Download Word and Sentence Stress

Stress
Stress
• Definition:
In speech, stress may be defined as the degree of intensity or loudness
placed on a sound; that is, the amount of force one puts on a syllable or
word to give it importance.
• Type:
word stress vs. sentence stress
• Significance:
Stress is such an important feature of spoke English that it determines
not only the rhythmic flow of words, but also the quality of the vowels.
Correct word and sentence stress in spoken English can mean the
difference between good communication and no communication at all.
Type of stress
Three types of stress can be found in English:
• Primary stress refers to the strong emphasis a speaker puts
on the most important syllable of a particular word.
• Secondary stress refers to a less strong emphasis on the
next most important syllable.
• Zero stress refers to any syllable that receives no stress, and
it is also called unstressed syllable.
• The frequent occurrence of unstressed syllable is one of the
fundamental characteristics of spoken English.
How to pronounce word stress?
When a syllable is stressed, it is pronounced
• longer in duration
• higher in pitch
• louder in volume
e.g. teacher
Stressed Syllable
banana
ba
Syllable 1
(short)
NAAAA
Syllable 2
(long)
na
Syllable 3
(short)
vs. Unstressed Syllables
Stressed syllables are strong syllables.
Unstressed syllables are weak syllables.
Schwa //
Any English vowel letter can be pronounced with the
schwa //.
allow
firemen
possible
command
support
a
e
i
o
u
//
Word Stress Rule
Where is the
stress?
Examples
Nouns
on the first
syllable
center
object
flower
Verbs
on the last
syllable
release
admit
arrange
on the first part
desktop
pencil case
bookshelf
greenhouse
Word type
Two
syllables
Nouns
(N + N)
(Adj. + N)
Compound
Adjectives
(Adj. + P.P.)
Verbs
(prep. + verb)
on the last part
(the verb part)
well-meant
hard-headed
old-fashioned
understand
overlook
outperform
Word type
Phrasal Verbs
Where is the
stress?
Examples
on the particle
turn off
buckle up
hand out
-ic
the syllable before
the ending
Word with
added
ending
economic
Geometric
electrical
-tion, -cian, sion
Technician
graduation
cohesion
-phy, -gy, -try,
-cy, -fy, -al
Photography
biology
geometry
the third from the
last syllable
-meter
Parameter
Thermometer
barometer
Sentence Stress
• Sentence stress refers to the word or words in a sentence
that receive a strong accent.
• Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or "beat".
Word stress is accent on one syllable within a word.
Sentence stress is the strong accent on certain words within
a sentence.
• Sentence stress is the music of spoken English. Like word
stress, sentence stress can help you to understand spoken
English, especially when spoken fast.
Most sentences have two types of words:
content words (information words)
function words (structure words)
Content words are the key words of a sentence. They
are the important words that carry the meaning or sense.
function words have little or no meaning in themselves.
They are small, simple words that make the sentence
correct grammatically.
If you remove the function words from a sentence, you will
probably still understand the sentence.
Content words are usually nouns, verbs, adjectives, and
adverbs.
•They give information about who, what, when, where, why, and
how.
•They express the main idea or content of the phrase or sentence.
•They carry the message and therefore usually stressed.
Unstressed words are usually function words like articles,
pronouns, possessives, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, and
conjunctions.
•These words connect the information words to form grammatical
sentences.
A native speaker may emphasize any word in order to express
a particular idea.
--- I mean the book in the desk, not on the desk.
--- He did go there. (Auxiliary verbs are only typically stressed
when there is a negation or some element of surprise).
--- The truck has been hit by another truck.
---I was asked to give a TED Talk, but now I’m going to TED Sing.
--- Did you say “bread”? Here you are.
Sorry, I asked for bread and butter.