Segmental vs. Suprasegmental

Segmental vs. Suprasegmental

1. Segmental

   • Investigation of phonetic or phonological details
   • Is generally assumed that each phoneme is a segment of speech
   • Examples:
     • Look at that rock!
     • He beat the dog

2. Suprasegmental

   • Here we can look at larger chunks of speech Segment series: words, complete sentences
     • Word Stress
       • Is
         • syllable property
       • Can change
         • The meaning of the word
       • Produces
         • Unstressed syllables
         • Stressed syllables
       • They have 3 levels
         • primary (indicated by ˈ)
         • secondary (indicated by ˌ)
         • Third is the completely Unstressed
     • length
       • Is
         • Time duration of speech sound
     • Tone
       • It is produced by
         • Pitch rhythms
     • Intonation
       • Is produced by
         • Different pitches
   • Examples:
     • “Was that a problem?” “Yes, it was a huuuge problem.”
     • “Did that happen recently?” “No. It was a loooong time ago.”

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