ENGLISH PHONOLOGY:

PRONUNCIATION
VIDEO LESSON 4

WORD STRESS
Techniques to teach word stress
Mgs. Nina Nesterenko

stress

WORD
STRESS
the relative prominence
of syllables

Stress is one of the vocal features.

Major characteristic of the English language weak stress.
There are NO consistent rules in English.
The main reason for the complexity of stress in
English
the language is a mixture of
Germanic and Romance languages. This is why
stress is unpredictable and not systematic.

the use of strong and

WORD STRESS
Improperly placed stress causes misunderstanding :
invalid invalid
Stress placement may also have a grammatical function
changing the stress to another syllable can change the part
of speech.
Noun
Verb

present and present

project and project
record and record
desert and dessert
convert and convert

Stress and Vowel Reduction

In English, unstressed syllables and vowels tend
to sound alike.
Example:
action - / k- n / and NOT / k- on /
people - / pi: pl / and NOT / pi: - pl /
nation - / ne- n / and NOT / ne- on /
vision - / v - n / and NOT / v - on /
This indistinct pronunciation and
shortening of the unstressed syllable in
English is called VOWEL REDUCTION.

The phenomenon of vowel reduction in

English affects only those syllables that are
completely without stress.
Example: curtain - / k rtn /
certain - / s r t n /
apple - / p l /

Vowel reduction in unstressed syllables

also normally takes place in longer
English words.
Example: reduction

/ r -d - k n /

RULES of WORD STRESS

Stress on TWO - SYLLABLE words

If the word does not have
a suffix, and in the
majority of two-syllable
words stress usually goes
on the first syllable.

tress on the first syllabl

No suffix
two-syllables
general
cherry
window
jacket
devil
Tuesday
table
father breakfast
paper
vanish
cupcake
money
morning

Nouns in

Stress on the first

Compound words
Numbers
syllable
( of ten )
flashcard
forty
bookstore
seventy
stoplight

twenty thirty
fifty

sixty

eighty

ninety

STRESS IN COMPOUND WORDS

Combinations of words which are treated as single units
from the point of view that their meanings are called
compound

In most compound
words, the stress is on
the first part, as in the
example: bus stop

In longer compounds, the first element

has the main stress, and the other part
has weaker stress.
Example: crossword,baseball, strawberry, airport,
photocopy

TWO-SYLLABLES word
stress
Most two-syllable verbs
have stress on the second
syllable, even if they do
not come from an original
one- syllable word.

Example:report, prepare,outrun,
invite
believe, support, complete

There are some exceptions regarding the change

of the part of speech as in examples below.
(there is not a change of stress)

VERB
NOUN
picture
promise
reply
travel
visit

picture
promise
reply
travel
visit

Stress in VERBS
When the prefix re- means again, it
receives the strong stress:
Ex: re-do, re-name, re-tell, re-make, re-dress

When the prefix re- begins a word,

and it does not mean again, it is
UNSTRESSED
Ex: remark, remind, reward, require, refuse

Stress in NOUN / VERB

Homographs
Remember
Nouns stress on

Verbs stress on

the first syllable

the second syllable

NOUNS

VERBS

conflict ( controversy)
conflict ( to clash )
content ( subject matter )
content ( to satisfy)
desert ( barren region ) desert ( to abandon )
contest ( competition)
contest ( to dispute)
increase ( enlargement) increase (to make larger)

Stress in THREE - SYLLABLE words

We can build longer word by
adding parts to the
beginning or end of shorter
word. Stress usually stays
on the same syllable as in
the original word.

Example:
un-der- line (original word is line)
re-co-llect (original word is collect)

Stress in PREFIXES and SUFFIXES

In English, the suffixes ic, - ical ,
as in words basic, medical
ARE ALLWAYS
UNSTRESSED
When suffixes are
added to English
words, the stress
remains on the
same syllable

Ex: real - real +ly real +ize

separate separate+ly

BUT !
when the suffixes - tion / -ity
are added to English words, the
stress goes automatically to the
syllables immediately preceding
the suffix:
Ex: real realization - reality
nation- nationalizationnationality

RULES TO REMEMBER
Reflexive pronouns
are usually stressed
on the SECOND
syllable
Examples:

myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves.

Compound verbs
are usually stressed
on the SECOND or
LAST syllable.
Examples:

outrun, overlook, overfeed, undergo

Teaching ideas and techniques

Listen and pronounce the stress pattern differences
--Please record the record.
- Please dont desert me in a desert.
- We project that our project will be successful
- She will present you with a present.

Work with a dictionary to find examples with noun/

verb Homographs
Write your own senteces to contrast the meaning of the
Homographs. ( ex: project and project )

Make role plays or dialogues with Homographs .

Teaching ideas and techniques

Listen and circle/ underline the words with the stress on the
FIRST syllable
Ex: eighty , accept, window, vowel,

resighn, machine, mother

Listen and circle/ underline the words with the stress on the
SECOND syllable:
Ex: around, husband, severe, summer, complete , himself, winter

Write the words in the corresponding column according to the

stressed syllable
baseball, allow, invite, eighty, complete, myself, behind
FIRST SYLLABLE SECOND SYLLABLE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Teaching ideas and techniques

Read the sentences and fill in the blank with compound
nouns formed from the two boldfaced words. Stress the
words correctly.
Ex:

A rack that holds coats is a .(coatrack)

A juice made from oranges is called..
A store that sells books is called .
When you have an ache in your head,
you have a

Listen and mark the stressed syllable in these words:

sunglasses, bedroom, lipstick, headache, goldfish

Teaching ideas and techniques

Listen and repeat the pairs of words and the
sentences. Remember to stess re- only when it means
again.
re-mark ( to mark smth again)
re-mark ( to comment)
re-lay (to lay smth down again) re-lay ( to pass on a message)
Re-do this model, but re-duce the size.
Re-mind me to re-sort the index cards.
Will he re-fuse to re-print this book?
They will re-quire you to re-write the letter.
Write / say your own sentences as in the exercise above.

Teaching ideas and techniques

Classify the words below according to their stressed
syllable:
Winter, acceptance, breakfast, respect, eminent, absolute,
afternoon, examine, employer, policeman, herself,report
First stressed
syllable

Second
stressed
syllable

Last stressed
syllable

Thank you!

To be
continued!....