Some words of two syllables have the stress on the first or the second syllable according to their place in the sentence. Consider the accent of the italicised words in the following sentences: They sat outside. An outside passenger. Among the Chinese. A Chinese lantern. His age is fifteen. I have fifteen shillings. Some fell by the wayside. A wayside inn. Try to find a rule governing these cases.
The stresses in a sentence are considered in § 54.
When would be pronounced as voiceless [ʍ] by some, hardly by a southern English nurse saying the rime (§ 46). Notice how the tongue moves forward as the [n] passes over into the [ð] in when the.
Was is in the weak form because it is quite unstressed; but notice: [wɛːə ju riːəli ðɛːə? jes, ai wɔz].
52. In opened, observe carefully how the consonants are articulated, and put their action down in writing.
How many syllables are there in opened, bubbles, chasms, mittens?
Probably you have no difficulty in understanding and answering this question, but if asked to describe a syllable you might hesitate, for it is not easy.
Utter [ɑ] and then [t]; which carries farther, which has greater fulness of sound or sonority? If you wished to attract the attention of some one, and were only allowed to utter one of these two sounds, you would prefer [ɑ] without hesitation. Why is [ɑ] more sonorous than [t]? Because, whereas [t] is only a brief noise, in [ɑ] the current of breath is rendered musical by the vibration of the vocal chords, and has a free passage through the wide open mouth. Indeed [ɑ] is the most sonorous of all sounds. It is clear that voiced sounds are more sonorous than voiceless, vowels than consonants, continuants than stops. The liquids and nasals stand between vowels and consonants in point of sonority; they are voiced and with either a fair passage through the mouth or a free passage through the nose. A good deal naturally depends on the force and the pitch of the sounds; a whispered [ɑ] may not carry so far as a forcible .