Rules of Word Stress in English[LEFT]
There are two very simple rules about word stress:
1. One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If you hear two stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is true that there can be a "secondary" stress in some words. But a secondary stress is much smaller than the main [primary] stress, and is only used in long words.)
2. We can only stress vowels, not consonants.
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Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to put the stress. But do not rely on them too much, because there are many exceptions. It is better to try to "feel" the music of the ******** and to add the stress naturally.
1 Stress on first syllable
rule example
Most 2-syllable nouns PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble
Most 2-syllable adjectives PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy
2 Stress on last syllable
rule example
Most 2-syllable verbs to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE, to beGIN
There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer). More examples: the words export, import, contract and object can all be nouns or verbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or second syllable.
3 Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)
rule example
Words ending in -ic GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic, geoLOGic
Words ending in -sion and -tion teleVIsion, reveLAtion
For a few words, native English speakers don't always "agree" on where to put the stress. For example, some people say teleVIsion and others say TELevision. Another example is: CONtroversy and conTROversy.
4 Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)
rule example
Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy, geOLogy
Words ending in -al CRItical, geoLOGical
5 Compound words (words with two parts)
rule example
For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part BLACKbird, GREENhouse
For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned
For compound verbs, the stress is on the second part to underSTAND, to overFLOW
CONSONNANT
SYNCHRONIZING CUES WITH
FINAL CONSONANT CLUSTERS
If you've ever watched part of a movie where the lips of the actors are slightly ahead -- or slightly behind -- their audible speech, you know this can be distracting, if not downright confusing. Just imagine how much more confusing it would be to a deaf child if your hand cues and speech movements were "out-of-sync"! The cues without lip/tongue movements are useless in the same way that lip/tongue movements without synchronized hand cues may be useless to the severely hearing impaired. Furthermore, if your cues are behind your speech this will probably force you to slow down your natural speech rate in order to catch up. Speech may become unnecessarily halting and choppy. After completting as much of this practice session as you need, turn to PG-2: EF-J to reinforce your skills with some more difficult final consonant clusters.
It is easier to synchronize final consonants in a syllable which have duration in time: consonants which we ordinarily hold onto. These are called "continuants," and the best examples of continuants are the sounds /m/, /n/, /ng/ and /l/. Other continuants are /s/,/z/,/sh,/zh/,/f/,/v/ and the two /th/ sounds. Let's begin with the easier ones.
• Step 1. Cue and say the word "tee"(but hold the /ee/ for about two seconds, keeping your 5 handshape at the mouth position).
• Step 2. Now cue and say "teem"(but hold the /ee/ at the mouth for about 2 seconds). Just at the point where you close your lips for the /m/ sound, pull your hand quickly from mouth to side and hold your hand at the side until you have finished sounding the /m/. "teeeee/mmmmm" [5-m,5-s]. Give your hand a slight "flick" to show the end of the /m/ continuant. This side "flick" to close a syllable is recommended by Dr. Cornett, although not all cuers do it.
• Step 3. This time hold the /ee/ in "teem" for about 1 second; then as you are about to close your lips for the /m/, pull your hand smartly to the side. "teee/mm" [5-m,5-s]
• Step 4. Cue and say the word "teem" using shorter and shorter lengths for the /ee/, always making sure that you snap your hand smartly to the side as you close your lips to say the final consonant /m/. Give a brief "flick" to show that the sound as stopped.
Repeating the same four steps as long as necessary, practice these words:
"team" "tomb" "Em" "term" "tam" "Tim" "mum" [5-s/d,5-s] When you practice "mum," drop your hand slightly and keep it lowered until you close your lips for the final /m/, at which time you must snap your hand back up briefly to its original side position.
Practice these other final consonant continuants until you can cue and say the syllables with perfect synchronization.
If you think you need still further practice with these single final consonants, try these words where you must cue a diphtnong before the continuant.
