强读和弱读
强读和弱读是英语中独特的, 具有鲜明色彩的特点之一。 英语中大约有50个最常用的单音节词,如 a, of, from, as, and等,它们每个词都有两种不同形式的读音。一种形式叫强读,另一种形式叫弱读。例如, from的强读形式是/frCm/,弱读形式是/frEm/, as的强读形式/Az/, 弱读形式是/Ez/。
当读单词时, 或者在连贯语句中重读时用强读形式。 弱读形式只用于非重读的情况下。关于弱读, 以下有四点是特别要提到的:
1 具有强读和弱读两种形式的单词出现在非重读音节中的次数要比在重读音节中出现的次数多得多。
2 弱读音节出现的频率远远大于强读音节。也可以这样说,在连贯语句中(不是在读单个词的时候),弱读是比强读更正常的现象。
3 弱读形式是中国人学习英语的又一难点。因为我们更习惯于读单词的强读形式,而不是弱读形式,如人们更喜欢把from, of, as, and 读成 /frCm/, /Cv/, /Az/, /And/,而不是/frEm/, /Ev/, /Ez/, /End/。
4 把弱读形式读成强读形式会影响说话的流利程度, 会使说话听起来没有节奏,像是读单词,使应该重读的音节不能突出,因而会造成交际时对方的误解。有些人常常抱怨外国人说话太快听不懂, 实际上并不是听不懂单词, 而是不熟悉英语的语流、节奏 --在相当程度上是因为不熟悉英语弱读形式而造成的。因此, 中国人学英语时, 怎样强调弱读形式的重要性都不会为之过分的。
强读和弱读
由于上述情况, 我们将把重点和更多的篇幅用在连贯语句中单词的弱读形式上。以下几点是学习弱读形式时要记住的:
1. 弱读形式不同于强读形式，因为
1) 弱读形式和强读形式各自的元音不同；
2) 弱读音节中常常省略了某一个音。
2. 大多数有弱读形式的单词中，元音都变成了/E/。例如:
at /Et/
as/Ez/
had /hEd/
must /mEst/
3. 有少数几个单词的弱读形式变成了/i/。例如:
be/bi/
been /bin/
me /mi/
the /Ti/ (在元音前，如 the other /Ti'QTE/)
4. 有时，一些常用词的弱读形式中省略了一个元音。例如:
am /m/
has /z/
have /v/
is /z/
5. 有时，一些常用的弱读形式中省略了一个辅音。例如:
and /En/
have /Ev/
would /Ed/
her /E:/
要在连贯说话中应用弱读形式,不是懂得了道理就能学会的,也不是一朝一夕就能掌握的。需要通过大量的模仿和练习才能学好。
下面所列的是常用单词的弱读形式和例子: (点击例子听声音)
单词弱读形式 例子
a/E/ in a minute
am /Em/What am I to do
/m/ I'm coming.
an /En/an apple
He had an apple.
and /End/in and out
/En/in and out
/nd/ He sat and ate.
/n/bread and butter
are/E/The days are shorter.
The men are away.
as /Ez/ as old as you
at /Et/ all at once
be /bi/ I ought to be going.
been /bin/ She has been out.
but /bEt/ He does but I don't.
单词弱读形式 例子
can /kEn/ It can stand there.
We can take it.
You can go now.
do /du/ So do I.
/dE/ So do they.
/d/How do you do?
does /dEz/ What does that mean?
for /fE/That is for me.
to go for a walk
from /frEm/ It comes from there.
had /hEd/ Had anyone left?
/Ed/ The man had left.
/d/We had already left.
has /hEz/ Has everyone gone?
/Ez/ Lunch has begun.
/z/ He has just arrived.
/s/ It has just come.
have/hEv/ Have any been lost?
/Ev/ What have you done?
/v/ I have never been there.
单词弱读形式 例子
he /hi/ But he said he would.
her /E:/ She had her hair done.
/hE/Her dress looks nice.
/E/ Then I told her.
him，his /im/ /iz/ Give him his money.
is /z/ The table is laid.
He is here.
/s/ My hat is there.
me /mi/ Could you tell me the time?
must /mEst/ You must ask again.
/mEs/ I must go soon.
not /nt/ aren't
/n/ It does not matter.
of /Ev/ one of each
/E/ two or three days
shall /FEl/ Shall I do it?
What shall we do?
should /FEd/ /Fd/ We should have told you.
sir /sE/ No, sir.
Sir James
some/sEm/ /sm/ Have you had some bread?
than /TEn/ /Tn/ better than that
that /TEt/I saw that it was useless.
on the day that I left
the /Ti/ the other day
/TE/What is the time
them /TEm/ /Tm/Tell them what to do.
there /TE/ There is nothing left.
There are not enough.
till /tl/ not till tomorrow
to /tu/I want to ask you.
They hope to win.
I am going to London.
