s io n in the noun derivants). • Most established words in -a g e have the short /rd3/ ending. This is also the pronunciation of -a g e as a suffix (in, for instance, s e e p a g e , [o o ta g e , s h r in k a g e , ete.). But more recent borrowings from French (d.Ibitrage / triage / COrsage / Cdrnouflage, ete.) ten d to end in the much longer /a :3 /) . And g a r a g e varies between the two, being pronounced in a variety of ways, including: /'gcera:d3/, /'9cerrd3/, /ga'ra:3/ and /ga'ra:d3/· • Finally, be careful with 28 srlow. P a r t I I zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONML Stress in words and phrases Some suffixes cause the main stress to fall on the syllable two from the end (the 'ante-penultimate'). This happens however many syllables come before the stress.gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA -a te -ify baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA - ip ly -u p y u te /IfaII /rplar/ i llstitute dignify multiply eStimate c Ollstitute clarify Occupy fascinate ampury s UbstituteonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA sssimn,« p rOStitute le I t lI I jurt/ COllgregate ar I t f u : t l luparl forur, accelerate idelltify negOtiate perSOnify V e r b s d e r iv e d f r o m n o u n s o r a d j e c t iv e s b y m e a n s o f t h e s u f f ix /a lz / A large number of verbs are derived from nouns and adjectives by means o t this suffix. The verbs keep the main stress of the original word. Examples include: ongirial word ~ derived verb original word ~ derived verb sympathy Sympathize circular Circularize criu- c riticize real reah» capital c apitalize organ Otganize aPOlogy apOlogize character characterize insti tUtional nsti tUtionalize mollOpoly mollOpolize 1 The «-ate» ending is often much weaker in nouns and adjectives. Thus e s tim a te as a noun, and a p p r o x im a te as an adjective both end Id t/. 29 C h a p te r 3 S tr e s s in n o u n s a n d a d je c tiv e s W h o 's w h o ? zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Chapter 2 asked you to think about the different stres s pattems in verbs. Now we will do the same for nouns.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Task 16 • a Your task is to: Listen to and read the poem: 'Who's who?'. (As you can see, it is full of nouns with a variety of different syllables and stress patterns. But if you keep to the 3/4 beat you will have no choice but to hit the main stressed syllables correctly.) baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA • Pay special attention to the nouns listed below. • Place the nouns in the table - where possible - acco rding to their stress pattems. But note carefully! For the task in the previous section you had to find five verbs for each pattem. This time, however, you do not know how many words will go in each column. And also there are some odd ones out, i.e., some nouns which do not belong with the others i n the table! poet neurotic tailor zool ogist seJector teacher airman cosmonaut realiist diver royalist hack geographer phil anthropist eonfesser doctor wrestler translator astro naut loyalist barrister idealist photographer brok er physician balloonist c) democrat b) chairman a) healer e) technologist f) loyalist d) musician g) psychotic When you repeat this poem, do not assume that syllab les that are spelt the same are always pronounced the same. In Task 15 in the previous section, if you rec all, you met various pairs of words including: Percy / persuaded C01n Dennis Av-u / aVerted / developed / cOllected In each case, the name contained a strong, stressed vo wel, while the unstressed semi-prefix in the verb was considerably weaker. There is a similar contrast in 'Who's who?', this time b etween the vowel sounds in pairs of nouns and names. For example: 30 , Part II j'knlz a ka'lekta/ Di's a director /'dalza da'rekta/ Corrs Sol-s a SOlicitor Cols a colIector a confessor j'knnz a kan'fesa/ Stress in words and phrases j'snlz a so'lrsrta/ The reason is quite elear; all the nouns are derived from verbs and retain the initial weak syllable. (For more details, see below.) Vocabulary notesgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA b a rriste r = a lawyer who can appear in a higher court; b o o ze r = a person who likes aleoholic drinks (i.e., b o o ze ) far too much; h a c k onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA = a derogatory term for a journalist; p ro c to r = an offi.ciałat the universities of Oxford and Cambridge; so lic ito r = a lawyer who advises elients, prepares legal documents, ete. Who 's who? Tina's a teacher, Priscilla's a preacher, Donald's a doctor and Ted drives a truck. Fred's a photographer, Ioe's a geographer, Barry's a barrister down on his luck. Annie's an anarchist, Monty's a monarchist, Prue is a proctor and Fred owns a farm. Cy's a psychologist, Bill's a biologist, Charley's a charmer who 's run out of charm. Col's a collector and Di's a director, Astrid's an astronaut, Bas runs a bank. Con's a confessor and Prue's a professor, Cher owned a ship until (sadły) it sank. Mag's a magician and Phil's a physician, Cosmo's a cosmonaut circling the moon. Ruby's a realist, Ike's an idealist, Cindy's a singer who can't hołd a tune. Ruth is a writer and Freddy's a fighter, Phil's a philanthropist handing out cash. Sid's a psychotic and Norm's a neurotic, Danny's a driver who 's scared he might crash. Walter's a waiter and Tom's a translator, Aaron's an airman who flies through the sky. Tammy's a taiłor and Willie's a whałer, Charlie's a chairman who can't tell a lie. Benny's a boozer and Lenny's a loser, Sol's a solicitor, Chloe's a clown. Eddie's an editor, Chrissie's a creditor, Reg is a wrestłer whose job gets him down. Milly's a miller and Dave's a distiller, Kate's a comedian, cracking a joke. Dee is a dealer and Harry's a healer, Dave is a diver who can't swim a stroke. Ben's a balloonist and Bet's a bassoonist, Freda's a feminist, Harry's a hack. Zac's a zoologist, Tom's a technologist, Brenda's a broker who's just got the sack. Sal's a selector and Den's a defector, Mike is a miner all covered in grime. Rita's a royalist, Lita's a loyalist, Paula's a poet whose poems don't rhyme.baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 31 R h y m e s a n d R h y th m .0 n o u n s a n d a d j e c t iv e s zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDC This stress pattern, which we may call front (ar early) stress, is by far the most common for both nouns and for adjectives. ote how frequently nouns and adjectives of this type end with one ot the weak syllables that we have already met in the case of • o verbs. E.g., mou.e- / bOther / father / COsy / hUrry / fruity winue-, / Cd llow / houow / ntmu- / handle / parusi / picture / treaso-, / seiZure. luggage / manage / SpiUage / footage / / otable amon g nouns of this type are those 'agentive' nouns derived from monosyllabic verbs: diVer / waiter / farmer / liar / play-, / teacher / actor / etc. Note this includes that set of nouns (import / record / SUbject / refund / transfer where the verbs with the same spelling have late stress, e.g., to impOrt / to record refund / to transfer / to reject. N o u n s a n d a d j e c t iv e s d e r iv e d f r o m 0.0 verbs o. / reject, etc.) / to subject / to and o. o. o Most nouns and adjectives derived from and verbs by the addition of suffixes keep the same main stress as the verbs. There may, however, be a change of vowel sound and, occasionally, of consonant, e.g., to suffice / sufficiency; perSuade / perSUasion. (If the stress does change, then this is usually due to the presence of a suffix that imposes its own stress pattern, as we shall see later in this section.) acCOmplishment / deVelopment / »ccountsu- / amUSing / enqUiry / equipment prodUCtion / rehearSal / behaViour / collection / excitable / infectious / com [Jdrtson / defective / perVersity / preSUmable / / reSemblance / sufficiency / transferrai This type again includes a large number of agentive nouns such as: accountant/announcer /belieVer / enqUirer / offender /inqUirer /inhabitant/prodUCer / proteCtor / surVeyor N o u n s a n d a d j e c t iv e s d e r iv e d f r o m Nouns and adjectives derived from example: .0 Settlement / reckoning / censorship .0 verbs verbs also ten d to keep the stress pattern ot the original verbs. For / management / fellowship Agentive nouns include: creduo- / editor 32 / fOlIower / SOftener / manager / treasurer / wandererXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCB P a r t I I zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLK Stress in words and phrases S t r e s s - im p o s in g s u f f ix e s There are a number of suffixes which determine the stress pattern of nouns.gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED - io n , - ia n onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA = /dn/ o r /n/ In nouns ending withbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA io n , or ia n the main stress falls on the syllable before the end, no matter how many syllables. Where these suffixes are found in words of four or more syllables, then there is a elear secondary stress: nation / fusion / Option / Asian / confusion .condern'Hdtion .prose'Ctltion / ,disi'llUsion / ,contra'diCtion / .substi'Ttltion / .aggra'Vdtion / adOPtion / mu Slcian / techniCian / ,compre'hension / con.gratu'Idtion / / ,intro'dUCtion / .multipli'Cdtion / .inde'Cjsion / / .recornmen'Cldtion / .reali'Sdtion / .qualifi'Cdtion / .simplifi'Cdtion / .magnifi'Cdtion Note how the syllable given secondary stres s is usually that carrying main stres s in the base verb, for example: -a te congratulate con.gratu'Iatton -ify magnify .magmn' -iz e realize ,reali'Zation Cdtion There are a large number of suffixes ending with y , corresponding to very weak /II. The preceding syllable also contains a very weak syllable, so the main stress com es two from the end, however long the word. These are similar in stress patterning to - I y adverbs, a selection of which are ineluded for comparison. A very high proportion of these nouns are forma l and/ar scientific or technical, containing such suffixes as: -o r y , -o p y , -o c y , -a c y , -a p y , -a r y , -a th y , -o m y , -o g y , -o p h y , -a p h y , -a tr y , and -ity . • 00 . therapy / lvory / hiStory gracefully / feelingly / seCretary / mystery / hUrriedly / Stf Igery / dpathy / sympathy / lavatory / / SeemingIy / mercifully 0.00 identity / society / psyChiatry / seCUrity / psyChOlogy / phild.Flthropy /biOgraphy obituary / labOratory / authOrity / modernity / / affl dzingly / politically / belieVably Note this is the same stress pattern found in a number of four-syllable words ending in -e , also corresponding to short /1/. They inelude: apOstrophe, epitome, cataStrophe and hyperbole . • 0.00 ,inca'pacity / .capa'Dtlity / ,elec'tricity ,unbe'lievabIy / .cardi'Ology / .physi'ology / .under'S'tdndably / / .00.00 .autobt'Ography / ,parapsy'ChOlogy 33 Rhymes and Rhythm Note that some words ending ingfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA -y (including la v a to ry , lite ra c y and se c re ta ry ) may have four syllables when spoken slowly. But in fast speech, what is called compression may take place. This means that the schwa syllable may be elided, reducing the word to three syllables, possibly to fit other words with this pattern. In fact, the middle schwa syllable in three syllable words, including h isto ry and m y ste ry may similarly disappear. For example: Item lavatory 'Izevatan 'leevatn literacy 'lrtarasr 'lrtrasr secretary 'sekratan 'sekratrr history 'hrstan 'hrstn mystery 'mrston 'mrstn -o g r a p h e r , -o n o m e r , • -o n o m is t, -ia tr is t The very productive -y group (see page 81) includes those learned suffixes: -o lo g y , -o n o r n y , -ia tr y . These have corresponding agentive nouns with the same stress pattern, such as: phot.Ographer / biOgrapher / a Sl I'Onomer/ biOlogist / psyChiatrist / eCOnomist -o g r a p h y / agronomist and / .hagi'Ographer / .parapsy'Cjj Ologist / ete. Note that the syllable following the main stres s always contains schwa; thus phol Ographer /fa'toqrafa/: agrOnomist = /a'qronamrst/. -e s e = /i:z/ The -e s e suffix is found in a number of nationality word s (including ChineSe VietnameSe) as well as a few other words such as journalese. / Japanese / -e s q u e / esk/baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a n d -e tte / et/ These suffixes are fairly rare. The first is used to derive adjectives from a number of proper names, to give the meaning 'similar to, in the style of', e.g., K a fk a e sq u e / G o y a e sq u e / C h a p lin e sq u e . (It is also found in a few other adjectives and nouns, such as p ic tu re sq u e and h u m o re sq u e .) The second is found as a diminutive suffix in such words as c ig a re tte , k ite h e n e tte , le e tu re tte and la u n d r e tte . Note that -e se , -e sq u e and -e tte impose a secondary stress two syllables before the main stress: e.g., ,japa'nese / ,pictu'resque / ,ciga'rette. -ic , -ic s , -ic a l, -ic is t • These related suffixes, all containing ie, affect the stress pattern of a large number of nouns and adjectives . The rule is that main stress falls on the syllable immediately before. For example: .0(0) zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA PUblic(ist) / Cynic(al) / tOpic(al) / logic(al) / optic(al) / physic(al) / classic(al) / ethnicXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 34 / physicist / tragic / cnueon P a r t I I zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONML Stress in words and phrases 0.0(0) eeramie(s) / ceramietst / eleCtrie(al) / eosmetic(s) / dynamie / histOrie(al) / arljstic / politieal/ illogieal pathenc / Exeeptions pOlitie(s) / lunatie / Arabie .0.0(0) ,mathe'maties / .peri'(jdicral) / ,anaes'thetic / .eco'norrucro / .eco'nomrcran / ,meta'physics .oce'aruc / ,aea'demie / .mathe'tjjattcal / ,astra'nomieal / ,meta'physieal / / ,eate'gOrie(al) .00.0 .geria'Ij'jcian / .paedia'tj'[ciangfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA - is t This is used to derive adjeetivesbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA tra m : • nouns: machinist • adjectives: / balloornsr / basSOOnist / etc.; or reansi / loyalist / royalist / idealist / etc. l )baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 35 C h a p te r 4 S t r e s s in c o m p o u n d s and p h rases a I n tr o d u c tio n Compounds are composed of more than one word or element, whether written as one word or not. And it is the main syllable in the first element of compounds that has primary stress. baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Most compound nouns are mad e up of two elements, usually nounonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDC + noun. For example: postman / policeman 'eVening .dress / / teapot / classroom hitchsu-, / rnathe'Jfldtics of English) / 'ViSitors ,book / 'children's / 'buS,stop / ,teacher / schoola-t / landlady 'ten-a, .player / 'English / bookshop / ,teacher (= teacher ,home / etc. But other combinations of elements are possibłe. adjective + noun (very common) redhead / greenback smalltalk / broadside / Shortbread / hotspot / longboat / the ,White / greenhouse / hardware / shortre-a / ,House / Sl.Xvpack / etc. gerund + noun (very common) dining room / swimming po ol / baking powder / mOVing van / track / ironing board / Skipping rope / Winning breath.eg space / rUnning post / etc. verb + particle (increasingly common) take off / talkback shutaown / standu- / sit-in / pUtdovm / / turn up /wind.o» / flYby / breakthrough fOllow-up zwalkoo: / flyover / drive.n, / / sit up / stop over / hand over / etc. verb + noun (not very common) Ctl l-throat / driveway / runway / swimwear / etc. particle + verb (not very common) offcut / input / Offspring / overpass / Underwear / bypass / etc. Two elements frorn Latin or Greek (very common, especially in formal and/or scientific language) aCrobat / phOtograph technocrat / telephone / Synonym / symphony / gramophone / iSobar / paragraph / thermostat / microphone / hOmophone / / etc. The meaning of most noun + noun compounds is usually quite elear; bot h constituents are ordinary English words and the compound is the sum of both words. Thus agfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA b o o k sh o p is 'a shop where you buy books', a b u s sto p is la place where buses stop'. The meaning of element + element compounds is usually less obvious. However, words such as a u to g ra p h , b io p sy and te le p h o n e contain highly meaningful elements: a u to = 'self'; g ra p h = 'writing'; b io baZYXWVUTS = 'life'; te le = 'far' and p h o n e = 'sound'. 