|
Word
Stress
|
|
Stress
is the relative emphasis given to certain syllables in a word.
It
is usually featured by:
length:
stressed syllables are longer than unstressed ones.
loudness:
stressed syllables are said
louder.
clearness:
stressed syllables are said
more clearly. The vowel sound is purer.
pitch:
stressed syllables usually have a higher pitch than
non-stressed syllables.
larger
facial movements.
Remember:
Stressed syllables are longer, louder, clearer
and higher pitched.
|
|
Word
stress patterns
|
|
Two
syllable words:
|
|
oO
|
Words
ending in a
long vowel or diphthong and more than one
consonant.
|
ap'pear |
in'sist |
com'plete |
|
in'tense |
mis'take |
con'clude |
|
Most
verbs (general tendency) |
|
pre'sent |
ex'port |
'project |
|
|
Oo
|
Words
ending in a short vowel and one or no final
consonant.
|
'suffer |
'solid |
'mother |
|
'climate |
'finish |
'cloudy |
|
Most
nouns
and adjectives (general tendency) |
|
'present |
'export |
'project |
|
'apple |
'carrot |
'ladder |
|
'noisy |
'modern |
'clever |
|
|
Three
syllable words:
|
|
ooO
|
Words
ending in a
long vowel or diphthong and more than one
consonant.
|
|
oOo
|
Words
ending in a
short vowel and not more than one consonant.
|
en'counter |
di'saster |
de'termine |
|
|
Ooo
|
Words
ending in a
long vowel or diphthong and/or more
than one consonant.
|
'intellect |
'opportune |
'insolent |
|
Words
with
middle and final syllables containing a short vowel
ending with not more than one consonant. |
|
'quantity |
'cinema |
|
|
|
Using
suffixes to predict stress:
|
|
Stress
the suffix itself.
|
|
oO
ooO
oooO
|
|
-ee |
emplo'yee |
trai'nee |
refe'ree |
|
-eer |
engi'neer |
ca'reer |
volun'teer |
|
-ese |
Chi'nese |
Japa'nese |
Taiwa'nese |
|
-ique |
tech'nique |
u'nique |
an'tique |
|
|
Stress
on penultimate syllable / the syllable immediately
before the suffix.
|
|
Oo
oOo
ooOo
|
|
-ic |
alco'holic |
eco'nomic |
geo'logic |
|
-sion
/ -tion |
de'cision |
reve'lation |
qualifi'cation |
|
-ial |
com'mercial |
'martial |
arti'ficial |
|
-ian |
pe'destrian |
mathema'tician |
mu'sician |
|
-ient |
'ancient |
ef'ficient |
suf'ficient |
|
-cious
/ -tious |
de'licious |
am'bitious |
su'spicious |
|
-ible |
'legible |
'flexible |
'possible |
|
-ity
/ -ify |
in'tensify |
a'bility |
ne'cessity |
|
-graphy |
pho'tography |
ge'ography |
mo'nography |
|
-metre |
ki'lometre |
ther'mometre |
spee'dometre |
|
|
Stress
the second syllable before the suffix.
|
|
Ooo
Oooo
|
|
-ate |
'operate |
cer'tificate |
'candidate |
|
-ise
/ -ize |
'criticize |
'generalize |
'organise |
|
-ary |
'necessary |
vo'cabulary |
con'temporary |
|
-ous |
'dangerous |
'gorgeous |
simul'taneous |
|
|
Stress
in compound words:
|
|
single
stress
|
|
When
the compound noun denotes a single new idea. |
|
'blacksmith |
'bluebottle |
'greengrocer |
'greenhouse |
|
When
the meaning of the whole compound is the meaning of the
second element restricted in some important way by the
first element. |
|
'birthday |
'sheepdog |
'dinner-table |
'gas-engine |
|
When
the first element is either expressly or by implication
contrasted with something. |
|
'flute-player |
(flute
contrasted with piano) |
|
|
'teapot |
(tea
contrasted with coffee) |
|
|
When
the second noun make a unit that can be explained as
"B" (second element) used fro "A". |
|
'teacups |
1st
element: tea 2nd
element: cups
(cups for tea) |
|
'paper
knife
'flowerpot |
(a
knife for paper)
(a
pot for flowers) |
|
|
expressions
involving ‘cake’, ‘juice’, ‘water
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nouns
compounded of a verb and an adverb are generally said
with single stress. |
|
'make-up |
'setback |
'set-up |
|
|
When
a noun is qualified by a gerund, there’s a primary
stress on the gerund but not on the noun that follows. |
|
'carving-knife |
'sleeping-bag |
'mowing-machine |
|
|
|
double
stress
|
|
When
the first element is an adjective.
|
|
,absent
'minded |
,good
'looking |
,old
'fashioned |
|
|
When
a compound made up of two nouns makes a unit that can be
explained as "B" made of "A".
|
|
,paper
'bag |
(a
bag made of paper) |
|
|
,fish
'sauce |
(a
sauce made of fish) |
|
|
When
a noun is qualified by a participial adjective.
|
|
,floating
'bridge |
,leading
'article |
,moving
'pictures |
|
|
|
|
|
The
meaning of quite a number of compounds may be modified
by a change of
stress:
|
|
,glass
'cover |
(a
cover made of glass) |
|
|
'glass cover |
(cover
for a glass) |
|
|
,paper
'boy |
(model
made of paper) |
|
|
'paper boy |
(newsvendor) |
|
|
,bald
'head |
(head
without hair) |
|
|
'bald head |
(person
without hair) |
|
|
,dark
'room |
(a
room that is dark) |
|
|
'dark
room |
(a
room for photography) |
|
|