"tithe"[5-s,5-t,2-s] "bathe" "lathe" "beige" "mouthe" "mouth" "faze" "maze" "face" "faith" "cows" "house" "south" "ice" "eyes" "ties" "tame" "main" "mail" "oil" "boil" "boing" "town" "owl" "foul" "loin" "join" "boys" "Joyce" "choice" "joys" "noise"
The "stop" consonants (or "plosives") /p/,/b/,/t/,/d/,/k/ and /g/ require much more careful synchronization because they are brief by nature -- not continuants.
/p/ "weep" "chirp" "soup" "pep" "hip" "map" "cup"
"dope" "top" "type" "tape"
/b/ "Herb" "verb" "tube" "daub" "deb" "dab" "bib"
"robe" "rub" "rob" "babe" "jibe" "scribe"
/t/ "meet" "hurt" "hoot" "caught""met" "mit" "put"
"nut" "boat" "bite" "bait" "Voight" "doubt"
/d/ "seed" "bird" "bed" "pawed" "dude" "dad" "did"
"good" "road" "bud" "cod" "hide" "loud" "void"
/k/ "peak" "work" "Luke" "gawk" "peck" "pack"
"pick" "book" "luck" "soak" "bike" "bake"
/g/ "league" "burg" "leg" "dog" "moog" "bag" "big"
"bug" "Borg" "rogue"
When a final consonant cluster is cued at the side, be extra careful to cue each one as you actually say it. Start with the continuants again where natural duration wil allow you some timing leeway.
"teams" [5-m,5-s,2-s] "tunes" "dawns" "tens" "tense" "Dan's" "dance" "dolls" "falls" "false" "sings" "wrongs" "rungs"
With stop consonants added to continuants in final clusters the synchronization becomes more demanding.
"lamp" "camp" "dump" "limp" "bulb" "Kalb" "dent" "fault" "won't" "wilt" "wind" "rained" "fund" "rolled" "roamed" "rhymed" "wronged"[3-t,8-s,1-s] "rink" "think" "bunk" "tank" "punk" "rank" "drunk" "milk" "elk" "bulk" "talc"
When both final consonants are stop consonants, you must be fast as well as synchronized.
"apt" "kept" "slipped"/slipt/[3-s,6-t,1-s,5-s] "robbed" "rubbed" "rocked" "raked" "clapped" "ached" "act" "leaked" "looked" "lagged" "backed"
There is one cueing consolation: some consonants in final clusters disappear from the speech of most people -- and, therefore, don't have to be cued. From the "Beginning Lessons in Cued Speech" tapes, remember the example "hand"[3-t,4-s,1-s] and "han(d)s"[3-t,4-s,2-s]? Here are some more examples: "wind"[6-t,4-s,1-s] "winds"[6-t,4-s,2-s] "ten(t)s" "prin(t)s" "thin(k)s"[7-t,8-s,2-s]"than(k)s" "chun(k)s" "lim(p)s" "fin(d)s" "fien(d)s" "lends" "faults" "chants" "once" "ounce" "mince" "mints"
Here are some final consonant clusters which pose an interesting problem of enunciation as well as synchronization. You probably say "ninth"[4-s,5-t,4-s,7-s], but do you really say "ninths"[4-s,5-t,4-s,7-s,3-s]? Or do you say "nin(th)s"[4-s,5-t,4-s,3-s]? Could this be confused with saying "nines"[4-s,5-t,4-s,2-s]? No, because "nines" is said with a /z/ sound at the end. Rather than quibble about these, simply cue the way you actually say them: "fifths" "health's" "lengths" "strengths" "sixths" "widths"
Ironically, these words are harder to enunciate than to cue! This should give your morale a considerable boost.
