Prominence refers to the words in spoken language that the speaker wants to highlight, or put the focus on. Prominent words are stressed by speaking slower, louder, and usually at a higher pitch. Sometimes promincence is used to put emphasis on a particular idea, for example to contrast it with a word that came before. However, we actually use prominence every time we say something: every spoken utterance, no matter how short and how neutral in its intent, will include a prominent word.
Regular prominent words
Typically, the last content word in a thought group receives prominence. Take a look at this sentence:
"My dad walked to a MUSEUM / and learned a lot about ART."
There are two thought groups in it, and both of them end with a prominent word (marked in green). The bolded syllables in each word receive more stress than any other syllable in the thought group, meaning they are "stretched out" and often pronounced louder and with a higher pitch.
Prominence used to emphasize meaning
Now look at the example below:
"My DAD walked to a museum, / not my MOTHER."
In this sentence, the word "dad" is given prominence to clarify information and contrast it with the word "mom" in the next thought group. We can assume that the speaker is responding to someone who thought it was the mom that went to the museum.
Almost every word in a thought group can be given prominence to affect meaning. Look at the sentences below:
MY dad walked to a museum." > Not someone else's dad
My dad WALKED to a museum. > He didn't drive
My dad went TO a museum. >He didn't come from a museum
My dad went to A museum. > Not the museum you're thinking about
In ShadowTalk's practice recordings, all prominent words will be marked for you in green, and their stressed syllable will be underlined. Be sure to stress the underlined green syllable by pronouncing it longer and with more emphasis that any other in the thought group.
💡Learn next: Intonation, or the final piece of the puzzle.