UNIT 3 STRESS PATTERNS IN WORDS
In Italian, a syllable-timed language, uniform stress is given to different syllables.
English, on the contrary, is a stress-timed language in which there exists a
distinction between strong (toniche) and weak (atone) syllables.
Syllable division
A syllable consists of a vowel sound or a vowel sound + consonant(s). The system for
syllable division is generally a phonetic one. Most words have the same number of
syllables in the written form as in the pronunciation. However, there are a few rules to
help divide words up into syllables.
a) Each syllable has only one vowel sound. When a consonant separates two vowels,
divide the word after the first vowel and before the consonant:
stu-dent re-sult ex-a-mine
b) When the vowel is at the end of a syllable, it has a long sound, called an open syllable:
may be-low an-ec-dote
c) When the vowel is not at the end of a syllable, it has a short sound, called a closed
syllable: mad sub-ject con-vent
d) Syllables are divided between doubled consonants, unless the doubled consonant is
part of a syllable that is a base word: din-ner swim-ming tell-er
e) Monosyllabic prefixes and suffixes are not divided:
il-le-gal un-com-mon
gov-ern-ment cou -ra-geous
f) Plurisyllabic prefixes and suffixes are divided:
an-ti-war un-der-take
vel-o-ci-ty hy-po-the-ti-cal
Exercise 22 Divide the following words into syllables.
1. mirror 5. calendar
2. sunshine 6. global
3. poem 7. fitness
4. wonderful 8. December
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9. computer 13. oversleep
10. lovely 14. dinner
11. fine 15. antidote
12. tongue
Stress patterns in words
The strong or primary stress on one syllable has the effect of weakening the
pronunciation of the secondary syllables. It is therefore important to be able to
determine the stress pattern of words.
Symbols used to indicate stress:
ˈ the following syllable has primary stress
ˌ the following syllable has secondary stress
Suffixes
Suffixes do not generally have primary stress.
Compare:
ˈage /eɪdʒ/ ˈcourage /kʌrɪdʒ /
to be ˈable /eɪbl/ ˈcapable /keɪpəbl/
ˈate /eɪt/ ˈgraduate (n)/grædʒʊət /
ˈfull /fʊl/ ˈbeautiful /bjuːtɪfl/
ˈless /les/ ˈhopeless /həʊpləs/
In only a few cases the main stress falls on the suffix, generally with suffixes of
foreign, especially French, origin.
Some examples are:
-oo kangarˈoo -elle gazˈelle
-ee employˈee -ette cigarˈette
-eer engineˈeer -ese Chinˈese
Some suffixes determine the position of the primary stress.
The following suffixes determine the primary stress on the syllable preceding the
suffix:
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Nouns
-ity, -ety capˈacity opporˈtunity
Note the shift in stress: ˈpublic pubˈlicity
ˈsocial socˈiety
to ˈvary varˈiety
-ion disˈcussion atˈtention
Note the shift in stress: to preˈpare preparˈation
to proˈnounce pronunciˈation
to ˈrealise realisˈation
-ian amˈphibian phyˈsician
Note the shift in stress: huˈmanity humaniˈtarian
ˈlibrary libˈrarian
ˈhistory hisˈtorian
-ics ˈphysics ˈethics matheˈmatics
Verbs
-ify, -ish to ˈmagnify to aˈbolish
Note the shift in stress: ˈperson to persˈonify
Exercise 23 Mark the primary stress in the following words.
1. village 6. passion
2. society 7. anxiety
3. talkative 8. universal
4. suffragette 9. career
5. classify 10. economics
Adjectives
-ic, -ible, -igible hisˈtoric inˈvisible ˈeligible
Note the shift in stress: eˈconomy ecoˈnomic
to neˈglect ˈnegligible
-ious, -eous, -uous ˈglorious arˈboreous conˈtinuous
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-ial, -ual ˈsocial ˈusual
Other suffixes do not alter the stress pattern of the word.
-able ˈcomfort ˈcomfortable
-cy ˈvacant ˈvacancy
-dom ˈking ˈkingdom
-er/-or ˈvisit ˈvisitor
-ful ˈwonder ˈwonderful
-ish (adj.) ˈbaby ˈbabyish
-ism to ˈcriticise ˈcriticism
-ize/-ise (v.) eˈconomy to eˈconomize
-less ˈcare ˈcareless
-ly (adv.) ˈrapid ˈrapidly
-man (n.) poˈlice poˈliceman
-ment to ˈgovern ˈgovernment
-ship ˈowner ˈownership
-ty ˈunit ˈunity
-y to inˈquire inˈquiry
Exercise 24 Mark the shift in stress in the following pairs of words.