For further practice in synchronization of final consonant clusters see
Primary sentence stress is an important aspect of the English prosodic system. Its adequate use is a prerequisite in the development of normal intonation patterns. This study examined the use of primary sentence stress in autistic children with mean length of utterance (MLU) scores between 1.9 and 4.1 morphemes. Normal and aphasic subjects at similar MLU levels served as contrast groups. The primary sentence task required that the subjects verbally respond to a request for information and provide a description of a play situation. Toy manipulation was used to elicit the desired responses. Listener judgment served as the basis for analyzing results. Although all subjects were able to perform the task, differences were seen in the number of correct responses and in the pattern of stress misassignment. These results are at variance with a prediction of stress placement on grammatical grounds. An explanation is offered, based on pragmatic considerations and cognitive developmental trends in young children.
This research was supported by NINCDS Grant No. NS 16479, MCH Training Grant UAF 31886-12, SHARE, and DD Grant UAF 23577-12. We would like to thank Saeed Ali and Deena Bornstein for assisting in the transcriptions and rating of the data.
Common consonant sounds (phonemes) are represented by black letters. Each non-slanted, black letter of normal font thickness represents only one common sound (phoneme). The conventional common consonant sounds are not represented by a separatedrawing. The common sounds of the consonants in this invention are as follows:
b is /b/ in bib
c is /k/ in cat
d is /d/ in dad
f is /f/ in fluff
g is /g/ in giggle
h is /h/ in hug
j is /j/ in jug
k is /k/ in kick
l is /l/ in little
m is /m/ in mom
n is /n/ in nine
p is /p/ in pop
q is /kw/ in queen
r is /r/ in roar
s is /s/ in sis
t is /t/ in tot
v is /v/ in vine
w is /w/ win won
x is /ks/ in fox
y is /y/ in yes, and
z is /z/ in zoo.
FIG. 4 portrays examples of uncommon consonant sounds indicated by black, slanted letters. There can be one or more uncommon sounds represented by each black, slanted consonant letter and letter pair; and they are presented in order of theirpredominant occurrence in American English words. The /s/ sound of `c` is more often encountered than its /sh/ sound, and the /ch/ sound of `c` is rare. But slanted letters `ch` together represent /ch/ or rarely /sh/.
The /t/ sound of `d` is often encountered in -`ed` endings, and its /j/ sound is rare. The only time `f` sounds /v/ is in "of". The /j/ sound of `g` is more often encountered than its /zh/ sound. Letter `q` can sound /k/. The /z/ sound of `s`is more often encountered than its /zh/ sound, and its /sh/ sound is rare. The /sh/ sound of `z` is more often encountered than its /ch/ sound, and its /zh/ sound is rare. The /gz/ sound of `x` is more often encountered than its /z/ sound. Letter `z`can sound /zh/. The horizontal line separates the single consonants from consonant digraphs.
Slanted letters `ch` most often make the sound /ch/ and rarely /sh/. Slanted letters `sh` represent the single phoneme /sh/. In a word like "mishap", letters `sh` would not be slanted, but in "misshapen" they would. There are two traditionalphonemic symbols for the digraph `th`: the one pronounced without the voice is /th/, and the one pronounced with the voice has a slash through the letters `th`, yet a slash typically means "not"; therefore these confusing symbols were not used. Thedigraph `wh` actually aspirates before the /w/. Slanted `gh` and slanted `ph` represent /f/. The symbol /.eta./ is a modified International Phonetic Alphabet's symbol for /ng/ used in this invention to demonstrate its own phoneme as well as itsrelation to `nk`; otherwise the phonemic symbol for `nk` would have been an awkward /ngk/.
Double consonants representing one consonant sound, like `ff` for /f/ and `ss` for /s/, are not slanted. Therefore letters `ck`, though representing just one /k/ sound, are not slanted.
FIG. 5 portrays examples of silent letters in words. Silent letters are thinner than letters that represent sound. The silent letters are represented in alphabetical order: `b` in "lamb", `c` in "czar", `d` and `e` in "judge", `g` in "sign",`h` in "school", `k` in "knee", `l` in "would", `n` in "hymn", `p` in "psalm", `t` in "watch", `w` in "wrote", `ch` in "yacht", and `gh` in "thought".
