內容簡介

一位姓劉的聽眾來信詢問多音節單詞劃分音節的方法。如果一個單詞有一個以上的音節，應怎樣劃分音節？怎樣判斷這類詞的重音在哪里？聽節目，學習英語單詞音節的劃分以及單詞重讀的規則。

歡迎你加入并和我們一起討論英語學習的方方面面。請通過微博 “BBC英語教學” 或郵件與我們取得聯系。我們的郵箱地址是 questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

文字稿

（關于臺詞的備注: 請注意這不是廣播節目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能沒有體現錄制、編輯過程中對節目做出的改變。）

Beth
Hello and welcome to Question and Answer of the Week. I'm Beth.

Jiaying
我是佳瑩。本期節目的問題來自一位姓劉的聽眾。他的問題是：

Question
你好！很喜歡你們的節目。我是一個英語初學者，想問：多音節單詞怎樣劃分音節？

Beth
Thank you for this great question. We should start by thinking about why syllables are important. One of the reasons is to do with stress.

Jiaying
是的。首先我們要知道劃分音節可以幫助我們判斷哪個音節應該重讀。在多音節單詞中，至少有一個主重音。

Beth
Now, native speakers of English do this very naturally. They automatically know where word stress is. But learners of English can find this difficult, and if a word is pronounced with the stress on the wrong syllable, it can be very difficult for people to understand it.

Jiaying
沒錯。即便你表述的句子在語法上是正確的，但一個單詞的重音發音錯誤，就可能讓別人聽不懂你想要表達的意思。

Beth
So, before we talk about how to divide syllables, we need to think about what a syllable is in English and also what sounds they are made of. When we think of syllables, it's important to remember that there is always one vowel sound in each.

Jiaying
記住，每個音節中都包含一個 “vowel（元音）”。它既可以是短元音，比如單詞 “bid” 里面的 /?/；也可以是長元音，比如單詞 “bead” 里面的 /i:/；還可以是雙元音，比如單詞 “bide” 里面的雙元音 /a?/。另外，每個音節都可以分別以 “consonant（輔音）” 開頭和結尾，比如 “dog”；或以輔音組合開頭或結尾，比如 “stamp”。

Beth
It's also possible for the syllable to start with a vowel, such as in 'eat' or to exist without a consonant at all, such as 'eye'.

When you need to pronounce a word with multiple syllables, you need to decide where one syllable ends and the next one begins.

Jiaying
有些音節以元音開頭，比如單詞 “eat”?；蛘咧话簦瑳]有任何輔音，比如 “eye”。

在讀多音節單詞時，需要判斷各個音節從哪里開始，從哪里結束。在 “butter” 這類中間只有一個輔音的單詞中，第二個音節以這個輔音開頭。

Beth
That's right. So, we have 'bu.tter', 'peo.ple', 'be.gi.nner'.

Jiaying
不過，有一些單詞的音節間會有多個輔音。

Beth
Yes, like many words that end in -ing, such as 'camping'.

Jiaying
我們就拿 “camping” 這個詞來看，/m/ 和 /p/ 并不是可行的輔音組合。因此，在劃分 “camping” 的音節時，應該從 /m/和 /p/ 中間劃分開來，第一個音節為 “cam /k?m/”，第二個音節為 “ping /p??/”。

Beth
That means we have 'cam.ping', 'wan.ting' and 'fol.ding'.

Jiaying
在知道如何劃分單詞的音節后，接著要學習不同重音的規則。

Beth
Generally, in words with two syllables, the stress is on the first syllable in nouns – 'tennis', 'picnic', 'table', and also adjectives – 'happy', 'little', 'special'. But, the stress is on the second syllable in verbs with two syllables – 'begin', 'include', 'expect'.

Jiaying
就如 Beth 剛剛說的，在雙音節單詞中，如果是名詞，重音在第一個音節上。這一規則在形容詞中也適用。但在雙音節的動詞中，重音通常在第二個音節上。

在一些雙音節單詞中，音節重音變化，單詞的詞性和含義也會相應發生變化。

Beth
For example, 'present', 'present', 'object', 'object' and 'project', 'project'.

Jiaying
在這幾組詞當中，名詞的重音都在第一個音節上。Beth, can you give us three examples using the nouns 'present', 'object' and 'project'?

Beth
Sure.

I love opening presents on my birthday.

He was holding a strange object in his hands.

This project has taken weeks to complete.

Jiaying
動詞的重音都在第二個音節上。再來聽三個例句。

Beth
I'm going to present my plan for the future of the company.

I object to what you are saying.

When you work in a large theatre, you have to project your voice.

Learners of English need to know where the stress is on words so that they understand when listening and are understood when speaking.

Jiaying
好了，希望在聽了我們的講解后，大家對英語音節的劃分和重音的位置有了更深入的理解。謝謝這位姓劉的聽眾發來的問題。

歡迎大家向我們提問。你可以通過我們的微博賬號 “BBC英語教學” 發送你的問題，也可以將問題發送至：questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Beth
Thank you for listening. Bye!

Jiaying
Bye!