36 Part II Stress in words and phrases The meanings of elements such as these are well worth knowing. They are only occasionally found as independent words. In combination, however, they produce several thousand three-syllable words, all with front stress and a very we ak second syllable. (Of course, they are found in longer words, to o; angfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQ + 'life' + 'writing' - is 'an account of a person's life written by the person a u to b io g ra p h y - 'self"onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA themselves'.) Since these elements are often neglected, I have written a poem to help you learn a number of them. TaskXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 17 Recreate the following poem. Poems are often divided into separate stanzas (also called, verses). The following poem is written in what is known as rhyming couplets. (A couplet is a two-line stanza, sa rhyming couplets are couplets where the C C , etc.) Here are the first twa couplets of the poem: rhyme scheme is AA, BB,baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA An aCrobat An OCtopus A thermostat A metronome is agile and can somersault and leap; is something you might see beneath the deep. is useful to control the rate of heat; is what you need to help you keep the beat. As you can see, each line contains the definition of a three-syllable classical compound. (With front stres s, of course.) Each compound is in its correct position in the poem below, but the definitions have been jumbled up. Your task is to: • listen to the poem ance ar twice to get the rhythm; • use a good dietlonary to check the meaning • find the continuation which matches • re-create the poem. ped notes 'humari' 'water' = 'star' = 'self' =' colaur' = 'kill' = 'lead, take' = 'world' = 'language' = 'leader' = 'writing' = 'same' = 'water' = 'sleep' = 'small' = 'one' = 'shape' = 'sail, travel' = 'shaped like' = 'child' p e ri = 'around' phone p h o to poLy re g sc o p e te le v ia = 'sound' o t each compound; the meaning o t the compound; Vocabulary a n th ro p aqua a str a u to c h ro m c id e duc c o sm g lo t gogue g ra p n hom o h y d ro hypno m ic ro m ono m o rp h naut o id = = 'light' 'many' = 'king' = 'vision' = 'far' = 'road' = = anthropoid, philanthropist, etc. aquatic, aquaduct, etc. astroid, astro-physics, astronaut, etc. automatic, automobile, etc. monochromatic, polychromatic, etc. homicide, regicide, germicide, etc. duet, deduct, conduct, deduce, etc. cosmic, microcosm, etc. glottis, polyglot, monoglot, etc. pedagogue, demagogue, etc. telegraph, graphic, paragraph, etc. homophone, homograph, homosexual, etc. hydroelectric, dehydrate, hydrogen, etc. hypnosis, hypnotherapy, etc. microphone, microscopic, rnicrocosm, etc. manacie, monotonous, monocellular, etc. amorphous, morphology, anthropomorphic, etc. nautical, cosmonaut, astronaut, etc. anthropoid, spheroid, ovoid, humanoid, etc. pedagogue, paediatrics, pederast, etc. (NB p e d also = 'foot', as in pedal, pedestrian) perimeter, periscope, perigastric, etc. telephone, phonetics, microphone, etc. photograph, photosensitive, etc. polymorph, polyglot, polytheism, etc. regleide. regal, reign, etc. telescope, microscope, etc. telescope, telephone, telegram, etc. viaduct, viable, deviate, etc.baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 37 RhymesbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a n d R h y th m An aerobat is agile An aerobat is agile and can somersault and leap; An OCtopus is something you might see beneath the deep. a A thermostat Ametronome is useful to control the rate of heat; is what you need to help you keep the beat zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 1 A pefiscope is a) something that can take on many shapes 2 A ehromosome is b) pick up every single word you say 3 A homophone's c) a type of boat that skims across the sea 4 A telegram is d) useful if you want to see a wreck 5 A pOlymorph is e) for people who like dancing every day f) occasionally wom by certain men g) teach your little children, for a fee h) found in living cells, just like a gene i) what will bring you water from afar 10 A pedagogue will j) visit Venus, Jupiter or Mars 11 A eOSmonaut might k) never even dream of such a thing 12 An aStronaut could 1) something you can use to trap a liar 13 A germicide is m) someone who has killed a queen or king 14 A diseOtheque's n) known to certain people as a 'snap' o) written with a pencil or a pen p) useful if you're in a submarine 17 A polvgiot might q) something that you might send to your mother 18 A bathysphere r) go much farther, even to the stars s) shaped like us: the monkeys and the apes t) understand both Iapanese and Czech u) by contrast, is more useful for your car 22 A viacecr. v) someone who could help you take a nap 23 An aUtograph is w) things you shouldn't throw into a fire 24 A mOnocle's x) combine as H20 25 A pOlygraph is y) a word that sounds exactly like another 26 and aerosols are z) for talking to a person far away 27 A regicide is aa) what can help to keep disease at bay 6 The anthropoids are 7 A telephone's 8 A microphone can 9 A hYdrofoil's 15 A phOtograph 16 A hypnotist is is is 19 The dinosaurs 20 while hydrogen 21 An aquaduct 28 A mOnarchist and Oxygen is would bb) a11died out several million years ago And if this kind of lexicon is hard to comprehend, then you had better try to get a teacher as a friend. S t r e s s in n o u n p h r a s e s Twe-word noun phrases ten d to have late stress. We can say that, within the phrase, the first element has secondary stress, while the second has primary stress. Many two-word phrases consist of the same elements found in compounds: noun + noun; adjective + noun; gerund + noun. And sometimes, the actual words used are the same in both compound and phrase. So it is worth looking at the underlying differences in meaning. 38 Part II Stress in word s and phrasesonmlkjihgfedcb Look at the following pairs of sentences. In each pair, the first sentence contains a phrase, and the second a compound. See if you can work out the differences in meaning. Task 18 1 She was wearing a ,cotton 'dress. They work in a 'CObon ,factory. 2 You should be wearing .rubber 'gloves. I've just bought a rubs-. ,plant. 3 Would you like a ,meat 'piel He works as a 'meat ,packer. 4 I've invited two friends, an ,English She works as an 'Enguo. ,teacher. 'teach-. (and a French scientist). S We sawa beautiful,black 'bird. We sawa beautiful 'blacku-a. 6 Can you see that ,white 'house over there? The US President lives in the 'White ,House. 7 It's dangerous to jump on to a ,moving 'train. We have so much furniture we'll need a 'mOVing .van, 8 I put all my money on the ,winning 'horsei The horses are very close to the 'Winning ,post. So it seems that phrases ten d to mean either: 1 X is made of Y m e a t p ie , c o tto n d re ss, tu b b e r g lo v e s, etc.) or (agfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 2 X is Y (a n E n g lish te a c h e r, a w in n in g h o rse , a w h ite h o u se , etc.) And compounds, by contrast, tend to mean: 1 X is a special type of Y (a b la c k b ird , th e W h ite H o u se , etc.) 2 X is for Y (a c o tto n fa c to ry , d in in g ro o m , m o v in g -v a n , etc.) 3 anX ofY (a m e a t p a c k e r. a n E n g lish te a c h e r) Note these are tendencies that cover the great majority of cases. But be careful of the words c a k e , ju ic e and w a te r. They do not obey the X is made of Y rule. For example: 'sand-su, / an phrases: a ,cheese compounds: a 'cheeSe,cake 'pie / a ,barley 'loaf ,juice / some 'ban-y ,water ,apple / an 'Orange Also the sequences ,winter 'dress / ,summer 'suit / ,spring 'hat, etc., are phrases, although they could be explained as meaning 'a dress for the winter', 'a suit for the summer', etc. Note also that late stress is found in such phrases as: a ,cuR of 'tea / a .pint of and girls, etc. 'milk / a .pound of 'buu-. / .rock and 'roll / fish and 'chips / ,boys Note, finally, that sequences may consist of a combination of phrase and compound. Thus the phrase ,hot 'wae- can be the first part of the compound .hot 'Water ,bottle. By contrast, the compound 'elderflower can be the first part of the phrase ,elderflower cham'pagne.baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIH 39 Rhymes and Rhythm Task 19 Here is a poem containing a number ot noun compounds and phrases. • Read it first and see if you can identify which are the compounds and which are the phrases among the things which Alexandra buys. • Then listen to it and see if your ears eonfirm what your eyes see. Voeabulary notes Clothes terms The following three words are all from French:baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA b r a s s ie r e (worn to support the breasts); lin g e r ie (= 'women's underwear'); agfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA n e g L ig e e (a light garment, usually worn over a night-dress). H o se is a teehnieal term for socks, tights and stoekings. A c q u ire is d istra u g h t a formai word meaning 'to get, obtain, receive'; a ttire is a very formai word meaning 'clothes'; (rhymes with thought/taught/eaught) = 'worried, nervous'; e x p ire is a formai word meaning 'to die' (a visa ar licence can expire.); f ia s h v means 'too bright, in bad taste'; to h o a r d = 'to hide something away' (a h o a rd is what is hidden); h u e s = 'colours': something illic it is what you do not want = 'to disappoint them'; a sh o p p in g sp te e is when you spend a people to know about; to Z e t a person d o w n onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA lot o t money buying things; so m b re is the opposite of 'bright'; sp o u se is a formał word meaning 'husband or wife'; stifle d means 'eut off', as if a hand is put over your mouth. A eautionary tale One moming Alexandra Brown got on the bus and went to town. 4baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Convinced she looked atotal mess she thought she'd buy a cheapish dress. But she had recently acquired a credit card, and thus inspired set off upon a shopping spree from nine o'clock till half past three. She started in a modest way; a eotton skirt, in darkish grey. But what it needed, so she felt, would be a simple leather belt. But when the belt was fastened tight she thought it called for something bright; a brooch, a ring, some earrings to o, two silken blouses, pink and blue. And then, her shoes, asombre green were hardly worthy to be seen; she really needed one more pair (she scarcely had a thing to wear). But hesitating which to buy she finally decided, 'I will take the black, the blue, the brown, (they're always nice around the town) and then those white ones, and the peach (just right for summer on the beach). And since I'd like to take up sport, well then perhaps I think I ought to buy myself some termis shoes and I suppose I'd better choose some riding breeches and a skirt with just a simple linen shirt.' 40 P art II Stress in word s and phrasesXWVUTSRQ And sa she went from stare to stare, [ust thinking 'maybe one thing more'. From Selfridges to C&A (well, after alI, no need to pay) Armani, Harrods, BHS 'Well that's the lot', she thought, 'unless I bought myself an evening gown, I really can't let Crispin down. A handbag, too', then for a laugh she chose a rather flashy scarf. 'And that is that,' at last she thought naw feeling just a to uch distraught. 'I'd better get home for my tea. Iwonder what the bill will be.' The following month the bill appeared; it was far worse than she had feared. Ten thousand pounds and twenty p. 'Oh dear, 'she murrnured, 'Goodness me!' 'Naw what will Crispin think? Oh my! He'U want to know the reason why.' (She'd hidden all her things away, afraid of what her spouse would say.) Then suddenly she had a thought; surely the things that she had bought could all be taken back and then things would be norma l once again! She rushed up to the second floor and placed her hand upon the door of that large wardrobe where she'd stare d the whole of her lllicit hoard. She grabbed the handle, gave a twist with all the power of her wrist. The door flew wide, and suddenly out came a flood of lingerie, of coats and hats and tights and shoes, and brassieres of different hues, of summer blouses, winter hose, an avalanche of varied clothes, of cashmere sweaters, fine and rare, of overcoats and underwear. She tried to scream, she tried to shout, she tried to wave her arms about, but under piles of mixed attire she started slowly to expire. o t 'hey!' Her finallittle erygfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA was stifled by a negligee. Sa when you're going out to shop and want to ask for credit, stop! ]ust listen carefully to my tip and think before you sign the slip.baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 41 R h y m e s a n d R h y th m S t r e s s in a d j e c t iv a l c o r n p o u n d s a n d p h r a s e s zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedc Adjectives, like nouns, can be found both in early stressed compounds and in late stressed phrases. A d j e c t iv a l c o m p o u n d s XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA N o u n + a d je c tiv e They are sa 'house-,proud they spend all their time cleaning and polishing. He's braken his leg again. He's really 'aCCident-,prone. N o u n + g e ru n d That fruit is very 'thirst-,quenching. The Grand Canyon is really 'aWe-inspiring. N o u n (o r p a r tic ie ) + p a s t p a r tic ip ie After months at sea she was completely 'StlIl-tanned. Stand up for yourself, You've been 'dOWll-trodden all your life. I was absolutely tongue.e-a. Shy?onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA A d j e c t iv a l p h r a s e s A d je c tiv e + p a s t p a r tic ip ie They're sa ,absent 'mind-e they They are sa ,low-'paid even forget their children's names! they never go away on holiday. I like my eggs ,hard-'boiled, five minut es at least. A d je c tiv e + g e r u n d You can relax with them. They're really ,easy-'gOing. He's ,good-'lOOking with excellent dress-sense. A d je c tiv e + n o u n Her novels are really ,first-'class, but her plays are pretty ,second-'rate. The job is really ,high-'risk. A d je c tiv e + a d je c tiv e Careful! That iran is ,red-'hot! He was lying in the raad .dead 'drunk. 42 , zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Part II Adjective/past Stress in words and phrases participieonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA + particie I've had enough. I'm really led-'Up; completely .browned-Ojj l I'm not just .tired-Ot.l l.: I'm ,alI-'in. Adverb + adjective/past participie She's .fantastically 'clever and really ,welI-'known. His questions are always ,carefully 'chos-». Particie + past participie I like my meat .under 'done Three-word but that was realIy ,over-'Cooked. phrases Don't let this go any further. It's strictly ,off-the-'record. Their clothes are always ,up to 'date. The aeting is inconsistent; very ,hit and 'miss. Noun + adjective Their elothes were ,brand-'new. Eat up ar your food will be ,stone-'COld. AlI aur eggs are ,farm-'freSh. Noun + past participie All aur beer is ,home-breWed and our pullovers are ,hand-'knitted. The knives and forks are ,silver-'plated. She won 't change her mind. She's really ,iron-Willed. As you can see, the choice between compound and phrase is elear exeept where you have noun + adjective/past participle. In sueh eases, you just have to learn the stress pattern when learning the item, I'm afraid. Note that adverbia l phrases tend to have late stress, for example: He tripped and felI,head-over 'heeis. We talked ,round the 'clock. We rowed .down 'stream. Let's meet ,half-way. 43 C h a p te r 5 S t r e s s p a t t e r n s in w o r d s a n d p h r a s e s zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Here are various stress patterns. Listen to the recording, then listen and repeat. Note that most patterns can be represented either by a single word or by a longer sequence: a phrase (or even a sentence). 