FIG. 6 portrays the application of the invention to a sentence. All fourteen assonant colors and black have been applied here, as have the common, uncommon (slanted as shown in FIG. 4) and silent (thin as shown in FIG. 5) aspects of theinvention. The color assonance is as follows:
I (lime) want (blond) to (blue) join (turquoise) the (plum) good (brook) people (green--purple) of (plum) Gold (orange) Town (brown) in (pink) saying (gray--pink) that (tan) a (plum) man (tan) is (pink) worth (purple) more (orange) than (red)one's (plum) money (plum--green) belt (red).
Each syllable has only one color, making it easy to recognize all the two-syllable words in the sentence: "people", "saying", and "money".
OPERATION OF INVENTION
This color-assonant phonetics system can be displayed on a white background on any color-receptive surface or visual display (paper, wood, cardstock, plastic, tile, ****l, cloth, film, film screens, computer monitors, televisions, and the like).
Clarification of Concepts and Terms
In order to establish sound *****alency, Table 1 has been compiled:
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Color Sound Description IPA Diacritical ______________________________________ tan /ah/ short `a` [] a, a red /eh/ short `e` [.epsilon.] e, A, A pink /ih/ short `i` [I] l blond /aw/ short `o`[], [] o, o, A plum /uh/ short `u` [], [] u, a, o gray /ay/ long `a` [e], [eI], [ei] a, e green /ee/ long `e` [i] e lime /aw-ee/ long `i`, diphthong `i` [aI], [ai] l orange /oh/ long `o` [o] o, o blue /oo/ long `u` [u] u, U brook /oo-uh/ short`oo`, diphthong /oo/ [U] brown /aw-oo/ diphthongs /ow/ and /ou/ [aU], [au] ou turquoise /oh-ee/ diphthongs /oy/ and /oi/ [I], [i] oi purple e in /er/ the schwa in /er/ [], [] e, l, U, u purple u in /ul/ the schwa in /ul/ [], [l] ______________________________________
Referring to Table 1, typical diacritical marks are displayed, there being no agreed-upon standard for diacritical marks. Conventionally, phonemes are placed between slash marks / /, and International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols are placedbetween brackets [ ].
Referring to FIG. 1, in some dialects, the vowel sound in "pink" might not clearly be pronounced as /ih/. When a short vowel sound is followed by /.eta.k/, /.eta./, or /g/; as in "pink", "ping", and "pig", the vowel sound may tend to distorttoward a long vowel sound. But Webster's Dictionary rightly verifies the letter `i` in "pink" is short. Linguistically speaking, letters `ng` in "ping" is a digraph: one new sound represented as /.eta./. This new sound is represented by the letter `n`in `nk`, but for the sake of simplicity, both letters `nk` in "pink" are slanted, though not a true digraph.
In FIG. 2, note that only the `g` is slanted in "orange" to represent its uncommon sound /j/; thus the end of the word is /nj/, not /.eta./ as when both letters `ng` are slanted. Note the vowel digraph `ue` in "blue" is colored blue, as opposedto making the `e` silent. Vowel digraphs are colored as one vowel sound. Note that `ay` is considered a vowel digraph in "gray". Letters `y` and `w` are colored when they function in vowel digraphs as vowel sounds.
Regarding FIG. 3, since no commonly known color name with the short /oo/ sound exists, the name "brook", indicative of water flowing in a brook, is used and given an aquamarine color.
Notice in "turquoise" that the `q` is slanted to represent its uncommon sound /k/. Normally `q` makes its common sound /kw/, and the `u` is considered silent; thus breaking from the traditional representation of `qu` representing /kw/. This isdone because `qu` does not always represent /kw/, as in "antique".
