CD 3

Track
30
Chapter Five

SYLLABLE STRESS
A syllable is a small unit of speech that consists of a vowel, or a vowel and one or more
consonants. Stressed and unstressed syllables form the basis of the rhythmic pattern of
English words.

Many languages place the same amount of stress on each syllable. For example, in many lan-
guages the word banana is pronounced as:

__ __ __
ba na na (All three syllables are stressed equally.)

In English, we pronounce the word as:

__
__ __
ba na na (The second syllable is stressed.)

The vowel within the stressed syllable is longer, louder and higher in pitch. The vowel within
the unstressed syllable is reduced and becomes a neutral, short vowel called the “schwa”
and is pronounced as /ə/. It can be spelled with a, e, i, o, or u. All of the five vowels can
sound the same if they are part of a reduced syllable. As you can see, it is more important
to know which syllable is stressed than how the word is spelled. If people don’t understand
a particular word you are saying, chances are you stressing the wrong syllable.

Note: Phonetically, banana looks like this: /bə ʹnænə/. The small accent symbol in front of
the /n/ indicates that the syllable that follows is stressed. Your dictionary may have differ-
ent stress markers.

CD 3
Track
31
Stressed and Reduced Vowels
Listen to the following word pairs and notice the changes in the vowel sounds, depending
on whether the syllable is stressed or reduced. The first word of each pair has only one
syllable, so the vowel must be fully pronounced. The second word has two syllables, with
the second syllable reduced. Even though the ending of the second word is spelled exactly
the same as the first word, the vowel is pronounced differently because it’s part of the
reduced syllable.

66 Mastering the American Accent

 full vowel reduced vowel

unstressed
one syllable
second syllable
/æ/ /ɘ/
1.
man salesman
/oʊ/ /ɘ/
2.
pose purpose
/ɛɪ/ /ɘ/
3.
race terrace
/ɛɪ/ /ɘ/
4.
late chocolate
/ɔ/ /ɘ/
5.
cord record
/ɛɪ/ /ɘ/
6.
rage courage
/æ/ /ɘ/
7.
fast breakfast
/æ/ /ɘ/
8.
land England

Now listen to vowel changes of words that have a reduced first syllable.

full vowel reduced vowel

stressed unstressed first syllable

/ɑ/ /ɘ/
1.
con control
/æ/ /ɘ/
2.
ad advice
/æ/ /ɘ/
3. lagoon
lag
/ɑ/ /ɘ/
4.
pod podiatrist
/ɔ/ /ɘ/
5. balloon
ball
/ɛ/ /ɘ/
6.
red reduce
/ɔ/ /ɘ/
7.
off offend
/æ/ /ɘ/
8.
mat material
/ɔ/ /ɘ/
9.
or ordain
/æ/ /ɘ/
10.
mad Madrid

Chapter Five: SYLLABLE STRESS 67

CD 3
Track Dangers of Stressing the Wrong Syllable
32
Stressing the wrong syllable sometimes creates misunderstandings because people think
you are pronouncing a completely different word. The following words are great examples
of why syllable stress is such an important component of the American accent.

1. noble honorable, distinguished, aristocratic

Nobel a prestigious award of achievement
“He won the Nobel Prize for his noble effort.”

2. invalid a sick or disabled person

invalid not valid, void
“The invalid has an invalid permit.”

3. personal individual, private

personnel a group of people employed in an organization or a place of work
“Some of the personnel have some personal problems.”

4. eligible worthy of choice, suitable, legally qualified

illegible impossible or hard to read
“You won’t be eligible for that position if your handwriting is illegible.”

5. pronouns parts of speech that substitute for nouns are pronouns such as
he and she
pronounce to say words, to utter
“Can you pronounce those pronouns correctly?”

6. comedy a humorous drama or play

committee a group of people elected or appointed to perform a function
“The committee watched a comedy.”

7. advantages benefits or gain

advantageous beneficial, useful
“It would be advantageous to learn about the advantages of that method.”

8. decade ten years

decayed become rotten or ruined
“Their relationship has decayed in the past decade.”

9. access ability or right to enter

excess extra, additional
“Do you have access to the excess data?”

10. content (noun) the subject matter of a book, speech, etc.

content (adjective) satisfied and happy
“Are you content with the content of that letter?”

68 Mastering the American Accent

11. career profession
carrier a person or company that carries or transports something
“He had a career working for an aircraft carrier.”

12. discus a heavy disc of metal thrown in an athletic competition

discuss to talk over in detail, to examine in speech or writing
“The discus throwers discussed the competition.”

A B C Study Tip
Make a list of words commonly used at your workplace or in your
field of study. Ask a colleague or classmate who is a native speaker to
pronounce the words for you as you record them. Listen to the
recording, carefully noting which syllable is stressed.

General Rules for Stress Placement CD 3

Track
33
This section will give you some general guidelines and patterns of American English sylla-
ble stress. Keep in mind that there are many exceptions to these rules and that English
syllable stress can be quite irregular. Get into the habit of using your dictionary or asking
native speakers to pronounce new or confusing words for you.

Two-Syllable Words

NOUNS VERBS

Stress the first syllable Stress the second syllable.

1. action produce

2. paper achieve

3. building apply

4. concert succeed

5. teacher attach

6. father employ

7. window include

8. garden destroy

Chapter Five: SYLLABLE STRESS 69

 Noun and Verb Pairs
The following pairs of nouns and verbs are spelled the same but pronounced differently
because of changing syllable stress. Make sure you reduce the vowel in the unstressed
syllable. First you will hear the noun, and then the verb.

NOUNS VERBS NOUNS VERBS

1. addict addict 11. object object
2. conduct conduct 12. present present
3. conflict conflict 13. produce produce
4. contest contest 14. progress progress
5. convert convert 15. rebel rebel
6. convict convict 16. record record
7. defect defect 17. research research
8. desert desert 18. subject subject
9. increase increase 19. suspect suspect
10. insult insult
Note: Some of the above words have completely different meanings in the verb and
noun forms.

CD 3
Track
34
Practice Sentences
Underline the stressed syllables in the verbs and nouns in bold letters. To check
your answers, listen to the audio.
1. The singer wants to record a new record.
2. The drug addict is addicted to heroin.
3. He insulted me with a rude insult.
4. I would like to present all of the present members.
5. This permit permits you to park your car here.
6. They protested in the protest.
7. Do you object to this object?
8. The convict was convicted again.
9. I suspect that they caught the suspect.
10. They are going to contest the results of the contest.

Practice Dialogue
Once again, underline the stressed syllables in the bold words before listening to
the audio.
a. Have you heard? The police caught the suspect!
b. Do you mean the one who is suspected of robbing the bank?
a. Yes, I heard that he had a criminal record.
b. Oh really? What crime was he convicted of?
a. He’s a drug addict who has been robbing banks to support his addiction.
b. How many years do you think he will spend in prison?

70 Mastering the American Accent

 a. A maximum of ten years. But he might be released early on good conduct.
b. If he conducts himself badly and insults the prison guards, I wonder if his
sentence will be increased.
c. I don’t know. I haven’t heard of a prison term increase for insults and bad
conduct.

Words Ending in -tion and -ate

CD 3
Verbs that end with -ate have a stress on the first syllable. Nouns ending with -tion however, Track
35
have a stress on the syllable before the suffix. Examine the examples in the chart below.

Verbs that end in -ate Nouns ending in -tion

Stress is on the syllable that
Stress is on the first syllable
precedes the suffix -tion
1. activate activation

2. celebrate celebration

3. congratulate congratulation

4. demonstrate demonstration

5. donate donation

6. frustrate frustration

7. imitate imitation

8. locate location

-ate Endings of Verbs and Nouns CD 3

Track
Note that the -ate word ending is pronounced fully in verbs but is reduced in adjectives and 36

nouns. For example, the -ate ending of the word separate is pronounced /eIt/ when it is a verb
and /It/ when it is a noun.