1 •.0 o. watched James want-a drop forgive a bird •• comein ten men .00 Saturday lots 6 0.0 develop belOW them 7 00. for an hour to the bank 8 .0 . introduce rock and roll 9 .0.0 Alexanae- look around 10 .00. Lewisham Road come 11 0.00 phol.Ographer a lot of them 12 .00.0 magninca tion Westminster 13 .0.00 incapacity in the library 14 .00.00 parapsyChOlogy into the libraryXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 2 3 4 s it of them you to the do ar Abbey Now look at the following words, names and phrases below, read them aloud and number them according to their stress pattern based on the examples above. Task 20 somebody police photographic Macbeth go to the bank stopped Kensington High Street follew Vaughan Hungary defend embargo leather Speaker's Corner biology tired out Charing Cross a big one best results matemity institution try a banana Elizabeth red hot toma to buya new one for a while as a rule Madonna biographical Leicester hungry conservative Buckingham Palace Royal Exchange Peter Davidson inner circle offer him money buy now dead drunk knives all of the elephants Michael half a pound Peru geriatrician after it sympathy through half a sandwich to the school buy us some food Iran a pound of it Madame Tussauds give me a drink a few outer space autobiography sending a telegram Manchester next year Trafalgar the last of them policeman disability come to the disco Nelson's Column 44 C h a p te r 6 S t r e s s s h if t zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA So far, we have assumed that each word could only be stressed in one way. But there are circumstances in which the rules of stress are braken and stress can shift from its norma l place. C o n t r a s t iv e s t r e s s s h if t First, any stress pattern can change if we want to show a particular contrast. Thus the wordbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIH p o lic e m a n is normally pranounced /ps'li.sman/, with main stress on the first element, as is usual in compounds. But see what happens in the following exchange. (= /pa'lirsman/j 1 So apoliceman came to see you, did he?onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA No, not apoliceman; it was apolicewoman. ( = /pa.li.s'ma n/) The contrast between m a n and contrastive stress shift. wom an overrides the normal rule. Here are some more examples ot 2 So you've bought a new telephone. (= /'tdldfdun/) o, not a telephone, a telescope. (= gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA I,teld 'fd u n /) 3 I gather that]ohn's a physics teacher. (= Id 'ftzrks ,ti:tfd /) o, he's a physics student, not a physics teacher. (= Id frzrks 'tirtja/) 4 You're a computer operator, lunderstand. o, not a computer operator, a computer programmer. S Would you like a cheese sandwich? I'd rather have atomato sandwich. 6 Would you like to sit outside? Is it possible to sit inside, instead? 7 Did you buy that cotton shirt you were looking at? No, I changed my mind and bought a silk shirt. 8 Do you fancy ńsh and chips? I'd rather have chicken and chips, I think. 9 As a writer, l'd rate him first-class. What do you think? Closer to third-class, in my opinion. Let's see what has happened to the stress patterns in the above examples. • Compounds can lose their front stress, which can give them the stress pattern associated with phrases. 'telephone 'physus • tele'phone ,teacher (2) .physics 'teacher (3) ar the opposite can happen, with phrases having the pattern associated with compounds. to,mato'Sandwich to'mato ,sandwich (5) ,chicken and 'chips 'chicken and ,chips (8) But be careful. Spoken language is more than just stress, as has already been said. So we have to do more than just shift the stress. Here are some of those sequences again. Listen once more, this time paying particular attention to the intonation in the second sentence of each example.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 45 RhymesbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a n d R h y th m 1 50 a po~eman came to see you, ~e? No, not a police~; it was a police~man. 2 50 you've bought a new,.lephone. No, not a telep~e, a teles~e. 3 I gather that Iohn's a P",YSiCS teacher. No, he's a physics s,dent, not a physics ~er. 4 You're a comiJVter operator, lunderstand. No, not a computer ~ator, a computer pWgrammer. The fint speaker in each case not only uses the regular stress pattern forbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA p o lic e m a n , gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA te le p h o n e , p h y sic s te a c h e r and c o m p u te r o p e ra to r; s/he also uses a fa11ing tone. This is the normai tone in such cases; new information is being introduced into the conversation. But when the sequences are repeated by the second speaker, we have to note not only the shift of stress, but also the use of a fall-rise tone. This is because the items are now part of old, shared information. When the second speaker supplies new information (p o iic e w o m a n , te le sc o p e , stu d e n t, p ro g ra m m e r) s/he uses, as we rnight expect, the falling tone again. 50, from now on, do not pay so much attention to stress that you neglect intonation. In particular, when you listen to (and irnitate) the poems in Part IV, make sure you concentrate not only on getting a feel for the rhythm of English; the musie of English is there, too. F o r w a r d s t r e s s s h if t The second circumstance in which the stress can change is in accordance with what is happening in the rest of the sentence. Listen to the following sequences. You need a first-class ticket to travel first-class. Princess Elizabeth's a royal princess. I live in Piccadilly, near Piccadilly Circus. My friend's Chinese, she's a Chinese cook. Her sixteenth birthday is on the sixteenth. You're always interfering, you interfering fool! I work outdoors, I've got an outdoor job. . He's really sharp-eyed; he's a sharp-eyed guy. She works part-time, she's got a part-time position. I've got a rent-free house, I live rent-free. He's a smalI-time gambler, really small time. It's nine o'clock, let's listen to the nine o'clock news. We must be democratic, take a democratic vote! I agree absolutely, I'm absolutely sure. The book's unabridged, it's the unabridged version. Have you worked out what happens? Most phrases, as we have seen, have late stress, as do a large number of words when in their dictionary form or at the end of a sequence. But the stress shifts forward when the phrase or word acts as a modifier within another phrase.' 1 46 This usually happens within noun phrases, but it can happen within other types of phrase. As you can seeonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVU from the example of a b s o lu te ly S U T e . Part II If the explanation sounds complicated, Stress in words and phrases just listen and compare the two types in the folIowing box. word or phrase longer phrase containing ,first -'class a ,first-class 'tick« . , a .pnn cess ,Princess E'lizabeth .Picca'dilly ,Piccadilly 'cir cus .Chi'nese a ,Chinese 'cook .six'teenth her ,sixteenth .mter'fering you ,interfering .out'doors an ,outdoor .shar'p-eyed a ,sharp-eyed ,part-'time a ,part-time .rent-free a ,rent-free 'house ,small 'time a ,smalI-time ,nine o'clock the ,nine o'clock 'news. .demo'cratic a .dernocratic .una'bridged the ,unabridged .abso'Iutely ,absolutely the origtnal birthca'fool 'job y 'gu po'Sjtion, 'gamu« 'vote 'version. 'sureonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA The modifier in the right-hand column is marked as having secondary stress. That is to show what it does within the phrase: the primary stress comes in the main word of the phrase. Task 21 Listen to and then repeat the tollowing tour-beat example ot a phrase in which stress shift has taken place. poem/chant. Note down every Vocabulary notes There are several words associated with show business in generalor rock/jazz musie in particular. AgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQ g ig is a eoncert ar other event when you get paid to play; a fa n is a person who likes your musie: a lic k is a musical phrase; you play the bass-drum by foot, using a p e d a l; to h it it b ig is to become popular and successful; the s ta n d (or bandstand) is a raised platform where the band plays; to g e t a h a n d is to be clapped ar applauded by the audience. A Iong-haired • drummer • in a rock 'n' roll band • • 1 I worked last night, played a one-night stand. I'm a long-haired drummer in a rock 'n' roll band. 2 It was a four-hour show, a first-rate gig. Some day soon we should be hitting it big. 3 The crowd all cheered, we got a well-earned hand; especially the drummer in the rock 'n' roll band. 4 A red-headed woman wearing high-heeled shoes helped a bald-headed fellow dance away his blues. S An unnamed fan clambered on the stand to try to re ach the drummer of the rock 'n' roll band. 6 We were stone-cold sober, didn't touch a drop, had no time for drinking, we were playing non-stop.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 47 R h y m e s a n d R h y t h m zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 7 It was positively great, it was absolutely grand to be drumming as a member of a rock 'n' roll band. 8 We played instrumental num bers, all the rock 'n' rolllicks I smashed my bass-drum pedal and adozen pairs of sticks. 9 They wouldn't let us go, we played longer than we planned. You'd think they'd never danced to a rock 'n' roll band.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 10 Five, four, three, two a one-night stand. I'm a long-haired drummer in a rock 'n' roll band. In this final section of Part II we have been looking at the ways in which the rules of stres s can change. But other things can change, too, especially in fast, informal speech. And that is what we will be looking at in Part III. 48 PART III F a s t , n a t u r a l s p e e c h onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA In Parts I and II we looked at the following areas: the importance of stress; vowel length; the way words link together; rules of stress, bot h in words and phrases; and the times when rules can be overridden. Ali of the above are important. however slow or fast the rate of speaking, however formai or informal the occasion. W hat we have been looking at, in fact, are the things that you should do when speaking English if you want to be easily understood. In Part III, we willlook at what happens when English is spoken at normal, fast speed. Not in very formai contexts, such as making speeches ar giving lectures, but in the normal, everyday situations of life. Of course, you do not have to try to speak this fast. You can carry on speaking relatively slowly and - provided that you stress words and phrases accurately - people will understand your pronunciation. But if you want to understand normal, fast English, then it is important for you to pay attention to what is covered here. And, of course, if you want to approach native-speaker speed, then you must practise what is covered here. In other words: Parts I and II contain what will help you to be understood by us more easily. And this part contains what you must learn: • if • if you want to begin to really you want to understand us; and sound like us. C h a p te r 7 I n t r o d u c t io n t o f a s t , zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPON natural sp eech ' In a moment we will begin to look in detail at the different things that happen when we speak English fast. There is one thing that they all have in common: they make it easier to speak fast. When we speak, we use a large number of different muscles, sometimes at the same time. And as we do with any type of repeated physical activity, we try to cut down on unnecessary movements; we take short cuts. The opening two tasks in this section are to see if you can hear some of the main differences between slowand fast speech. One of the things that happens. when we start to speak faster, is that certa in sounds disappear. Task 22 You will hear the same passage read twice. First slowly, then fast. Listen to both versions carefully, then decide which sounds are heard in the slow version but not in the fast version. The first girl and the first boy The second girl and the second boy The third girl and the third boy The next girl and the next boy The last girl and the last boy Task 23 The second thing that happens when we begin to speak fast is that certain soundsXWVUTSRQPON Listen again to the passage being read at both speeds and decide which sounds are different in the fast version. change. Tasks 22 and 23 showed the two main types of change that take place when we speak fast. And from now on, we will call these changes by their usual names. (Don't be worried about technical term s; there aren't many of thern, they save a lot of time, and you will get used to them very quickly.) ~1~~ Elision is when a sound simply disappearsonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA (= is elided). I ~ There is a small set of sounds - always the same - which tend to be elided when we speak Iast, but only in a specific set of circumstances. Type 2 Assimilation I Assimilation is what happens when a sound changes (= is assimilated) because of another sound. There are two main forms of assimilation: l a sound changes to become more like the next sound; this is called anticipatory • assimilation; two sounds join together to become a third sound; this is called coalescent assimilation sounds merge, ar coalesce, to become one). -- -- --- -- --- -- - -- --- -- -- (= the twoj --- In the rest of Part III we will be looking in detail at elision and assirnilation, but first, here is a version of the 'First girl, firstbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA b o y ' sequence, extended into achant. Listen to it several times, then chant along with it. You will find that you can only keep up (i.e., chant at the same speed) if you do what a native speaker does: hit the stress correctly, weaken vowels where necessary, link, elide and assimilate. In particular, look th a t, a , orand w a s , all containing schwa. out for the weak forms ofgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Dori't worry if you don't get the point of the elision and assimilation immediately; we willlook at both of them later in this section, 50 P a r t I I I zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQ Fast, natural speech Vocabulary notes Cooking or preparing food fry food (eggs, meat, bread, etc.) in a fry in g -p a n with fat ar oil. YougfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA You g rill food over ar under direct heat. A barbecue is a type of g rill. You slic e bread (cake, meat, etc.) with a knife. You can buy slic e d bread and can eat a slic e o t c a k e . You to a st slices of bread under a grill ar in an electric to a ste r until they are brown. (Toasted bread is called to a st.) Talking To b o a st is to talk with pride about what you do ar own, about your family, etc. To m u tte r is to talk quietly and indistinctly, sa that people find it hard to understand. To trill is to produce twa different sounds very fast, rather like a bird. The The The The The first girl said that she'd like a slice of bread. second girl muttered that she'd really like it buttered. third girl replied that she'd rather have it fried. next girl trilled that she much preferred it grilled. last girl was quiet ... but she was on a diet. The The The The The first boy said that he'd like a slice ot bread. second boy muttered that he'd really like it buttered, third boy replied that he'd rather have it fried. next boy trilled that he much preferred it grilled. last boy was quiet ... but he was on a diet.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 51 C h a p te r 8 E lis io n ItiXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA + IdlzyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA E lis io n o f In Task 22, we saw that in fast speech the soundsbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA I t i and I d l were elided in contexts such as:gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJ firs(t) g irl I firs(t) b o y I se c o n (d ) g irl I se c o n (d ) b o y . The context that is common to all to u r - and which makes elision likely - is that Iti and Id l were found: a) at the end of a word; and b) between two other consonants. Read the following sequences. take place when they are read fast. Task 24 See if you can identify where I t i and I d l elision can 1 The morning was perfect. 2 It was a perfect morning. 3 It was a pertectly marveJlous morning. 4 What does she want? S She wants ten pounds of butter. 6 I find it interesting, but he finds it boring. 7 We need to have the facts as soon as possible. 8 I don't usually watch television, but I watched four different programmes last night. 9 lane hates fast food, so she won't want any burgers. 10 We're having roast beef with baked potatoes and beans. S o m e e ffe c ts o f Iti a) You he ar the final Iti and Id l a n d I d l e lis io n in the root o t some words, but not when a suffix is added. For example: without elision with elision It was perfect That's exact She's full of tact What does she want? One pound of butter It was perfec(t)ly marvellous That's exac(t)ly right She's very tac(t)ful She wan(t)s some butter Ten poun(d)s of butter b) Elision can also affect the -e d for simple past and past participle. This means that, at speed, there may be no difference between present and past simple. (The context is what makes the difference elear, of course.) słow version fast version I watch television every day. I watched television last night. They crash the car regularly. They crashed the car yesterday. I wash my hands betore I have lunch. I washed my hands before I had lunch. They usually finish their work at six. They finished wark early yesterday. I watch television every day. I watch(ed) teJevision last night. They crash the car regularly. They crash(ed) the car yesterday. I wash my hands before I have lunch. I wash(ed) my hands before I had lunch. They usually finish their work at six, They finish(ed) work early yesterday. 