Reading may look silent, but the mind often gives it a voice.
Let’s look a little closer.
EL·e·phant
rhi·NOC·er·os
hip·po·POT·a·mus
kan·ga·ROO
Some syllables stand out.
PHO·to·graph
pho·TOG·ra·phy
pho·to·GRAPH·ic
Even related words can carry the beat in different places.
The hippopotamus snorted loudly at the water’s edge.
The hip·po·POT·a·mus SNORT·ed LOUD·ly at the WA·ter’s EDGE.
Stress creates a beat across connected words.
The band will play tonight at school.
the BAND will PLAY to·NIGHT at SCHOOL
ta-DUM · ta-DUM · ta-DUM · ta-DUM
A lighter syllable can lead into the beat.
Drama students practiced loudly.
DRA·ma STU·dents PRAC·ticed LOUD·ly
DUM-ta · DUM-ta · DUM-ta · DUM-ta
The beat can also come first.
Sentences can have different beat patterns.
The hippopotamus snorted loudly at the water’s edge.
The hippopotamus │ snorted loudly │ at the water’s edge.
Readers group words into meaningful phrases.
Let’s eat Grandma.
Let’s eat │ Grandma.
Let’s eat, Grandma.
Grouping changes meaning.
One word, three voices.
Listen to each one.
Same word. Different voice.
Punctuation helps shape the voice.
Transcript
The same word, really, spoken three ways — settling like a statement, rising like a question, and jumping with surprise.
Meaning
Intonation
Phrasing
Rhythm
Stress
Words
With stress, rhythm, phrasing, and intonation, readers turn print back into a voice.
Prosody Trainer
An interactive laboratory where people discover how the mind brings written language to life.
I’ve been listening all along.
Now you can hear it too.