What is word stress

Hostname: page-component-594f858ff7-x2rdm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2023-06-14T18:27:19.882Z Has data issue: false Feature Flags: hasContentIssue false On the nature of stress When syllables are uttered in sequence, in polysyllabic words, for example, they are perceived as having different degrees of prominence, or stress. In each of the following words one syllable is stressed, the other(s) unstressed: ' sequence, pho'nology, per'ceive. In many words, the prominence of syllables is further differentiated; thus in polysyl'labic, kanga'roo, hal,luci'natory the syllables marked ‘,’ bear secondary stress: stress that is weaker than the main (or ‘primary’) stress but stronger than that of an unstressed syllable. In longer words, further differentiation of stresses can be found: in ,anti,dises,tablishmen'tarianism, the main stress falls on - ta- and the weaker stresses, all marked ‘,’, are of different strength. English is said to be a stress language: every (lexical) word – noun, verb, adjective or adverb – has a stressed syllable, and where more than one syllable bears stress (as in some of the examples given above), one of these stresses will be the main stress, and the others subordinated. In phonetic terms, stressed syllables in English are produced with a stronger burst in initiatory energy – a more powerful contraction of the chest muscles – than unstressed syllables are. (Recall here, for comparison, the phonetics of the syllable discussed in sect. 6.2 above.)...

Word Stress and Sentence Stress The Golden Key to English Pronunciation Josef Essberger Normally when we say "I feel stressed" it means "I feel anxious". Stress is a kind of worried feeling about life or work. But there is another kind of stress that actually helps us understand. This other kind of stress is an accent that we make on certain syllables and words when speaking English. In some languages, for example Japanese, people say each syllable with equal force. But in English, and some other languages, we put a big force (stress) on some syllables and no force on other syllables or words. This can make it difficult for speakers of other languages to understand English that is spoken quickly. Of course, for native speakers it is not difficult - in fact, stress actually helps native speakers understand each other. So it is very important. We shall talk here about WORD STRESS (stress on a syllable inside a word) and SENTENCE STRESS (stress on words inside a sentence). WORD STRESS If you do not already know about word stress, you can try to learn about it. This is one of the best ways for you to understand spoken English - especially English spoken fast. What is word stress? Take 3 words: photograph, photographer and photographic. Do they sound the same when spoken? No. Because ONE syllable in each word is STRESSED (stronger than the others). • PHOtograph • phoTOgrapher • photoGRAPHic This happens in ALL words with 2 or more syllables: TEACHer, JaPAN, CHINa, aBOVE, conver...

• • • • • • What is Word Stress? In English, we do not say each syllable with the same force or strength. In one word, we accentuate ONE syllable. We say one syllable very loudly (big, strong, important) and all the other syllables very quietly. Let's take 3 words: photograph, photographer and photographic. Do they sound the same when spoken? No. Because we accentuate (stress) ONE syllable in each word. And it is not always the same syllable. So the "shape" of each word is different. Listen to these words. Do you hear the stressed syllable in each word? 4 syllables, stress on #3 PHO-TO- GRAPH-IC This happens in ALL words with 2 or more syllables: TEACHer, JaPAN, CHINa, aBOVE, converSAtion, INteresting, imPORtant, deMAND, etCETera, etCETera, etCETera The syllables that are not stressed are weak or small or quiet. Fluent speakers of English listen for the STRESSED syllables, not the weak syllables. If you use word stress in your speech, you will instantly and automatically improve your pronunciation and your comprehension. Try to hear the stress in individual words each time you listen to English - on the radio, or in films for example. Your first step is to HEAR and recognise it. After that, you can USE it! There are two very important rules about word stress: • One word, one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. So if you hear two stresses, you have heard two words, not one word.) • The stress is always on a vowel.

When the pronunciation of a word is transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), there are three different symbols we use. For syllables that receive the primary stress, we use a short vertical line above and immediately before the syllable being emphasized ( ˈ ); for secondary stress, we use the same vertical line, but it appears below and before the syllable ( ˌ ); and, while this guide usually does not mark them in IPA transcriptions, we will indicate unstressed syllables in this section with application as an example again, its pronunciation would be transcribed in IPA as /ˌæp.lɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/. Written syllables vs. spoken syllables Specifically, the written form divides syllables according to established syllable “types,” based on spelling patterns such as double consonants, short vowels contained within two consonants, and vowel digraphs. The spoken form, on the other hand, divides syllables according to the phonetic pronunciation of the word, and the difference between these two can sometime lead to syllable breakdowns that don’t look like they correspond to one another. For example, the word learning is divided in the dictionary as learn·ing, but it is divided as /ˈlɜr.nɪŋ/ in IPA transcription—the placement of the first N is not the same. Because this part of the guide is more concerned with the phonetic placement of word stress rather than the technical breakdown of syllables (as found in dictionary entries), the examples we use will try to match the w...

In our previous post, we shared Understanding Word Stress & Sentence Stress, we explained the importance of word stress rules for communicating effectively in English. In this post, we delve a little deeper into the subject. What is Word Stress? The stress placed on syllables within words is called word stress. In one word, we place emphasis on one syllable, while the other syllables are given less emphasis. English words only have one stressed syllable. Whilst longer words can have a secondary stress, it is always a much lighter stress. It is also worth noting that we stress vowel sounds and not consonants. In English we have variable stress where the position of the stress is unpredictable. This contrasts with some other languages – like Polish or Finnish – that have fixed stress where the stress on virtually any multi-syllable word falls on a particular syllable. Learn more Where you place stress or emphasis within a word can affect the way in which it is pronounced and therefore its meaning. As a result, knowing which syllable within a word should be emphasised or stressed is very important for correct pronunciation. The reason for this is that placing stress on the wrong syllable within a word can completely change the meaning of a word. Understanding The Importance of Word Stress So, understanding the importance of word stress is vital if you want to improve your English pronunciation and speak English like a native English. But if word stress is so important, exactl...

Word stress/Stress pattern is one of the important topics in the learning and teaching of English as a second language (henceforth ESL). However, most teachers of ESL skip or shy away from this topic because of their incompetence; thus, leaving their students helpless in an external exam. In Nigeria, with essay writing occupying the front seat as regards "the reasons why students fail English in WAEC, NECO or NABTEB", one can inarguably place word stress/stress pattern, which comes as paper 3 (Test of Oral) in WAEC examination, as the second reason why students fail English in WAEC, NECO or NABTEB. Students have no option(s) other than resorting to error and trial method when it comes to answering questions on word stressbecause they were neither taught nor properly taught. Therefore, this article is written to expose students and teachers of English to the rudiments of word stress in order to enable them easily identify the stressed syllable of a word. Stress is the degree of force applied when pronouncing the syllable(s) of a word. The stressed syllable is the syllable on which the speaker uses more muscular energy and breath effort when pronouncing a word. A syllable is a unit of pronunciation that has one vowel sound. A word might have one syllable (like “come or “go”), two syllables (like "doc-tor" or "pre-sent"), three syllables ("dis-a-gree" or "com-pa-ny") and more (like "pan-de-mo-nium" or "per-so-ni-fi-ca-tion"). A word with one syllable is called a monosyllable ...