52 Part III Past, natural speech - t may disappear at speed. For example: c) Even the negativegfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA słow version fast version I can't say I don't know Can't pay, won 't pay. They haven't finished work. I can('t) say I don('t) know Can('t) pay, won('t) pay. They haven('t) finish(ed) work. d) Because ofbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA I t i or I d l elision a number of different words, when spoken at speed, can sound exactly the same. For example: słow version fast version We need the facts today = We need the fac(t)s todayonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJ We need the fax today I jus(t) saw the prin(t)s = I just saw the prince Have you heard about the fin(d)s = Have you heard about the fines? Please buy some min(t)s = Please buy some mince Col(d) storage = Coal storage faset) food = farce food I just saw the prints Have you heard about the finds? Please buy some mints Cold storage fast food Note that I t i has a tendency to disappear even when it is not between two consonants. /les g 'J u /, sounding like le ss g o , for example. L e t 's go can be Task 25 Here are various compounds and phrases. In most ot them elision ot I t i or I d l is possible. See how quickly you can identify the ones where it is not possible. software compact disc hardware landmine postman loudspeaker soundcheck standby childbirth handcuffs smart card wildfire word processor old boy best man sandbag eastbound turned offbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA E lis io n o f id e n t ic a l o r s im ila r c o n s o n a n t s Identical consonants Concentrate on the final consonants in the foUowing words: lamp prime = = /lternp/ /prarm/ six = /sIks/ lettuce = /letas/ Now see what tends to happen when these words are followed by another word starting with the same consonant. 53 Rhymes and Rhythm very słow version normał version a lamp postonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA (sounds Iike) a lamb post = gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA t» 'la-mp .paost/ = /~ 'Iarn .paost/ six students = (sounds like) sick students /,sIks 'stju.dants/ = /,slk 'stju.dns/ Prime Minister = (sounds like) pry minister /,pralm 'mrntsta/ = /,praI 'mmrsta/ lettuce salad (sounds like) letter salad = /Ietas 'sa-lad/ = Oet~ 'sa-lad/ When twa identical consonants meet, as in the above examples, then you are unlikely to produce both of them. And this is not limited to fast speech; even BSCnewsreaders refer to t he Prime Minister as the P /y m in iste r, (Check what p ry means and you'll see why that amuses me.) Again, it is a question of saving yourself effort. Take la m p p o st; in order to prod uce Ip l you have to: close your lips; gather air behind the place of closure; open the glottis (or it Wl'n sound like Ib l); then release the lips. And to say /'l<emp.poust/ you have to do this twice in rapid sequence. Sa what happens in the case of plosives, such as Ip /, is that you do it just the once ine it as P r y m m m in is t e r . With continuants (as in P rim e M in iste r), the sound is lengthened slightly. ImagbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED S im ila r c o n s o n a n t s The above examples concerned the coming together of identicał consonants. Elision also happens with what we can think of as similar consonants. This is not a technical term, but I u se it to refer to sounds which are produced at or about the same point in the mouth: such as those fou nd at the start of the following words: d o g = Id o g l; ta b le = Itelbl/; ch icken = Itflkm /; and ja r = /d 3 a :/. AUof them are produced with the tongue making contact at more or less the same point: at ar just behind the teeth-ridge. So it saves time, when these sounds meet, if the release o t air is only made after the second has been produced. Thus [ r ie d c h ic k e n , instead of being pronounced /frcrd 'tjrkm/, tends to sound like (ty c h ic k e n , since the Id l becomes part of the Itfl of ch icken . Listen to the following, involving both identical and similar consonants. very słow version fast version very słow version fast v ersion a dark cud a darek) cud hard judges har(d ) judges a dark gir! a darek) gir! soap powder soa(p ) powder a good dog a goo(d) dog soap bowl soa(p ) bowl a good time a goo(d) time this singer thi(s ) singer a big gir! a bieg) gir! these singers the(s e) singers a big cake a bieg) cake ---- Note: This type of elision can affect grammatical sequences, too. For example, the sequence u se d to (W h e n I w a s y o u n g I u se d to liv e in B rig h to n ) is only pronounced /ju.st when one is speaking very, very slowly. ormaUy, it is pronounced /jursta I as if it were u se to . tu :1 I And the reduced form of h a d in a sentence such as, I'd [ u s t g o t in w h e n th e p h o n e ra n g , normally becomes o t in w h e n th e p h o n e ra n g . Lso much part of the following ju st, that the sequence sounds exactly likebaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJI I ju s t g XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCB 54 P a r t I I I zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQ Fast, natural speech E lis io n o f in itia l c o n s o n a n ts in p r o n o u n s In Part I, we talked about strang and weak forms of pranouns. Listen again to part of an earlier poem, paying particular attention to the pranunciation of the pranoungfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA h e . onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQP 1 The first boy said that he'd like a slice of bread. 2 The second boy muttered that he'd really like it buttered. 3 The third boy replied that he'd rather have it fried. 4 The next boy trilled that he much preferred it grilled. S The last boy was quiet ... but he was on a diet. What happens is that in lines 1-4 the pranoun h e is unimportant and unstressed. 50, when spoken at this I h l sound and becomes a simple I i/ , linked to the preceding t h a t . speed, it loses the initialbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Now listen to line S. In this case, the pranoun boy, contrasts with the other four. (50, the pranoun l e e I ii he he has its full, strang form I h i: / . This is because he, the last is found in this poem in two distinct forms: the very weak, unstressed form; and I h i: 1 the strong, stressed form. Other pranouns in their weakest forms may a1solose their initial consonants. You can practise three of them, h e r , h im and th e m , in the following chant, 'Have you seen Peter?'. ote that the chant also gives practice in contrasting the use of the past simple and present perfect tenses. Compare: past simple present perfect I saw him half an hour ago. I've just seen her talking. I saw them Tuesday morning. I've seen him fairly frequently. I saw her several hours ago. I haven't seen her since Christmas. I glimpsed him in the canteen. I've seen her several times today. Remember that the past simple is associated with specific moments in the past: h a lfa n h O U T a g o / T u e s d a y The present perfect, by contrast, refers to an unspecified time or a time extending up to the present: [ a ir ly [ r e q u e n t ly I s in c e C h r is t m a s / s e v e r a l tim e s to d a y , and may be found in the context I 'v e ju s t ... m o r n in g / (w h e n I w a s ) in th e c a n te e n . Have you seen Peter? (1) 1 Have you seen Peter? Have you seen Pete? I saw (h)im half an hour ago, running down the street. 2 Have you seen Patricia, have you seen Pat? I've just seen (h)er talking to W(h)erlittle ginger cat. 3 Have you seen my neighbours, Anthony and Mark? I saw (th)em Tuesday morning, strolling in the park. 4 Have you seen Samantha, have you seen Sam? I saw (h)er several hours ago, eating bread and jam. S Have you seen Vincent, have you seen Vince? I talked to W(h)imon Tuesday, but I haven't seen him since. 6 Have you seen William, have you seen Bill? I may have seen (h)im yesterday, walking up the hill. 55 Rhymes and Rhythm 7 Have you seen Benjamin, have you seen Ben? I've seen (h)im somewhere recently, I can't remember when. 8 Have you seen Violet, have you seen Vi? I spoke to (h)er this morning, but I can't remember why. 9 Have you seen Matthew, have you seen Mat? I saw (h)im talking to the Queen, so what do you think of that! 10 Have you seen Susan, have you seen Sue? I haven'(t) seen (h)er since Christmas and I don 't know what to do! Task 26XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA In the second version ot the chant, the second line ends with a missing one-syllable adjective. See if you can guess the word. If you cannot guess, choose it from the list following the poem. As you can see from the example, more than one may be possible. (Be careful, we have put in some words that cannot fit.) Have yOll seen Peter? (2) 1 Have you seen Peter, have you seen Pete? I spotted (h)im an hour ago, looking very (neat / sweet) 2 Have you seen my parents, my mum and my dad? I've seen (th)em several times today, Iooking really ( 3 Have you seen elly, have you seen ell? I saw (h)er in the classroom, looking very ( ) ) 4 Have you seen my parents, my dad and my mum? I've seen (th)em once or twice today, looking pretty ( ) S Have you seen Patrick, have you seen Pat? I glimpsed (h)im in the canteen, Iooking very ( 6 Have you seen icholas, have you seen ick? I saw (h)im in the cinema, Iooking slightly ( 7 Have you seen my cousins, Anthony and Bart? I noticed (th)em a while ago, looking rather ( ) ) ) 8 Have you seen Diana, have you seen Di? I've seen (h)er once or twice today, looking rather ( 9 Have you seen Jimmy, have you seen Jim? I saw (h)im twenty minutes back, Iooking very ( 10 Have you seen Lynda, have you seen Lyn? I've seen (h)er several times today, Iooking very ( 11 Have you seen Katie, have you seen Kate? I've seen (h)er twice this afternoon, looking really ( 12 Have you seen what's-his-name, the man from number nine? I saw (h)im down the pub last night, looking really ( ) ) ) ) ) 13 Have you seen what's-her-name, the girl from number two? I think I've seen (h)er recentIy, Iooking very ( ) bIue / numb / Iate / grim / bad / thin / sick / helI / thick / gIum / gIad / high / swell / mad / fiat / new / shy / fat / sad / great / fme / tart / quick / nine / smart / slim / min e / well / sIybaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHG 56 C h a p te r 9 A s s im ila tio n A s s im ila tio n InlzyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA of We have already eome aeross this form of assimilation, where the nasal eonsonantbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDC I n l ean ehange to beeome more like the following sound. In Part I we said: 'IngfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a n d P a tr ic ia , for example, the I d l goes and then the and we end up with l" d m pa'tnja/. In the same way, a n d eonsonant sound at the end of s o n g , th in g , w ro n g , etc.)' We saw the same thing happening with • Im l and being elided and the beeame /sekarj 93:1/,the the following 1 9 /. Id l again going, but this time the b )l/, Ip l In l ehanging to Im l beeause of the Ib /. s e c o n (d ) g ir ! T ask 27 beeause of the following th e s e c o (n )d g u l. Id l following • becomes K a te onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDC = l" d f J 'keit/. (The symbol I f J I represents the the s e c o n (d ) b o y beeame /sekam th e s e c o n (d ) b o y In l Read the following In l ehanging to IfJ I beeause of poem aloud and see if you can work out: • when the letter n in the word te n will still be pronouneed lu ] , even when read quite fast, and • when the In l will ehange to something else. • Then listen to the reeording and see if you were right. Ten boys and ten girls 1 Ten boys and ten girls; S ten rubies, ten pearls. 1 /2 baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 2 Ten dogs and ten eats; 6 ten eoats and ten hats. Ten peaehes, ten grapes; ten monkeys, ten apes. Ten brooehes, ten rings; ten people, ten things. 3 Ten whales and ten sharks; ten gardens, ten parks. 7 Ten saueers, ten eups; ten downs and ten ups. 4 Ten shouts and ten sighs: ten truths and ten lies. 8 Ten dolls and ten toys; ten girls and ten boys. As usual, it is a question o t making things easy for the speaker. If you are going to ciose your lips for I b l ar I p / , then it is easier to close them for the preeeding nasa!. Similarly, if you are going to produee a nasal before raising the baek of the tongue to the soft palate, it might as well be the nasal that belongs there anyway. A s s im ila tio n In addition to Id / In /, of Idl and the other twa alveolar eonsonants Iti Id l and Iti ean also assimilate. ean beeome: • Io ! (before Ib l or Ip /), or • 191 (before 191 ar Ik /), sa sequenee slow version fast version third third third third /83:d /83:d /83:d /83:d /83:b /83:b /83:9 /83:9 boy person gir! eat bJI/ psisan/ 93:1/ ka-t/ bJI/ psisan/ 93:1/ kzet/ 57 Rhymes and RhythmbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Iti can become: • Ip l (before Ib l or Ik /), • Ik l (before Ig l or Ik /). or But, rather more commonly, I t i can become a glottal stop before another consonant, even another For example:XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA fast version I t i. or s e q " U .c : n ..c e slo",,"version that boy IO ( e t b)11 IO ( e p b:)l1 IO ( e ? that person IO ( e t IO ( e p psisan/ I that girl IO ( e t psisan/ g3:1/ IO ( e k g3:1/ IO ( e ? g3:1/ that cat IO ( e t kart/ IO ( e k kart/ IO ( e ? ket/ that time IO(et ta lm i IO ( e ? talmibaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFE b)11 O(e? psisan/ E lis io n g iv in g r is e to a s s ir n ila tio n In sequences such as t e n b o y s already next to each other. and assimilation takes place because the sounds involved are t e n g ir ls , By contrast, in others such as t h e s e c o n d b o y and t h e s e c o n d intervening sound - the I d l in this case - has been elided. g ir l, assimilation only takes place because the There are hundreds of set expressions involving this combination U s in g Id l or Iti + assimilation. elisiononmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPO 'and' 'berkan/ eggs an(d) bacon I,e g z d m boy s an(d) girls l,b)IZdI] 'g 3 :1 z 1 tea an( d) coffee l,ti:jd I] en(d)s an(d) means l,e n Z d m N e g a t iv e 'kofi/ 'mimz/ Iti I won ('t) be coming I al She can('t) go IJ l'k a :I] Can('t) pay, won ('t) pay I,k a :m p e l I don('t) care lal,ddul] C om pounds Here is a small selection b e e f I t in n ( e d ) .woom bi 'kxrnnj I 'g d u l 'wournper/ 'kea/ an d p h rases re n e t) b o o k I g ra n (d )m o th e r c o m (e d ) of ot dozens of compounds and phrases where assimilation occurs: I h a n (d )c u ffs b e a n s I s a l( t ) I h a n (d )b a g beef I I w in ( d ) m ill I s a n (d )b a g I s a l( t ) m in e la n ( d ) I s ta n (d ) I etc. And you do not have to speak at all fast for su ch assimilation to take place. The word n a n d c u f f s if it were h a n g c u f f s more often than not; and your g r a n d m o t h e r is usually your g r a m m o t h e r . 