1. economy economics
2. experiment experimental
3. history historian
4. nation nationality
5. philosophy philosophical
6. psychiatry psychiatric
7. science scientific
8. examine examination
9. idiot idiotic
10. demonstrate demonstration
Prefixes
Two-syllable words with no prefix usually have the primary stress on the first
syllable: ˈfollow ˈcarry ˈgovern ˈcancel
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Two-syllable words with a separable prefix (often written with a hyphen) have equal
stress on the prefix and the main word:
ˈex-ˈwife ˈpre-ˈbook ˈre-ˈwrite ˈself-ˈhelp
Two-syllable VERBS with an inseparable prefix generally have the primary stress on
the second syllable: to exˈplain to preˈsent to deˈny to proˈduce
Two-syllable NOUNS with an inseparable prefix generally have the primary stress on
the first syllable: ˈexpert ˈpresent ˈdeluge ˈproverb
Some exceptions to this are: adˈvice deˈfence exˈcuse reˈlief
The stress in three-syllable words can vary from word to word. Compare:
ˈtelegraph reˈmoval ˈvegetable deˈcision
If the prefix - separable or inseparable - is bisyllabic, there is secondary stress on
the first syllable of the prefix and primary stress on the third syllable:
ˌunderˈstand ˌinterˈvene ˌsuperˈsede ˌoverˈride
Exercise 25 Mark the primary stress in the following pairs of nouns and verbs.
1. to conduct conduct
2. to desert desert
3. to present present
4. to subject subject
5. to conflict conflict
6. to decrease decrease
7. to object object
8. to produce produce
9. to suspect suspect
10. to rebel rebel
Exercise 26 Find the word in each group that the primary stress located on the different
syllable from the other three.
1. a) con-fi-dent b) del-i-cate c) po-et-ic d) sen-si-tive
2. a) ad-mi-ra-ble b) app-ro-priate c) com-pli-cated d)nec-es-sar-y
3. a) or-i-gin b) oc-cur c) lim-it d) of-fer
4. a) in-stru-ment b) cal-en-dar c) at-mos-phere d) ad-vise
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5. a) ca-nal b) de-moc-ra-cy c) char-ac-ter d) suc-cess
6. a) mu-si-cian b) ne-ces-si-ty c) au-thor-i-ty d) pho-to-graph
7. a) man-age b) con-nect c) o-blige d) re-veal
8. a) a-tom-ic b) dif-fer-ent c) se-ri-ous d) vi-ol-ent
9. a) ac-ci-dent b) ma-chin-e-ry c) res-tau-rant d) tel-e-phone
10. a) mar-riage b) mys-ter-y c) ben-e-fit d) ex-ist-ence
Compound nouns
Most compound nouns have the primary stress on the first element. Compare this to
the equal stress of adjective and noun:
ˈdining-room ˈtextbook ˈblackbird
ˈdark ˈroom ˈlibrary ˈbook ˈblack ˈbird
Compound adjectives
The stress generally falls on the second element with the –ed participle and -ing
participle: bad-ˈtempered old-ˈfashioned good-ˈlooking
However, if one of the elements of the compound adjective is a noun, stress will fall on
the noun, even if it is the first element: ˈlaw-abiding ˈrecord-breaking
Compound verbs
The stress generally falls on the second element: outˈrun overˈrate underˈline
Exercise 27 Mark the stress on the following words.
1. blackboard 6. train-spotting
2. mobile phone 7. football
3. well-dressed 8. bus stop
4. highlight 9. out-dated
5. swimming pool 10. over-ripe
Exercise 28 Rewrite the sentences forming compound adjectives and mark the primary
stress.
1. The letter was written by hand The letter was ................................
2. We grew the vegetables at home. The vegetables are .......................
3. We went on holiday at the last minute. It was a .............................holiday.
4. Jane works very hard. Jane is .........................................
5. Tom looks really good. Tom is ........................................
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UNIT 4 STRESS PATTERNS IN PHRASES
Function words such as prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, determiners, and auxiliary
verbs are generally weaker in stress within a sentence.
prepositions conjunctions
at /ət/ that ðət
for fə as əz
from frəm than ðən
of əv and ən , n
to tə but bət
per pə or ə , ər
pronouns determiners
he hɪ his ɪz
him ɪm/, /əm her hə , /ə/
her hə our ɑː
us əs your jə
them ðəm a, an ə , ən
some səm the ðə , ðɪː/
Exercise 29 Underline the weak function words in the following sentences.
1. I‟d love a cup of tea.
2. When are you going to Spain?
3. He goes to the cinema three or four times a month.
4. I‟ll have some bread and butter, please.
5. We‟d rather stay at home than go to the restaurant.
6. You‟ll have to study harder if you want to pass the exam.
7. They drove at 50 kilometres per hour.
8. Did you give him the books?
9. He said that he‟d go home as soon as possible.
10. I told them they were going to fall.
Articles
a, an - The indefinite article a is reduced to /ə/ before consonants (or consonant
sounds): a book a table a university a one-year plan
It becomes an ən before vowels (or vowel sounds):
an apple an event an hour an heir
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