美式英语发音规则概要

。中元音是

英语中最短最简单的一个音，

但也是 最常见的一个音。

另外，

还有一些非重读音节中的元音，

如

citizen

中的

/

?

/

音，及其他词中的

??

/

音。

…………………………………………………… …………………………………………………

..

At the Word Level

（词的发音）

Within a word, pitch rises to its highest level on the syllable with primary stress.

From there it

falls,

or

rises

more.

This

inflection

in

pitch

is

made

as

a

step,

or

as

a

glide.

Following

are

examples

：

（在单词中，音调升至重音音节的位置，然后开始下降，或者继续升高。这种音调的变化分为阶音

型和滑音型，如下例：

）

?

STEP

INFLECTION-P

itch

steps

from

the

stressed

syllable

onto

an

unstressed

syllable.

Listen to example spoken with a falling inflection.

（阶音型变化—音调由重音转为非重音。如以下列举的单词均 以降调发音。

）

sim

ple

a

maz

ing

ac

curate

im

pos

sible

Now listen to the same words spoken with rising inflection.

（再看看如何以升调来读以上几个< /p>

单词。

）

sim

ple

a

maz

ing

ac

curate

im

pos

sible

GLIDING INFLECTION-P

itch gliders on the syllable with primary stress when the word

consists of one syllable, or when that syllable ends a word. Listen to examples with falling

inflection

：

如下列各词以降调发音为：

）

now

a

greed

guaran

teed

Now listen to the same words with a rising inflection.

（再看看如何以升调读以上同样的音调。

）

now

a

greed

guaran

teed

Repeat the following words using a falling inflection

：

（试用降调跟读下列 各词：

）

mo

ney

cor

rect

ex

pen

sive

an

imal

nev

er

e

nough

for

ev

er

cus

tomer

o

pen

to

day

to

mor

row

man

ager

appli

ca

tion

responsi

bi

lity

qualifi

ca

tion

obli

ga

tion

demon

stra

tion

Repeat the following using a rising inf lection

：

（试用升调跟读下列各词：

< br>）

ne

ver

to

day

for

ev

er

obli

ga

tion

responsi

bi

lity

qualifi

ca

tion

实

词

例词

名词

person

place

thing

动词

go

run

think

形容词

good

bad

alright

副词

very

almost

quite

BEYOND THE WORD LEVEL

（短语和句子的发音）

In

phrases

or

in

sentences,

only

certain

words

are

normally

given

stress.

These

are

the

words

classified as content words, because they contain most of the information in a message.

（在短语或句子当中，

通常只有部分词语为重读。

这些词多为实词，

因为它们包含了所传信息的内容。

）

虚

词

例词

冠词

a, an, the, any, some

动词（助动词）

is, are, am, do, does, did

连词

and, but, if, or

情态动词

can, will, could, should, would

介词

in, on, of, into, about, with

Content words

are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs-words that are normally not stressed are

classified as

function words.

（

实词

为名词、动词、形容词和副词。那些非重读的词被归为虚词 。

）

Function words

serve

more

to

provide

the

grammar

structure

that

connects

content

words

into

phrases and sentences. Function words include articles, conjunctions, pronouns, and prepositions.

（

虚词

的作用是按照语法结构规则将各个实词组成短语或句子。虚词包括冠词、连词、代 词和介词。

）

Listen to the following sentence

：

（听以下例 句：

）

（实词）

（虚词）

The

TIME

is

NOW

.

TIME NOW

the, is

As you can see, content words can carry the meaning in a message. Listen to another example

：

< /p>

（由此可见，实词往往包含一定的信息内容。再听另一例：

）

（实词）

（虚词）

WHERE

are

ALL

the

PEO

ple?

WERE ALL PEO

PLE

are, the

Are

function

words

used

in

your

native

language?

If

they

are

not,

you

may

have

difficulty

applying them in your English speech. You may also have difficulty hearing some function words

as they are spoken in English, because they are normally reduced, and are thereby spoken quickly.

（在你的母语中存在虚词吗？如果 没有的话，那你在英语中运用虚词也许会有一点困难。另外，在听

的过程中，由于这些虚 词往往被弱读，且读得快，所以很难被听出来。

）

THE PURPOSE OF FALLING AND RISING INFLECTION

（降调和升调的作用）

Final

inflection,

which

is

the

pitch

change

at

the

end

of

an

utterance,

has

underlying

meaning.

Generally,

in

connected

speech

a

fall

in

pitch

indicates

that

the

speaker

has

finished

a

thought,

while

a

rise

in

pitch

indicates

that

the

speaker

intends

to

continue

on

the

thought.

Listen

to

examples

：

（句尾语音变化，即一句话结束时的音调变化，包含着一定的意义。一般来说，如果句尾为降 调时，

意味着说话者已表达完了一个思想内容。如果句尾读出升调，那就意味着说话者还 将就此内容发表观

点，让我们看看以下例句：

）

I know what you mean.

（降调）

I know what you mean, but I don

’

t agree.

（升调）

Question

, are spoken with either a falling or rising inflection.

（疑问句，既可以采用升调也可以采用

降调。

< br>）

?

Wh-Questions, which are those that begin with question words, such as

who

,

what

or

when

,

are normally spoken with a falling inflection, as in

：

（

W h-

疑问句（特殊疑问句）是以特殊疑问句

who, what, when

等开头的问句，通常读成降调，

如：

）

Who called?

What

’

s new?

Repeat the following examples

：

（跟读以下例句：

）

Who is that?

What is it called?

When does it start?

Where is it?

Why not?

Which way?

How come?

How did you do that?

?

Yes/No Questions

, which are those that request a

yes

or a

no

response, are normally spoken

with a rising inflection. Listen

：

（

< br>Yes/No

疑问句（一般疑问句）是指那些所作回答为“是”或“否”的问句， 通常读成升调，如：

）

Repeat the following

：

（跟读以下各句：

）

Are you ready?

Should I call?

Will you be there?

Would that be okay?

Do you think so?

Did you check you Email?

PRIMARY STRESS AND FINAL INFLECTION

（重音和句尾语调变化）

In phrases and sentences, primary stress is normally placed on the last content word, and that is

where final inflection occurs. In the following sets of sentences, the first ends with a content word,

and the second ends with one or more function words. Listen to an example

：

（在短 语和句子中，重音通常落在最后一个实词上，而且句尾语调变化也落在该词上。在下面各组例

句中，第一个句子以实词结尾，第二句则以一个或几个虚词结尾。例如：

）