LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 25:7 July 2025
ISSN 1930-2940

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The Realisation of Strong Forms and Weak Forms in Nepali English: A Phonetic Study

Nisha Upadhayaya

Abstract

The study investigates how Nepali speakers of English use strong forms and weak forms in their speech. The research delves into the nature of functional words, which have both strong and weak forms, while identifying issues concerning the use of these forms by Nepali English speakers. It examines the pattern of weak forms in Nepali English, analysing speech samples from 10 Nepali-speaking graduate students of Assam. The test materials have been enriched by the utilisation of sentences that include various functional words by speakers. The sound recording software 'Praat' recorded all the speech samples. The data is analysed phonetically on different parameters, with the researcher providing the phonetic description based on auditory impressions of the recorded data. The study suggests that insufficient exposure to native speech and the prominent influence of the mother tongue account for the inappropriate use of the weak forms because speakers' relative success in approaching the target language is their ability to disassociate L2 speech from the repertoire of L1 phonemes and allophones.

Keywords:strong forms, weak forms, Nepali English, functional words, L1 influence

Introduction

Strong forms and weak forms are possible pronunciations of a word in the context of connected speech (Crystal, 2008). In response to the rhythmic pressures occurring in the sentences, vast numbers of words in English may vary their form by losing weak syllables entirely or by reducing their articulation.

It is important to know that English, like many other languages, distinguishes between content (or lexical) words and function (or grammatical) words. Content words receive strong form pronunciation as they carry new information and tend to be stressed. They are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Functional words, on the other hand, carry little information and are generally not stressed in connected speech. These functional words have strong and weak forms. When they are not stressed, weak-form pronunciation is used. The present research delves into the nature of functional words. They are articles, determiners, conjunctions, pronouns, prepositions and auxiliary verbs.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Nisha Upadhayaya
Research Scholar
Department of Linguistics and Phonetics
The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad
nishakniit29@gmail.com
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