What is an example of a supra segmental phoneme?

Answer 1

All languages in the world have a feature of stress, but what is important to note is whether that stress is 'phonemic' or 'phonetic'. If the stress is phonemic, it means with a change of stress the meaning will change. If there is no change of meaning, the stress is phonetic. All this is very important with reference to English as it is a stress timed language and stress in English is a phonemic feature, and not just a phonetic one. If you are teaching English as a second or foreign language this is very important. Segmental features, that is consonant sounds and vowel sounds, are less important than supra segmental features because the intelligibility of English does not depend so much on segmenatl features as it depends on suprasegmental features. Here are a couple of typical examples:

1. John's friend Tom has just brought two very fine old paintings.

2. It would have been better not to have paid for it before you'd received it.

It is obvious that the number of words in the second sentence is more than in the first. But the number of stressed syllables in the first is more than in the second. Therefore, the time required for saying/ uttering the first one would be obiously more than the second. All this is important for students who are learning English as a second or foreign language.

As for segmental phonemes, while the distinction between /p/ and /b/ , for example, is important for all learners, the differences in the /p/ sounds in examples such as 'pot', 'spot', 'topmost' and 'top' are of less importance to the second/foreign language learner.

Answer 2

Pitch and intonation are examples of supra-segmental phonemes, as they refer to the variations in speech that occur across larger units of speech, such as phrases or sentences, rather than individual phonemes or sounds. These features can affect the meaning or expression of speech.