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Wɔ:tə TƏ Geðə/ Ɪnfə Eɪʃn/ V LƏN Tɪə

This document provides information about word stress in a lecture on phonetics. It defines stress as the degree of force used in pronouncing a syllable, with the stressed syllable being the loudest. Word stress can fall on the first, second, third or last syllable of words. There are three levels of stress: primary, secondary, and unstressed. Stressed syllables are more prominent due to factors like loudness, pitch, length, and vowel quality. Vowels like /ə/, /ɪ/, and /ʌ/ are more common in unstressed syllables, while long vowels and diphthongs indicate prominence.

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70 views1 page

Wɔ:tə TƏ Geðə/ Ɪnfə Eɪʃn/ V LƏN Tɪə

This document provides information about word stress in a lecture on phonetics. It defines stress as the degree of force used in pronouncing a syllable, with the stressed syllable being the loudest. Word stress can fall on the first, second, third or last syllable of words. There are three levels of stress: primary, secondary, and unstressed. Stressed syllables are more prominent due to factors like loudness, pitch, length, and vowel quality. Vowels like /ə/, /ɪ/, and /ʌ/ are more common in unstressed syllables, while long vowels and diphthongs indicate prominence.

Uploaded by

TinBow
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Second year LMD

Phonetics

Lecturer: Dr. Chelli

Lecture No. 2: Word Stress


1. Definition of syllable: A syllable is a single unit of speech which contains a vowel sound.
A syllable that stands alone is called monosyllabic. A word containing more than one syllable is
called polysyllabic.
When a word has more than one syllable, not all syllables are pronounced with the same degree of
force. The syllable which is pronounced with force is called the stressed syllable or the accented
syllable.
2. Definition of stress: Stress is defined in terms of energy of articulation for the speaker and
loudness for the listener.
3. Word stress: the accented pattern of English word may be considered as fixed because the stress
falls on the same syllable in a given word, but it may considered as free because it may fall on the
first, second, third or last syllable in a given word.
Examples: water / w:t/
together /tge/
nformation/ ,nfmen/
volunteer/ ,v
lnt
There are two levels of stress: primary stress and secondary stress.
A third level refers to unstressed syllables.
In some words, we can find a stress which is weaker than the primary stress (called secondary stress
which like an apostrophe down-placed before the syllable)
Examples: organization / ,:gnazen/
photographic / ,f
tgrfk
transportation/ ,trnsp:ten/
4. Characteristics of stressed syllables
From the perceptual point of view, all stressed syllables have one characteristic in common, and
that is prominence; stressed syllables are recognised as stressed because they are more prominent
than unstressed syllables. What makes a syllable prominent? At least four factors are important
(Roach, 1991: 85-86):
- Loudness (energy of articulation)
- Pitch
- Length (quantity)
- Quality
Quantity
certain vowels are associated with unaccented situations:
- in RP / / does not normally occur in accented syllables.
- // and /
/, though both may receive stress have a high frequency of occurrence in unaccented
syllables.
/:/ and / / may receive secondary accented / ,:gnazen/
/ ,trnsp:ten/
Quality
The R.P long vowels and diphthong are associated with prominence, especially by a listener.
Generally the four factors work in combination, though syllables may sometimes be made
prominent by means of only two factors: energy of articulation and pitch (ibid.).
Examples: silly, pretty, cinema

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