This invention distinguishes the sounds of schwas. Webster's Dictionary defines schwa as "the mid-central, neutral vowel sound typically occurring in unstressed syllables in English, however spelled, as the sound of a in alone and sofa, e insystem, i in easily, o in gallop, u in circus." It is also described on its inside front page: "schwa occurs in unaccented syllables to indicate the sound of the reduced vowel in alone, system, easily, gallop, circus". The problem is that a non-nativespeaker would not know in what manner to reduce the vowel. This invention colors the thick, unaccented letters plum (for /uh/) in "alone", "gallop", and "circus"; and colors them pink (for /ih/) in "system" and "easily".
Webster's Dictionary notes in its introductory "How to Use This Dictionary": "the (l) can be syllabic, as in little, cradle, and tunnel (lit'l, crad'l, tun'l). For entries showing syllabic /, alternate pronunciations with schwa can also beheard." This invention clearly shows the heard schwa, as is demonstrated in the final `e` in "purple" and "people" (FIG. 6), but recognizes the letter's "silent" nature, since the schwa is inherent in the letter `l` itself. These "silent schwas" act asplaceholders, like the zero does in our numeral system. "Silent schwas" also appear in vowel letters preceding letters `n` and `r` as in the words "button" and "better". The letter `e` before `r` in "better" would be thin purple. The letter `o` in"button" could be thin pink or plum, depending on pronunciation.
Letters `r` and `l` are referred to as glides, slides, semi-vowels, and vowel-consonants in linguistics. In the vowel-consonants /er/ and /ul/, the schwa is actually a part of the letter and impossible to detach from it. In some words thatschwa is overpowered by another vowel sound, as the /oh/ does in "orange" (in FIG. 2) and "Gold" (in FIG. 6). In some words, that schwa is clearly represented by a vowel letter directly before or after the letter `r` or `l` as in "turquoise" (in FIG. 3)and "police", or "theatre" and "people" (in FIG. 6). In these cases the vowel letter is
colored purple in a thin style in recognition that the schwa is inherent in the letter`r` or `l`, and has created a syllable. This is helpful in distinguishing triphthongs (three vowel sounds combined) from diphthongs (two vowel soundscombined). "Flour" is a one syllable word with a triphthong: the diphthong `ou` would be colored brown (the schwa being inherent in the `r`). "Flower" is a two syllable word: the diphthong `ow` would be colored brown and the `e` would be thin purple.
FIG. 4 is a reference chart for uncommon English consonant sounds. It is to be understood that the list of uncommon consonant sounds represents a typical American English vocabulary. It does not contain all the uncommon consonants andalternative sounds represented in Webster's Dictionary. Some phonetics systems add diacritical marks to differentiate between the uncommon sound of the consonant letter(s) to be an exact pronunciation aid, but this invention does not distort the flow oftext with extra markings.
This system can be easily applied to foreign words that are commonly used by American English speakers to demonstrate a consonant does not make its common sound, as in the Spanish words "javelina" and "quesadilla".
It is to be understood that the list in FIG. 5 represents examples of silent letters for a typical American English vocabulary. It does not contain all the possible silent letters for foreign words, or for obscure words such as "mnemonic" whichhas a silent `m`.
FIG. 6 portrays one possible pronunciation of the sentence. This invention is adaptable to differences in pronunciation, emphasis, and dialect. If "than" was pronounced with the /ah/ vowel instead of /eh/, then the `a` in "than" would becolored tan. If "the" was emphasized, the `e` in the word "the" would be colored green. If the word "a" was emphasized, the word "a" would be colored gray. Silent letters are commonly represented in other texts with an apostrophe (sayin'). If /ng/ inthe word "saying" is replaced by /n/ in a dialect, then letters `ng` would not be slanted, and letter `g` would be thin to indicate that the `g` was silent.
