1. Phonetics & Phonology John Corbett: USP-CAPES International Fellow
Session 5: Syllable structure and stress

2. Today´s session This session: Syllable structure Word stress
Morphologically simple and complex words
Rules governing word stress
Today´s session

3. How many syllables – and where are the divisions?
Think about the word above. We can say a number of things about it:
It has FIVE orthographical letters: <a>, <b>, <o>, <v>, <e>
It contains FOUR phonemes: /əbʌv/
There are TWO syllables: /ə/ and /bʌv/ or A#BOVE
The first syllable is pronounced with less force than the second (it is unstressed)
The second syllable is pronounced with more force than the first (it is stressed): /ə'bʌv/
How many syllables – and where are the divisions?

4. How many syllables – and where are the divisions?
Discuss in pairs/threes:
How many syllables do the following words have?
Where are the divisions?
AGAINST
ENTER
EQUIP
SAINT ANDREWS
How many syllables – and where are the divisions?

5. How many syllables – and where are the divisions?
Discuss in pairs/threes:
How many syllables do the following words have?
Where are the divisions? Possible answers (accents vary!):
A#GAINST
EN#TER ENT#ER
/ɛ kwɪp/ /ɛk wɪp/ (note that spelling doesn’t help much here)
SAINT#AN#DREWS SAIN# TAN#DREWS SAIN#TAND#REWS
How many syllables – and where are the divisions?

6. Syllable structure: 3 main parts
Syllable Onset Rhyme Nucleus Coda CC V CC pl i: zd
Syllable structure: 3 main parts

7. Onset, nucleus and rhyme
Identify the syllable boundaries, and then the onset, nucleus and rhyme (for you) in each syllable of the following words and phrases:
INTERNATIONAL
THE STRAIN
THIS TRAIN
Onset, nucleus and rhyme

8. Some English accents prefer the onset of a syllable to be a consonant where possible, so:
IN # TER # NA # TIO # NAL
Do you?
Do THE STRAIN and THIS TRAIN have the same syllable boundary for you?
THE#STRAIN and THI#STRAIN
Issues to think about

9. Syllable and stressed timing
All languages make use of differences in pitch, loudness and speed (tempo). Together, pitch loudness & tempo contribute to the rhythm of speech.
Languages differ in the way they make rhythmical contrasts.
Syllable length (long versus short) is a crucial feature of syllable- timed languages, based on Latin (=Romance languages, like Portuguese).
Stress (stressed versus unstressed) is a crucial feature of stress- timed languages (=Germanic languages, like English).
Pitch (high and low tones) is a crucial feature of many tonal languages (=Asian languages, like Putonghua and Cantonese).
English speech makes use of stressed syllables, produced at roughly regular periods of time, and separated by an irregular number of unstressed syllables.
Syllable and stressed timing

10. Word stress Pairwork/In threes
Spoken in isolation, some syllables in English words have greater stress than others. Identify the syllables that have the most stress in the following 3-4 syllable words:
/pəteɪtəʊ/
/əpɑ:tmənt/
/rɪleɪʃənʃɪp/
Word stress

11. Word stress Pairwork/In threes
Spoken in isolation, some syllables in English words have greater stress than others. Identify the syllables that have the most stress in the following 3-4 syllable words:
/pəˈteɪtəʊ/
/əˈpɑ:tmənt/
/rɪˈleɪʃənʃɪp/
Note that here I have placed the stress mark before the consonant, on the assumption that the syllable boundary is there.
Word stress

12. Rules for stress placement
What needs to be taken into consideration when we place the stress in English?
Is the word morphologically simple or complex (eg are there affixes; is the word a compound or not)?
What grammatical category does the word belong to?
How many syllables are in the word?
What is the phonological structure of the syllables (onset, nucleus and coda)?
Rules for stress placement

