Unit 32. We Stuck a Picture of an Elephant.

Breaking speech into units
Unit 32; Part A
![]() // I can rememher as children// we were rather naughty// once// we stuck a picture// of an elephant// on the back of Dad's coat// before he went out// of course he couldn't see it// so he didn't know why everyone was laughing at him// until he got to work// and took it off// We call these speech units and mark them with //. |
Unit 32; Part B
Although there are no rules about how we divide speech into units,some words are more likely to go together than others in order to helpmake sense of the message. For example: // we stuck a picture// of an elephant// is more likely than: // we stuck a// picture of an elephant// or: // we stuck a picture of// an elephant// // until he got to work// and took it off// is more likely than: // until he got to// work and took it off// or: // until he got to work and took// it off// |
Unit 32; Part C
Sometimes the division of speech into units can make a diference in meaning: (i) // we were rather naughty// once// we stuck a picture// of an elephant// ... (ii) // we were rather naughty once// we stuck a picture// of an elephant// ... In (i), 'once' goes with 'we stucka picture of an elephant' and shows that the speaker is giving anexample of the many times they were naughty. In (ii), 'once' goes with 'we were naughty' and suggests that we were naughty only one time. (iii) // before he went out// of course he couldn't see it// (iv) // before he went out of course// he couldn't see it// In (iii), 'of course' goes with 'he couldn't see it' and means that it is obvious that he couldn't see it. In (iv), 'of course' goes with 'before he went out' and means that it is obvious that we stuck it on his coat before he went out. |
Unit 32; Part D
When we want to emphasise words in order to draw particular attention to them, we can put them into very short speech units: // we were rather naughty// or for emphasis: // we were rather// naughty// // on the back of Dad's coat// or for emphasis: // on the back// of Dad's// coat// |
Unit 32; Part E
Within speech units, words are usually linked smoothly together, without pauses between them (see also Unit 26): // I can remember as children// /r/ // of course he couldn 't see it// /j/ // until he got_to work// |
Exercises
![]() | Unit 31 Unit 32 Unit 33 | ![]() |