58 m in e back I sounds as Part III T h e im p o r t a n c e o f c o llo c a t io n Fast, natural speechbaZYXWVUT a n d fr e q u e n c y o fu se In fact, speed of delivery - the rate at which you speak - is only one factor in deciding whether elision andlor assimilation is likely to take place; there are two further factors which come into play. The first is collocation. By this, we mea n the frequency with which words (or other element s) are found together. Thus, the itemsgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA in sta n t onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA + c o ffe e are more likely to be found together (i.e., to collocate) than fra g ra n t + c o ffe e or in sta n t + re sp o n se for instance. Hence the ItI in in sta n t baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA c o fte e is more likely to be elided than that in the two other phrases. The second is frequency of use. When instant coffee was ararity, people presumably used the phrase in sta n t c o ffe e quite carefully, unsure that other people would be familiar with the expression. But as it became more familiar, so the name became used more frequently and would be spoken with greater ease and rapidity. Take the word h a n d k e rc h ie f. It used to be composed of two separate words: h a n d + k e rc h ie f. But they became so closely associated in the compound h a n d k e rc h ie fth a t the Id l disappeared permanently; it is incorrect to pronounce the Id l nowadays. In h a n d b a g the Id /, by contrast, has not permanently disappeared. But you would have to be speaking very slowly and emphatically to pronounce it. When you come to a much less common compound to pronounee the full word, Id l included. h a n d m a id , for example - you are much more likely So we can establish the useful principle that the more frequently two element s eome together, the greater their likelihood of eolloeation and the I!lOre probable it is that a ehange will oeeur. Task 28 This task is to see ił you can identify elision and assimilation. There is quite a lot of both in the folIowing poem: 'Bom and bred in London'. For example, the ItI or Id l of final -e d disappears in a number of eases: listen out for: I've jogg(ed) down ... stroll(ed) through ... saunter(ed) down ... walk(ed) the ... lurch(ed) down. Elision a n d lo r assimilation ean also oceur where two words meet in place names. W o o d G re e n can beeome /,wug 'gri:n/, for example, and G re e n P a rk /,gri:m 'po:k/. In this poem, there is one (and only one) example in eaeh verse of a place name being affeeted by elision and/or assimilation. So: • Read the poem to yourself and try to prediet which place name in eaeh verse is ehanged because of assimilation. • Listen to it several times to see if you ean hear it happening. (Don't worry too much about the meaning of the different verbs; we'U deal with this in the next task.) Bom and bred in London I was bom and bred in London; I know it like the back of my hand; from Camden Lock to the Shell-Mex cloek, from Old Street to the Strand. I've jogged down Piecadilly and strolled through Leicester Square, been to Holland Park for a ramble in the dark, and to Hampstead for the fair. I know every street in London; I could do it with my eyes tight shut; from Madame Tussauds to the House of Lords from Hyde Park to The Cut. 59 ,. Rhymes and Rhythm I've sauntered down to Kentish Town and run to Tottenham Hale, walked the Old Kent Road while it hailed and snowed and lurched down Maida Vale. I know my way round London, no-one knows it better been to Hammersmith Covent Garden for the and The Ritz for china than me; Palais, ballet tea. lvisit the Bond Street Galleries, I'm seen at the best affairs; go to Waterloo for a private view, drink Pimrn's on the Crush Bar stairs. I've been everywhere in London, by taxi, bus and tra in; I've crawled, I've biked, I've hopped, I've hiked, frorn Saint Paul's to Drury Lane. And though I've seen the lot now, from London Bridge to Kew, I would do it al! again, From Blackheath to oId Big Ben, just to show it all to you. Note that names withgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA S tre e t are compounds: OLD Street, OXford Street, BOND Street, etc. AlI other two-part place names are phrases: ,Oxford 'Circus, Task 29 meanings, ,Hyde 'Park, ,London Bndge. Paul's. etc.onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGF The poem is fuli of verbs of movement. If necessary, use your dictionary to check the then put ticks in the appropriate columns to complete the following table. on hands and knees faster than walking jog stroll ramble saunter run lurch crawl hop hike XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 60 ,Saint on one foot no sense of hurry usually in the country out of controi Part III Fast, natural speechonmlkjihgfedcb Task 30 Vour task this time is a dictation. Ali the names of things to eat or drink have been cut out. Listen to the rap as often as you want to, and fili in all the gaps bit by bit. This is quite fast (but no faster than regular informal speech), so watch out for elision and assimilation, -e d may disappear between two consonants. especially where angfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA A diner is a type of restaurant best-known in the USA.(Youmay have seen them in films from the 1950s and 1960s.) They usually have a long counter with a row of single stools. and a few booths for four people frorn where you can choose musie trom the jukebox. I wrote this rap after eating in a genuine restored original diner here in London. Down the diner 3 I was sitting down the diner, toying with my food, looking at the papers! in a lazy kind of mood when alittle skinny fellew I'd never seen before came and sat down beside me, and this is what I saw: my favourite waitress, Sally, came over to the guy to ask him for his order, and this was his reply: 'I'd like a (1) and a (2) with a (3) then a (5) and a (8) then a (11) r make sure it's really hot, should really hit the spot, and atouch of (4) with some (6) . and (7) or two of (9) , with same (12) Can I have the (13) and a good thick (15) , with some (10) of course. in a (14) well-done: . ? and how about same (16)baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA I like them lightly fried, with alittle piccalilli and some (17) on the side r and I'd like to try a couple of your (18) with a pile of (19) and a plate of (20) then a (21) with alittle (22) No, maybe there's some (30) OK 1'11 take the (31) . - cut it really thick, now that should do the trick. r For dessert, I think 1'U start with a good old (23) with several (24) of (25) then a (26) on top and an (29) pies . , pile 'em really high; of little (27) with some (28) ; perhaps I'd better stop. . that you can recommend? and that'll be the end.' So Sally took the order though she thought it was a joke, then the fellow called her back and said,XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 61 R hym es a n d R h y th m T a s k 3 1 XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA W o r k o u t w h ic h o t th e to llo w in g w ill in v o lv e and/er a s s im ila tio n zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZY e lis io n onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIH Below is another poem full of examples of assimilation and elision, 'Cash flow problems' below. Don't listen to it yet. [ust see if you can guess which of the following words and phrases will involve elision and/er assimilatlon. best friend landlord another one beef hash T ask 32 Now twenty pounds one editor brand-new second-hand another friend sand wiches next door a third one lis te n to th e poem and see it y o u c a n n o te down e v e ry e x a m p le o t e lis io n and a s s im ila tio n . Vocabulary notes a fortnightgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA b a c k = 'a fortnight ago/two weeks ago'; c o r n e d b e e fis a type of tinned beef; d o s h is a slang word for 'cash', 'money'; a h a s h is usually made with meat and potatoes all mixed together and cooked; m a c k is short for m a c k in to s h = 'raincoat' (note: a 'Mac' is an Apple Macintosh computer); to s n e a k a w a y is to leave quietly so that nobody can see you leaving; to s h means 'nonsense', 'rubbish', 'of no value'. Cash flow problems My best friend bought me a brand-new handbag; another friend bought me a second-hand mack; My next-door neighbour said he' d len d me twenty pounds till Monday, The problem is I don 't know how I'm going to pay them back! My land lord brought me some roast beef sandwiches; my landlady mad e me some corned beef hash; my grandmother sent me a case of canned potatoes. The problem is I dori't know where I'm going to get the cash! One editor said that she rather liked a poem; another one said that they were a load of tosh; a third one said that they might use one at Christmas. The problem is it's right now I really need the dosh! A fortnight back I told them all I'd com e up with the money. Last week I promised that I'd reaIly, truly pay. If I haven't got it next week there's only one thing for it. I'd better get mybags all packed and quietly sneak away. 62 P a r t I I I zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSR Fast, natural speech C o a l e s c e n t a s s i m i l a t i o n baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA I d l XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA o r I t i + I jl The last poem 'Cash flow problems' contained the linegfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA th e y m ig h t u s e o n e a t C h r is tm a s . Spoken slowly and carefully this would be: lo e l mart jurz WAn at krismas/ But m ig h t ends with a I t i and I d l or I t i. The formula is: use begins with a And the sound I j/ . tends to combine with a preceding I jl • I t i onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA + I jl may coalesce to become N I (= the first sound in c h ild , C h a r le s , • I d l + / jl may coalesce to become So the sequence m ig h t u s e , / d 3 1 (= the first sound in at normai fast speed will sound like etc.); etc.). ja m , la n e , m y choose. This type of assimilation is particularly important because it involves some combinations of words which are so common that coalescence happens extremely frequently in ordinary speech. I t i + I jl An extremely com mon context for Iti to meet I jl is when the short version of n o t is folIowed by you or suffix, is foHowed by you your. sequence slow version fast version can't you? Ik a :n tfd l Can't you come? /ko.nt jur/ /woont ju : 1 /daont ju : 1 /kornt ju: kxm/ didn't you? /drdnt jur/ Didn't your (mother do it?) /drdnt jJ:I /wodnt ju : 1 /wodnt jJ:I won't you? don't you? wouldn't you? Wouldn't your (friends help?) Another context is when a stressed verb ending in Iti /waontja/ Id d u n tfd l /kumtja kam/ /drdntja/ /drdntjo/ /wodntja/ lw u d n tfd l is folIowed by you or y o u r . la l 'betje kum 'du: W ltl I bet you can't do it. I'H meet your friend tomorrow. /atlfnirtjo 'fren ta'mnrao/ I can't let you do it.' la l 'kum letja 'du: "it/ 1'11treat your friends (to the cinema). I ad ladrnit you were right. 'trut] d 'frenz/ la l ad'mrt]a we 'rart/ Similar coalescence can take place when the sound example: I t i, functioning as the -e d or y O U T .Far I picked your book up. la l 'prktja 'bu k A p l We stopped you from doing it. lw i 'stoptjo fram 'ddUIIJ Note that this form of assimilation can take place even with stressed can sound like D o n ('t) C H E W w a n t it? 1 Note that le t y o u and le t y o u r sounds the same as le c h e r when spoken fast; and you Iti ar y O U T .S a , D o n 't p ic k e d y o u / p ic k e d y o u r Y O U w a n t it? sounds like p ic tu re . 63 RhymesbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a n d R h y t h m baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA I d l + I jl Auxiliary or modal verbs + gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA you • Probably the most frequent cause of I d l + I jl assimilation is when certain auxiliary or moda l verbs meet These are not only those verbs - d id , c o u ld and w o u ld - that always end in I d / , but also the weakest form of d o , where the vowel disappears completely. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA At this point, we need to mention again that there are not always just two possibilities - a slow version and a fast one. Listen to three versions of the following four sequences. you. a) Do you like jazz? slow ju: 'laik = Id u : 'd 3 ~ z l = I d u ju 'lark 'd 3 ~ z l fast very fast = I d 3 d 'laik 'd 3 ~ z l b) Did you like the musie? slow = fast very fast = = /drd ju: 'laik Od 'mju.zik/ Idld3d 'laik Od 'mju.zik/ I d 3 d 'laik Od 'm ju : z ik l c) Would you like to go again? /wod ju: 'laik ta 'qoo a'qen/ 'lark to 'qao a'qen/ I d 3 d 'lark ta 'gdU a'qen/ slow = fast = lw u d 3 d very fast = d) Did you have a good time? = /drd ju: 'hzev d 'gud 't a lm i = /drd 'jeev d 'g ud 't a lm i very fast = l, d 3 d ~ V 'gud 't a lm i slow fast Note: In very fast casual speech there need be no difference at all between d o y o u , d id y o u and w o u ld y o u ; they can all be pronounced Id 3 " d 1 . How we can tell the difference? The context always makes it elear. Listen to the following questions and answers, which also show the difference between the weakest and strongest forms of the auxiliaries. Do you like jazz? Yes, I do. I d3d I je 'lark 'd 3 ~ z l sal 'du./ Did you like the musie last night? Yes, I did. I d3d 'lark Od 'm ju:zik '10:5 'nurt/ I je Would you like to go again? Yes, I would. Id 3 d 'laik td 'qau a'qen/ I je sal 'drd/ sal 'wud/ Verbs end ing XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA in Id l folIowed by y o u ly o u r I've made your bed. Have you paid your bill? I said you should come. Note that, as with 64 I t i, 'metdga 'bed/ /hav ja 'perdga 'bil/ la l 'sed3d fug 'kam/ la I V the assimilation can tak e place even with the stressed forms of y o u and y o u r. P a r t I I I zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSR Fast, natural speech -ed 'menjandge 'nelm/ I wanted you to come. /al 'wxntrdgo ta 'kam/ They said you shouldn('t) do it.gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA /oel 'sedgu 'fudnonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDC 'du: Wlt/ I mentioned your name. ls s Naw practice this form o t assimilation by listening to and repeating the 'Chinatown' rap on pages 66-67. The lefthand column shows how it is pronounced, with the letterbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a representing schwa. normal form written here phonetic notation want to wanna going to gointa /'WAIla/ /'gauinta/ doyou dja what do you whatcha don't you dontcha let you letcha couldn't you couldntcha have to hafta- did you didja how did you howdja where do you wheredja lots of lotsa the name of the namea a bit o t a bit a /d3a/ /,wntfa/ /'dauntfa/ /'letfa/ /,kudntfa/ /'hcdta/ /'dld3a/ /'haud3a/ /'wead3a/ /'lntsa/ /oa 'nelma/ /a 'brta/ sure to sure ta /'f-:J:ta/ Other features o t fast speech are also reflected in the changes o t spelling. Look out for the following. elision or lengthening of identical/similar normal form sounds I'm not too sure written here I'm no' too sure 1'11leave it to you I' leave it to you I'lllet you know I' letcha know It's sure to please It' sure ta please elision of Iti normal form Let's just meet written here didn't say didn' say I don't know I don' know it wasn't written it wasn' written Le's just meet Don't get sa carried away by the rhythm that you read the rap like a machine. Remember that language has musie, too. 2 This spelling of h a v e to shows how, at speed, the following I t i sound. tv ! of h a v e can become [ i] , losing its voicing to be more like the 65 RhymesbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a n d R h y th m Listen, listen, listen, many, many times, thinking how the voice goes up and down. DAH du DAH it before you say the words. And when you finally rap it along with the recar din g, follow the voices up and down. Don't forget that the pitch changes (how we go from high to law, from law to high) are smooooooooth on the stressed syllables. Take the title word,gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA C h in a to w n . We don't say it in three equal stages, as if it were: Chi na town Instead, there is a nice smooth, steady fall on C h i, with the next twa syllables safe at the bottom of the voice, not moving. Sa think of it as:onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Ch i. l. l na town Finally, remember that this is a conversation. It may sound fast, but it is no faster than regular, informal speech. But don 't think you have to repeat it all at once. You can practice a sequence in short bits, starting from the end to keep the intonation going. Try it with the following sentences. 1 a show? see a show? ta see a show? ta town ta see a show? go ta town ta see a show? wanna go ta town ta see a show? Doncha wanna go ta town ta see a show? 2 Chinatown? in Chinatawn? first in Chinatown? fancy eating first in Chinatown? Dja fancy eating first in Chinatown? Chinatown 2/3 How it sounds How it is written A: Where dja wanna go? Whatcha wanna do? Where do you want to go? What do you want to do? B: I'm no' too sure, I' leave it ta you. I'm not too sure, I'llleave it to you. A: Doncha wanna go ta town Don't you want to go to town to see a show? ta see a show? B: I don' know naw, but l' letcha know. I don't know naw, but I'lllet you know. A: Couldntcha tell me right away? Couldn't you tell me right away? B: I'm not sure yet. Do I hafta say? I'm not sure yet. Do I have to say? A: Where dja wanna meet? Wontcha tell me where? Where do you want to meet? Won't you tell me where? B: Le's jus' meet in Leicester Square. Let's [ust meet in Leicester Square. 