oral english stress pattern by eguriase s. m. okaka

Oral English

By Eguriase S. M. Okaka If a word has more than one syllable, you give stress to one syllable by making it longer and / or louder. Stress in two-syllables Practice saying the following words with main stress. Words in the left column have stress on the first syllable while those on the right have stress on the second syllable, (stressed syllables are written in capital letters).

Recall that the two-syllable nouns and adjectives have stress on the first syllable while most two-syllable verbs have stress on the second syllable. Say the following giving the stress to the syllable written in capital letters.

There are however, number of exceptions to this general rule. For example, some two-syllable nouns and adjectives have stress on the second syllable instead of the first syllable. There are also some two-syllable verbs that have stress on the first syllable, instead of the second syllable. Here are some examples:

Stress in three-syllable words In words of three syllables, the main or primary stress usually falls on first syllable or the second syllable, but sometimes on the third syllable. Say the following, giving the stress to the syllable shown in capital letters.

Sentence Stress As you have already noticed individual words have a stress pattern, that is, a pattern of strong and weak syllables. Sentences also have a stress pattern, known as a sentence stress. English sentences are uttered; some words or syllables are normally pronounced more loudly than others. In the other words, the words / syllables that are said more loudly are stressed while others are unstressed. The following parts of speech usually stressed in sentences.

Now, repeat the following sentences, giving stress to the words or syllables written in capital letters. • DON’T CALL RANdy. • GO and SPEAK to FLORA. • HURRy and DROP it at HOME. • DAVid PLAYS WELL on the FIELD. • HOW WELL does DAVid PLAY on the field? • DAVid PLAYS VERY WELL on the FIELD. As you can see from these examples, unstressed syllables include prepositions, articles, auxiliaries, and conjunctions. Pronouns and possessives are also unstressed. It is important for you to note that there is normally a space between stressed syllables in a sentence. This space is sometimes filled by unstressed syllables. The space stays more or less the length whether one or more unstressed syllables are fixed into it. For instance, sentence 1,2 and 3 above take about the same length of time to say.

Exercise 2

Summary writing on Currency CURRENCY The use of money for transactions was the most common, though this probably pre-dated by barter. Barter, as a system of exchange, was not as dominant as many anthropologists would want us to believe and the so-called dumb trade whereby traders exchanged goods without any verbal communication was strange in many parts of Nigeria. The country’s commercial transactions were multilateral and too widespread for barter to cope with. There were different kinds of currencies. Cowries, brass, iron, and copper objects were commonly used. Three varieties of currencies were, however, widespread. The first was cloth currency. The use of cotton strips was reported in Borno. The second was metal currency. Copper and iron rods were used in different parts of Nigeria. Manilas, currencies made of brass and copper, were widely used in different parts of Niger Delta. The third variety of currency was cowrie’s shells. They were used in virtually every place. The use of cowries had a long antecedent and it probably spread, at different times, from one area to another until it became popular throughout the country. The cowrie had a number of advantages. It made exchange possible over a wide territory since it was used in many places. Its small size made it easy to carry though it was bulky for large transactions. The cowrie served as an effective measure of value and a unit of account which made it convenient to know the value of one form of goods in relation to another and to fix prices to all kinds of products. Finally, the cowrie could not be forged. Summary question Dumb trade involves a. The use drums to trade b. Lack of any spoken language in trading c. The use of three varieties of currencies d. The use of dumb people to sell How many types of currencies were commonly used? a. Five b. Three c. Four d. Seven The passage seems to suggest that the most widespread variety of currency was a. Metal currency. b. Manilas. c. Cloth currency. d. Cowrie shell. Which of the following is not an advantage of the cowrie? a. It was portable. b. It was widely used. c. It value was easy to measure. d. It could be forged only with difficulty. Which of the following is not supported by the passage? a. The barter system existed earlier than the use of money. b. Cotton strips were used as a variety of money. c. Cowrie spread at different periods. d. Cowrie use did not allow prices to be fixed to all types of communities. Vocabulary Money-related adjectives Complete the word puzzle here by writing the following words across the word GENEROUS. Cues to the answers are given in the questions following the puzzles. Answer the question with the following words given below. The first one has been done for you. • Solvent • Poor • Broke • Stingy • Affluent • Insolent • Mean • Prosperous 1. A person who is stingy is not generous. 2. A --------------------person is successful in earning more or producing great wealth. 3. A ------------------person is unwilling to spend on other people. 4. If you are ------------------- then you have no money to spend. 5. A ------------------ man lacks money or material possessions. 6. An ---------------------- person is unable pay his debts. 7. An -------------------- woman has an abundant of material wealth. 8. If someone is ------------------------, it means they have enough money to cover their expenses and debts. Check your dictionary and use the following money-related nouns in sentences of your own. • Bank statement • Budget shares • Refund • Earnings • Pension • Wallet • Mortgage • Currency • Debt • Investment • Loan The above words are transactional and monetary in nature so the student is expected to be used to this daily monetary words. Any written or stamped promise, certificate, or order, as a government note a bank note, a certificate of deposit, etc., which is payable in standard corned money and is lawfully current in lieu of it; in a comprehensive sense, any currency usually and lawfully employed in buying and selling as a medium of exchanged is regarded as money. By Eguriase S. M. Okaka