Word Stress. Dropped Sounds

Words with Dropped Syllables

In many common 3-syllable words, the second syllable is dropped in spoken American English. Most American speakers do not pronounce these syllables when they speak.

Read the words in the chart below and drop the syllable as indicated in the second column. If you can remember to drop these syllables when you speak, your speech will sound much more natural.

Practice saying these words aloud, then click below to hear the correct pronunciation.

                        Word                         Dropped syllable

                        aspirin                            as-prin
                       average                          av-rage                                                              Barbara                           Bar-bra
                        business                         bus-ness
                        camera                           cam-ra
                        different                         dif-rent
                                                                                                                                                                                 

DROPPED SYLLABLES

Review: The number of Vowels = number of syllables.

Today /t@"deI/ 2 syllables
Hotel /h@U"tel/ 2 syllables
Vanity /"v{nIti/ 3 syllables

But sometimes vowel sounds disappear giving as a consequence a reduction in the number of syllables. Ex:

Basic /"beIsik/                     2 syllables
Basically /"beIsikli/              3 syllables
Dramatic /dr@"m{tik/           3 syllables
Dramatically /dr@"m{tiklI/    4 syllables
Practice /"pr{ktIs/                2 syllables
Practically /"pr{ktIkli/           3 syllables

PRACTICE

Differ /"dIf@r/
Different /"difr@nt/
General /"dZEn@r@l/
Generally /"dZEnr@li/
Interest /"Intr@st/
Chocolate /"tSOklIt/
Preference /"prefr@ns/
Temperature /"temp@r@ch@r/
Family /"f{mlI/
Laboratory /"l{br@tOri/
Aspirine /"{spr@n/
Opera /"A:pr@/

Several /"sevr@l/
Desperate /"despr@t/
Every /"evri/
You want to go? /want to go/

 I’ll call you /I´ll call ya/ /see ya/

 Because /cos/

 I don’t know /I ronow/

 Let me /lemi/

 Kiss me /kimi/

INTONATIONS

                                                              INTONATION PATTERNS

HOW TO DRAW THE LINES?

3 HIGH
2 STANDARD
1 LOW

What’re you doing?

LEVEL 3 HIGH

CONTENTS WORDS
NOUNS
VERBS
ADJECTIVES
ADVERBS

                                                      For short
Falling intonation pattern
                                                     Wh-questions

                                                      For short
Falling intonation pattern
                                                      Affirmative statements

                                                     For negative
Falling intonation pattern
                                                     Sentences

                                                     for long
falling intonation pattern
                                                     affirmative statements

                                                     For yes/no
Rising intonation pattern
                                                     Questions

                                                     For affirmative sentences
Rising intonation pattern
                                                     In form of questions

INTONATION PATTERN ( REVIEW)
QUESTIONS OF CHOICE
RISING INTONATION
                         3            3
2 Is your job easy 2 or hard?

                           3                 3
2 Do you speak English 2or Chinese?

                      3               3
2 Is your name Carlos 2 or George?

Long sentences
Rising- Falling intonation

INTONATION PATTERNS EXAMPLES

INTONATION

In linguistics, intonation is variation of pitch while speaking which is not used to distinguish words. It contrasts with tone, in which pitch variation does distinguish words. Intonation, rhythm, and stress are the three main elements of linguistic prosody. Intonation patterns in some languages, such as Swedish and Swiss German, can lead to conspicuous fluctuations in pitch, giving speech a sing-song quality.[1] Fluctuations in pitch either involve a rising pitch or a falling pitch. Intonation is found in every language and even in tonal languages, but the realisation and function are seemingly different. It is used in non-tonal languages to add attitudes to words (attitudinal function) and to differentiate between wh-questions, yes-no questions, declarative statements, commands, requests, etc. Intonation can also be used for discourse analysis where new information is realised by means of intonation. It can also be used for emphatic/contrastive purposes. All languages use pitch pragmatically as intonation — for instance for emphasis, to convey surprise or irony, or to pose a question. Tonal languages such as Chinese and Hausa use pitch for distinguishing words in addition to providing intonation. Generally speaking, the following intonations are distinguished: Rising Intonation means the pitch of the voice rises over time [↗]; Falling Intonation means that the pitch falls with time [↘]; Dipping Intonation falls and then rises [↘↗]; Peaking Intonation rises and then falls [↗↘].

HOW INTONATION CHANGE THE MEANING?

Intonation in American English is the way the voice rises and falls while you speak. Very often, it changes the main idea of what is said, going beyond the exact meaning of the words to indicate how the speaker feels.
The very same sentence and the same word order, might result in quite a different idea behind your words, by only shifting the stress from one word to another.

Try reading this sentence by stressing the word in bold each time. 

1. He isn't flying to Paris tomorrow. In this case, you mean that it’s not him who is traveling but someone else. As in: “He isn't flying to Paris tomorrow. His brother is.”

 2. He isn't flying to Paris tomorrow. Here, the emphasis is on the word “isn’t” to say that, it’s not true that he is flying. As in: “Do you know that John is flying to Paris tomorrow?” “He isn’t flying to Paris tomorrow. He was intending to but he changed his mind later.”

 3. He isn't flying to Paris tomorrow. By stressing the word “flying”, we intend to say that this is not what he’s going to do but maybe something else. As in: “He isn't flying to Paris tomorrow. He is actually driving.”

 4. He isn't flying to Paris tomorrow. If you say the word “to” louder, you’re saying this is not the direction he’s flying into. As in: “He isn't flying to Paris tomorrow. He is actually flying back from Paris.” 

5. He isn't flying to Paris tomorrow. Stressing the word “Paris”, in this example, would mean that this is not the actual destination of John’s flight. As in: “He is not flying to Paris. He’s flying to New York.”

 6. He isn't flying to Paris tomorrow. Giving emphasis to the word “tomorrow” would mean that it’s not
tomorrow he’s flying but another day. As in: “He isn't flying to Paris tomorrow. He said he would be flying the day after tomorrow.”

As you can see, you are saying the same words every time, just pronouncing a different word at a higher pitch. In this way, you are actually saying a different thing every time.
Why should you bother to remember this? Well, being aware of the various intonation patterns is what will make you capable of conveying the intended message. That is to say, even if you pronounce each word clearly, if your intonation is non-standard, your meaning will not be clear.
Also, in terms of comprehension, you will lose a great deal of information, if you are only listening for the actual words used. You get to understand people better, and people understand YOU better and can then focus on the point you are trying to make, rather than struggling to "decode" your pronunciation.