Word Pairs for Practice

1. a. separate /eIt/ (verb) They have decided to separate.
b. separate /It/ (adjective) They will live in separate houses.

2. a. alternate /eIt/ (verb) She alternates between feeling happy and sad.
b. alternate /It/ (adjective) Do you have an alternate plan?

Chapter Five: SYLLABLE STRESS 71

 3. a. graduate /eIt/ (verb) He will graduate next spring.
b. graduate /It/ (noun) He will be a college graduate.

4. a. estimate /eIt/ (verb) Can you estimate the cost of the repairs?
b. estimate /It/ (noun) I would like to have an estimate of the costs.

5. a. duplicate /eIt/ (verb) I will duplicate this document.

b. duplicate /It/ (noun) Please make a duplicate of it.

6. a. appropriate /eIt/ (verb) The city appropriated the money for the
new park.
b. appropriate /It/ (adjective) It was an appropriate decision.

CD 3
Track
37
More Stressed Suffixes
Look for words with the following suffixes: ee, ette, ique, ese, eer, and ain. The suffix
is always stressed in these words
1. employee 4. cassette 7. Japanese 10. volunteer
2. trainee 5. unique 8. Chinese 11. maintain
3. cigarette 6. boutique 9. engineer 12. explain

CD 3
Track
38
Rules for Prefixes
Sometimes the prefix is stressed and other times it’s not. Prefix + verb combinations usually
have second syllable stress. Here are a few examples.
oversleep understand outlive rewrite
overdo undertake outperform redo

However, if the prefix + the root word function as a noun, the first syllable is stressed:
oversight undertaker refill outsourcing
overdose underwear repeat outcome
CD 3
Track With reflexive pronouns, the last syllable is stressed. Note these common examples:
39
myself himself itself
yourself herself ourselves

72 Mastering the American Accent

Practice with Prefixes
Practice saying the following groups of words with the same prefixes, paying attention to the
changes in stress. In the nouns, stress the prefix. In the verbs, stress the root word.

PREFIX Prefix + root word = NOUN Prefix + root word = VERB

Stress the prefix Stress the root word

prevent, prepare, predict, precede,

pre– preview, prefix
prefer, pretend

per– permit perform, persuade, permit

product, process, profit, progress, produce, protect, propose, project,

pro–
project, program prolong, profess, promote

mis– mischief, misprint, misfit misplace, misquote, misread

concert, contest, conflict, congress, confess, control, conduct, confuse,

con–
concept, content, confirm, consent, console
compete, complain, compare,
com– complex, compound
compose, compute
observe, obtain, obsess,
ob– object
obscure, obstruct

sub– subject, suburb, subway subtract, submit, subscribe

explain, extract, exhale, excuse,

ex– expert, exile, excerpt
exchange, exceed, exclude, excite

de– detail, defect, decrease deny, demand, defend

dis– discount, discourse, district discuss, distrust, disturb

agree, apply, admit, adore, afford, alert,

a– access, addict, anchor
applaud, approve, arrange, attack

Chapter Five: SYLLABLE STRESS 73

 Practice Paragraph
Underline the stressed syllables in the highlighted verbs and nouns.

The Protest
The protesters gathered in front of the government building expecting to confront the
elected officials. They were protesting the recently uncovered corruption. It is
believed that the officials were inside the building discussing the conflict. The crowds
threatened to disrupt the meeting. Some workers complained about receiving threats
from the protesters. The mayor confirmed that he would conduct an investigation
and try to resolve the conflict. The sheriff will assist him to compile all the details
of the investigation. The mayor assured the public that he would make an effort to
protect the citizens from further corruption.

