WORD STRESS

STRESS – also known as ACCENT

- a relative emphasis given to a certain
syllable in a word that the pitch of a stressed
syllable is usually higher compared to the unstressed
syllable

RULES IN WORD STRESS

1. TWO-SYLLABLE NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, AND ADVERBS

- the stress falls on the FIRST syllable
Examples:
TEAcher PRETty MAYbe
2. TWO-SYLLABLE VERBS
- the stress falls on the SECOND syllable
Examples:
deNY aBUSE preSIDE
3. HETERONYMS (same spelling;different sound and meaning)
- if the word functions as a NOUN, the stress is on
the FIRST syllable, but if the word functions as a
VERB, the stress is on the SECOND syllable
Examples:
REfuse (n) – reFUSE (v)
CONtract (n) – conTRACT (v)
4. WORDS THAT END IN –er and –ly
- the stress falls on the FIRST syllable
Examples:
QUIetly SPEAker
EAgerly TREAsurer
5. WORDS THAT END IN: –ic, -ical, -ity, -aphy, -ogy
- the stress falls on the syllable that precede
(before) them
Examples:
phoNEtic
TYpical
iDENtity
phoTOgraphy
biOlogy