Word Stress
« The word is a linguistic entity composed of one or more syllables
« The syllable that is pronounced more prominently than the other(s) in the same word is said to be accented or to receive the stress
« In English there are several polysyllabic words in which more than one syllable may be prominent – one of the syllables is said to receive the primary stress; the other syllable that is secondly prominent is said to receive the secondary stress
« Primary Stress is marked with a vertical bar above & in front of the syllable to which it refers
« Secondary Stress is marked with a vertical bar below & in front of the syllable to which it refers
RULE 1:
There are some disyllabic words in which word accent depends upon whether the words are used as nouns/adjectives or as verbs.
For nouns the stress is on the first syllable
For verbs the stress is on the second syllable
Word | Noun / Adjective | Verb |
conduct object product direct export |
Rule : 2 Accent in Compound Words
The most common type in English is the first of the two elements receiving the primary stress.
Air – raid Cardboard
Bookshelf Footprint
Rule 3:
Words ending with –ever & -self take the stress in the second element
Her self what ever
My self when ever
Rule 4 :
Words with weak prefixes always take the accent on the root.
A board
A broad
Be come
Rule 5:
Words having weak vowel followed by a strong vowel syllables have the accent in the second syllable
Recom mend
Com pose
Ad vance
Rule 6:
Words ending in -ion take the primary stress on the penultimate syllable
admi ration
appli cation
combi nation
Rule 7:
Words ending in –ic, -ical, -ically, -ious, -ial & -ially take the stress on the previous syllable
-ic pathetic terrific
-ical optical biological
-ically chemically psychologically
-ious notorious atrocious
-ially commercially dramatically
-ial commercial memorial
Rule 8:
Words ending in –ity take the accent on the ante – penultimate syllable (third from the last syllable)
a bility fu tility
ca pacity oppor tunity
Sentence Stress
In a sentence, some words have been stressed rather than other words. This depends on the intention of the speaker. Mostly the content words receive the stress rather than the structural words.
‘He is my uncle ( not any other person, only he )
He is ‘my uncle ( not any other’s )
He is my ‘uncle ( not any other relation)
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