When a vowel has an unwritten consonant sound preceding it, then it is slanted. The preceding sound of the word "one's" is /w/. The preceding sound of the word "use" is /y/.
Letters `eo` are not a common vowel digraph taught in traditional phonics, but this invention clearly shows they represent the /ee/ sound in "people". Letter's `a`, `e`, and `o` are not commonly taught to make the /uh/ sound, but are clearlycolored plum in the words "a", "the", and "of", "one's", and "money". The silent letter `e` in "more" and "one's" clarify these words have only one syllable. The digraphs `th` and `ng` are indicated by slanted letters.
The Ariel font is used in FIGS. 1-6. Ariel has very subtle differences between its thin (normal), thick (bold) and thick-slanted (bold-italic) styles. To provide more distinctiveness between the styles, a font like New Century Schoolbook mightbe used instead.
Directions for Applying Invention to Text
1. Using an art/graphics computer program, select a font which has thick, thin, and thick-slanted styles; and type your text using the thick, black font.
2. Make all the silent letters (including silent schwas) thin.
3. Establish your color palette according to table 2 or 3 for professional printing.
For displays using the Red, Green, Blue format, Table 2 offers example percentages of the colors.
TABLE 2 ______________________________________ Color R G B ______________________________________ Tan 86 71 60 Red 100 0 0 Pink 96 77 81 Blond 95 87 29 Plum 49 0 49 Gray 50 50 50 Green 0 60 0 Lime 55 80 0 Orange 100 50 0 Blue 0 39 64 Brook 0 60 60 Brown 58 40 100 Purple 79 45 100 Turquoise 56 93 100 ______________________________________
For displays using the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black format, Table 3 offers example percentages of the colors.
TABLE 3 ______________________________________ Color C M Y K ______________________________________ Tan 15 30 40 0 Red 0 93 100 0 Pink 0 30 5 0 Blond 0 0 80 10 Plum 62 95 0 1 Gray 50 36 36 16 Green 84 0 100 0 Lime 51 0 98 0 Orange 0 6296 0 Blue 100 50 0 0 Brook 89 3 46 0 Brown 28 55 85 23 Purple 42 51 0 1 Turquoise 37 0 9 0 ______________________________________
4. Color the vowels using FIG. 1-3 as the color-assonance key, according to their pronunciation in the text.
a. All syllables must contain one, and only one, color.
b. All letters representing the vowel sound in one syllable are to be colored the same. Example: letters `eau` in "beautiful" would all be colored blue.
c. Some purple, silent schwa letters will come after letter `r` or `l`, but are colored to signify the syllable.
d. Color letters `w`, and `y` when they are part of the vowel digraph.
5. Slant consonant digraphs that create new phonemes.
6. Slant all consonants that do not represent their common sound.
7. Slant any vowels that have an unwritten consonant sound preceding them. In the word "beautiful", the /oo/ sound is preceded by /y/, and so all letters `eau` representing the one /oo/ phoneme would all be slanted. To change the threesyllable word "beautiful" to a four syllable word according to a dialect, letters `ea` would be colored green, and the following letter `u` would be slanted blue. [The order of #5-7 is important, otherwise you might incorrectly slant the letter `u` in"sugar" before you have slanted the letter `s` (see FIG. 4).]
Following these steps, those skilled in the art can apply this invention to text.
CONCLUSIONS, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE
This invention greatly simplifies pronunciation and reading of text. The invention itself is simple. It can be easily taught and understood. The colorful texts are inviting and stimulating to beginning readers. The advantages of thisphonetics system are evident:
(a) It provides clear, immediate, visual distinction between consonant sounds and vowel sounds.
(b) It provides one-to-one correspondence of an assonant color to each vowel sound including schwas.
(c) It provides clear, immediate recognition of the number of syllables in each word.
(d) It visually distinguishes all of the different vowel sounds from each other regardless of spellings.
(e) It provides clear, immediate recognition of silent letters.
