Lecture Stress • Definition • Types of stress • Nature of stress • Placement of stress within words • Simple words • Derived words • Compound words • Word class pairs • Strong form and weak form Definition • Stress is an extra force exerted on a particular syllable or a particular word in spoken language The stressed syllable or word is said with greater energy, and stands out in a word, phrase or sentence Examples: father  information  John bought a new car yesterday Types of stress Word stress: is an extra force put on a particular syllable of the word It is usually fixed For example: invite entertain Sentence stress: is an extra force put on a particular word in a sentence Sentence stress is not fixed It depends on the speaker’s feelings and attitudes and the message that he wants to get across to the listener For example: John bought a new car yesterday The nature of stress • We can study stress from the point of view of production and perception From the production point of view, the production of stress is generally believed to depend on the speaker’s using more muscular energy than for unstressed syllables From the perception point of view: all stressed syllables have one characteristic in common, and that is prominence At least four factors make a stressed syllable prominent: loudness, length, pitch and vowel quality Generally, these four factors work together in combination though syllables may sometimes be made prominent by means of only one or two of4 them Levels of stress Primary stress (tonic/nuclear): is the strongest type of stress It is marked by a small vertical line high up just before the syllable it relates to Secondary stress (non-tonic): it is weaker than primary stress, but stronger than unstressed syllables It is usually found in words of four or five syllables It is represented in transcription with a low mark For examples: photographic economical anthropology nationality Unstressed: can be regarded as being the absence of any recognizable amount of prominence Placement of stress within words • In order to decide on the stress placement, it is necessary to make use of some or all of the following information a Whether the word is morphologically simple or complex (whether the word is a simple, derived or compound word) a The grammatical category to which the word belongs b The number of syllables in the word c The phonological structure of the word Simple word stress Two syllable words a Verbs b Adjectives c Nouns d Adverbs and prepositions Three syllable words a Verbs b Nouns c Adjectives Two-syllable verbs a If the second syllable of the verb contains a long vowel or a diphthong or it ends with more than one consonant, that second syllable is stressed E.g • provide protest contain agree More examples: select, arrest, design, inform, invent, prefer, depend, occur, succeed, deny, apply, record, invite b If the second syllable contains a short vowel and ends with one or no consonant, the first syllable is stressed Examples: • enter worry travel open More examples: menace, settle, marry, differ, equal, answer c The final syllable is also unstressed if it contains /@U/ Examples: follow borrow Two-syllable Adjectives • Two syllable adjectives are stressed according to the same rules as verbs Examples: correct major polite complete heavy happy sincere precise 10 Three-syllable Nouns a If the final syllalbe contains a short vowel or /@U/, it is unstressed If the second syllable contains a long vowel or a diphthong, or it ends with more than one consonant, the second syllable will be stressed potato disaster cathedral advantage b If the final syllable contains a short vowel and the second syllable contains a short vowel and ends with not more than one consonant, both the final and middle syllalbes are unstressed, and the first syllable is stressed 14 c quantity cinema enemy alphabet animal company antonym character If the final syllalbe contains a long vowel or a diphthong or it ends with more than one consonant, the stress will usually be placed on the first syllable paradise exercise architect marigold photograph attitude 15 Three-syllable Adjectives • Three-syllable adjectives seem to need the same rules as Nouns to produce stress pattern such as: opportune insolent possible derelict important absolute enormous similar accurate popular 16 Complex word stress • Derived words • Stress on the affix • No change in stress placement • The stress remains on the stem but is shifted to a different syllable • Compound words • Primary stress on the second element • Primary stress on the first element 17 Stress in derived words • The affixes will have one of three possible effects on the word stress The affix itself receives primary stress circle semi-circle employ employee person personality Portugal Portugese cigar cigarette picture picturesque mountain mountaineer 18 The word is stressed as if the affix were not there comfort comfortable marry marriage refuse refusal wide widen wonder wonderful amaze amazing red reddish power powerless punish punishment poison poisonous glory glorify 19 The stress remains on the stem, not the affix, but is shifted to a different syllable advantage advantageous proverb proverbial climate climatic injure injurious tranquil tranquility photograph photographer economy economical equator equatorial 20 Compound words a If the first word/part of the compound is in a broad sense adjectival, the stress goes on the second element with a secondary stress on the first loudspeaker full moon fast food new moon open hearted ill mannered 21 b If, however, the first element is, in a broad sense, a noun, the stress goes on the first element car ferry tea cup suitcase bottle feed boatpeople farm house airplane bodyguard bedroom 22 Word class pairs • In English, there are pairs of two syllable words with identical spelling which differ from each other in stress placement, apparently according to word class The rule is as follows: The stress will be placed on the second syllable if the word is a Verb, but on the first syllable of the Noun or Adjective abstract abstract conduct conduct contrast contrast desert desert 23 escort escort export export