What Is the Music of American English Pronunciation? What do you think of when you hear the word pronunciation? Is it tricky consonant sounds that make words like berry and very hard to tell apart? Or vowel sounds like the ones in sheep and ship? Or written words that can be said more than one way, like read and read, or bow and bow. These are certainly an important part of pronunciation, and you do need to say these sounds well. But if you want listeners to understand you easily, and get the full meaning of what you say, you need more than just sounds. You need to think about the music of English pronunciation. So what is the music of pronunciation? It includes these things. First, there's word stress, which gives English words their special pattern of stronger and weaker syllables. Putting the stress on the right syllable helps listeners recognize the words you're saying. For example, in introduction, the third syllable is stressed. Putting stress in the wrong place can cause confusion. If someone says inTROduction or introducTION, it would be hard for listeners to understand the word. Try saying these words paying attention to the stressed syllables. Monkey, giraffe, rhinoceros, Leopard, elephant, Hippopotamus, Next we need to think about intonation. This is the way your voice goes up and down as you speak, the melody of a sentence. Different patterns of intonation can change the meaning of a sentence or show different emotions. Can you hear the difference in the melody of these sentences? I've already written my paper. Have you written your paper? Why didn't you write your paper? Try saying these three sentences, paying attention to intonation. I've already written my paper. Have you written your paper? Why didn't you write your paper? Next is connected speech. You've probably noticed that when people talk, they don't say each word separately and clearly. They don't talk like this. I want you to find Debbie and give her a message. Instead, they join all the words together, so they sound like one long word. I want you to find Debbie and give her a message. Changes in sound that happen when words are joined together are called connected speech. Understanding how connected speech works and getting used to listening to it will help you improve your understanding of ordinary spoken English. Try saying this sentence quickly, so that the words all join together. I want you to find Debbie and give her a message We need to know about the music of American English Pronunciation, because it helps us be understood more easily. Some of the most important parts of this music are word stress, Intonation, and connected speech. We'll learn about each of these things in the next lessons.