词汇大师-- Talking in Rhythm

　　AA:   I'm Avi Arditti and this week on WORDMASTER: our guest is linguist¹ Herb Stahlke to talk about rhythm in English speech.

　　HERB STAHLKE: "Learners of English really have to master the rhythms of English early, and the teaching has to be aimed at rhythm, because the structure of an English sentence is determined² so much by the rhythm of speech. And English speech rhythms are really characteristically English -- very different from other languages. And if you can spend time getting those rhythms down, then the words will fit in better."
AA: "What are some really common rhythms in English?"
HERB STAHLKE: "In English we have strongly stressed syllables⁴ that we have at roughly equal intervals⁵ when we're speaking. And then we have weakly stressed syllables that get kind of scrunched⁷ up in between the strong stresses. And we can have a sentence like 'John left' -- two stresses, two words. 'JOHN'S gonna LEAVE,' and the reason we say 'gonna' instead of 'is going to' is because we've got to fit it between those two stresses.
"And it's those unstressed syllables that we have to scrunch⁶ down and fit into the space between the stresses that lead to what some people call sloppy⁸ speaking but which is in fact really good English speaking, because that's what gives English its rhythm. And if you don't speak English with that rhythm, English speakers will have a hard time understanding it."
AA: "So you've got to master some of those reductions [gonna, for example]."
HERB STAHLKE: "That's right."
AA: "What's another common rhythm?"
HERB STAHLKE: "Well, on top of those rhythms we've got something called accent, where what you're doing is identifying the most important thing in a sentence. So usually it comes toward the end. I could say 'I'm going to the STORE after supper.' 'I'm going to the STORE after supper.' Store is what's important there -- 'I'm going to the STORE after supper.'
"But that accent can go in various different places, and it's kind of independent of the rhythm. And that idea that you can make one word or one syllable³ stand out is really important to how we put meaning together. And a lot of other languages don't work that way."
AA: "So, right, if you emphasized 'I'm GOING to the store after dinner' that has a different -- I guess that would have a different meaning. Or if you say 'I'm going to the store after DINNER -- "
HERB STAHLKE: "Yeah."
AA: "Then you're emphasizing that, and that has its own meaning. You're sort of emphasizing when you're going."
HERB STAHLKE: "That's right."
AA: "And is there another sort of rhythm that comes up that may take some work learning for English learners?"
HERB STAHLKE: "Well, there's a lot of work involved in mastering this layering of the regular rhythm, roughly equally spaced stresses, and layering accent on top of that to show what's important.
"That's the kind of things that if you get students practicing that early on, their speech is going to be a lot more comprehensible. And ultimately they're going to understand more easily, too, because they'll understand why all these reductions occur."
AA: "What sorts of tips do you have for teachers who are trying to teach this to non-native English speakers -- how to gain some skill with first recognizing the rhythms, and then mastering them?"
HERB STAHLKE: "There are some good sources out there that have been in use for a while. Oh, it came out in the seventies, was something called 'Jazz Chants' -- "
AA: "By Carolyn Graham."
HERB STAHLKE: "Yeah, right, where you've got rhythmic⁹ speech, hand clapping involved with it, or any other kind of rhythm reinforcement that you can get, and the idea is to do a lot of that early. We learn -- speakers of any language learn the melodies and rhythms of their mother tongue before they're born, when you hear melody and rhythm in the womb. And so you know that when you're born, which means that it's really deeply planted in us. And when you start learning another language, what you automatically do is you import your own rhythm and melody into that new language, and it's not going to work."
AA:   Linguist Herb Stahlke is professor emeritus¹⁰ in the English department at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. And that's WORDMASTER for this week. Archives are at voanews.com/wordmaster. And our e-mail address is [email protected]. I'm Avi Arditti.

1 linguist   

n.语言学家；精通数种外国语言者

参考例句：

• I used to be a linguist till I become a writer.过去我是个语言学家，后来成了作家。
• Professor Cui has a high reputation as a linguist.崔教授作为语言学家名声很高。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

4 syllables   

n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a word with two syllables 双音节单词
• 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓，它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

5 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

6 scrunch   

v.压，挤压；扭曲（面部）

参考例句：

• The sand on the floor scrunched under our feet.地板上的沙子在我们脚下嘎吱作响。
• Her mother was sitting bolt upright, scrunching her white cotton gloves into a ball.她母亲坐得笔直，把她的白手套揉成了球状。

7 scrunched   

v.发出喀嚓声( scrunch的过去式和过去分词 )；蜷缩；压；挤压

参考例句：

• The snow scrunched underfoot. 雪在脚下发出嘎吱嘎吱的声音。
• He scrunched up the piece of paper and threw it at me. 他把那张纸揉成一个小团，朝我扔过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。

9 rhythmic   

adj.有节奏的，有韵律的

参考例句：

• Her breathing became more rhythmic.她的呼吸变得更有规律了。
• Good breathing is slow,rhythmic and deep.健康的呼吸方式缓慢深沉而有节奏。

10 emeritus   

adj.名誉退休的

参考例句：

• "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
• He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。