Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Oral III
STRESS
STRESS is the degree of force or loudness with which syllables are spoken in English.
English is a stress-timed language. That is, stressed syllables appear at a roughly steady tempo
(approximately fixed tempo), and non-stressed syllables are shortened to accommodate this.
MICE
EAT
The MICE
EAT
The MICE
will have
EATen
The MICE might have been EATing
CHEESE.
the CHEESE.
the CHEESE.
the CHEESE.
Stressed syllables in English are louder than non-stressed syllables, as well as being longer and having a
higher pitch.
Ordinarily, grammatical or function words do not receive stress, whereas content or lexical words
must have at least one stressed syllable.
many exceptions. Probably the best way to learn is from experience. Listen carefully to spoken English
and try to develop a feeling for the music of the language.
3.
Degrees of Stress
When words are said in isolation, there are usually four different types of stressed used:
1. PRIMARY STRESS ( / ) Carried by the clear/full vowel sound with the highest pitch
2. SECONDARY STRESS ( __ ) Carried by the clear/full vowel that does not have the primary
stress. This stress is only seen in long words (4 or more syllables) or compounds. Its Pre-Tonic,
which means it can only be found before the primary stress.
3. TERTIARY STRESS ( - ) Carried by a clear/full vowel that has no stress but cannot be reduced
4. WEAK STRESS ( . ) Carried by the weak/unstressed vowel sound within the word.
Stressed syllables have clear vowels, a higher pitch and are longer. Unstressed syllables don't have a
high pitch and are shorter.
The arrangement of the stress on the syllables of a word is called STRESS PATTERN
/ .
apple
/
cat
__ . / . .
university
LOOK! Modern dictionaries use the IPA stressing: primary stress ( ' ) before the stressed syllable and
secondary stress ( ) in long words (4 or more syllables) that have another high pitch of voice but not
as higher as the primary stressed syllable. They do not place tertiary nor weak stress.
Depending on the source you use to identify the types of stress on stress patterns, you will see that
their names are different. Some use the word unstressed or zero to refer to weak stress. And some
others add another degree of stress; the tertiary stress to refer to those syllables that do not carry a
primary or a secondary stress but are pronounced with full vowels.
DO NOT FREAK OUT! Trust your ears and remember there are different approaches for this. Hence,
the best ways to understand, identify and use stress appropriately are speaking and listening.
Stress Functions
Stress has both referential and differential functions. The Referential stress indicates the way in
which each syllable in a word is pronounced. The Differential stress indicates the difference between
two words that are similar but belong to different grammatical categories.
Prefixes
A prefix is a particle added to the beginning of a stem changing its meaning.
Neutral Prefixes: They do not interfere with the stress pattern of the stem. They bear secondary stress.
bi-: bilingual, bimonthly
de-: defrost, de-stress
dis-: dislike, disagree
ex-: ex-president, ex-lover
mis-: misunderstand, mishear, misprint
out-: out-sing, outdo
over-: overtake, overdo, overshadow
pre-: presuppose, prepay
An exception to the general pattern (secondary on the prefix + primary on the stem) occurs when a
prefixed word functions as a noun, having the same pattern as a noun compound. In this case, the
prefix tends to carry primary stress and the noun receives tertiary stress.
Suffixes
A suffix is a particle added to the end of a stem deriving a new word, with different meaning
(sometimes) and grammatical category. Suffixes affect stress in one of three ways:
1. Neutral suffixes: they dont affect the stress pattern of the stem and carry weak stress
_en: widen, shorten
_er: teacher, reporter
_ful: cheerful, thoughtful
_hood /hd/: sisterhood, brotherhood
_ing: opening, amazing
_ish: tarnish, devilish
_less: powerless, fearless
_ly: happily, aggressively
_ship: scholarship, membership
_able: taxable, comfortable
These suffixes receive tertiary stress because the diphthong /a/ cannot be reduced to //:
_wise: otherwise, likewise
_ize (AmE): organize, authorize/ _ise (BrE): organise, authorise
2. Suffixes that receive stress: they receive the primary stress; hence, they affect the stress
pattern of the stem
_aire: doctrinaire, questionnaire, millionaire*, solitaire*
_esque: picturesque, humoresque, Romanesque
_oon: balloon, lagoon, typhoon, tycoon
_ee: employee, chimpanzee, pedigree, addressee
_ique: boutique, technique, unique
_ette: vinaigrette, silhouette, brunette, cigarette*
_eer: engineer, volunteer, pioneer
_eur: entrepreneur, coiffeur, chauffeur*
_euse: masseuse, chanteuse
_ese: Portuguese, Japanese, journalese, Taiwanese
_ain: entertain, ascertain
_et /e/: buffet, ballet*, bouquet*, valet*
_ade: lemonade, masquerade, marmalade, escapade*
*these words are sometimes pronounced with primary stress on the first syllable. Check their
phonetic transcriptions in BrE and AmE.
