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Lecture 5
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 /f/
information
/f/
John bought a new car yesterday
Types of stress
1.
Word stress: is an extra force put on a particular

syllable of the word. It is usually fixed. For example:
invite
2.
entertain
Sentence stress: is an extra force put on a particular
word in a sentence. Sentence stress is not fixed. It

depends on the speakers 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.
1.
From the production point of view, the production of

stress is generally believed to depend on the speakers
using more muscular energy than for unstressed
syllables.
2.
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 of them.
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Levels of stress
1.
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.
2.
Secondary stress CACH DANH TRONG AM THU

CAP (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
3. Unstressed: can be regarded as being the absence of

any recognizable amount of prominence.
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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.

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Simple word stress

1.
Two syllable words

a. Verbs
b. Adjectives
c. Nouns
d. Adverbs and prepositions

2. Three syllable words
a. Verbs
b. Nouns
c. Adjectives
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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
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Two-syllable Adjectives
Two syllable adjectives are stressed according to
the same rules as verbs. Examples:
correct
major
polite
complete
heavy
happy
sincere
precise
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Two-syllable Nouns
a. If the second syllable contains a short vowel, the
stress will be on the first syllable. Otherwise, it will
be on the second syllable.
money
reason
office
larynx
estate
balloon
autumn
affair
delight
pocket
canoe
surface
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Notes
Other two-syllable words such as adverbs and
prepositions seem to behave like verbs and
adjectives. Examples:
beyond
never
seldom
behind
again
very
before
after
except
across
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Three-syllable verbs
a.
b.
If the last syllable contains a short vowel and ends

with not more than one consonant, the 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
recommend
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
person
personality
Portugal
Portugese
cigar
cigarette
picture
picturesque
mountain
mountaineer
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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
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3. 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
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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
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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
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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
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escort
escort
export
export
import
import
insult
insult
object
object
perfect
perfect
permit
permit
present
present
produce
produce
rebel
rebel
record
record
subject
subject
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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 learn how weak forms are used?
a. Most native speakers of English find an all-strong-form
pronunciation unnatural and foreign sounding, somethings
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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 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.
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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?
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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 shouldnt put and and the end of a sentence. 28

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Lecture 5

syllable or word is said with greater energy, and stands

Word stress: is an extra force put on a particular

Sentence stress: is an extra force put on a particular

word in a sentence. Sentence stress is not fixed. It

The nature of stress

We can study stress from the point of view of production

From the production point of view, the production of

From the perception point of view: all stressed syllables

Primary stress (tonic/nuclear): is the strongest type of

Secondary stress CACH DANH TRONG AM THU

3. Unstressed: can be regarded as being the absence of

Placement of stress within words

In order to decide on the stress placement, it is

Whether the word is morphologically simple or

(whether the word is a simple, derived or compound

The grammatical category to which the word belongs.

The number of syllables in the word.

The phonological structure of the word.

Simple word stress

Two syllable words

d. Adverbs and prepositions

More examples: select, arrest, design, inform,

b. If the second syllable contains a short vowel and

More examples: menace, settle, marry, differ,

c. The final syllable is also unstressed if it contains

If the last syllable contains a short vowel and ends

If the final syllable contains a long vowel or a

If the final syllalbe contains a short vowel or /@U/, it is

b. If the final syllable contains a short vowel and the

If the final syllalbe contains a long vowel or a

Complex word stress

Stress in derived words

The affixes will have one of three possible effects on

The affix itself receives primary stress.

The word is stressed as if the affix were not there.

3. The stress remains on the stem, not the affix, but

If the first word/part of the compound is in a broad

element with a secondary stress on the first.

If, however, the first element is, in a broad sense, a

Word class pairs

placement, apparently according to word class. The

syllable of the Noun or Adjective.

Strong and weak forms

More importantly, speakers who are not familiar with the

The strong form is used in the following cases:

When the word occurs at the end of a sentence.

When a weak form word is being contrasted with

A similar case is what we might call a co-ordinated

A work of and about literature.

When a weak form word is given stress for the

You must marry me

When a weak form word is being cited or quoted

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