Introduction to English Pronunciation
In English word stress is irregular.
That is, unlike e.g. Spanish or
Polish,
there are no general patterns for
predicting where the stress should
fall.
There are rules but these are
complicated. And there many
exceptions to
the rules. English word stress is
probably best acquired by listening
rather
than by trying to learn the rules.
However, word stress has a
profound
e ect on intelligibility and there are
some rules which can help. Before
looking at some examples, we
should...
distinguish between
morphologically simple and
complex words.
If a word contains a;xes (i.e.
pre<xes or su;xes) or is a
compound,
it is complex.
consider the word class (i.e.
adjective/noun/etc.).
count the number of syllables.
decide whether the syllable is
strong or weak.
A strong syllable has a rhyme
which contains:
1. a long vowel or a diphthong.
2. a vowel followed by a coda (i.e.
one or more
consonants).
A weak syllable has a nucleus/peak
which is a short vowel with no
coda unless the short vowel is /ə/
OR /i/ or /u/.
STRESS CONCLUSIONS
Mistakes in word stress are a common cause of misunderstanding in English.
Stressing a word differently can change the meaning or type of the word.
In English word stress is irregular. There are rules but these are complicated. And there are many exceptions
to
the rules. English word stress is probably best acquired by listening rather than by trying to learn the rules.
However, there are some rules which can help, we should...
distinguish between morphologically simple and complex words.
consider the word class (i.e. adjective/noun/etc.).
count the number of syllables.
decide whether the syllable is strong or weak.
Linguistics agree that there are at least 3 levels of stress in English – three levels of prominence that a
syllable can have against its surroundings. Those levels are often called, primary (the most prominent),
secondary (the second most prominent), and tertiary – or “weak” (the least prominent).
Stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word or to certain words in a phrase
or sentence. In a long word (more than 2 syllables) only one syllable gets the prominent stress and in one
phrase certain words get it.
Word stress and sentence stress can help you to understand spoken English, especially when spoken fast.
Some words can be a noun or a verb without changing their spelling.
When a noun (a word referring to a person, thing, place or abstract quality) or an adjective (a word that gives
information about a noun) has two syllables, the stress is usually on the first syllable.
Stress on first syllable
Most two syllable Nouns: PREsent /ˈpreznt/
Most two syllable adjectives: PRE sent /ˈpreznt/
When a verb (a word referring to an action, event or state of being) or a preposition (a word that comes
before a noun, pronoun or the “-ing” form of a verb, and shows its relation to another word or part of the
sentence) has two syllables, the stress is usually on the second syllable.
Stress on the second syllable
Most two syllable verbs: preSENT /prɪˈzent/
In some cases, adding a suffix will result a movement of the stress from one syllable to another.
Suffixes that attract the Stress on the last syllable
Words ending in: -ade -aire -ee -eer -ese -ette -oo -que -sce -oon
STRESS-IMPOSING SUFFIX
Suffixes that attract the Stress on the penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)
Words ending in: -ia -ial -ble -ic(s) -ian -ient -ious -ish -osis -sion –tion
A change of suffix not only brings about a shift in stress but also a change in the accompanying vowel
reduction or neutralization in the unstressed syllables.
PREsent /ˈpreznt/ Presentable /prɪˈzentəbl/
STRESSED SUFFIX
Suffixes that attract the Stress on the ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)
Words ending in: -cy, -ty, -phy –gy -ate -cy –eous -ical -ify -nal -itive -ity -ize -phy –ogy
PREsenTAtional /ˌpreznˈteɪʃənl/
NEUTRAL SUFFIXES
Neutral suffixes do not affect the main word stress, and don’t cause the stress to shift when they are added.
These include the grammatical (“weak”) endings. Most word-building suffixes in English are neutral
suffixes.
Suffixes that do not affect stress patterns
Words ending in –al –ally –ess –ful –ish –less –ly –hood -ship
Presently /ˈprezntli/
Compound words (words with two parts)
teaspoon
newsletter /ˈnjuːzletə(r)/ a report containing news of the activities of a club
news letter /,njuːz ˈletə(r)/ news printed messages that are put in an envelope
For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part BLACKbird, GREENhouse
For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned
For compound verbs, the stress is on the second partunderSTAND, overflow
Presenteeism
/ˌpreznt ˈdeɪ/
It is traditionally called primary stress or main stress, for obvious reasons, while the other type of major
stress is usually referred to as secondary stress. Secondary stress is optional, basically it only appears in
longer English words under very specific circumstances
. Compound nouns
The rule: In most compound nouns (a noun made up of two or more existing words), the word stress is on
the first noun.
Examples:
football /FOOT-ball/
keyboard /KEY-board/
8. Compound adjectives and verbs
The rule: In most compound adjectives (a single adjective made of more than one word and often linked
with a hyphen) and compound verbs (a multi-word verb that functions as a single verb), the stress is on the
second word.
Examples:
old-fashioned /old-FA-shioned/
understand /un-der–STAND/
