How to Stress a Syllable :: The Shape of Stress

In this American English pronunciation video,

在本段「美語發音」影片中

we're going to talk about the shape of a stressed syllable.

我們要來談談「重音節的形態」

形態：「音高」變化的曲線

I've been talking a lot recently with my private students about the shape of stress. Stress

我最近一直跟會員學生談很多「重音的形態」

「重音」不只是提音、降音

isn't simply a higher pitch and a lower pitch. Yes-ter-day. Da-da-da. But actually, there's

Yes-ter-day （「音高」變化不連續）

Da-da-da 的形態

但實際上，它是從一個音「陡降」到下一個音

a swoop from one pitch to the next, so there's always a gliding feeling. Yesterday. When

因此總有「滑音」的感覺

Yesterday （「音高」連續變化）

當我的學生能夠切換到此模式時

my students are able to switch into this mode, it makes a world of difference. All of a sudden,

發音就有天壤之別

突然間，說話更加自然，更貼近美國口音

the speech is much more natural, is much more American. This applies even to one-syllable

這甚至可應用於「單音節單字」及「單音節句子」

words and one-syllable sentences. For example, yes, yes. It's not yes, yes, all on one pitch;

如：yes、yes

不是念成： yes、yes

都在同個「音高」，語調非常平

that's very flat. Yes. Yes. Hi. Hi. Hi -- do you hear that change in pitch, that shape

yes、yes

Hi、Hi、 Hi

你是否聽到那種「音高變化」、

該音節的「形態」嗎？

in that syllable? Very different from hi, hi, hi. Hi.

完全不同於 Hi、Hi、Hi （單調沒變化）

Hi （正確念法）

So the shape of a stressed syllable has the pitch gliding up and the pitch gliding down.

重音節的「形態」，包含上滑及下滑的音高

Let's take for example the word 'hello'. Hello, -llo. Do you hear how the change in pitch

我們以單字「hello」為例

hello； -llo （重音節）

你是否聽到「音高的變化」並非那麼急遽？

isn't abrupt. It slides from lower to higher and lower again. This is very different from

它從低音滑到高音，再滑到低音

這完全不同於 hello、hello

hello, hello, an abrupt pitch change of two flat ideas. Hell-o, hell-o. Hello.

一種急遽在 2 個 音高平面變換的概念

hello、hello（錯誤念法）

hello（正確念法）

It's not a bad idea to practice words and sentences very under pace, sliding from pitch

以下的方式還不賴：在練習單字及句子時

以「極慢速」來念，並且從一個音滑到另一個音

to pitch. For example: hey, how are you? Then, when you speed it up, don't think of switching

例如：Hey, how are you？

之後，當你要念快時

不要想著切回到「說話模式」

back into speaking mode. Think of taking this stretched out, gliding from pitch to pitch

而是想著這段「拉長、從一個音滑到另一個音」的談話

speech, and speeding it up. We don't want the character of that uhh-- to change. You

來加快速度

我們不希望 uhh--（連續滑音）的特性改變

你要在說話時，保留此特性

want to keep that in your speech. So please keep this in mind, and do practice speaking

請牢記上述的觀念

以及偶爾練習「慢速說話」

under pace sometimes. Stress is much more than a change in pitch, it's how you change

「重音」不只是「音高變化」如此簡單

而是「如何」改變音高

the pitch.

That's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.

就這樣，非常感謝使用 Rachel 的英文