StressStress

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?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 SyllableStressed Syllablebanana

ba NAAAA na Syllable 1 Syllable 2 Syllable 3 (short) (long) (short)

vs. vs. Unstressed SyllablesUnstressed Syllables

Stressed syllables are strong syllables. Unstressed syllables are weak syllables.

Any English vowel letter can be pronounced with the schwa //.

allow a

firemen e

possible i //command o

support u

Schwa /Schwa ///

Word Stress RuleWord Stress Rule

Word typeWhere is the

stress?Examples

Two syllables

Nounson the first

syllable

center object flower

Verbson the last

syllable

release admit

arrange

Compound

Nouns (N + N)

(Adj. + N)on the first part

desktop pencil case bookshelf

greenhouse

Adjectives (Adj. + P.P.)

on the last part (the verb part)

well-meant hard-headed old-fashioned

Verbs (prep. +

verb)

understand overlook

outperform

Word typeWhere is the

stress?Examples

Phrasal Verbs on the particleturn off

buckle up hand out

Word with added ending

-ic

the syllable before the ending

economic Geometricelectrical

-tion, -cian, -sion

Techniciangraduation cohesion

-phy, -gy, -try, -cy, -fy, -al

the third from the last syllable

Photographybiology

geometry

-meterParameter

Thermometerbarometer

Sentence StressSentence 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 content words (information words)(information words)function words function words (structure 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.