66 PartXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGF I I I Fast, natural speech A: Didja tell the others where we're gointa meet? Did you tell the others where we're going to meet? B: I said in the centre, didn' say which street. I said in the centre, didn't say which street. A: Dja wanna have a meał ar dja like ta sit down? Do you want to have a meal or would you like to sit down? B: Dja fancy eating first in Chinatown? Do you fancy eating first in Chinatown? A: Whatcha recommend? Wheredja like ta dine? What do you recommend? Where would you like to dine? B: Here's very good, their fish is fine. Here's very good, their fish is fine. A: How's the fish cooked, with łotsa spice? How's the fish cooked, with łots of spice? B: just a bit a ginger, it's really nice. just a bit of ginger, A: Whatcha like ta drink when you eat Chinese? What do you like to drink when you eat Chinese? B: just a pot a tea, it' sure ta płease. Iust a pot of tea, it's sure to płease. A: Howdja like the meał, Didja like the fish? How did you like the meał? did you like the fish? B: It was really great, what's the namea the dish? It was really great, what's the name of the dish? A: I don' know the name; it wasn' written down. I don't know the name; it wasn't written down. B: That's often the way ... in Chinatown. That's often the way ... in Chinatown .baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA [s ] it's really nice. or /z/onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA + /j/ The fricativesgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Isl and Izl can ałso coałesce with Ij/. • ls! + Ijl ~ Ifl (as in s h o p , s h e , s h ip , d is h , etc.). • Izl + Ijl ~ 1 3 1 (as in p le a s u r e , te le v is io n , c a m o u fla g e , sequence słow version Is this yours? /IZ OlS Yes,you can. /jes ju: 'keen/ He's your brother. /hi:z jo: 'brAOa/ lo : óirz 'j):z/ Are these yours? 'j):z/ etc.) fast version lt z Ol 'f):z/ /jeJa 'keen/ /hi:3a 'brxóa/ lt x : oi: '3):Z/ 67 Rhymes and Rhythm Task 33 Listen to the chant on this page while reading the text. Pay special attention /j/ sound inbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA y o u , y o u r and y o u r s e lf w h e n the teacher replies. happens to theonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Here are the words that come beforegfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA y o u , y o u r and y o u r s e l]. Each end s in either appropriate column. Ifl Ifl ar 1 3 /. to what Tick the Ifl course please discuss express miss revise use pass practise amaze Can I ask you something? Student ~ 1 Can I ask you something? Of course you can. 2 It's all sa hardo Let's discuss yOUIproblems. 3 I'm faUing behind. Don't miss your lessans. 4 I don't understand. Well, llse your head. S My accent's bad. WeU, practise your pron. 6 Should I listen to same tapes? Please yourself. 7 I don't know what to write. Just express yourself. 8 I make lots of mistakes. Revise your grammar. 9 How d'you think I'U do? You're sure to pass your exam. lODa a Teacher you reaUy think I will? You'll amaze yOUIfriends.baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED R a p p in g t h e r u le s These fi.rst three Parts have covered the main features o t spoken English, in terms of rhythm and stress. These are summarized in a set of five rules, which I've written as a rap. 1 You have to stress the correct syllables. And the weak syllables must never be too long. The schwa, in particular, is very short. Remember that placing main stress in the wrong place can cause people not to understand you. 2 To keep the rhythm flowing along you have to link individual words. Remember: one napple, two wapples, three yapples, four rappies 3 And it's much easier if you elide the sounds that native speakers do, especially the between consonants. Id l and Iti 4 Natural speech also means that we can make it easier to pass from one sound to the next by changing the first to be more like the second (i.e., anticipatory assimilation). S Finally, twa sounds may join together to become one, especially when (i.e., coalescent assimilation). 68 I d / , I t i, ts ! and Ifl meets I jl Part III Fast, natural speechonmlkjihgfedcb If you want to make your English come alive, just listen to my rules from one to five. 1 If you don't want your English to sound a rness, 2/3zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA you've got to hit the beat, you've got to hit the stress. But you're going to sound funny, it's going to go wrong if you make your weak sounds much too strong. 2 And words go together like links in achain; they follow each other like wagans on a train. 3 ow listen really close and you will hear that certain kindsgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA o t sound can disappear. 4 And remem ber if you want to increase your range that a sound can make another sound change. S You're getting better now, but to be the best, just remember twa sounds can coalesce. You've got five senses, you've got five rules, sa use them all and you won 't be fools. Sa, to make your English buzz like a hive, just think of one, rwo, three, four, FIVE! Task 34 Listen to the rap again very carefully in order to see how the rules apply when you speak at this speed. This last task is like a final examination to see how good your ear has become. (And remember this: the rap might sound fast, but it's no faster than regular, informal spoken English.) 50 go through the text and note: a) every example ot linking in Verse 2; b) every example ot elision in the introduction and Verse 5; c) every example o t anticipatory assimilation in Verses3, 4 and 5; d) every example o t coalescent assimilation in the who le rap. In these first three parts you have learned a lot about what hap pens in spoken English. The rest of the book is to help you put your new skills into practice. 69 > P A R T baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA IV P la y in g w ith p o e m s onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Part IV presents a number of poem s that have been chosen for two reasons: • to give you practice in the rhythm of spoken English; • to improve and increase your vocabulary. The tasks in this unit are of various types. Most involve filiing gaps with appropriate words, in others you will have to match parts of sentences, do some rewriting, and so on. Ali the limericks have been recorded, so you can listen to the recordings to help you during the task or after completing it. W hatever the task, remem ber that the choice of words depends on two things: first, the meaning; obviously, a word has to make sense, to fit into the rest of the text; but as these texts are poem s, it also has to fit the metre (i.e., the beat, the rhythm) and, if the word is at the end of a line, it has to fit the rhyme scheme too. Feel free to listen to the poem s before trying the tasks, if you feel happier. And if you are wondering which word fits a gap, try the DAH du du technique; this will help you to work out if you need a word with one o. or • o, for syllable, or two or three. If it is a two-syl!able word, it will help you decide if the pattern is zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfed example. Remember, once more, not to worry too much if you do not fully understand al! the words. Concentrate on the rhythm and musie; imagine the words flowing by like waves on the sea and follow them along, with al! their up and down movements. Poems are to be enjoyed, not to be worried about. C h a p te r 1 0 L im e r ic k s W h a t a r e I im e r ic k s ? zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Limericks are very simple poems. Listen to the following, very typical one. A: A: B: B: A: There once was a person from Lyme who married three wives at a time. When asked 'Why a third?' He replied, 'One's absurd! And bigamy, sir, is a crime!' Limericks have the following characteristics: • They consist of five lines. • The rhyme scheme is A A B B A. This me ans that lines l, 2 and 5 have one rhyme (in the case abovegfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA L y rn e / tirn e / c rim e i, while lines 3 ( t h ir d / a b s u r d ) . and 4 have a different rhymebaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA • The metre (or beat) is as regular as the rhyme scheme: three beats in the A lines, and two in the B lines. ote also that the first line refers to a person from a particular place. This is not obligatory, but many limericks have a similar reference in the first line. Listen again while beating it out. aonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA ONE and a TW a and a THREE A: There once was a person from Lyme a O E A: who married a ONE B: When asked a ONE B: He replied, and a TW a and a THREE three wives and a at a time. TW a 'Why a third> and a TW a 'One's absurd! a ONE and a TW a and a THREE A: And bigamy, sir is a crimer When doing the tasks in this section, it is a good idea to have a good dictionary handy, so that you can check the rhymes (as well as the meanings). G a p - f ilI t a s k s Task 35 The rhyming words in the following end. Fili them in as quickly as you can. 1 2 3 4 S There once was an old man frorn ... who dreamed he was eating his ... He woke up in the ... with a terrible ... and found it was perfectly ... fright / shoe / true / night / Crewe 72 limerick have been jumbled together at the P art IV T a s k 3 6 XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA H e r e a r e tw o Iim e r ie k s o n th e th e m e a t th e e n d . A g a in , fili th e m a s q u ie k ly o f m u s ie , wit h th e ir P la y in g zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZ witonmlkjihgfedcbaZY h poem s r h y m in g w o rd s ju m b le d up a s p o s s ib le . t r a m Hang ... A musician who camebaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Composed a new popular ... But the song that he ... Was all on one ... S Though it sounded superb on a ... 1 2 3 4 6 A musical girl called ... 7 Played 'Gad Save the Queen' on a ... 8 ar sa she ... 9 But people who ... 1 0 Were never quite able to ... tell / wrote / Kong / heard / song / Estelle / averred (= said, stated, claimed) / bell / gong / note T ask 37 And now u p . A n d th is tim e w e g o u p to th r e e a n e x tr a w o rd lim e r ie k s has been added w ith th e r h y m in g fo r e a c h r h y m e , w o rd s le ft o u t a n d ju m b le d to c o n fu s e th in g s . 1 A diner while dining at ... 2 Found a rather large mouse in his ... 3 Said the waiter, 'Don't ... 4 And wave it ... S ar the rest will be wanting one !' 6 7 8 9 10 A glutton who came fram the , When asked at what hour he would ..., Replied, 'At ..., At three, five and ..., And eight and a quarter past ...', 11 There was an old lady of ... 1 2 Whose nose was remarkably ... 13 One day, they ..., 1 4 She folIowed her ..., 1 5 For no-one knows which way she ... about / bent (= not straight) / chew / Crewe / dine / eleven / grows / heaven / Kent / nine / nose / Rhine / sent / seven / shout / out / stew (= a dish cooked slowly in water) / suppose / too / wine / went 73 Rhymes and RhythmbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA C o r r e c t in g ta sk s In the following tasks, you will have to correct mistakes in a number of limericks. In same, the lines are jumbled together, in others, there is something wrong with the rhyrne scheme ar metre. Task 38 This time we have mixed three limericks together. Only lines 1 and 3 are in the correct place in each limerick. 1 There was a young girl in the choir Used language I dare not pronounce. 3 Till it reached such a height Pulled her chair out behind For careless old people like you!' 6 A girl who weighed many an ounce Once dropped her false teeth in the stew. 8 For a fellow, unkind, 'It's horrid to cater And they found it next day in the spireo 11 A certain old lady from Crewe Whose voice rose up high er and higher 13 Said a sensitive waiter It was elear out of sight Iust to see (sa he said) if she'd bounce. Vocabulary notes b o u n c e is what happens to a rubber balI, for example, when you drop it on the floor; to c a te r = either togfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 'look after' ar 'provide food for': a c h o ir (pronounced /kwala/) is a group of people who sing together; an o u n c e is a small unit of weight, sa 'weighed many an ounce' = 'was very fat'; se n sitiv e , here, = 'easily hurt, easily upset'; a sp ite is a thin tower on top of a church; ste w was explained in the last task. Task 39 In the following limericks, the lines in bold have the correct rhymes, but something has gone wrong with the others. Suggest correct rhymes for them. (lf you find this too difficult, choose the words from the list after the limericks.) 1 2 3 4 S 6 7 8 9 10 A sprightly old man from LA Once said to his wife, 'If I might, I think I will walk On my head in the Strand,' To which she retorted: 'Why not.' A greedy old grandad from Duns, Once said he'd eat ninety-nine cakes. At the seventy-ninth, He unluckily burst, Sa the rest were consumed by his boss. stand / okay / buns / fint / may / sons Task 40 This time the rhymes are all fine, but something has gone wrong with the metre, except in one line per poem, printed in bold. Some words are too long, others too short; or there are too many or too few words. • See if you can wark out what is wrong. • Then look at the list of words which you will need to use. • And if that is still too difficult, listen to the recording to hear what needs changing.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFE 74 Part IV Playing with poems Vocabulary notes l't limerick:gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a n a c q u a in ta n c e is someone you know, but not very well; ta m e is the opposite of w ild (dogs are tame, but lions are usually wild). onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA limerick: a g r e e d y person is someone who eats a lot; g h e r k in s = pickled cucumbers; to p ie k le = 'to 2nd preserve food - vegetables usually - in vinegar or salt water'; in te r n a l w o r k in g s , in this poem, means 'the inside of her body'. 3rd limerick: a b la z e is a strongly burning fire; c h a r r e d means 'burned black on the outside'; to bum gently, but brightly'. g lo w = 'to awfully / could not / fear / friends / fuel /her / heightened / man / remind / started / terribly / threw / young There was an old gentleman of Khartoum Who kept two tam e sheep in his room. To make him think, he said . Of two acquaintances of his who were dead; But he was completely unable to remember of whom. A greedy lady called Perkins Was fond of small gherkins. She devoured forty-three One day for tea And pickled all of her intemal workings. When the shortage of things to bum made it hard, To maintain the big blaze in our yard; We decided to throw on Aunt Flo, Who began to glow, And ended up very charred. Here is a well-known limerick which breaks the rules of both rhyme and metre. Why it do es so should be obvious. Two poets from Lytham, Had simply no sense of rhythm. Their limericks would rhyme Only occasionally So the editor sadly rejected all their work And off they went taking their poems with 'em.baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA L im e r ic k s d e m o n s t r a t in g W e a k f o r m s o f g r a m m a t ic a l a sp e c ts o f fa st sp e e c h it e m s The last limerick contained the rhymes L y th a m / r h y th m / w ith 'e m . It only functions as a rhyme if you use the weakest form of the pronoun th e m . The following poem s all use weak forms of pronouns or of other grammatical items dealt with earlier in the book. The most common pronoun used this way is the weakest form of th e m , pronounced /am/. This is because it provides a rhyme for place names ending in - h a m which, as you may remember from Part I, is also pronounced la m /. Vocabulary notes b r a n d -n e w = 'completely new'; a q u id minister of religion. = 'a pound'; a th r ifty person is very careful with money; a v ic a r is a 75 R h y m e s a n d R h y t h m zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Said a man to his wite down in Sydenham, (= them) 'My trousers - now where have you hidden 'ern?onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA It's perfectly true That they're far from brand-new But I foolishly left half a quid in 'eml' A thrifty young fellow of Shoreham Made brown paper trousers and wore 'ern: He looked nice and neat Till he bent in the street To pick up a pin: then he tore 'em. There was a young lady of Twickenham Whose shoes were too tight to walk quick in 'em. She came back from a walk Looking whiter than chalk And took 'ern both off and was sick in 'em. And remember thatgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA -s te r at the end of place nam es also contains schwał which means it can rhyme with h e r. the weakest form of the pronounbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA There was a young lady from Gloucester Whose parents thought that they had lost 'er From the fridge came a sound And at last she was found; The trouble was how to defrost 'er. The possessive adjective her (= her) also weakens to schwa in its shortest form. There was a young lady of Ryde Who ate some green apples and died. The apples fermented (= became alcohol) Inside the lamented, (= the dead person) And made cider inside 'er inside. (= inside her inside) = dm meid 'sardar In 'sardar In 'sard Finally, here's a rhyme that only works if two sounds are elided. There was a young fellow named Sydney Who drank till he ruined his kidney. lt shrivelled and shrank As he sat there and drank. But he had a good time at it, didn'(t) (h)e? To end the section on limericks, here is something I wrote just to demonstrate that it is possible to produce a poem, each stanza of which is a limerick. ISO y o u t h in k y o u 'v e g o t p r o b le m s ! ' There's really no problem with lexis, it's easy whatever your sex is. The words are the same from sleepy old Thame right over to Galveston, Texas. And syntax should cause you no pain, there's no need for worry or strain. They use the same pattern from Leeds to Manhattan, from southern ew Zealand to Maine.