13. A sample of stress-placement rules
Morphologically simple words: can you deduce any rules?
2-syllable verbs & adjectives:
apply əplaɪ enter ɛntə
attract ətrækt open əʊpən
arrive əraɪv envy ɛnve or ɛnvi
assist əsɪst equal i:kwəl
divine dɪvaɪn total təʊtəl
alive əlaɪv even i:vən
correct kərɛkt
A sample of stress-placement rules

14. Some stress-placement rules (1)
Morphologically simple words: can you deduce any rules?
2-syllable verbs & adjectives:
apply əˈplaɪ enter ˈɛntə
attract əˈtrækt open ˈəʊpən
arrive əˈraɪv envy ˈɛnve or ˈɛnvi
assist əˈsɪst equal ˈi:kwəl
divine dɪˈvaɪn total ˈtəʊtəl
alive əˈlaɪv even ˈi:vən
correct kərɛkt
Stress the first syllable when:
The second syllable contains a short vowel and only one (or no) final consonant.
Stress the second syllable when:
the second syllable contains a long vowel, a diphthong or ends with a consonant cluster
Some stress-placement rules (1)

15. Some stress-placement rules (2)
Morphologically simple 3-syllable words. Figure out the rules? (They’re different for verbs and for nouns...)
Verbs
encounter ɪŋkaʊntə entertain ɛntəteɪn
determine dɪtɜ:mɪn resurrect rɛzərɛkt
Nouns
mimosa mɪməʊzə disaster dɪzɑ:stə
potato pəteɪtəʊ synopsis sɪnɒpsɪs
quantity kwɒntɪte emperor ɛmpərə
cinema sɪnɪmə custody kʌstəde
Some stress-placement rules (2)

16. Some stress-placement rules (2)
Morphologically simple 3-syllable words. Figure out the rules? (They’re different for verbs and for nouns...)
Verbs
encounter ɪŋˈkaʊntə entertain ɛntəˈteɪn
determine dɪˈtɜ:mɪn resurrect rɛzəˈrɛkt
The final syllable is stressed when it contains a long vowel or diphthong or ends with more than one consonant;
The penultimate syllable is stressed when the last syllable ends with a short vowel and not more than one consonant
Some stress-placement rules (2)

17. Some stress-placement rules (2)
Morphologically simple 3-syllable words. Figure out the rules? (They’re different for verbs and for nouns...)
Nouns
mimosa mɪˈməʊzə disaster dɪˈzɑ:stə
potato pəˈteɪtəʊ synopsis sɪˈnɒpsɪs
quantity ˈkwɒntɪte emperor ˈɛmpərə
cinema ˈsɪnɪmə custody ˈkʌstəde
If the final syllable contains a short vowel or /əʊ/ it is unstressed.
If the penultimate syllable contains a long vowel or a diphthong, or if it ends with more than one consonant, then it will be stressed.
If the final and penultimate syllables both contain a short vowel and the penultimate syllable ends with not more than one consonant then the first syllable will be stressed.
PHEW!
Some stress-placement rules (2)

18. Tendencies and exceptions
If you study the previous rules, you will see that stress generally tends to be placed on syllables containing:
a long vowel
a diphthong
more than one final consonant
But if you have a 3-syllable morphologically simple noun ending in a diphthong or long vowel or more than one consonant...the stress goes on the first syllable:
intellect ˈɪntɪlɛkt
alkali ˈælkəlaɪ
paradise ˈpærədaɪz
Tendencies and exceptions

19. Rules for stress placement: recap
What needs to be taken into consideration when we place the stress in English?
Is the word morphologically simple or complex (eg are there affixes; is the word a compound or not)?
What grammatical category does the word belong to?
How many syllables are in the word?
What is the phonological structure of the syllables (onset, nucleus and coda)?
Rules for stress placement: recap

20. Stress placement in morphologically complex words
Morphologically complex words are polysyllabic because they:
combine a stem with affixes, ie prefixes and sufixes, e.g. per-, sub-, - ion, -ate, etc. (Because some of these affixes are inherited from other languages, like Latin, the distinction between simple and complex is not always easy to draw.) Examples include un+pleasant, de+stress, magnet+ic, person+ality.
Combine two stems (plus any affixes) into a compound word, like ice cream or bad temper+ed.
Stress placement in morphologically complex words

