Stress Patterns in the English Language Word accents (stresses) are especially important connections between song and

language because they give shape, expression, and meaning to both. In the English language, words have regularly accented patterns, and one syllable of each word is typically louder than the others, shaping the sound. An accent shift can change the meaning of a word and, therefore, the intended expression "PRES-ent" is a noun, referring to a gift, where as "pre-SENT" is a verb, meaning to give or offer. Another feature of the sound of language is the grouping of syllables and words to form larger units. Examples of some common groups are "happy Birthday,""open the cabinet," "in a minute," and "whenever possible." In "HAPpy" and "BIRTHday," the accent is on the first syllable, but when combined into the word grouping "happy birthday," "happy" loses its accent, and the grouping then has a single accent on "birth" happy BIRTHday. In larger groupings, one syllable tends to predominate. We call this predominant syllable a stress, to distinguish it from the accent that each word has. A stress pattern, then, is a naturally occurring group of syllables that has a predominant or stressed, syllable. Stress results largely from a change of loudness, but it is also affected strongly by rhythm, melody, language, and other structural elements.1 (p.123) Why and how stress patterns are used: Attention to stress patterns is basic to the study of rhythm and structure, whether of language or of music. In the English language, meaning of our speech can depend on stress patterns. As in listening to speech, listening for stressed syllables in song phrases involves listening for changes in dynamics. Becoming aware of and sensitive to subtle differences in dynamics prepares us for an understanding of music shaping and phrasing. It is common for the stress to occur on the beat of a song, but it almost never occurs on every beat. Consider the power of stress for distinguishing between a musical and a mechanical performance.1 (p.123) While learning a song, students are encouraged to find the chunks of language that can stand alone such as "Old MacDonald," "had a farm," or "and on this farm he had a duck," They are then asked to find the syllable in each language chunk that should receive an emphasis. They are encouraged to emphasize that syllable as they sing the song.

Sample statements and activities by which to introduce stress patterns to your students: "Speak "the mulberry bush" four times in a row. Tapping one finger on the opposite palm, tap only once during each repetition of the phrase: "the mulberry bush", "the mulberry bush", "the mulberry bush", "the mulberry bush." Notice which syllable received the taps. Listening, movement, and repetition combine to reveal the syllable most natural and comfortable to tap, the stressed syllable. Did you hear the MULberry bush, the MULberry bush....?1 (p.124) Explanation of the term In each little phrase of chunk of music, one syllable is emphasized. What does it mean to emphasize something? How might we emphasize a syllable while we are using?

Bibliography 1. Bennett P. D. & Bartholomew, D.R. (1997). SongWorks I: Singing in the education of children. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth

Syllables and Stress in English Syllables The English language is heavily stressed, with each word divided into syllables. Here are examples of words with different numbers of syllables: One syllable The, cold, quite, start, clean, trade, green, chair, sign Two syllables Quiet, party, special, today, orange, partner, table, demand, power, retrieve, engine, diet Three syllables Fantastic, energy, expensive, wonderful, laughable, badminton, celery, temptation Four syllables Understanding, indecisive, conversation, realistic, moisturising, American, psychology Five syllables Uncontrollable, inspirational, misunderstanding, conversational, opinionated, biological Stress Patterns Usually one syllable of a word is stressed more than the others. For example, in some of the words from the above lists, the stressed syllable is in bold: Two syllable words stress pattern Quiet, party, special, today, orange, partner, table, demand, power, retrieve, engine, diet Three syllable words stress pattern: Fantastic, energy, expensive, wonderful, laughable, badminton, celery, temptation Four syllable words stress pattern: Understanding, indecisive, conversation, realistic, moisturising, American, psychology Five syllable words stress pattern: Uncontrollable, inspirational, misunderstanding, conversational, opinionated, biological Words stress is crucial for understanding a word quickly and accurately in English. Even if you cannot hear a word well, you can work out what the word is from the stress pattern. In the same way, if someone pronounces a word differently from the accepted norm, it can be hard for the listener to understand the word.

Stress rules Only vowel sounds are stressed (a,e,i,o,u). A general rule is that for two syllable words, nouns and adjectives have the stress on the first syllable, but verbs have the stress on the second syllable. For example: table (noun), special (adjective), demand (verb). Remember that where we place the stress can change the meaning of the same word. For example, take the word 'present'. Pronounced present with the stress on the first syllable, the word is a noun (a gift) or an adjective (here, not absent). But pronounced present, with the stress on the second syllable, the word is now a verb, 'to present' something or someone (to offer or introduce). Another example of the same word changing meaning depending on where you place the stress is the word 'project'. This can be the noun, 'project' (a task), or the verb, 'to project', (to throw or to protrude). Words ending in 'ic', 'tion' or 'sion' (e.g. supersonic, attention, television) always place their stress on the penultimate (second to last) syllable.

Words ending in 'cy', 'ty', 'gy' and 'al' (e.g. accountancy, sincerity, chronology, inspirational) always place their stress on the third from last syllable.

Compound words (single words made up of two distinct parts, sometimes hyphenated) Compound nouns have stress on the first part (e.g. sugarcane, beetroot, henhouse, tripwire, newspaper) Compound adjectives and verbs have stress on the second part (e.g. wholehearted, green-fingered, oldfashioned, to understand, to inform, to short-change, to overtake)