Words might be classified as grammatical and content words. Grammatical
or functional words don't have dictionary meaning while content words have
lexical meanings in dictionary. Some grammatical words may be pronounced in two
ways which are called strong form and weak forms. For example, the word "that” in the sentence: "That is a book” is pronounced in two different
ways. It might be pronounced with strong form /ðӕt/ or with weak form /ðət/. The
difference between the two forms can effect on the meaning of the sentence.
Here is an example to show how strong form of a single word "that” can change the entire meaning of the sentence:
"John thinks that man is evil.”
This version of the sentence, with the weak (unstressed) form of that /ðət/, means "John thinks all humans are evil”. While if the sentence is
uttered with a strong form (stressed) "that” /ðӕt/, it will be understood as
"John thinks a
specific male (individual) is evil.”
Weak forms of grammatical words should be distinguished from contracted
form (I shall = I'll), (we have = we've). The change in the former (the first
one) is only in pronunciation while the change in the latter (the second one)
is in spelling and pronunciation (contract