A B C Study Tip
Practice reading aloud, underlining longer words and determining sylla-
ble stress by looking in the dictionary. Your dictionary may come with
an audio CD which will help you hear the correct word pronunciation.

CD 3
Track Syllable Stress Changes
40
When a word changes from a noun to a verb or to an adjective or adverb, frequently the
stress placement changes as well. Listen to these common words that non-native speakers
tend to mispronounce (read across).
1. politics political politician
2. photograph photographic photography
3. compete competitive competition
4. economy economical economize
5. democrat democracy democratic
6. family familiar familiarity
7. necessary necessarily necessity
8. hospital hospitality hospitable
9. origin originality original
10. mechanic mechanism mechanical
11. define definition definitely
12. vary variety variation
13. courage courageous
14. probably probability
15. geography geographic
16. memory memorial
17. Canada Canadian
18. ignore ignorance

74 Mastering the American Accent

Sentence Pairs for Practice CD 3
Track
Underline the stressed syllables in the highlighted words. To check your answers, 41

listen to the audio.

1. He likes politics.
He wants to be a politician.
2. I love photography.
Do you take a lot of photographs?
3. He studied economy.
He is an economical shopper.
4. Do you know that family?
Yes, they’re familiar to me.
5. He is a very good mechanic.
He is fixing the mechanism.
6. Their opinions vary.
There is a variety of opinions in the room.
7. We celebrate Memorial Day.
It’s in memory of the veterans.
8. Do you know the origin of your name?
No, it’s pretty original.
9. He is a registered Democrat.
He watched the democratic debate on TV.
10. It is not necessary to do that.
I don’t necessarily agree.
11. He likes to compete.
He’s always been very competitive.

Practice Paragraph
Underline the stressed syllables in the highlighted words. Check your answers by
looking in the dictionary.
American Declaration of Independence
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve
the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among
the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature
and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind
requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Chapter Five: SYLLABLE STRESS 75

Reduced Vowels for Review
As a final review of this important chapter on stress and reduction, you will have an
opportunity to break the habit of pronouncing each vowel fully, as you would in your
native language. You must remind yourself that one of the most important factors to a great
American accent is the concept of stress and reduction.

Read the word lists below, one row at a time, making sure that the vowel of the unstressed
syllable is reduced and pronounced as /ə/, the schwa. The vowel spelling changes, but the
vowel sound is the same in all of these groups of words.

A. Practice these words ending in ... /əl/

le al el ul ol
1. little social level awful symbol
2. gamble mental marvel beautiful idol
3. able final travel careful capitol
4. double practical angel faithful
5. cycle local bagel harmful
6. handle animal novel thankful

B. Practice these words ending in ... /ən/

an en on ion
1. ocean fasten common fiction
2. American children person nation
3. urban chicken lesson million
4. German dozen iron direction
5. woman given melon attention
6. veteran driven Jefferson action

C. Practice these words ending in ... /ər/

ar er or ure
1. grammar teacher visitor culture
2. popular driver liquor measure
3. sugar singer actor injure
4. familiar answer color future
5. nuclear sister junior failure
6. regular border major pressure

76 Mastering the American Accent

 D. Practice these words ending in ... /əs/
ace ous ose uce
1. terrace cautious purpose lettuce
2. necklace fabulous
3. palace dangerous
4. grimace curious
5. surface delicious
6. preface religious

E. Practice these words ending in ... /ənt/

ant ent
1. distant present
2. elegant accent
3. infant talent
4. instant frequent
5. constant document
6. important payment

Note: In this grouping of words the first syllables, rather than

the last, are reduced.

F. Words beginning with... /ə/

a e o u
1. attain enough obtain undo
2. achieve elect object unfit
3. admit effect observe untie
4. adore equip obsess unhappy
5. awake exam offend uncover
6. announce example occur unlock

Chapter Five: SYLLABLE STRESS 77