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Word Stress

The document explains the concept of stress in English pronunciation, highlighting the difference between stressed and unstressed words, as well as the importance of content and function words. It details how stress can change based on word type, such as nouns versus verbs, and provides examples of syllable counts in words. Additionally, it emphasizes the role of stress in conveying meaning during spoken communication.

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Kanhai Bouri
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32 views6 pages

Word Stress

The document explains the concept of stress in English pronunciation, highlighting the difference between stressed and unstressed words, as well as the importance of content and function words. It details how stress can change based on word type, such as nouns versus verbs, and provides examples of syllable counts in words. Additionally, it emphasizes the role of stress in conveying meaning during spoken communication.

Uploaded by

Kanhai Bouri
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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STRESS

Stress is when you pronounce some syllables more strongly than


others.
How about we go for a coffee this afternoon?
My phone is broken,so I am going to buy a new one.
Content words:This gives you the meaning of the sentence
Grammar words:Don’t carry the meaning of the sentence,
Examples:
I heard that the weather is going to be bad tomorrow.
He has no idea what he wants to do after he graduates.
Could you get some bread from the bakery on your way here.

Find out the contrast between stressed and unstressed words.


Unstressed words are pronounced at a lower volume and higher
speed. Stressed words are pronounced more loudly,more clearly and
more slowly
Emphasis on proper words.
She does not live in paris
She lives in Rome
The flight left at ten?
I thought it left at twelve.
SHIFTING STRESS
Are you going to Kolkata tomorrow?
Are you going to Kolkata tomorrow?
Are you going to Kolkata tomorrow?

SYLLABLE
A syllable is unit of pronunciation.It is the word or part of the word
which is uttered by a single effort of the voice.
Monosyllabic words: fast
Disyllabic words: beau-ty,hard-ship.
Trisyllabic words:re-mem-ber, rhyth-mi-cal
Tetrasyllabic:con-ver-sa-tion,a-rith-me-tic
Pentasyllabic: e-lec-tri-ci-ty

WORD STRESS

In English we accentuate or stress ONE syllable in a word.


We pronounce that syllable louder than others.
There are words with just one syllable (e.g.. mind), and words with
one STRESSED syllable and one or more WEAK syllables (e.g. remind,
reminder, reminding).
In the examples below, bold letters indicate stressed syllables.

1) When a noun or adjective stems from a one-syllable word, (for


example art, mind), the stress usually stays on the syllable of
the original word.

art Artist
Break Breakable
Friend Friendly
Paint Painter
Come Become
mind Remind

2) To differentiate between a noun and a verb with the same


spelling, stress position changes.

noun verb
a decrease to decrease
an insult to insult
an object to object
a protest to protest
a record to record
a rebel to rebel
a suspect to suspect
a transfer to transfer

3) In compound nouns (two words merged into one) the stress is on


the first part:

• bookshop
• football
• notebook
• toothbrush
4) The stress is generally at the end of words ending in -eer.

• auctioneer
• engineer
• pioneer
• volunteer

5) Stress usually falls AFTER prefixes :


• demolish
• dismiss
• prepare
• untie

6) Stress usually falls on the syllable BEFORE the following letters:


(The words below are just some examples - there are many more.)

Before Before Before Before


-tion/-sion -ic/-ical -ity/-ety -ient, -cient
-graphy -ience,
-ody/-ogy -ial, -ual
-ious,
Attention Automatic Authority Convenient
Competition Democratic Majority Efficient
Demonstration Historic Paternity Experience
Explanation Fanatic Society Essential
Invitation Elastic Variety Official
Obsession Biological Geography Potential
Permission Illogical Custody Individual
Position Philosophical Rhapsody Intellectual
Quotation Political Morphology Conscientious
Repetition Radical Psychology Judicious

STRESSED WORDS WITHIN SENTENCES

Not all words receive equal stress within a sentence in English.

Content words are stressed. Content words include:


Nouns (e.g. school, station, train)
Normal verbs (e.g. run, work, speak)
Adjectives (e.g. beautiful, tall, friendly)
Adverbs (e.g. quickly, noisily, badly)

Function words are unstressed. Function words include:


Determiners (e.g. a, an, the)
Auxiliary verbs (e.g. can, have, may, will, etc.)
Conjunctions (e.g. and, but, as, etc.)
Pronouns (e.g. you, he, she, us, it, them, etc.)

Even if the listener does not hear some quickly pronounced function
words, the meaning of the whole sentence should be clear. This is
how native speakers of English communicate.
Emphasis is put on the most important words.
For example: "Would you like a cup of tea?"

It is a general rule of English that when there is a sequence of equal


stresses, the last stressed word should be the strongest, or the
loudest - which in the above case would be tea.

Try to imagine receiving a text message like "train delayed home


late".
You understand that this means: 'The train has been delayed. I will
be home late"
Only content words are used in the message but the meaning is quite
clear.
In English, words are stressed according to the meaning the speaker
wants to convey.
For example, depending in which word in the following sentence is
stressed, the meaning changes:

• Are you going to the cinema tonight? (or is it someone else?)


• Are you going to the cinema tonight? (or not?)
• Are you going to the cinema tonight? (or somewhere else?)
• Are you going to the cinema tonight? (or another night?)

During a conversation, learners should listen for stressed content


words in order to understand the meaning of the whole sentence.

Likewise, they should practice stressing content words in their


speech so that other people will understand .

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