(f) It provides inferential visual cues instead of complex rules, thus enabling students to spend less time learning the system and more time using the system to aid their pronunciation and reading.
(g) It provides a readable text to both those who know the system and those who do not, without distorting text with diacritical marks.
(h) It can be used in many mediums, fonts, and sizes.
The preferred embodiments of professional color-printing on white paper and of color display on computer monitor are already incorporated in the Color Phonics product. It is hoped to soon have the invention applied to text in children's books. The invention can be applied to transparency film to be shown on overhead projectors. Color-markers can be used to apply the invention to white paper or to erasable white boards.
Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described and incorporated into a product, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departingfrom the scope of the present invention: various fonts of various sizes on various printable mediums and visual displays. It is therefore intended to encompass within the appended claims all such changes and modifications that fall within the scope ofthe present invention.
• A multi-syllable word has a prominent syllable. This is called a stressed syllable.
• Stressed syllable is longer in duration, higher in pitch, and louder in volume.
• Duration is the primary attribute to the prominence of a syllable.
• Usually 2 syllable nouns (90%+) have the stress on the first syllable; 2 syllable verbs (60%+) have the stress on the second.
• Except for the compounds, stressed syllables in words with more than 2 syllables never stand next to each other (Stressed syllables and weak syllables alternate).
________________________________________
When a word has more than one syllable, one is more prominent than the others. When this happens, we say that the syllable has a stress, or that it is stressed. In the following examples, stressed syllables are expressed with boldface.
word pattern
tea.cher • .
beau.ti.ful • . .
un.der.stand . . •
con.ti.nue . • .
con.ti.nu.a.tion . • . • .
black.board • •
When a syllable is stressed, it is pronounced;
• longer in duration
• higher in pitch, and
• louder in volume
Try this with the word teacher.
How you say teacher
longer teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee cha
higher tea
cha
louder TEA cha
all three combined TEEEEEEEEE
cha
(Japanese learners and others) However, for Japanese learners, it is most important to make the stressed syllable longer. Duration is the most important aspect of stress that Japanese learners have to practice. This is because Japanese learners are used to make prominence ONLY by the pitch.
Exercise 1
Say these words with the stressed syllables (in bold) more prominent. Try to stress them by lengthening the vowel. Try NOT to exaggerate the pitch difference.
two syllables de.sign a.bout af.ter
three syllables va.nil.la Ca.na.da graf.fi.ti
four syllables in.dif.fe.rent A.ri.zo.na a.vai.la.ble
five syllables u.ni.ver.si.ty ca.fe.te.ri.a la.bo.ra.to.ry*
* Some native speakers (particularly British) pronounces this word la.bo.ra.t(o)ry (three syllables).
Exercise 2
Group the following words so that they match the patterns in the table.
word list
infamous banana calendar statement
dinosaur imply cluster kingdom
enjoyment mountain eternal countless
excel passage before defeated
begin arrive worry history
pattern • . . • • . . . • .
word
Answer Key
The ******** of stress is determined by a set of many complex rules. Therefore predicting where the stress falls is not easy. However, some sets of words follow a simple pattern.
Consider the following two-syllable words. Underline the stronger syllable.
Two-syllable words
noun verb
produce
pervert
record
convert
present
conflict
conduct
project
contrast
contract
(This list is taken from Avery and Ehrlich, 1992, p. 68)
As you can see, the nouns typically have the first syllable stressed, whereas verbs have the stressed second syllable. 90% two-syllable nouns, and 60% two-syllable verbs follow this pattern (Avery and Ehrlich, 1992).
Look at the following three syllable words. Consider the stress patterns.
