Rhythm
Rhythm: The Flow of Speech
In English, some words receive stress more than other words. The way certain words are emphasized reveals a rhythm, or flow, to spoken language. This happens because sounds are naturally linked, reduced, or changed to make the listener pay closer attention to certain words or phrases and ignore others. The stresses of English determine its rhythm. Understanding rhythm is important to effective communication.
For example, contractions are reduced for more flowing speech.
- I am sure she will go. (6 words)
Native speakers of English would reduce the sentence to:
- I’m sure she’ll go. (4 words)
The reduced sentence sounds smoother in addition to being shorter. The reduced sentence is also grammatically correct. The first sentence lacks rhythm because it sounds too formal and mechanical.
Short sentences and phrases are often linked. This makes a sentence sound like one word:
For example:
- My name is Ed.
After linking may sound like:
- Myname’sEd.
In spoken English, speakers almost always change words and phrases by blending. Here is a common English greeting:
- It is nice to meet you.
Just as in the above example, this sentence spoken word-by-word lacks rhythm. Here is the sentence as a native speaker of English may say it:
- It’snicetomeetcha.
The words It is and nice are blended together to sound like: It’snice.
The words to meet you change to: ta-meet-cha.
Just as reading occurs in word groups, so does speaking. English speakers divide phrases into logical word groups.
- I walk in the park every day for exercise.
The sentences changes in spoken English to include natural pauses after each word group:
- I walk • in the park • every day • for exercise.
See the lesson on chunking for more information.