/tE/ They want to leave today.
us/Es/ Tell us at once.
/s/Let's go now.
was /wEz/That was a mistake.
were /wE/They were very pleased.
We were all here.
will /l/That will be enough.
would /Ed/What would you do
/d/ I would like to tell him.
you /ju/I can still see you.
弱读形式
（点击单词或句子听声音）
除此以外,日常口语中通常用的缩略形式也可以看成是一种弱读形式。以下所列的是我们最常见的:
原来形式 弱读形式 拼法
we are /wiE/ we're
you are /juE/ you're
they are /'TeiE/they're
cannot /kB:nt/can't
do not /dEunt/ don't
will not /wEunt/ won't
shall not /FB:nt/shan't
must not /'mEsnt/mustn't
当然,也有少数情况需要用强读形式(尽管在句中没有重音)。遇到以下这些情况时,一般不用弱读形式而用强读形式:
助动词：
am /Am/ - Who is coming?
- 'I 'am.
can /kAn/ - Can anyone here speak French?
- Yes, 'I 'can.
has /hAz/ They have not gone, but 'he 'has.
will /wil/ - Will you go or shall I?
-'I 'will.
注意: 只有在用简略回答的时候，助动词才用强读形式。如果把句子说完整了，这些助动词仍然需用弱读形式，如：
Who is coming?-- I am coming. /aim 'kQmiN/
介词：
at/At/What are you looking 'at?
for/fC:/What is he waiting 'for?
from /frCm/ Where did you get it 'from?
of /Cv/What was she thinking 'of?
注意: 一般来说，所有的介词(除to外)在句尾的时候要用强读形式。此外，如果介词后面跟着一个不重读的人称代词，这些介词也要用强读形式，如：
I've been waiting for you.
/aiv bin 'weitiN 'fC: ju:/
I'm expecting to hear from him.
/aim iks 'pektiN tE 'hiE 'frCm him/
在学习英语的过程中，无论是听录音还是看电影，你都会被英语美妙动听的音调和节奏所吸引。就像音乐一样，似乎英语也有着上下起伏、时快时慢的节奏和美丽的旋律。的确是这样，英语给人的感觉像流水一样，它像波浪一样起伏，也像江河水一样连续不断。人们把流利的英语形容为"语流好"、"节奏美"，就是这个道理。
在连贯说话时，语流的好坏、语调的正确与否主要决定于重音、节奏和语调。人们学习音乐的时候发现音乐有节拍，有自己的节奏和旋律。学说英语很像学音乐。英语的重音就是节拍，英语也有自己的节奏,英语的语调就是旋律。英语的单音和一个个音节像是音乐中的一个个音符。当然，只有让这一个个音符跳动起来才能成为和谐的音乐，才能表达意思，抒发情感。同样，只有让这一个个音节跳动起来才能成为生动的语言，才能传递信息，交流感情。能使这些音节跳动起来成为完整语言的就是重音、节奏和语调。可以看出重音、节奏和语调这三者是一个有机的整体，是不可分割的。只是为了教学的便利，我们才分别来讨论它们。
需要强调的另一点是，正确地发出每一个单音固然重要，但更重要的是语流。因为语流会直接影响交际时的效果。经常会遇到这样的情况，某人单音发得很好，但用英语与英美人士交谈时，效果却不好。对方说听不懂他的话，而他却抱怨对方说话"又快又吞音节"。原因很简单，是他没有掌握好比单音更重要的重音、节奏和语调。
重音分单词重音和语句重音两种。关于单词重音我们已经概括地讲过了。这里再就单词重音的规则作进一步说明。
只要是两个音节以上的单词都有一个重音，一些长的单词有两个重音，极少数的词有三个重音。英语单词重音的位置可以在任何一个音节上。在遇到一个新单词时，一般情况下，最可靠的办法是查字典，按照音标来读音。不过，有一些单词的重音是可以找到规律的，可以根据它们的拼法、前后缀等来判断。
以下一些规则可供学习重音时参考－
看看以下这篇短文,并数一数出现了多少个/E/的音?
Income Tax
One day a teacher was giving her young students a lesson on how the government works. She was trying to explain the principle of income tax.
"You see," she began, speaking slowly and carefully, "each person who works must pay part of his or her salary to the government. If you make a high salary, your taxes are high. If you don't make much money, your taxes are low."
"Is that clear?" she asked. "Does everyone understand the meaning of income tax?" The students nodded.
"Are there any questions?" she asked. The students shook their heads.
"Very good," she said. "Now, I would like you to take a piece of paper and write a short paragraph on the subject of income tax."
Little Joy was a slow learner. He had lots of problems with spelling and grammar, but this time at least he seemed to understand the assignment. He grabbed his pen, and after a few minutes, he handed the teacher the following composition:
Once I had a dog. His name was Tax.
I opened the door and in come Tax.
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