1 The nature of stress Dr. Marga Vinagre Department of English Studies UAM

2 The Nature of Stress How to identify Stressed syllable - Production: using more muscular energy than is used for unstressed syllables. - Perception: perceiving stressed syllables as more prominent than unstressed ones. **(more prominent) louder, longer, has a higher pitch, and has a vowel of a certain quality. How to mark a stressed syllable placing the mark [  ] before the stressed syllable. Examples: - The first syllable in ‘father’ is marked high up with [  ] because it is stressed /  f  :  /. - The middle syllable in ‘apartment’ is marked high up with [  ] because it is stressed /  p  :tm  nt/. - The final syllable in ‘receive’ is marked high up with [  ] because it is stressed /r  si:v/

3 Levels of Stress Two-level analysis: stressed and unstressed syllables. E.g. The second syllable in ‘around’ has a higher pitch (hence, stressed) /  ra  nd/ Three-level analysis: primary [  ], secondary [  ], and unstressed syllables. E.g. in the word ‘photographic’ the most stressed syllable is the third one; so it has a primary stress [  ]. The second and last syllables are unstressed. There is a type of stress weaker than the primary stress and stronger than the unstressed syllables; this syllable has a secondary stress [  ]. /  fə .tə  gr æ f.  k/

4 Placement of Stress within the word How can we select the correct syllable to stress in an English word?  There is a set of rules governing the placement of stress in nouns, verbs, and adjectives even though there are some exceptions. When placing stress, it is necessary to consider the following:  Morphologically simple or complex word Simple words consist of one morpheme ( one grammatical unit). They may include one syllable (like ‘cat’) or more than one syllable (like ‘father’). Complex words consist of more than one morpheme ( more than one grammatical unit). E.g. affixinated words, compound words.  the grammatical category of the word: Noun, verb, -----etc.  how many syllables in the word  strong or weak syllable: weak syllables are always unstressed; strong syllables can be stressed or unstressed. Compare: the first and second syllables in ‘potato’ /p  t  t  /; ‘open’ /  p  n/.  Weak syllables (those which end in , ,  :, ,  : or a syllabic consonat)  Other unstressed syllables: those which contain  (  )

5 Two-syllable words In two-syllable words, one syllable is stressed and the other is unstressed. How to place the stress in a two-syllable word? If the word is a verb or an adjective, the stressed syllable is the strong one. Other two-syllable words like adverbs and prepositions behave like verbs and adjectives. Examples: ‘apply’ /   pla  / ‘assist’ /   s  st / ‘open’ /   p  n/ ‘envy’ /  envi/ ‘alive’ /   l  v/ ‘divine’ /d   v  n/ ‘lovely’ /  l  vli/ ‘even’ /  i: vn/

6 If the word is a noun, there is a different rule. If the 2 nd syllable contains a short vowel, the stress is placed on the first syllable. Otherwise, it will be on the second syllable. Examples: ‘money’ /  m  ni / ‘estate’ /   ste  t/ ‘design’ /d   za  n / Two-syllable words

7 Three-syllable words In three-syllable words, stress placement is more complicated. How to place the stress in a three-syllable word? In verbs If the final syllable is strong, then it’s stressed. If the final syllable is weak, the stress will be placed on the pre-final syllable if it’s strong. If both final and pre-final syllables are weak, the first syllable will be stressed. Examples: ‘parody’ /  p  r  / ‘encounter’ /  k  / ‘entertain’ /  /

8 In nouns: a different rule is applied.  If the final syllable is strong, stress will be placed on the 1 st syllable. Examples:  If the final syllable is weak or ends with /  /, then it is unstressed. If the pre-final syllable is strong, it will be stressed. Examples:  If the 2nd and 3rd syllables are both weak, then the 1st syllable is stressed. Examples: ‘marigold’ /  m  /‘intellect’ /  / ‘disaster’ /  :st  / ‘potato’ / p  t  t  / ‘cinema’ /  s  / Three-syllable words

9 Verbs attract clamber detest bellow /    / /   / /    / /    / Nouns honey paper captain refrain /    / /   / /   / /r    / Mark the stressed syllable. Justify your answer (2-syllable words):

10 Verbs: disconnect encounter Nouns: custody connection /   / /  / /  / /  / Mark the stressed syllable. Justify your answer: (3-syllable words)

11 Verbs: disconnect encounter Nouns: custody connection /    / /    / /    / /   / Mark the stressed syllable. Justify your answer: