Comprehension: Speech work: Introduction to syllable

A syllable represents a unit of pronunciation which is uttered with one breath effort,

Examples: Words with one syllable: go, come, take and see.

Words with two syllables: ad/mit, ba/by, a/bove

Words with three syllables: beau/ti/ful, car/pen/ ter.

Words with four syllables:phi/lo/so/phy, in/for/ma/tion.

In every word in English which has two or more syllables, one of the syllables is pronounced with more force or energy than the others. That syllable is  louder and longer and is said with a higher pitch of voice than others, such a syllable is said to be stressed,e.g teacher /ti: t/ʃ∂/ has two syllables.

The force used in pronouncing the first syllables is stronger than the second syllable. In other words, the first syllable is stressed while the second is unstressed,

Evaluation: Divide the following words into syllables: Education, examination, ignorance, emblem, morale, photography, information, afternoon, distribution, composition.

Reading Assignment: Page 296 of Countdown.

B.  Spelling: Homophones

Homophones: These are words that have the same sound but different forms (spelling and meanings

Evaluation: Write ten pairs of homophones.

Reading Assignment: page 183 of Countdown.

C: Structure: Punctuations, Question Marks, Apostrophe and Exclamation.

Content: Question Marks, Apostrophe and Exclamation.

Question mark/?/:Is used to end sentences that ask for a reply e.g.

Will you give me a book?

Will he come?

Note question marks are not used in indirect questions e.g.

He inquired why I was late to school? (wrong)

Many questions are signaled by question words like ‘who’, ‘which’, ‘why’, whose’ ‘whom, ‘when’, what’ ‘where’, and ‘how’ e.g.

 (a)Whose clothes are these?

 (ii)Some questions are merely indicated by the question mark

• He is meeting me after school. (statement)
• He is meeting me after school? (correct)

 (iii)Some questions are signaled by the reversal of the normal subject /verb or auxiliary order.

• Should I ask my mother for the money?
• Have they finished eating?

Note: Do not use a comma or full-stop after a question mark.

‘Is she ready? ‘, she asked (wrong)

‘Is she ready?’ She asked (correct)

 (iv) A question mark  (within parentheses) is used to express the writer’s uncertainty as to the correctness of the preceding words, figure or date, e.g. Okafor was born in 1098 (?)

Apostrophe: /’/

The apostrophe like the capital letter is strictly a written symbol, so we cannot hear it when we read a sentence aloud. The apostrophe is the punctuation mark which is most often wrongly used. It’s used in the following contexts.

To show that something belongs to, or is related to something.

It is used to form possessive form of nouns. The possessive shows where or to whom something belongs. It must follow something. The must be a first noun followed by the apostrophe and‘s’ then a second noun.

This is John’s pen.

It is nobody’s business.

We met at Joe’s house.

Note the following:

To show possessive form we have a choice between ‘of’ and‘s’ people however prefer using the ‘of’ form for inanimate nouns and‘s’ for the animate:

1 (a) The River’s bank  (awkward)

 (b)The bank of the river  (correct)

2 (a) the house’s colour  (awkward)

 (B) Color of the house  (correct)

3 (a) the boy’s shirt  (correct)

4 (a) the teacher’s book  (correct)

Possessive form for plural nouns ending in‘s’ is only the apostrophe sign/’/

The‘s is only added to nouns and not to possessive pronouns: hers, yours, its, ours, yours, theirs, so do not add apostrophe‘s’ to them

• These are ours.
• Those are theirs.

Personal names ending in‘s’ normally take the full‘s’ ending: Keats poems, James park.

The apostrophe is used to denote that some letters have been left out from a word. This is usually the case when two words have been joined to form a new word.i.e word contraction.

EXCLAMATION MARK/! /

They are not usually used in composition. They are however very good for advertising. The exclamation point is used to indicate special emphasis; it shows surprise, urgency, incredibility or strong emotion. It may follow a single word, a group of words or even a complete statement:

Do not use a comma or full-stop after an exclamation point

Wrong: ‘Halt! Cried the man.

Right:”Halt”! Cried the man.

Evaluation: Write five sentences making use of the punctuation taught.

Reading Assignment: page 53-54 of Complete Course for Sec. Schools

Weekend Assignment: Question 60-71, page 368-370 of Countdown by Evans.