STRESS PATTERNS

Stress in Simple Words and

Complex words
The Nature of Stress
 A stressed syllable in transcription is marked by
placing a small vertical line (ˈ) high up, before the
syllable it relates to.

/ˈfɑːðǝ/ /pǝˈteıtǝʊ/ /ǝˈbaʊt/

/ˈǝʊpǝn/ /ǝˈpɑːtmǝnt/ /rıˈsiːv/
/ˈkæmrǝ/ /rıˈleıʃn/ /pǝˈhæps/
 Characteristics of Stressed Syllables

1. The production of stress is generally believed to

depend on the speaker using more muscular
energy than is used for unstressed syllables.
2. On the perception of stress, it is clear that many
different sound characteristics are important in
making a syllable recognisably stressed – one
characteristic in common – prominence.
 Cont.
3. Stressed syllables are recognised as stressed
because they are more prominent than unstressed
syllables.
4. Four different factors that make a syllable
prominent:
a. Greater Loudness
b. Greater Length
c. Movement of pitch
d. Vowel Quality
Stress within the Word
 We look at the words as they are said in isolation,
which is a rather artificial situation.
 Words in isolation helps us to see stress placement
and stress levels more clearly than studying them in
the context of continuous speech.
Stress
 Primary stress – the strongest type of stress, for
example, ‘around’ /ǝˈraʊnd/.
 Secondary stress – a type of stress that is weaker
than primary stress but stronger than that of the first
syllable, in the above example represented with a
low mark; for example, ‘photographic’
/ˌfǝʊtǝˈgræfık/
 Unstressed – regarded as being the absence of any
recognisable amount of prominence.
 Stress Placement
1. Whether the word is morphologically simple, or
whether it is complex as a result either of
containing one or more affixes (i.e. prefixes or
suffixes) or of being a compound word.
2. What the grammatical category of the word is
(noun, verb, adjective, etc.)
3. How many syllables the word has.
4. What the phonological structure of those syllable
is.
1. One component of a syllable is the rhyme, which
contains the syllable peak and the coda. A strong
syllable has a rhyme with
Either (i) a syllable peak which is a long vowel or
diphthong, with or without a following consonant
(coda), examples:
‘die’ /daı/ ‘heart’ /hɑːt/ ‘see’ /siː/
or (ii) a syllable peak which is a short vowel, one of /ı, e,
æ, ʌ, ɒ, ʊ/ followed by at least one consonant,
examples:
‘bat’ /bæt/ ‘much’/mʌʧ/ ‘pull’/pʊl/
Cont.
2. A weak syllable has a syllable peak which consists
of one of the vowels /ǝ, i, u/ and no coda except
when the vowel is /ǝ/. Syllabic consonants are
also weak.
3. examples:
‘fa’ in ‘sofa’/ˈsǝʊfǝ/
‘zy’ in ‘lazy’/ˈleızi/
‘flu’ in ‘influence’ /ˈınfluǝns/
‘en’ in ‘sudden’ /ˈsʌdn/
Cont.
3. The vowel /ı/ may also be the peak of a weak
syllable if it occurs before a consonant that is
initial in the syllable that follows it, examples
‘bi’ in ‘herbicide’ /ˈhɜːbısaıd/
‘e’ in ‘event’ /ıˈvent/
(However, this vowel is also found frequently as the
peak of stressed syllables, as in ‘thinker’ /’θıŋkǝ/,
‘input’ /ınpʊt/.)
Cont.
The important point to remember is that, although we
do find unstressed strong syllables (as in the last
syllable of ‘dialect’ /daıǝlekt/), only strong
syllables can be stressed. Weak syllables are
always unstressed.
This piece of knowledge does not by any means solve
all the problems of how to place English stress, but it
does help in some cases.
Two-syllable words
 Either the first or the second syllable will be stressed
– not both.
 Verbs
 if the final syllable is weak, then the first syllable is
stressed, ‘enter’ /ˈentǝ/, ‘open’ /ˈǝʊpǝn/.
 A final syllable is also unstressed if it contains /ǝʊ/,
‘follow’ /ˈfɒlǝʊ/, ‘borrow’ /ˈbɒrǝʊ/.
 If the final syllable is strong, then that syllable is
stressed even if the first syllable is also strong, ‘apply’
/ǝˈplaı/, ‘assist’ /ǝˈsıst/, ‘rotate’ /rǝʊˈteıt/.
Cont.
 Adjectives, are stressed according to the same rule,
 ‘lovely’/ˈlʌvli/, ‘alive’ /ǝˈlaıv/
 As with most stress rules, there are exceptions, for
example, ‘honest’ /ˈɒnıst/, ‘perfect’ /ˈpɜːfıkt/, both
of which end with strong syllables but are stressed
on the first syllable.
Cont.
 Nouns, require a different rule, stress will fall on
the first syllable unless the first syllable is weak and
the second syllable is strong. Examples, ‘money’
/ˈmʌni/, ‘balloon’ /bǝˈluːn/.
 Adverbs, seem to behave like verbs and adjectives.
Three-syllable words
 In simple verbs,
 if the final syllable is strong, then it will receive primary
stress, examples ‘entertain’ /ˌentǝˈteın/, ‘resurrect’
/ˌrezǝˈrekt/.
 If the last syllable is weak, then it will be unstressed,
and stress will be placed on the preceding
(penultimate) syllable if that syllable is strong,
examples ‘encounter’ /ıŋˈkaʊntǝ/, ‘determine’
/dıˈtɜːmın/.
Cont.
 If both the second and third syllables are weak, then the
stress falls on the initial syllable, examples ‘parody’
/ˈpærǝdi/, ‘monitor’ /ˈmɒnıtǝ/.
 Nouns, require a slightly different rule.
 The general tendency is for stress to fall on the first
syllable unless it is weak, examples ‘quantity’
/ˈkwɒntǝti/, ‘custody’ /ˈkʌstǝdi/.
 However, in words with a weak first syllable the stress
comes on the next syllable, examples ‘mimosa’
/mıˈmǝʊzǝ/, ‘disaster’ /dıˈzɑːstǝ/.
Cont.
 When a three-syllable noun has a strong final syllable,
that syllable will not usually receive the main stress,
examples, ‘intellect’ /ˈıntǝlekt/, ‘alkali’ /ˈælkǝlaı/.
 Adjectives, seem to need the same rule, examples,
‘opportune’ /ˈɒpǝtjuːn/, ‘insolent’ /ˈınsǝlǝnt/.
 The above rules certainly do not cover all English
words. They apply only to major categories of
lexical words, not to function words.
What are complex words?
 Words composed more than one grammatical unit
 Example: carelessness
 Two types of complex words:
a. words made by basic words (stem)
by adding affixes (prefix or suffix)
(prefix) un + (stem) pleasant
(stem) good + (suffix) nesss
b. compound words
 Complex words

