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Stress in Simple Words

The document discusses stress in spoken language. It defines stress as extra force exerted on certain syllables or words. There are two types of stress: word stress which is fixed on syllables, and sentence stress which depends on meaning. Stress is produced through louder volume, longer duration, higher pitch, and clearer vowel sounds. Words can have primary, secondary, or no stress depending on prominence. The placement of stress within words is determined by word class, number of syllables, and phonological patterns.

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132 views

Stress in Simple Words

The document discusses stress in spoken language. It defines stress as extra force exerted on certain syllables or words. There are two types of stress: word stress which is fixed on syllables, and sentence stress which depends on meaning. Stress is produced through louder volume, longer duration, higher pitch, and clearer vowel sounds. Words can have primary, secondary, or no stress depending on prominence. The placement of stress within words is determined by word class, number of syllables, and phonological patterns.

Uploaded by

Đức Chuẩn
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Stress in simple words

Stress

• An extra force exerted on a particular syllable or a


particular word in spoken language
• The stressed syllable or word is said with greater
energy, and stands out in a word, phrase or sentence
• Examples: father
information
John bought a new car yesterday.
Types of stress
1. Word stress: an extra force put on a particular syllable
of the word. It is usually fixed

Example: invite / ɪnˈvaɪt/


entertain /entəˈteɪn/

2. Sentence stress: an extra force put on a particular word in a


sentence. Sentence stress is not fixed. It depends on the
speaker’s feelings and attitudes and the message that he wants
to get across to the listener.

Example: John bought a new car yesterday


The nature of stress
Two approaches when studying stress:

1.From the production point of view


• The production of stress depends on the speaker’s using more
muscular energy than for unstressed syllables

2. From the perception point of view


• All stressed syllables have one characteristic in common:
PROMINANCE
• At least four factors make a stressed syllable prominent:
loudness, length, pitch and vowel quality

• These four factors work together in combination, though syllables


may sometimes be made prominent by means of only one or two
of them
Levels of stress
1. Primary stress (tonic/nuclear)
• The strongest type of stress
• Marked by a small vertical line high up just before the syllable it
relates to (/ |/)
2. Secondary stress (non-tonic)
• Weaker than primary stress, but stronger than unstressed
syllables
• Usually found in words of four or five syllables
• Represented in transcription with a low mark (/|/)

Eg: photographic /ˌfəʊtəˈgræfɪk /


anthropology /ˌænθrəˈpɒləʤi/

3. Unstressed: can be regarded as being the absence of any


recognizable amount of prominence
Placement of stress within words
In order to decide on the stress placement, it is necessary to make use of
some or all of the following information:

1. Whether the word is morphologically simple or complex


(whether the word is a simple, derived or compound word)

2. The grammatical category to which the word belongs

3. The number of syllables in the word

4. The phonological structure of the word


Simple word stress
1. Two syllable words
a. Verbs
b. Adjectives
c. Nouns
d. Adverbs and prepositions

2. Three syllable words


a. Verbs
b. Nouns
c. Adjectives
Two-syllable words
1. Verbs
a. second syllable: a long vowel stress
or a diphthong second syllable
or ends with more than
one consonant,

provide /prəˈvaɪd/ contain /kənˈteɪn/


protest /prə’test / agree /əˈgriː /

b. second syllable: a short vowel stress


and ends with one or first syllable
no consonant

enter /ˈentə/ open /əʊpən/


travel /trævl / worry /wʌri/
stress
c. final syllable: /əʊ/ final syllable

follow /ˈfɒləʊ/
borrow /ˈbɒrəʊ/
2. Adjectives, adverbs, prepositions

Two syllable adjectives are stressed according to the same rules as


verbs (adverbs and prepositions also apply the same rules)

correct /kəˈrekt / major /ˈmeɪʤə /


polite /pəˈlaɪt / complete /kəmˈpliːt /
3. Noun

Second syllable: short vowel Stress the first syllable

Otherwise Stress the second syllable

money reason office larynx


/ˈmʌni/ /ˈriːzn/ /ˈɒfɪs/ /ˈlærɪŋks/
 Which rule applies for the following words?

beyond /bɪˈjɒnd / never /ˈnevə/

seldom /ˈseldəm/ behind /bɪˈhaɪnd/

again /əˈgein/ very /ˈveri/

before /bɪˈfɔː/ after /ˈɑːftə /

except ɪkˈsɛpt across /əˈkrɒs/

 Which rule applies for the following words?

heavy /ˈhevi/ happy ˈhæpi

sincere sɪnˈsɪə precise prɪˈsaɪz


Three-syllable words
1. Verbs

a. last syllable: a short vowel stress


and ends with not more second syllable
than one consonant

encounter / ɪnˈkaʊntə / determine /dɪˈtɜːmɪn/

b. last syllable: a long vowel stress


or a diphthong final syllable
or end with than one consonant

entertain / entəˈteɪn / introduce /ˌɪntrəˈdjuːs/


2. Nouns

a.final syllable: short vowel or /əʊ/


second syllable: a long vowel stress
or a diphthong, second syllable
or it ends with more than
one consonant

potato / pəˈteɪtəʊ / disaster /dɪˈzɑːstə/

b.final syllable :a short vowel


stress
second syllable: a short vowel first syllable
and ends with not more than
one consonant
quantity /ˈkwɒntɪti/ cinema /ˈsɪnəmə /
alphabet /ˈælfəbɪt / enemy / ˈenɪmi /
3. Adjectives
Three-syllable adjectives seem to need the same rules as Nouns to produce
stress pattern

Which rule applies for the following words?


opportune/ˈɒpətjuːn/ /ˈɪnsələnt/
insolent /ˈpɒsəbl/ /ˈderɪlɪkt/
possible/ɪmˈpɔːtənt/ derelict /ˈæbsəluːt/
important/ɪˈnɔːməs/ /ˈsɪmɪlə/
absolute /ˈækjʊrɪt/ ˈpɒpjʊlə
enormous
similar
accurate popular

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