UNIT 7.

STRESS

UNIT OUTLINE
1. Functions of stress in English
2. Nature of a stressed syllable
3. Stress placement
4. Levels of stress
5. Stress within a word
6. Sentence stress

FUNCTIONS OF STRESS
1. Functions
a. Stress may change the meaning of a word. Ex: ʹpresent (n) # preʹsent (v)
b. Stress affects the pronunciation of vowel. Ex: part /pa:rt/ => particular /pǝʹtıkǝlǝ/
c. Stress helps the speaker to emphasize some particular word.
Ex: 2I walked to the 3ʹparty1↓(normal) => 2I walked 3ʹto the party1↓ (emphatic) (the speaker
wants to emphasize the preposition to)
d. Stress helps the hearer to catch the key words in a conversation.
2. Nature of a stressed syllable
A stressed syllable is more prominent than an unstressed one.
It is louder (loudness)
higher (pitch)
longer (length)
clearer (quality)
3. Stress placement
Stress placement depends on:
a. Morphological structure: simple, complex or compound words
b. Grammatical category: noun, adjective, verb, adverb ….
c. Number of syllables.
d. Phonological structure: long, short vowel, diphthong, final consonant …
4. Levels of stress
a. Primary / ′ / (over the syllable): Doctor /′dɒktə /
b. Secondary stress / ‚ / (at the foot of the syllable): Conversation /,kɒnvə′seɪʃn/
c. Unstressed: Worker / ′wɜ:kə/
5. Stress within a word
a. Simple words
 One-syllable lexical words in isolation: receives the primary stress. Ex: ʹboy; ʹgirl
in combination: stress varies.
Ex: ʹgirl friend (compound); girl ʹfriend (noun phrase)
 Two-syllable words 2 syllable stressed diphthong. Ex: arrive /ǝʹraıv/; exception: /əʊ/
nd

long vowel. Ex: concern /kǝnʹsɜ:n/

⋝2 final cons. Ex: event /ıʹvent/
st
1 syllable stressed: other cases
 Word-class pairs: pairs of words with identical spelling but different parts of speech.

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 + 1st syllable stressed: noun; adjective.
+ 2nd syllable stressed: verb.
Ex: present (n) /′preznt/; present (v) /prɪ′zent/
abstract (A,V); conduct (N,V); contract (N,V,); contrast (N,V); desert (N,V); escort
(N,V); export (N,V); import (N,V); insult (N,V); object (N,V); perfect (A,V); permit
(N,V); produce (N,V); protest (N,V); rebel (N,V); record (N,V); subject (N,V)

 Three-syllable words
a. Verb. Usually the stress is on the 2nd or 3rd syllable.
 Final syllable stressed if it contains:
+ a long vowel or diphthong. Ex: entertain /‚entə′teɪn/
+ more than one consonant. Ex: resurrect /‚rezə′rekt/
 2nd syllable stressed: other cases. Ex: encounter / ɪŋ′kaʊntə/; determine /dɪ′t3:mɪn/
b. Noun. Usually the stress is on the 1st or 2nd syllable.
 2nd syllable stressed if it contains:
+ a long vowel. Ex: disaster /dɪ′za:stə/
+ a diphthong. Ex: potato /pə′teɪtəʊ/
 1st syllable stressed: other cases. Ex: cinema /′sɪnəmə/;
Intellect /′ɪntəlekt/; alkali /′ækəlaɪ/
 More than 3-syllable words.
For words of more than 3 syllables, the stress usually falls on the 3 rd one from the end.
Ex: Photography /fə′tɒgrəfi/; international /,ɪntə′næʃnəl/.

b. Complex words
Complex word: word + affix Prefix
Suffix
 Prefixes: usually do not affect stress placement. Ex: ʹpleasant => unʹpleasant.
 Suffixes Ending in: - ee; eer; een; ine; oon; ade; ette; esque … stress is on the suffix

itself. Ex: traiʹnee; engiʹneer; balʹloon

Ending in: -ic; ion; ian; iar; ious; eous; ity; itive …..stress on the syllable
before them.
Ex: mechaʹnic; examiʹnation; faʹmiliar; deʹlicious
c. Compound words
Compound words are units made of two or more words joined together. Compound
words may be written in different ways:
 As one word. Ex: Armchair; sunflower; sunglasses ….
 Words separated by a hyphen. Ex: ice-cream; first-class; bad-tempered.
 Words separated by a space. Ex: a green house; a coffee cup; a desk lamp
 Stress on the 1st word
Usually compound nouns (N + N; A + N) forming only one unit with a particular
meaning receive the primary stress on the 1st word.
Ex: ′suitcase; ′sunflower; a ′green house; a ′gold fish.
 Stress on the 2nd word
 Adjective + -ed. Ex: bad-′tempered; heavy-′hearted; heavy-′handed.
 Number + noun. Ex: Three-′wheeler; second-′class.
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  Compounds functioning as adverb. Ex: down-′stream; head-′first.
 Adverb + verb. Ex: down-′grade; back-′pedal; ill-′treat.
 Compound proper names. Ex: New ′York ; Bob ′Smith.
 Compound verbs / phrasal verbs. Ex: pick ′up; turn ′on; look ′after.

6. Sentence stress
a. Types of words stressed in a sentence
 Lexical words: Noun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb.
 Interrogative words at the beginning of the question: when, what…
 Demonstrative words: this, that, these, those.
 Possessive pronouns: mine, yours, hers….
b. Shifting stress
To avoid adjacent primary stresses, usually in a sequence of syllables, English favors an
alternation of weak / strong stresses.
Ex: un′known, ′thief => ʹunknown ′thief; fif′teen, ′minutes => ʹfifteen ′ minutes.
c. Tonic syllable
In a sentence, there may be many syllables stressed, but to ease pronunciation and to make
language musical, usually only one syllable receives the primary stress, called tonic syllable; the
other stressed syllables are reduced to secondary stress.

Ex: 2What job are you 3 doing1 ? (tonic syllable)