 Two major types:

- Basic word form (stem) + affix
- Compound words ( two / more independent English
words)  e.g.: ice-cream, armchair

 Words + affixes
- Prefixes  prefix ‘un’ + stem ‘pleasant’ = ‘unpleasant’
- Suffixes  stem ‘good’ + suffix ‘-ness’ = ‘goodness’
Affixes
 Affixes have 1 of 3 possible effects on word stress:

 Affix receiving primary stress

semicircle, personality.
 The word is stressed as if the affix were not there, stress on the
stem
untidy, marketing
 The stress remains on the stem, not the affix, but is shifted to a
different syllable
magnet > magnetic
 Suffixes
 Common and productive
 Distinguish between a stem (remains when affixes are removed) and a root ( the
smallest piece of lexical material that a stem can be reduced to)
- e.g.: ‘personality’

 Suffixes carrying primary stress themselves

- e.g.: ‘refugee’, ‘volunteer’, ‘cigarette’, ‘picturesque’ mountaineer

 Suffixes that do not affect stress placement

- e.g.: ‘comfortable’, ‘anchorage’, ‘powerless’, ‘glorify’

 Suffixes that influence stress in the stem

- e.g.: ‘photography’, ‘climatic’, ‘perfection’, ‘reflexive’
- Primary stress is on the last syllable
 Suffixes ‘-ance’, ‘-ant’, ‘-ary’ (e.g.: ‘guidance’, ‘sealant’, ‘
dietary’) + single-syllable stems  the stress is almost placed
on the stem

 The stem has > 1 syllable  the stress is on 1 of the syllables

in the stem
- Use a rule based on syllable structure

 If the final syllable of the stem is strong, that syllable receives

the stress
- e.g.: ‘importance’, ‘centenary’

