claria的英语乐园

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esl.about.com是一个不错的学习英语的外国网站。esl是English as second language的缩写。网站上有很多关于英语学习和应用的好文章，不妨找来一读。

关于英语发音和语调，以下这篇文章很有启发性。

http://esl.about.com/od/speakingadvanced/a/timestress.htm
Intonation and Stress - Key to Understanding and Being Understood
语调和重读 - 理解和被理解的关键
By Kenneth Beare, About.com

Say this sentence aloud and count how many seconds it takes.
大声读出这句话，计算要多少秒完成

The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.

Time required? Probably about 5 seconds. Now, try speaking this sentence aloud.
需要的时间？大概5秒钟。现在，试着大声朗读下一句

He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening.

Time required? Probably about 5 seconds.
需要的时间？大约5秒钟

Wait a minute the first sentence is much shorter than the second sentence!
等等，第一句可比第二句短得多

This simple exercise makes a very important point about how we speak and use English. Namely, English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic. What does that mean? It means that, in English, we give stress to certain words while other words are quickly spoken (some students say eaten!). In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length).
这个简单的练习指出了我们在英语对话中的一个重要问题。具体来说，英语是一种讲究重读的语言，而很多其他语言是讲究音节的语言。这是什么意思呢？这意味着，在说英语时，我们只对某些单词重读，而其他单词则读得很快（一些学生把这比喻为：吃掉）。对于其他语言如法语或意大利，每个音节的重读是一样的（指的是对音节的强调，当然每个音节有它自己的长度）

Many speakers of syllabic languages don't understand why we quickly speak, or swallow, a number of words in a sentence. In syllabic languages each syllable has equal importance, and therefore equal time is needed. English however, spends more time on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, less important, words.
很多以音节语言为母语的人，并不明白为什么我们把句子里的某些单词说得很快，或者说吞掉一些音。在音节语言里，每个音节有相同的重要性，所以需要同等长度的时间来发音。但在英语里，会花较多时间在需要重读的单词上，而较少的时间在另一些不重要的单词上。

Let's look at a simple example: the modal verb "can". When we use the positive form of "can" we quickly glide over the can and it is hardly pronounced.
来看一个简单的例子：情态动词can。当我们使用can的肯定形式时，我们用几乎听不见的声音快速念can。

They can come on Friday .

On the other hand, when we use the negative form "can't" we tend to stress the fact that it is the negative form by also stressing "can't".
另一方面，当我们使用can的否定形式can't时，我们倾向于通过重读can't来强调它是否定形式

They can't come on Friday .

As you can see from the above example the sentence, "They can't come on Friday" is longer than "They can come on Friday" because both the modal "can't" and the verb "come" are stressed.
从以上几个例子中，你也许已经看出来了，"They can't come on Friday" 比 "They can come on Friday" 需要更长的时间。这是因为can't和come都需要重读。

So, what does this mean for my speaking skills?
那么，这对我们的口语技巧意味着什么呢？

Well, first of all, you need to understand which words we generally stress and which we do not stress. Basically, stress words are considered CONTENT WORDS such as
首先，你必须懂得哪些单词通常需要重读，而哪些不需要重读。基本上，重读的单词被称作CONTENT WORDS（内容词汇），例如
Nouns e.g. kitchen, Peter 名词，例如厨房，彼得
(most) principal verbs e.g. visit, construct  （大多数的）动词，例如参观，建设
Adjectives e.g. beautiful, interesting  形容词，例如美丽的，有趣的
Adverbs e.g. often, carefully  副词，例如经常，仔细地

Non-stressed words are considered FUNCTION WORDS such as
非重读的单词被称作FUNCTION WORDS （功能词汇），例如
Determiners e.g. the, a, some, a few 限定词，例如the, a, some, a few
Auxiliary verbs e.g. don't, am, can, were 助动词，例如don't, am, can, were
Prepositions e.g. before, next to, opposite 前置词，例如before, next to, opposite
Conjunctions e.g. but, while, as 连接词，例如but, while, as
Pronouns e.g. they, she, us 代词，例如they, she, us

Let's return to the beginning example to demonstrate how this affects speech.
现在回到文章开头的那个例子，来示范重读是如何影响朗读效果的 (下划线的黑体字是需要重读的单词)

The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance . (14 syllables)

He can come on Sunday s as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening . (22 syllables)

Even though the second sentence is approximately 30% longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are 5 stressed words in each sentence. From this example, you can see that you needn't worry about pronouncing every word clearly to be understood (we native speakers certainly don't). You should however, concentrate on pronouncing the stressed words clearly.
虽然第二个句子比第一个句子长了大约30%，两句话所用的时间却是相同的。这是因为两个句子都有5个重读单词。从这个例子，你可以看到你并不需要把每个单词的音发得很清晰才能让别人理解你的意思。相反地，你只需要集中注意力在重读单词的发音上即可。

Now, do some listening comprehension or go speak to your native English speaking friends and listen to how we concentrate on the stressed words rather than giving importance to each syllable. You will soon find that you can understand and communicate more because you begin to listen for (and use in speaking) stressed words. All those words that you thought you didn't understand are really not crucial for understanding the sense or making yourself understood. Stressed words are the key to excellent pronunciation and understanding of English.
现在，做一些听力理解练习，或者和你的英语国家的朋友说话。注意听他们是如何注重重读单词的发音，而不是对每个音节分配一样的时间长度。只要你开始去倾听，以及在谈话中侧重重读单词，你很快会发现，你能理解和沟通得更好。所有那些你认为你没理解的单词，实际上对谈话者相互的理解而言并非很重要。掌握重读单词才是完美发音和理解的关键。

I hope this short introduction to the importance of stress in English will help you to improve your understanding and speaking skills.
我希望，这个关于英语中重读的重要性的简短介绍能有助于你提高你的英语理解能力和谈话技巧。