What are weak forms? - Connected Speech | English Pronunciation

TLDR;

This video provides a detailed explanation of weak forms in English, which are unstressed pronunciations of words in connected speech. It covers the difference between weak and full forms, the reasons for their existence due to English being a stress-timed language, and common examples of weak forms with practical sentence demonstrations. The video also includes a test to help viewers recognise weak forms in spoken sentences.

• Weak forms are unstressed words in natural speech where vowel sounds are often reduced to a schwa.
• Content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) are stressed, while grammatical words (articles, prepositions, auxiliaries) are often unstressed and appear in weak forms.
• English is a stress-timed language, meaning the time between stressed syllables is consistent, causing unstressed words to be shortened.

What are weak forms - INTRO [0:00]

Weak forms are unstressed words in spoken English that occur when speaking naturally. These words, or rather the sounds in their syllables, are unstressed, leading to vowel reduction. The vowel sound is shortened, often becoming a schwa sound, which is a short, neutral vowel sound represented as "uh". For example, the word "some" can be pronounced with a full vowel sound when stressed, but in its weak form, it's pronounced with a schwa.

Weak forms vs. full forms [2:10]

The difference between full and weak forms can be understood through an analogy. A full form is like a carefully taken photograph where you're looking your best, while a weak form is like a candid, everyday snapshot. It's the same word, but the full form is stressed and pronounced clearly, while the weak form is relaxed and unstressed, occurring in normal sentences.

Why do we have weak forms? Content words vs. grammatical words [3:40]

Weak forms exist because English is a stress-timed language, where content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) are stressed to convey important information, while grammatical words (articles, prepositions, auxiliaries) are usually unstressed. The time between stressed words remains consistent, causing unstressed words to be spoken more quickly and reduced to weak forms, often with a schwa sound. This creates two pronunciations for many words: a full form and a weak form. Recognising both is crucial for understanding natural spoken English.

Common weak forms [6:20]

Several common words have weak forms. The word "are" (from the verb "to be") is often reduced to a schwa sound. For example, in the sentence "They are studying," "are" is unstressed and pronounced as a short "uh" sound. Similarly, the verb "do" often reduces to a short "duh" sound when used as an auxiliary verb. The word "to" is commonly reduced to "tuh" with a schwa. The possessive adjective "your" is often reduced to "yuh," also with a schwa sound. The verb "have" can be reduced to "huh" or even "uh," sometimes dropping the "h" sound entirely. The pronoun "we" typically reduces from a long "ee" sound to a short "ih" sound.

Summary: weak forms [15:20]

A summary of the weak forms discussed highlights that full forms contain long vowel sounds, while weak forms contain short vowel sounds, often the schwa. Many other words frequently appear in weak forms because they don't carry significant information but are essential for grammatical structure. Examples include "been," "will," "would," "were," "has," "he," "her," "for," "from," "of," "than," "as," "are," and "or."

TEST 'Can you recognise the weak forms?' [17:04]

Test your understanding of weak forms by identifying them in sentences. In the sentence "We have lived here for years," the stressed words are "lived," "here," and "years." The words "we," "have," and "for" are unstressed and appear in their weak forms, with "have" often contracted to "'ve" and "for" reduced to "fuh." In the sentence "I picked them up at the school," the stressed words are "picked," "up," and "school," while "I," "them," "at," and "the" are reduced.