 Otherwise the syllable before the last one receives the stress
- e.g.: ‘inheritance’, ‘military’
Suffixes not affecting stress placement
 -able: comfortable
 -age: anchorage
 -al: refusal
 -ful: wonderful
 -like: birdlike
 -less: powerless
 -ly: hurriedly
 -ness: happiness
 -ous: poisonous
 -fy: glorify
Suffixes that influence stress in stem
 -ous : advantageous
 -graphy: photography
 -ial: proverbial
 -ic: climatic
 -ion: perfection
 -ty: tranquility
 -ive: reflexive
 Compound words
 Words that are characterized as having two independent
words. Armchair, open-minded, desk lamp.
 Normally on the first word:
typewriter, sunrise, car ferry, suitcase, teacup.
 Adjectival first element:
bad-tempered, ugly-looking, half-timbered, heavy-handed.
(with secondary stress being the first word)
 First element as number:
second-class, three-wheeler, five-finger.
 Functioning as adverbs:
down stream, head first, North-East.
 Functioning as verbs:
downgrade, ill-treat, back-pedal.
When is primary stress placed on
the first constituent word of the
compound & when on the second?
STRESS ON THE FIRST ELEMENT

•Compound of 2 nouns:
Eg: ‘typewriter, ‘car-ferry, ‘sunrise, ‘suitcase,
‘tea-cup.
•It is safe to assume that normally the other
compounds also fall in this way, however, a
variety of compounds – the second element.
STRESS ON THE SECOND ELEMENT
•Compounds with
First element : adjectival
Second element : the –ed morpheme
Eg: bad-’tempered, half-’timbered, heavy-’handed
•Compounds which
First element : number
Eg: three-’wheeler, second-’class, five-’finger
•Compounds functioning as adverbs:
Eg: head-first, North-’East, down’stream
•Compounds functioning as verbs
First element: adverbial
Eg: down-’grade, back-’pedal, ill-’treat
VARIABLE STRESS
 Stress pattern (English) – not fixed & changing
 Reasons - variable of stress position:
 Stress on other words occurred next to the word in
questions (connected speech)
The stress on a final-stressed compound tends to move to a
preceding syllable if the following word begins with a strongly
stressed syllable.

bad-’tempered  a ‘bad-tempered ‘teacher

half-’timbered,  a ‘half-timbered ‘house
heavy-’handed  a ‘heavy-handed ‘sentence
 Not all speakers agree on the placement of stress in
some words
Different pronunciation:
 Controversy
 Ice-cream
 Kilometre
 Formidable
WORD-CLASS PAIRS
 2 syllable words – identical spelling but differ from each other in
stress placement, apparently according to word class (noun, verb, or
adjective)
 RULE! :
IF A PAIR OF PREFIX + STEM WORDS EXISTS, BOTH MEMBERS
OF WHICH ARE SPELT IDENTICALLY, ONE OF WHICH IS A
VERB AND THE OTHER OF WHICH IS EITHER A NOUN OR AN ADJECTIVE,
THEN THE STRESS IS PLACED ON THE SECOND SYLLABLE OF
THE VERB BUT ON THE FIRST SYLLABLE OF THE NOUN
OR ADJECTIVE.
 For example:
 Abstract
 Conduct
 Contract
 Desert
 Escort
 Export
 Import
The odd one out?
 English, Short, Sleep, Observe.
 Permit, Subject, Eject, Contrast.
 Otherwise, Chinese, Refugee, Volunteer.
 Controversy, kilometer, formidable, language.
 Tranquility, perfection, advantageous, poisonous.
 Cost-effective, suitcase, teacup, Ill-tempered.
Stress maze
TASK - Identify the correct word stress
placement for these words.
backbone vertebrae skull collar bone
stethoscope plaster cast ointment thermometer

psychiatrist surgeon asthma nausea

catarrh pneumonia indigestion rheumatism
ambulance emergency lozenge operation
aspirin boil wart unconscious

antibiotics laxative pimples ward

fracture anaesthetic medicine X-ray
TASK - Complete the sentences and circle the
word that would probably be stressed.

a) I prefer brown bread, don’t you?

No, I prefer ‘white bread.
b) There are more women students at this college than men
students.
Really! I thought there were more men.
c) I thought you taught Science.
Well, you’re wrong. I teach Maths.
d) Have the three parcels arrived?
Well, one has arrived but the other two haven’t.
e) Last week the weather wasn’t too but
the week before it was awful.
f) I wonder why they live in such a horrible place.
I suppose they like it there.
g) I love reading a good book before going to sleep.
So do I.
h) You’d have more money if your wife went out to work.
She does go out to work.
i) When did you tell me that?
I told you yesterday.
j) Are they getting married before the summer?
No, they’re getting married after the summer.