3. Shift stress: the primary stress shifts to the syllable immediately preceding the suffix.
_eous: adVANntage, advanTAgeous
_graphy: PHOto, phoTOgraphy
_ic: CLImate, cliMAtic
_ical: eCOlogy, ecoLOgical
_ity: TRANquil, tranQUIlity
Suffixes with the iV sequence (I + Vowel a, o, u)
_ia, _ial, _ian, _ion, _ious, _ium, _ius, etc.
When these suffixes are preceded by an alveo-palatal consonant, they are pronounced with
unstressed schwa: Institution, television, Asian, option, initial, Polynesia, Indonesia, ambitious.
When preceded by other consonants, they are pronounced with /i/ or /j/: aluminium (BrE)/
aluminum (AmE), Chromium, Sagittarius, pictorial.
Differential Stress
1.
Verb
/
Present
Permit
Project
Conflict
Subject
Suspect
Object
Rebel
Desert
Frequent
/
Present
Permit
Project
Conflict
Subject
Suspect
Object
Rebel
Desert
Frequent
/ Insult
Contract
Export
Combine
Perfect
Protest
Insult
Contract
Export
Combine
Perfect
Protest
In the list below, the stress pattern is the same for both nouns and verbs
/
Exchange
Express
Command
Control
Delay
Remark
Surprise
Support
/
Comfort
Comment
Contact
Promise
Program
Adjective
Verb
Advocate
Aggregate
Alternate
Animate
Approximate
Deliberate
Delegate
Duplicate
Elaborate
Estimate
Intimate
Legitimate
Moderate
Precipitate
Separate
The ed ending of adjectives sometimes have an extra syllable pronounced /d/, and verbs
follow the rules for the regular past tense and past participle.
Word
Adjective
Verb
Blessed
Beloved
Learned
Dogged
Legged
Sometimes, even when there is an adjective with no corresponding verb, the adjective is still
pronounced /d/: naked, rugged, crooked, wicked, etc.
Adjective + Noun
/ Darkroom
__
/
Dark room
Greenhouse
Green house
Bluebird
Blue bird
Lighthouse
Light house
Cheapskates
Cheap skates
Longboat
Long boat
Hardball
Hard ball
Sweetbread
Sweet bread
Blackbird
Black bird
!!! Practice transcriptions and look for the meanings of these compound nouns and phrasal verbs
4. Phrasal verb: turned UP/ Adjective: TURNED up
Phrasal verb: make UP - Noun: MAKE-up
A phrasal verb consists of a verb in combination with an adverb, a preposition, or both. They
are pronounced as a unit.
Noun / Adjective
Phrasal verb
/ Takeoff
Lookout
Checkup
Dropout
Checkout
Run-down
Runoff
__ /
Take off
Look out
Check up
Drop out
Check out
Run down
Run off
/ Getaway
Takeaway
Runaway
Runabout
__ /
Get away
Take away
Run away
Run about
Butter knife
Blueberry
Reception desk
Heavyweight
Drama teacher
Birdcage
Tomato sauce
Crossword
Policeman
Mailbox
Paper plates
Footprint
Chocolate cake
Apple pie
Compound Adjectives: Depending on their location in a sentence, the stress pattern will change. Attributive
adjectives (before the noun) are Primary tertiary stressed (/ -); and Predicative adjectives (separated from
the noun, after a linking verb be, seem, look, taste) are Secondary primary stressed (__ /). If the compound
adjective has more than two syllables, then you should include weak stress to the pattern.
Make sentences as in the example:
1. Attributive adjective: A good-looking man
(/ - )
( __ / )
Adjective
Cold-blooded
Secondhand
Middle-aged
Bad-tempered
Well-trained
Part-time
Old-fashioned
Narrow-minded
Never-ending
Long-lasting
Ice-cold
Fat-free
Midlife
Worldwide
Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs that follow the verb + adverb combination have secondary stress on the first element and primary
stress on the second element. The most common adverbial particles are: across, ahead, along, away, back,
behind, down, in, off, on, over, under and up.
Phrasal verbs that follow the verb + preposition combination have primary stress on the first element, and the
preposition carries a tertiary stress. The most common prepositions are: about, at, for, from, of, to and with.
Phrasal verbs consisting of three elements have primary stress on the second element, secondary stress on the
first element and the third element carries weak stress (reduced vowel on the preposition).
Get in
Come in
Laugh at
Look for
Sit down
Get along
Turn away
Look at
Think about
Take care of
Do over
Run out of
Put aside
Ask for
Keep up with
Wake up
Look forward to
Turn off
Get out of
References:
Allegra, M., Fang, P., Kukanauza, J. (2006). Stress. Universidad de Carabobo. Venezuela
Cardenas, Y. (2009). Fontica y Fonologa del Ingls II. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Peru
Celce-Murcia, M. (2010). Teaching Pronunciation: A Course Book and Reference Guide. 2nd edition. Cambridge
University Press. USA.
Trkenczy, M. (2013). English Phonological analysis Chapter 6: Word Stress. Etvs Lornd University.
Hungary. Retrieved from http://seas3.elte.hu/phono-analysis/book.html
Zapata,
from