21. The impact of affixes on word stress
Pairwork/In threes
What effect might the addition of affixes have on word stress?
Say the following words out loud and consider the impact (or lack of it) of the addition of an affix on the word stress:
person pɜ:sən personality pɜ:sənælɪte
pleasant plɛzənt unpleasant ʌnplɛzənt
magnet mægnət magnetic məgnɛtɪk
The impact of affixes on word stress

22. The impact of affixes on word stress
Pairwork/In threes
What effect might the addition of affixes have on word stress?
Say the following words out loud and consider the impact of the addition of an affix on the word stress:
(1) the affix takes the primary stress:
person ˈpɜ:sən personality pɜ:sənˈælɪte
(2) the primary stress remains where it originally was:
pleasant ˈplɛzənt unpleasant ʌnˈplɛzənt
(3) the presence of the affix moves the stress to a different syllable:
magnet ˈmægnət magnetic məgˈnɛtɪk
The impact of affixes on word stress

23. What happens when you add a suffix to this word?
Japan ʤəpæn Japanese ʤæpəni:z
How good are your ears?

24. The general rules on the previous slide can have some complicated variations. For example, the stem ‘Japan’ carries primary stress on the second syllable. But when you add the suffix ‘-ese’, the primary stress moves to the suffix (rule 1) and secondary stress moves from the second syllable to the first syllable of the stem (rule 3), which changes the quality of the vowels in the stem:
Japan ʤəˈpæn Japanese ˌʤæpənˈi:z
Complications

25. For your interest and amusement
You don’t have to learn these by heart, obviously, but it is interesting to note some of those suffixes that generally (1) carry primary stress (2) don’t affect stress placement and (3) change stress placement in the stem. Listen out for them.
For your interest and amusement
Carrying primary stress
No change in stress
Change in stress
-ain (verbs only): entertain
-able: comfortable
-eous: courageous
-ee: refugee
-al: refusal
-graphy: photography
-eer: mountaineer
-en: widen
-ial: proverbial
-ese: Portuguese
- ful: wonderful
-ic: climatic
-ette: cigarette
-ing: amazing
-ion: perfection
-esque: picturesque
- ish: devilish
-ity: tranquillity
etc

26. For your interest and amusement
You don’t have to learn these by heart, obviously, but it is interesting to note some of those suffixes that generally (1) carry primary stress (2) don’t affect stress placement and (3) change stress placement in the stem. Listen out for them.
Warning: these suffixes don’t always have the effects shown above. Part of speech and phonological structure also impact. And people differ. The purpose of this slide is really to make you more aware.
For your interest and amusement
Carrying primary stress
No change in stress
Change in stress
-ain (verbs only): entertain
-able: comfortable
-eous: courageous
-ee: refugee
-al: refusal
-graphy: photography
-eer: mountaineer
-en: widen
-ial: proverbial
-ese: Portuguese
- ful: wonderful
-ic: climatic
-ette: cigarette
-ing: amazing
-ion: perfection
-esque: picturesque
- ish: devilish
-ity: tranquillity
etc

27. A quick word about prefixes
Prefixes don’t behave with the same regularity as suffixes. No prefix of 1 or 2 syllables carries primary stress in ‘natural’ conversation (though in context you might put primary stress on the prefix for contrastive purposes). So we can say that prefixes generally don’t affect stress placement (rule 2), unless...
DICK: That was a very unpleasant party. ʌnˈplɛzənt
JANE: Did you say ‘pleasant’?
DICK: No, I said it was unpleasant. ˈʌnˌplɛzənt
A quick word about prefixes

28. And (almost) finally... compound words
Compound words are made up of two stems and associated affixes, like loudspeaker and bad-tempered.
The question is whether the primary stress should go on the first or second element of the compound.
And (almost) finally... compound words