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 76 P a r t I V zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQ Playing wit h poems But 'prori' is a different matter; the brightest of brains it can shatter. You start off confused, aggrieved and bernused, . and end up as mad as a hatter. A student of mine from Algiers would frequently burst into tears, for her rhythm and stress were a terrible mess and yet she'd been studying for years. Another from Lima (Peru) said 'Teacher, just what should I do? Does "cough" rhyme with "rough" and "bough" with "enough", and what about "thorough" and "through"?' Another young student from Spain said 'Teacher, please could you explain why "bury" and "ban" and "very" and "van" are different? To me they're the sarnel!' 'That's easy', said Tanaka-san, (a nice, unassuming young man) 'but "redli, "right" and "wrong" and "led ", "light" and "long" are problem s to us from Iapan.' An obstinate student from Spa refused to acknowledge the schwa. He said 'go to town' and 'jump up and down'. That's taking things rather too far! So students and teachers all sigh, they jibber and shiver and ery, tearing hair from their heads, sobbing late in their beds, they won der if succour is nigh. But don't worry, help is in sight. I'm really aware of your plight. just taking a look at my latest book will help you (at least it just might) 77 C h a p te r 1 1 O th e r ty p e s o f p o e m 'G o in g s h o p p in g ' zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Start oft by listening to the poem without looking at the text. It has a rather complicated rhyming scheme: A A B C C B. In other words, you have: a rhyming couplet followed by an non-rhyming third line, then a second rhyming couplet followed by the final line, which rhymes with the third. Pay attention to the metre as well; the scheme carries over six lin es and goes like this: ONE TWO (THREE) buys A: Every tirne A: Mary Wil1ams B: great big IOrry just to shoppun whoppuę car-y aU she C: For her family's large C: that she reaUy needs a B: (there are twenty-fOUI she go es out drives a so (pause, pause) barge of eV(e)ry shape and sizei. So there are two main beats in the A and C lines, with three in the Blines. Pay close attention or you will try to fit in words that match the meaning but not the metre. to the beat And when you re ad the poem aloud, remember what you have learned from earlier in the book. The unstressed grammatical wordsgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a n d and o f must be very short, or you will not keep to the beat. So careful with b r e a d a n (d ) ja m a n (d ) h o n e y ; ju m p a n (d ) c h e e r a n (d ) s h o u t and a s a c k o f m a c a r o n i, for example. But please dori't read it like a machine. Think of the meaning. Listen to the way the voice goes up and down. And don't think that the end of a line always means the end of a grammatical unit. Sometimes it does as in: E v e r y tim e s h e g o e s o u t s h o p p in g . But not in: M a r y W illia m s d r iv e s a w h o p p in g . Mary Williams doesn't drive a 'w h o p p in g ', should read lines 1-3 like this: Every tirne she goes out she drives a w h o p p in g g r e a t b ig lo r r y (= a very big lorry). You shoppną •onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA • • Mary Wil1ams • 78 ~. drives a whoppme great big IOrry just to carry • • •XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA • all she • buys. Part IV Playing with poems Vocabulary notes b a r g e is a long, fiat boat for carrying goods on a river or canal; b o lo n e y is a type of sausage (originally abaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA from B o lo g n a , in Italy); m u t t o n is meat from sheep; t r a d e s m e n are people who own shops ( t r a d e s p e o p le wouldn't fit the metre); w h o p p in g g r e a t b ig means e x t r e m e ly b ig . onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Task 41 Choose from the words below to complete gaps 1-10 in the following poem. OnIy one will work at the end of lines, but there may be more than one option mid-line. Try out the DAH du du system to see if a word fits the metre as well as the meaning. age / all / bag / big / bit / bus / can / car / cash / cat / city / cłap / confetti / dog / down / each / every / gets / hat / height / jump / money / packet / pound / sack / shout / spaghetti / tin / town / truck / up / village / wave Task 42 Now complete gaps 11-22. This time, see how quickly you can spot the possibilities. There are three words for each gap. Sometimes only one fits, sometimes twa, sometimes all three. who jeans Charley must sugar time they beans Peter can chocolate cash he means Sally does biscuits money bread meeting wheat kilo yoghurt crates cake heating meat pound cream pounds coke baking meet tin cheese bags Every time she goes out shopping Mary Williams drives a whopping great big lorry just to carry all she buys. For her famiIy's sa large that she really needs a barge (there are twenty-four of every shape and size). As she drives her lorry (1) to the centr e of the (2) all the tradesmen start to (3) . . and cheer and (4) For she spends vast sum s of (S) just on bread and jam and honey (not to mention all the wine and beer and stout). . And (6) day she buys (7) (that's for Margaret, Fred and Betty) and some mutton chops with very little fat. And a metre of baloney with a (8) and a (9) . of macaroni of something tasty for the (10) Then there's artichokes and (11) and a case of tinned sardines, with some anchovies and cabbages and steak. And especially for (12) (as he likes things slightly sweeter) lot s of (13) . . . . and a slice ar twa of (14) She buys mustard by the (15) salt and pepper (freshly ground) and vast quantities of butter, milk and (16) . , ,XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 79 R hym es a n d R h y t h m zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA And for Cathy, Joe and Reg (17) ( several (18) eat nothing else but veg) of earrots, radishes and peas. As for her, what (19) she eat, ? is it fish or fruit or (20) What's the kind of thing that mothers like the best? Well she's got no (21) for eating for she's cooking ar she's (22) . up the food she's bought to serve to all the rest. 'S o n g f o r L o n d o n ' • This poem/song, with its simple A B C B rhyming seheme, sums up the way I feel about London. Yes,it's noisy, polluted, dirty and sometimes dangerous; but it's also one of the most exeiting eities in the world, with lively street markets, greenery and water, and just about the best theatre, art and musie seenes you will find anywhere, with a population from a11over the world. baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA You ean wark on this poem in different ways: a) ]ust read it and try to guess what the missing words are. (Usually, just one word is missing, but gaps 4, 19, 22, 29 and 3S eontain three words eaeh, sa you eould leave these to last.) b) Look at the following word lists and ehoose the ones that fit. c) Use it as a dietation, by listening to the poem and filling the gaps. But take eare if you try methods a ar b. Some words may fit the meaning but not the metre. So say a line out loud, with a du DAH or a DAH duh duh, and sa on, to replace the missing word. Ask yourself, 'is there one syllable missing here? Two? Three?' Then try out the word you think best fits. Pre-task and voeabulary notesbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA B r ic k L a n e and C a m d e n T o w n have lively markets at the weekend; D r S a m u e l J o h n s o n was an 18th-eentury writer, best known for his dietionary; to c h o k e = usually 'not to be able to breathe'; togfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA g lin t = 'to shine when the light eatehes an objeet, a ring, for example'; to h u r t le = 'to move very fast, usually past something eJse'; to lu r k = 'to hide in wait for someone, perhaps to attaek them'; to m e s s u p = 'to make something dirty or untidy'; p o t h o le s are very big holes in roads, espeeially dangerous for eyclists like me; a s p y h o le is alittle glass-eovered hole in a door, sa you ean see who a visitor is but they ean't see you; tr a s n = r u b b is h : 'things thrown away'. 80 Part IV Playing with poems Task 43 Choose from the words below to complete the following poem. Sometimes more than one can fit a gap. Gaps 4, 19, 22, 29 and 35 will be completed in Task 44.gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGF P a rtA glad arrows pleased buses rising shining dirt weather explain trains by diamonds in darkness use know speak drive ery pub frightened buses cycle eoncert tubes for happy setting fog rainbows agree gold at smog fumes die play afraid for film after midnight look scared lorries dark cars decide agree sleeping breathing put but stroll trash rubbish though P a rt B nightfall P a rt C cats helicopters up cycle Task 44 at you tired 3/4 walk dogs take pollution traffic night down dark get Now sort out the following words to fili gaps 4, 19,22,29 at care door to tell of leave life why seems and 35. the eight A The roads are fuli of potholes and the streets are full of trash, the pavements lined with youngsters asking, 'can you spare some cash?' The (1) and the (2) If you want to get to town (3) you'd better (4) But when the sun is (5) and the river glints like (6) and the bridges curve like (7) then the city takes its hold. And I'm (8) though I really can't (9) And London's where I live, despite the (10) B The (12) as I (13) If I come home after (14) I'm (15) You hardly (16) (17) and (18) when someone's (19) are packed to bursting always late. noon _ . , , to be in London, . / the (11) and rain. hurtle past me to my work. . of who might lurko your neighbours 20 years or morel alittle spyhole _XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 81 R h y m e s a n d R h y t h m zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA But when I'm sitting waiting for the (20) to begin, by some young writer or a (21) makes me think that we might win, then I'm glad to be in London, though it's hard to (22) And London is the city where I'lllive until I (23) C The (24) the kids daren't use the park; the traffic wreeks the daytime; alarms disturb the (25) The (26) (27) old folks have trouble (28) and no-one (29) _ . mess up the pavement, . chokes the gutters, fills the air, . _ But when I (30) through Brick Lane or Camden Town, I realize that, though there's plenty here to (31) at weekends ~-----~ me (32) . I (33) with Doctor Johnson (34) (. I can't speak for my wife) that a man who's tired of London is a man who's (35) _ 'F a ilu r e ' Vocabulary notes when the stock marketgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA c r a s h e s , the value of shares goes down; a fa k e is something (usually a work of art) that is a copy of the original, used to deceive; a p h e a s a n t is a game bird, i.e., a bird bred for shooting and eating: to p o t - 'to hit a ball into the pocket' when playing billiards or snooker. If you aim for one colour and hit another you lose points; to be given the s a c k is to be fired, to lose your job; ta m e is the opposite of w ild ; a w r e n is a small song-bird.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a Task 45 T h is is a n o th e r poem in r h y m in g c o u p le ts . A s y o u c a n s e e fr o m th e fir s t c o u p le t, it is a b o u t a m a n fo r w h o m e v e r y th in g g o e s w ro n g . baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Something has gone wrong with the poem, too. Your task is to match the endings to the beginnings of each line. He studied so hard but the others all passed. He tried to be first but he a1wayscame 1ast. 1 He 1earned Iapanese 2 He lost his umbr ella a) but the weather decided to break. b) which proved to be tame. 3 He wore his best suit 4 He trained as an actor c) who cou1dn't stand men. d) the day ot the rain. 5 He aimed for the yellow 6 He worked very hard e) but landed a shark. f) but nobody came. 7 He invested in shares 8 He .collected fine china g) while the others wore jeans. h) but wounded a wren. 82 I Part IV i) Playing with poem s which just wouldn't bark. but nabody went. 9 He bought a Picasso 10 He stripped j) 11 He held a big party 12 He hunted a tiger k) but was transferred to Spain I) until, sadly, he died. 13 He bought a huge watchdog 14 He fished for a salmon m) but all of it smashed. n) while the others alllied. 15 He played at roulette 16 He opened a cafe o) but was given the sack. p) which tumed out a fake. 17 He shot at a pheasant 18 He married a woman q) but potted the black. r) but he lost every cent. s) then joined the marines. 19 He stuck to the truth 20 And sa it went onbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA t) then the stock market crashed. 'S t a n f e lt s t ic k y ' Task 46 Here is another poem in rhyming couplets. Match the endings to the beginnings ot each line. 1 Stan felt sticky, sa he 2 Ruth felt like running, sa she a) went to see a friend b) sang a lively song 3 Henry felt hot, sa he 4 Willy felt like walking, sa he c) ran aft to the beach. d) wandered down the path S Fanny felt frozen, sa she 6 Sally felt like sailing, sa she e) went and picked a peach f) tried to sing along 7 Sammy felt small, sa he 8 Cindy felt like selling, sa she g) tried to hire a boat. h) had alittle snooze 9 Hannah felt hungry, sa she 10 Sammy felt like swimming, sa he i) 11 Freddy felt funny, sa he 12 Shirley felt like shopping, sa she k) drove into the town l) played a lonely blues 13 Sandy felt sad, sa she 14 Sally felt like sleeping, sa she m) had a cold bath n) went and got a coat 15 Harry felt happy, sa he 16 Iacky felt like joining in, sa o) went and had a shower p) went and found a buyer 17 Laurie felt lonely, sa she q) jogged for half an hour j) grew alittle higher went and sat down Benny went to bed, sa that had better be the end. 'M u s t n 't g r u m b le ' We British are known for aur understatements. If you ask people from the USAhow they are, they're Iikely to reply 'Fine!' , 'Great!' ar 'Never been better!', all with firm falling tones. In Britain, you're more likely to hear 'Not too bad', ar 'Could be worse', with that very British fall-rise. My twa favourite replies are 'mustn't grumble' and 'can't complain'. And it was while thinking about how these normally involve both elision and assimilation - /'IllASd!) 'grxmbl/,baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA lik a : ! ) kam'plem/ - that the idea for this poem came to me. 83 Rhymes and RhythmonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Task 47 Some ot the words below are missing trom the poem (a tew extra words have been thrown in). As you can see, they al! rhyme either with grumble or complain. Fili each gap in the poem with an appropriate word. You may use an English dictionary it you wish. train pain stain cane grain agam rain lane main explain chain insane rurnble tumble humble fumble bumble stumble crumble (see c) below) Vocabulary jumble (see d) below) notes a) agfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA c o c k ro a c h is a dark-brown ar black insect, sometimes found in kitchens; n a u g h t y s n o w tla k e s refer to one winter when trains in the south of England stopped running b) thebaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA because, as British Rail explained, the snow was 'the wrong kind'; c) a c r u m b le is a type of pudding, sugar; d) is used in the sense of sold for charity. ju m b le with a topping made of flour (ar flour and muesli) mixed with brown ju m b le s a le , where people give away things (especially clothes) to be 'Mustn't grumble', 'Can't cornplain' aur traditional refrain. Dori't be pushy, best be humble. Dori't complam. and never grumble. () ? Broken pavings make you (1) Cockroach in your apple (2) Mustn't grumble, can't complain. ? ? 