import import insult insult object object perfect perfect permit permit present present produce produce rebel rebel record record subject subject 24 Strong and weak forms • There are certain well-known English words that can be pronounced in two different ways which are called strong form and weak form I like that I hope that you are fine • It is possible to use only strong forms in speaking, and some foreigners this Usually, they can still be understood by other speakers of English, so why is it important to learn how weak forms are used? a Most native speakers of English find an ‘all-strong-form’ pronunciation unnatural and foreign sounding, somethings 25 that most learners would wish to avoid • More importantly, speakers who are not familiar with the use of weak forms are likely to have difficulty understanding speakers who use weak forms Since practically all native speakers of English use them, learners of the language need to learn about these weak forms to help them understand what they hear • Almost all the words which have both a strong and weak form belong to a category that may be called grammatical words such as auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions It is important to remember that there are certain contexts in which only the strong form is acceptable, and others where the weak form pronunciation is the normal 26 • The strong form is used in the following cases: a When the word occurs at the end of a sentence What are you looking at? I am looking at my pictures Where are you from? I am from Vietnam b When a weak form word is being contrasted with another word The letter is from him, not to him He likes her, but does she like him? 27 • A similar case is what we might call a co-ordinated use of prepositions I travel to and from London a lot A work of and about literature c When a weak form word is given stress for the purpose of emphasis You must marry me I have to go You must choose us or them d When a weak form word is being ‘cited’ or ‘quoted’ You shouldn’t put ‘and’ and the end of a28sentence [...]... words • Stress on the affix • No change in stress placement • The stress remains on the stem but is shifted to a different syllable • Compound words • Primary stress on the second element • Primary stress on the first element 17 Stress in derived words • The affixes will have one of three possible effects on the word stress 1 The affix itself receives primary stress circle semi-circle employ employee... record record subject subject 24 Strong and weak forms • There are certain well-known English words that can be pronounced in two different ways which are called strong form and weak form I like that I hope that you are fine • It is possible to use only strong forms in speaking, and some foreigners do this Usually, they can still be understood by other speakers of English, so why is it important to... last syllable will be unstressed, and stress will be placed on the second syllable encounter determine abandon remember If the final syllable contains a long vowel or a diphthong, or ends with more than one consonant, the final syllable will be stressed entertain introduce intervene recommend13 Three-syllable Nouns a If the final syllalbe contains a short vowel or /@U/, it is unstressed If the second... broad sense adjectival, the stress goes on the second element with a secondary stress on the first loudspeaker full moon fast food new moon open hearted ill mannered 21 b If, however, the first element is, in a broad sense, a noun, the stress goes on the first element car ferry tea cup suitcase bottle feed boatpeople farm house airplane bodyguard bedroom 22 Word class pairs • In English, there are pairs... one consonant, the stress will usually be placed on the first syllable paradise exercise architect marigold photograph attitude 15 Three-syllable Adjectives • Three-syllable adjectives seem to need the same rules as Nouns to produce stress pattern such as: opportune insolent possible derelict important absolute enormous similar accurate popular 16 Complex word stress • Derived words • Stress on the affix... diphthong, or it ends with more than one consonant, the second syllable will be stressed potato disaster cathedral advantage b If the final syllable contains a short vowel and the second syllable contains a short vowel and ends with not more than one consonant, both the final and middle syllalbes are unstressed, and the first syllable is stressed 14 c quantity cinema enemy alphabet animal company antonym character... forms are used? a Most native speakers of English find an ‘all-strong-form’ pronunciation unnatural and foreign sounding, somethings 25 that most learners would wish to avoid • More importantly, speakers who are not familiar with the use of weak forms are likely to have difficulty understanding speakers who do use weak forms Since practically all native speakers of English use them, learners of the language... they hear • Almost all the words which have both a strong and weak form belong to a category that may be called grammatical words such as auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions It is important to remember that there are certain contexts in which only the strong form is acceptable, and others where the weak form pronunciation is the normal 26 • The strong form is used in the following cases: a When... house airplane bodyguard bedroom 22 Word class pairs • In English, there are pairs of two syllable words with identical spelling which differ from each other in stress placement, apparently according to word class The rule is as follows: The stress will be placed on the second syllable if the word is a Verb, but on the first syllable of the Noun or Adjective abstract abstract conduct conduct contrast... Portugal Portugese cigar cigarette picture picturesque mountain mountaineer 18 2 The word is stressed as if the affix were not there comfort comfortable marry marriage refuse refusal wide widen wonder wonderful amaze amazing red reddish power powerless punish punishment poison poisonous glory glorify 19 3 The stress remains on the stem, not the affix, but is shifted to a different syllable advantage