29. General rules for stress placement on compounds
In pairs or threes (if we have time)
Can you figure out when the first stem or the second stem gets primary stress?
loudspeaker laʊdspi:kə typewriter taɪpraɪtə
bad-tempered bæd tɛmpəd sunrise sʌnraɪz
second-class sɛkəŋ klɑ:s suitcase sju:tkeɪs
three-wheeler θri: wi:lə tea-cup ti:kʌp
General rules for stress placement on compounds

30. General rules for stress placement on compounds
Generally...when the initial word is adjectival or numeric, the primary stress goes on the second word. When the initial word is a noun, the stress goes on the first word.
loudspeaker ˌlaʊdˈspi:kə typewriter ˈtaɪpˌraɪtə
bad-tempered ˌbæd ˈtɛmpəd sunrise ˈsʌnˌraɪz
second-class ˌsɛkəŋ ˈklɑ:s suitcase ˈsju:tˌkeɪs
three-wheeler ˌθri: ˈwi:lə tea-cup ˈti:ˌkʌp
BUT there are many exceptions, often words that are now thought of as individual units and not compounds, eg
greenhouse ˈgri:nˌhaʊs adj+noun patterns
gentleman ˈʤɛntəlmən
General rules for stress placement on compounds

31. And finally... word-class pairs
There are a number of 2-syllable words in English that have the same spelling as noun/adjective and verb, but the stress placement differs.
How do you pronounce the following words as N/A or V?
And finally... word-class pairs
Noun or Adjective
Verb
abstract
conduct
contract
desert
export
insult
record

32. And finally... word-class pairs
There are a number of 2-syllable words in English that have the same spelling as noun/adjective and verb, but the stress placement differs.
Note the change from a full to an unstressed vowel in certain words as a consequence of the shift in stress placement.
And finally... word-class pairs
Noun or Adjective
Verb
abstract
ˈæbstrækt
æbˈstrækt
conduct
ˈkɒndʌkt
kənˈdʌkt
contract
ˈkɒntrækt
kənˈtrækt
desert
ˈdɛzət
dəˈzɜ:t
export
ˈɛkspɔ:t
ɪkˈspɔ:t
insult
ˈɪnsʌlt
ɪnˈsʌlt
record
ˈrɛkɔ:d
rɪˈkɔ:d

33. Individual English words are made up of stressed and relatively unstressed syllables (we can suggest a 3-part distinction: primary and secondary stress, and unstressed syllables, in polysyllabic words)
Unlike Portuguese, English utterances are stress-timed: there is a regular ‘beat’ of stressed syllables separated by an irregular number of relatively unstressed syllables. (Portuguese speakers pay more attention to length, and so syllables get relatively equal weighting in stress).
The placement of stress depends on a number of factors (morphological complexity, part of speech, phonological structure of the syllable) and there is some individual variation...
As a rough rule, primary stress is placed on syllables where the nucleus is a long vowel or diphthong, or where the coda is made up of two or more consonants. But part of speech and morphological structure can counteract this rule.
The moral...?
Summing up

34. Individual English words are made up of stressed and relatively unstressed syllables (we can suggest a 3-part distinction: primary and secondary stress, and unstressed syllables, in polysyllabic words)
Unlike Portuguese, English utterances are stress-timed: there is a regular ‘beat’ of stressed syllables separated by an irregular number of relatively unstressed syllables. (Portuguese speakers pay more attention to length, and so syllables get relatively equal weighting in stress).
The placement of stress depends on a number of factors (morphological complexity, part of speech, phonological structure of the syllable) and there is some individual variation...
As a rough rule, primary stress is placed on syllables where the nucleus is a long vowel or diphthong, or where the coda is made up of two or more consonants. But part of speech and morphological structure can counteract this rule.
The moral...? Listen!!!
Summing up

35. See you next week when we will do the second class transcription test and we’ll review the course content so far before turning our attention to
(a) Portuguese-English differences and
(b) how to teach/learn English pronunciation as an adult.
Have a good week!
Preview