8:05 is late (3) Naughty snowflakes stopped the (4) Dori't complain, you shouldri't grumble. ? Govemment begins to (S) Housing prices start to (6) Mustri't grumble, can't complain. ? ? Global warming brings rnore (7) Medicine won't kill the (8) Don't cornplain, no need to grumble. Kiddy's clothes come from the (9) Somewhere guns begin to (10) Do not ask them to (11) just accept it, don 't complain. Mustn't grumble, Mustn't grumble, Mustn't grumble. . ? ? ? ; c o 'MybaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA m o t h e r s a id ' This is an old anonymous poem (that means we don't know who wrote it). As it gets near the end, and the speaker jumps on the horse, the number of unstressed syllables increases and you have to speak faster to keep to the beat of the horse's hooves. 84 P a r t I V zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQ Playing with poems My mother said, I never should play with the gypsies in the wood. If I did then she would say: 'Naughty child to disobey!' 'Your hair shan't curl and your shoes shan't You gypsy child, you shan't be mine!' And my father said that if I did, he 'd rap my head with the teapot shine, lido My mother said that I never should play with the gypsies in the wood. The wood was dark, the grass was green; By came Sally with a tambourine. I went to sea - no ship to get across; I pa id ten shillings for a blind white horse. I upped on his back and was off in a crack, Sally tell my mother I shall never com e back. 'O n y o u r b ik e ' a I really think I must be the only person in London who regularly rides a bike but can also drive a car. Car and lony drivers have no idea of the space that cyelists need and are often a great danger to them; and baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA cyelists fail to realize, for example, that motorists do not expect to be overtaken by a cyelist coming up between them and the pavement. By the way, I do not recommend you to call peoplegfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA id io ts , b a s ta r d s or b e r k s unless you want a fight. A When I'm on my bike I am the angel of the street; I'm courteous and friendly to everyone I meet. I never mount the pavement, I just keep to the road; I don't infringe in any way the sacred Highway Code. I signal to the motorists and make my movements I ride along the gutter and I never swerve or veer. elear; But what about those bastards in their lorries and their cars? They stare at me suspiciously as if l came from Mars. That's if they even notice me as zombie-like they drive; I need my wits about me if I want to stay alive. They pass and then tum left or open doors right in my face; I sometimes think that drivers aren't aware we need some space. So when you see me cyeling in my helmet and my mask, just use alittle courtesy; is that too much to ask? B ow when I'm at the wheel I'm always perfectly polite; aware of all the cyelists, sympathetic to their plight. I follow very carefully the details of the Cod e; I flash to let them cut across a really busy wad; I check the nearside minor just in case there's one in sight; and take especial care whenever driving late at night. But what about those bastard s cyeling merrily along? You'd think their parents never tried to teach them right from wrong. They pass you on the left when you are checking to the right, then wave their stupid fists at you; they do it out of spite. They go both ways down one-way street s, tum left when lights are red. The bloody little idiots deserve to end up dead. So when you see me in my car while cyeling to work, just use some common sense, can't you, you stupid little berkI When in my car or on my bike it's very plain to see: the roads are fuli of lunatics, with one exception: ME! 85 C h a p t e r 1 2 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Similes, s a y in g s a n d s o u n d s In this final part of the book we will play with the magie of words and rhythm, eoneentrating on words and phrases that belong so elosely together that you have to leam the rhythm of the phrase together with its meaning. S im ile s If you say that something isgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA a s lig h t a s a [ e a th e r or a s h e a v y a s le a d , you are using asimile: eomparing one thing with another. Some similes are so eommon that they have beeome eliehes, expressions you use without thinking about them. Others are more original and eause the listener to think in a new way about what you are referring to. . And some similes are so old that we understand them as a whole, but not the individual words. H, for example, you say that something is a s p la in a s a p ik e s ta f(, we know that it means 'absolutely obvious; is, In faet, it was a smooth type of stiek, 100% elear', but hardly anybody knows what a p ik e s ta ffa e tu a lly and the simile originally meant 'as smooth as a pikestaff' (Le., with no lumps, bumps or deeorations). This partieular simile, together with several others, is found in the first poem in this seetion. 'As' (a n o n y m o u s) This is a poem made up entirely of well-known, proverbial similes. There is heavy stress on the adjeetives and nouns, while the grammatieal words a n d and a s are very short, both eontaining sehwa. When you repeat it, remember to make the links in, for example, wet~as~a / dry~as~a / poor~as~a / free.jas the.jau. Vocabulary notes m o /e s are short-sighted animals whieh live underground. Their soft skin used to be made into elothes (espeeially mole-skin trousers); p a r tr id g e s are game birds, i.e., birds bred to be shot and eaten in the autumn. They are plump (= 'fat') because they are ready to eat; a p ik e s ta ff(n o w arehaic) was a type of stiek with a plainonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA (= smooth) surface; nowadays, the expression as plain as a pikestaff = 'obvious, self-evident'. As wet as a fish - as dry as a bone; As live as a bird - as dead as a stone; As plump as a partridge - as poor as a rat; As strong as a horse - as weak as a cat; As hard as flint - as soft as a mole; As white as a lily - as black as coal; As plain as a pikestaff - as rough as a bear; As tight as a drum - as free as the air; As heavy as lead - as light as a feather; As steady as time - uncertain as weather 86 Part IV Playing with poems 'Sensible similes'onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Task 48 In this poem, the first line of each couplet is made up of two well-known slmiles. The second (rhyming) line has been made up by me. I cali these 'sensible' similes, since they al! make sense (compared to the 'silly similes' that folIow). Vour task is to put the following adjectives into the correct places in the poem. The first couplet is complete. Vocabulary notesgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA c o m m o n is used here in the sense of 'vulgar, badly educated, badly behaved'; a [ id d le is a violin (a stringed instrument), though why it should be associated with good health I do not know; fit in this sense means 'in good condition, in good health'; ic in g is a sugary topping for cakes, especially for birthdays and Christmas; k e e n is used in the sense of 'eager, enthusiastic', though other meanings include 'sharp, acute, strong', as in the expression 'a keen sense of smell'; lo n g lo c k s = 'long hair'; a p e a c o c k is a male bird, with extremely beautiful tail feathers; a ra k e is a long garden instrument used to rake up (or remove by pulling along the ground) de ad leaves, plants, etc.; a ro c k e r, in this sense, is a rock musician, especially one who plays loud, older forms of rock musie: a te th e r is a line or rope attaching an animai (horse, goat, dog, etc.) to a particular place. When it is a t th e e n d o f its te th e r it can go no further, so this has come to mean 'frustrated, irnpatient, ready to crack up'. tight proud steady cool thin poor sad boJd keen strange fi.t strong blind happy wild clever deep common light sickly rough As white as a lily, as blue as the sky, as bright as the fiags on the Fourth of July. As (1) as (3) as a cucumber, (2) as a child falling fiat on its bum. As (4) as (6) as a bat, as (S) as a horse at the end of its tether. As (7) as (9) as a church mouse, as (8) as Chinese men dining on duck. as adrum, as a feather, as muck, As (10) as (12) as a peacock, as (11) as kids who are top o t the class. as brass, As (13) as (15) as mustard, as (14) as a rocker with long, filthy locks. As (16) as (18) as a fiddle, as (17) as icing on top of a cake. As (19) as (21) as the ocean, as (20) as time, as a simile used in a rhyme.baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA as an ox, as a rake, 87 R h y m e s a n d R h y t h m zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 'S illy s im ile s ' The vocabulary in this poem is difficult, since these are really anti-similes: the adjectives have nothing at all to do with the nouns. In fact it is a nonsense poem, in the tradition of Lewis Carroll. If I were you, I wouldn't bother about the meaning at all to start with: just let the words roll over you. Vocabulary notesgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA b lu n t is the opposite of sharp (as in a knife, razor, etc.); c r u e l a s a c u c u m b e r is a variant of c o o l a s a c u c u m b e r onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA (= calm), which we met in 'Sensible similes'; M ic h a e lm a s D a y is the feast day of Saint Michael, my patron saint;baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA m ild e w is a disease that affects plants; m u tto n is sheep-meat. (The meat from a young sheep is lamb.); a r is s o le is a type of meat dish; a w a is tc o a t is what is wom under the jacket in a three-piece suit. In the USA, it is called a v e s t; you w e a v e cloth, wool, silk, etc., not pies, of course. As fond as a finger, as safe as a spoon, as cruel as a cucumber planted in June. As bold as a button. as mildewed as May, as merry as mutton from foggy Bombay. As fast as a feather, as grand as a glove, as weary as weather alllimpid with love. As blunt as a blazer, as clever as clay, as ripe as a razor on Michaelmas Day. As high as a handle, as hot as a hare, as scarce as a scandal in Washington Square. As lean as a lever, as silken as sighs, as wet as a weaver of marmalade pies. As weak as a waistcoat, as fat as a flea, as pale as a parson from sunny Dundee. As pro ud as a plum stone, as poor as a peach, as wise as a whistle on Cheltenham beach. As tough as a tailor, as drunk as a door, as soft as a sailor at quarter to four. As rich as a rissole, as dense as a duck, as sad as a simile down on its luck. S a y in g s a n d p r o v e r b s English, like alIlanguages, has a large number of sayings and proverbs. And many of them are rhythmic and often contain alliteration and rhymes.XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Task 49 1 2 3 4 S 6 7 8 9 L is t e n t o t h e f o llo w in g a n d th e n m a tc h th e m Their bark is worse than their bite. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. lt's no use crying over spilt milk. Too many cooks spoił the broth. A stitch in time saves nine. There's many a slip twixt (= between) cup and lip. AlI that glitters is not gold. Don't count your chickens before they're hatched. Least said, soonest mended. 1 0 Easy com e, easy go. 88 w it h t h e e x p la n a t io n s . a) People with similar tastes and interests tend to meet up. b) Remedy any slight defects early before things start to get really bad. c) Unsupervised people are likely to misbehave. d) It is best not to be too optimistic about the outcome ot your projects. e) Things acquired with little effort are likely to be just as easily lost. Part IV 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Birds of a feather fIock together. To put the cart before the horse. To put the cat among the pigeons. When the cat's away the mice will play. The pot calling the kettle black. Two heads are better than one. To make a mountain out of a molehill. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Give them an inch, they'U take a mile. Better be safe than sorry. f) g) h) i) j) k) 1) m) n) o) p) q) r) s) t) Playing with poems You are more likely to make the correct decision having asked for a second opinion. To get your priorities wrong. They are likely to tak e advantage if you make the slightest concession. They sound more threatening than they actually are.onmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED There is no point complaining about past events that carmot be changed. To stir up trouble deliberately. Pay more attention to what you have than to what you might possibly have. Do not be fooled by outward appearances. To make too much of something rather trivial. Caution is often the best approach. 'No comment' may well be the wisest choice. It can be unwise to have too many people coUaborating on a project. Things can go wrong, even at the very last moment. Accusing someone of a defect that you also have. It's best not to pin your hopes on a single person or project.baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFE D o u b l i n g XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA U p sou n d s English is full of phrases in which sounds are doubled. This may involve: alliteration rhyme vowel change alone e.g.,baZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA s p ie k a n d s p a n I t o p s y gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA tu r v e y I h e a d o v e r h e e ls e.g., d o o m a n d g I o o m I n a m b y p a m b y I [ u n n y m o n e y e.g., m is n m a s n I z ig z a g I c r is s c r o s s I t it t le t a t t le A surprising number ot such phrases start with the letter selection ot them. Task 50 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 (corresponding to the sound Ih /). Here is a Listen to them, then see if you can match them with the definitions. l hale and hearty 2 3 4 5 6 h ( a d j. ) hanky panky ( n o u n ) hel ter skelter ( a d v . ) higgledy piggledy ( a d j. / a d v . ) high and mighty ( a d j. ) hurly burly ( n o u n ) hocus pocus (n o u n i hoi polloi ( n o u r i; head over heels ( a d j. ) huffing and puffing ( v .) (by) hook or by crook ( a d v . ) hooray Henry ( n o u n ) hunky dory ( a d j. ) hugger mugger ( a d j. la d v . lp h r . i hot spot ( 1 1 0 U I 1 ) hot pot t n o u n ) hotch potch ( n o u r i; ho o-ha ( n o u n ) humdrum ( a d j. ) hob-nob ( v . ) a) b) c) d) e) f) g) h) i) j) k) 1) m) n) o) p) q) r) s) t) (done) in a great and disorganised hurry breathing noisily any way possible, including dishonest means noisy activity in disorder; mixed together any old how very healthy and active cheating or deceit or sexually improper behaviour of a not very serious kind fine, OK noisy talk or fuss about something unimportant disorder too ordinary; without variety or change a number ot things mixed up without any sensible order or arrangement ton proud and certain of one's own importance the ordinary people a loud-mouthed, empty-headed, upper-class man to have a pleasant social relationship, often with someone in a higher social position a place where there is likely to be a lot of trouble completely, uncontrollably a mutton, potato and onion stew the use of trieks to deceive 89 R hym es a n d R h y t h m XWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Task 51 frorn Task 5 0 . F ili e a c h g a p in th e to llo w in g s e n te n c e s w ith o n e o t th e p h r a s e s ( 1 - 2 0 ) zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZY 1 He's not very fit, poor man. He was just 10 minutes after the start of the match. 2 In cheap supermarkets, they often pile up things all instead of putting them neatly on the shelves, 3 He's gone all since he got that new job. Won't have anything to do with his old friends. 4 They hardly ever go out; never been abroad. A pretty life altogether, if you ask me. 1'11 get my own back on them . SonmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 6 I hear the vicar's been up to a bit of with someone in the choir! 7 They couldn't cope in the of life. 8 How's things? Everything ? Finally, to end the book, here are two nonsense sequences using a number of doubled-up phrases. Look up the meanings in a good dictionary, if you want to. But if I were you, I would just do as I have o t the language. suggested before; enjoy the magie of sounds, and listen to the rhythm and musiebaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDC hankypanky hale and hearty hubble bubble hurdy gurdy hurly budy hocus pocus hunky dory helter skelter tall and lanky arty farty toil and trouble rather wordy short and cudy out of tocus thirteenth story gimme shelter see saw knick knack mish mash flip flop chitter charter ping pong hi-fi hee haw tick tack splish splash tip top pitter patter ding dong bye bye 90