Three-syllable words
• . . . • . • . •
in.stru.ment com.mer.cial ar.ti.choke
ca.len.dar va.nil.la hur.ri.cane
cu.ri.ous de.ve.lop ap.pe.tite
sen.ti.ment as.to.nish cro.co.dile
do.cu.ment op.po.nent con.gre.gate
(This list is taken from Avery and Ehrlich, 1992, p. 68)
Four-syllable words
• . . . • .
pos.si.bi.li.ty com.mer.cial
ca.len.dar va.nil.la
cu.ri.ous de.ve.lop
sen.ti.ment as.to.nish
do.cu.ment op.po.nent
• A multi-syllable word has a prominent syllable. This is called a stressed syllable.
• Stressed syllable is longer in duration, higher in pitch, and louder in volume.
• Duration is the primary attribute to the prominence of a syllable.
• Usually 2 syllable nouns (90%+) have the stress on the first syllable; 2 syllable verbs (60%+) have the stress on the second.
• Except for the compounds, stressed syllables in words with more than 2 syllables never stand next to each other (Stressed syllables and weak syllables alternate).
________________________________________
When a word has more than one syllable, one is more prominent than the others. When this happens, we say that the syllable has a stress, or that it is stressed. In the following examples, stressed syllables are expressed with boldface.
word pattern
tea.cher • .
beau.ti.ful • . .
un.der.stand . . •
con.ti.nue . • .
con.ti.nu.a.tion . • . • .
black.board • •
When a syllable is stressed, it is pronounced;
• longer in duration
• higher in pitch, and
• louder in volume
Try this with the word teacher.
How you say teacher
longer teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee cha
higher tea
cha
louder TEA cha
all three combined TEEEEEEEEE
cha
(Japanese learners and others) However, for Japanese learners, it is most important to make the stressed syllable longer. Duration is the most important aspect of stress that Japanese learners have to practice. This is because Japanese learners are used to make prominence ONLY by the pitch.
Exercise 1
Say these words with the stressed syllables (in bold) more prominent. Try to stress them by lengthening the vowel. Try NOT to exaggerate the pitch difference.
two syllables de.sign a.bout af.ter
three syllables va.nil.la Ca.na.da graf.fi.ti
four syllables in.dif.fe.rent A.ri.zo.na a.vai.la.ble
five syllables u.ni.ver.si.ty ca.fe.te.ri.a la.bo.ra.to.ry*
* Some native speakers (particularly British) pronounces this word la.bo.ra.t(o)ry (three syllables).
Exercise 2
Group the following words so that they match the patterns in the table.
word list
infamous banana calendar statement
dinosaur imply cluster kingdom
enjoyment mountain eternal countless
excel passage before defeated
begin arrive worry history
pattern • . . • • . . . • .
word
Answer Key
The ******** of stress is determined by a set of many complex rules. Therefore predicting where the stress falls is not easy. However, some sets of words follow a simple pattern.
Consider the following two-syllable words. Underline the stronger syllable.
Two-syllable words
noun verb
produce
pervert
record
convert
present
conflict
conduct
project
contrast
contract
(This list is taken from Avery and Ehrlich, 1992, p. 68)
As you can see, the nouns typically have the first syllable stressed, whereas verbs have the stressed second syllable. 90% two-syllable nouns, and 60% two-syllable verbs follow this pattern (Avery and Ehrlich, 1992).
Look at the following three syllable words. Consider the stress patterns.
Three-syllable words
• . . . • . • . •
in.stru.ment com.mer.cial ar.ti.choke
ca.len.dar va.nil.la hur.ri.cane
cu.ri.ous de.ve.lop ap.pe.tite
sen.ti.ment as.to.nish cro.co.dile
do.cu.ment op.po.nent con.gre.gate
(This list is taken from Avery and Ehrlich, 1992, p. 68)
Four-syllable words
• . . . • .
pos.si.bi.li.ty com.mer.cial
ca.len.dar va.nil.la
cu.ri.ous de.ve.lop
sen.ti.ment as.to.nish
do.cu.ment op.po.nent
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2009-05-01, 18:49
Rules of Word Stress in English
Thanks a lot for sharing
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