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The nature of stressDr. Marga Vinagre

Department of English Studies

UAM

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The Nature of StressHow to identify Stressed syllable - Production: using more muscular energy than is used for unstressed

syllables. - Perception: perceiving stressed syllables as more prominent than

unstressed ones.**(more prominent) louder, longer, has a higher pitch, and has a vowel of a certain

quality.

How to mark a stressed syllable placing the mark [] before the stressed syllable. Examples: - The first syllable in ‘father’ is marked high up with []

because it is stressed /f:/. - The middle syllable in ‘apartment’ is marked high up with [] because it

is stressed /p:tmnt/. - The final syllable in ‘receive’ is marked high up with [] because it is

stressed /rsi:v/

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Levels of Stress

Two-level analysis: stressed and unstressed syllables.

E.g. The second syllable in ‘around’ has a higher pitch (hence, stressed) /rand/

Three-level analysis: primary [], secondary [], and unstressed syllables.

E.g. in the word ‘photographic’ the most stressed syllable is the third one; so it has a primary stress []. The second and last syllables are unstressed. There is a type of stress weaker than the primary stress and stronger than the unstressed syllables; this syllable has a secondary stress []. /fə.təgræf.k/

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Placement of Stress within the word

How can we select the correct syllable to stress in an English word? There is a set of rules governing the placement of stress in nouns, verbs, and adjectives even though there are some exceptions. When placing stress, it is necessary to consider the following: Morphologically simple or complex wordSimple words consist of one morpheme ( one grammatical unit). They may include one syllable (like ‘cat’) or more than one syllable (like ‘father’) . Complex words consist of more than one morpheme ( more than one grammatical unit). E.g. affixinated words, compound words.the grammatical category of the word: Noun, verb, -----etc. how many syllables in the word strong or weak syllable: weak syllables are always unstressed; strong syllables can be stressed or unstressed. Compare: the first and second syllables in ‘potato’ /ptt/; ‘open’ / pn/.Weak syllables (those which end in ,, :, , : or a syllabic consonat)Other unstressed syllables: those which contain ()

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Two-syllable words In two-syllable words, one syllable is stressed and the other is

unstressed. How to place the stress in a two-syllable word? If the word is a verb or an adjective, the stressed syllable is

the strong one. Other two-syllable words like adverbs and prepositions behave like verbs and adjectives. Examples:

‘apply’ /pla/

‘assist’ /sst /

‘open’ /pn/

‘envy’ /envi/

‘alive’ /lv/

‘divine’ /dvn/

‘lovely’ /lvli/

‘even’ /i:vn/

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If the word is a noun, there is a different rule. If the 2nd syllable contains a short vowel, the stress is placed on the first syllable. Otherwise, it will be on the second syllable. Examples:

‘money’ /mni /

‘estate’ /stet/

‘design’ /dzan /

Two-syllable words

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Three-syllable words In three-syllable words, stress placement is more

complicated. How to place the stress in a three-syllable word? In verbs If the final syllable is strong, then it’s stressed. If the final

syllable is weak, the stress will be placed on the pre-final syllable if it’s strong. If both final and pre-final syllables are weak, the first syllable will be stressed. Examples:

‘entertain’ //

‘encounter’ /k/

‘parody’

/pr/

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• In nouns: a different rule is applied. If the final syllable is strong, stress will be placed on the 1st syllable. Examples:

If the final syllable is weak or ends with //, then it is unstressed. If the pre-final syllable is strong, it will be stressed. Examples:

If the 2nd and 3rd syllables are both weak, then the 1st syllable is stressed. Examples:

‘intellect’ //‘marigold’ /m/

‘potato’ /ptt/‘disaster’ /:st/

‘cinema’ /s/

Three-syllable words

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Verbs

attract

clamber

detest

bellow

//

//

//

//

Nouns

honey

paper

captain

refrain

//

//

//

/r/

Mark the stressed syllable. Justify your answer (2-syllable words) :

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Verbs:

disconnect

encounter

Nouns:

custody

connection

//

/ /

/// /

Mark the stressed syllable. Justify your answer: (3-syllable words)

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Verbs:

disconnect

encounter

Nouns:

custody

connection

/ /

/ /

/ // /

Mark the stressed syllable. Justify your answer: