7 Stress

A The Nature of Stress

From the perspective of production, it seems that when we produce a stressed syllable, the
muscles of our lungs and speech organs are more active than for the articulation of
unstressed syllables.

From a perceptual point of view, we perceive stressed syllables as being prominent. This
means that stressed syllables stand out against a background of unstressed syllables.

Four factors work together to give prominence to stressed syllables:

▪ Loudness: stressed syllables are louder than unstressed ones.

▪ Duration: the vowels in stressed syllables tend to have their full duration, whereas
unstressed ones are likely to be shortened.
▪ Pitch: every syllable is said with some pitch, and when one syllable has a pitch that is
noticeably different from that of the others, this usually produces the effect of
prominence. To place some movement of pitch on the syllable is even more
effective14.
▪ Quality: a syllable will tend to be prominent if it contains a vowel that is different in
quality from the neighboring vowels. The stressed syllables occur against a
background of weak syllables containing weak vowels.

B Level of Stress
In the word around /əˈraʊnd/, the first syllable is unstressed and the second is stressed. On
the second syllable of this word, the voice pitch does not remain level, but usually falls from
a higher to a lower pitch. This pitch movement gives the strongest type of stress, called
primary stress. All polysyllabic English words have one syllable that carries primary stress. In
many words of more than three syllables, we can observe a type of stress that is weaker than
primary stress but stronger than that of the first syllable of around, for example, in the first
syllable of complimentary /ˌkɒmplɪˈmentri/ and differentiation /ˌdɪfərenʃiˈeɪʃən/. This type of
stress is called secondary stress. In transcription, primary stress is represented with a high

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Pitch depends on the frequency with which the vocal folds vibrate to produce voicing: the more quickly, the
higher the pitch.

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 mark ( ˈ ) before the first sound of the syllable which carries primary stress, while secondary
stress is indicated with a low mark ( ˌ ) before the first found of that syllable. A third level is
called unstressed: the syllable has no (audible amount of) prominence (e.g. the first syllable
in around)

C The Placement of Stress

English word stress is difficult to predict, and some people think it is best to treat stress
placement as a property of the individual word, i.e. to be learned when that word is learned.
Native speakers, however, can usually guess the stress placement of words they do not know,
so there must be some kind of pattern. What follows is summary of some rules on stress
placement in verbs, nouns, and adjectives. They have to be used carefully, because practically
the rules have exceptions.

In order to decide on stress placement, we need some (or all) of the following information:

a) Is the word morphologically simple, compound or complex?

A simple word does not have more than one meaningful or grammatical unit
(morpheme): e.g. care is simple, but careful, carefully, careless, carelessly, and
carelessness are all complex because they care composed of more than one
morpheme. A compound word is made of two (or occasionally more) independent
English words: e.g. housework, greenhouse, ice-cream.
b) Which word class does the word belong to (noun, verb, adjective, etc.)?
c) How may syllables does the word contain?
d) What is the phonological structure of the syllables?
e.g. potato /pəˈteɪtəʊ/: the center of the first syllable is /ə/, that of the second is /eɪ/
and that of the last is /əʊ/.

1. Stress in Simple Words

 Disyllabic words
Verbs

▪ The second syllable is stressed if it contains a long vowel or diphthong or if it ends

with more than one consonant.
e.g. apply /əˈplaɪ/, arrive /əˈraɪv/, attract /əˈtrækt/

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 ▪ The first syllable carries stress if the second syllable contains a short vowel and ends
in one or no consonant or if it has /əʊ/.
e.g. enter /ˈentə/, envy /ˈenvi/, open /ˈəʊpən/, equal /ˈiːkwəl/, follow /ˈfɒləʊ/

Adjectives are stressed in the same way as disyllabic verbs.

e.g. lovely /ˈlʌvli/, even /ˈiːvən/, hollow /ˈhɒləʊ/, divine /dɪˈvaɪn/, correct /kəˈrekt/
Exceptions: honest /ˈɒnəst/, perfect /ˈpɜːfɪkt/

Adverbs and prepositions tend to behave like verbs and adjectives.

Nouns: the first syllable usually gets stress if the second syllable contains a short vowel.
Otherwise, the second syllable tends to be the stressed one.

e.g. money /ˈmʌni/, product /ˈprɒdʌkt/, larynx /ˈlærɪŋks/, estate /ɪˈsteɪt/, ballon
/bəˈluːn/, design /dɪˈzaɪn/

 Trisyllabic words
Verbs

▪ The second syllable is stressed if the last syllable contains a short vowel and ends with
no more than one consonant.
e.g. encounter /ɪnˈkaʊntə/, determine /dɪˈtɜːmɪn/
▪ The last syllable carries stress if it has a long vowel, diphthong, or ends with more than
one consonant.
e.g. entertain /ˌentəˈteɪn/, resurrect /ˌrezəˈrekt/

Nouns

▪ The second syllable is stressed if the final syllable has a short vowel or /əʊ/ and if the
second syllable contains a long vowel or diphthong, or ends in more than one
consonant.
e.g. potato /pəˈteɪtəʊ/, disaster /dɪˈzɑːstə/, statistics /stəˈtɪstɪks/
▪ The first syllable gets stress if the final syllable contains a short vowel and if the middle
syllable has a short vowel and ends with no more than one consonant.
e.g. quantity /ˈkwɒntəti/, cinema /ˈsɪnəmə/, emperor /ˈemprə/, custody /ˈkʌstədi/
▪ The first syllable is also stressed when the final syllable has a long vowel or dipthong
or ends in more than one consonant. In these cases, the final syllable often has
secondary stress.
e.g. stimuli /ˈstɪmjʊlaɪ/, stalactite /ˈstæləktaɪt/, intellect /ˈɪntəlekt/

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Adjectives seem to follow the same rule as nouns.

e.g. opportune /ˈɒpətjuːn/, humanoid /ˈhjuːmənɔɪd/, derelict /ˈderɪlɪkt/, insolent

/ˈɪnslənt/

2. Stress in Complex Words

Complex words have one or more affixes, which can be prefixes or suffixes. We can classify
affixes according to the effect they have on word stress:

▪ The affix itself receives primary stress.

▪ The word is stressed as if the affix was not there: most suffixes are added to the base
with no effect on the placement of stress.
▪ The suffix attracts stress to the immediately preceding syllable.

 Prefixes
The effect of adding prefixes is less predictable than of suffixes. There is no prefix of one or
two syllables that always carries primary stress. Generally, stress in words with a prefix is
determined by the same rules as stress in words without a prefix.

 Suffixes
Suffixes carrying primary stress themselves

Some examples:

-ain enter /ˈentə/ entertain /ˌentəˈteɪn/

-ee refuge /ˈrefjuːʤ/ refugee /ˌrefjʊˈʤiː/
-eer mountain /ˈmaʊntən/ mountaineer /ˌmaʊntəˈnɪə/
-ese vietnam /ˌvjetˈnɑːm/ vietnamese /ˌvjetnəˈmiːz/
-ette cigar /sɪˈgɑː/ cigarette /ˌsɪgˈret/
-esque picture /ˈpɪkʧə/ picturesque /ˌpɪkʧəˈresk/

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Suffixes that do not affect stress placement.

Some examples

-able comfort /ˈkʌmfət/ comfortable /ˈkʌmftəbl/

-age mile /maɪl/ mileage /ˈmaɪlɪʤ/
-al refuse /ˌrəˈfjuːz/ refusal /rəˈfjuːzl/
-en wide /waɪd/ widen /ˈwaɪdn/
-ful wonder /ˈwʌndə/ wonderful /ˈwʌndəfl/
-ing amaze /əˈmeɪz/ amazing /əˈmeɪzɪŋ/
-ish devil /ˈdevl/ devilish /ˈdevlɪʃ/
-like child /ʧaɪld/ childlike /ˈʧaɪldlaɪk/
-less power /ˈpaʊə/ powerless /ˈpaʊələs/
-ly hurried /ˈhʌrɪd/ hurriedly /ˈhʌrɪdli/
-ment punish /ˈpʌnɪʃ/ punishment /ˈpʌnɪʃmənt/
-ness happy /ˈhæpi/ happiness /ˈhæpɪnes/
-ous poison /ˈpɔɪzn/ poisonous /ˈpɔɪznəs/
-fy glory /ˈglɔːri/ glorify /ˈglɔːrɪfaɪ/
-wise other /ˈʌðə/ otherwise /ˈʌðəwaɪz/
-y fun /fʌn/ funny /ˈfʌni/

Suffixes that influence stress in the base

The stress shifts to the last syllable of the base.

Some examples:

-egous advantage /ədˈvɑːntɪʤ/ advantageous /ˌædvənˈteɪʤəs/

-graphy photo /ˈfəʊtəʊ/ photography /fəˈtɒgrəfi/
-ial proverb /ˈprɒvɜːb/ proverbial /prəˈvɜːbiəl/
-ic climate /ˈklaɪmɪt/ climatic /klaɪˈmætɪk/
-ion perfect /ˈpɜːfɪkt/ perfection /pəˈfekʃən/
-ious injure /ˈɪnʤə/ injurious /ɪnˈʤʊərɪəs/
-ity rapid /ˈræpɪd/ rapidity /rəˈpɪdɪti/
-ive product /ˈprɒdʌkt/ productive /prəˈdʌktɪv/

3. Stress in Compound Words

A few rules can be given, but they are not completely reliable. The element which does not
carry primary stress normally gets secondary stress.

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Compound nouns are made of nouns: the stress is generally on the first element.

e.g. ˈtypewriter, ˈsuitcase, ˈbattery charger, ˈtelephone directory

In most compounds, the stress is normally on the first word. However, a variety of compounds
receive stress on the second element instead:

▪ Compound adjectives with an adjectival first element and a nound + -ed: The primary
stress tends to be on the second element.
e.g. bad – ˈtempered, heavy – ˈhanded
▪ Compounds in which the first element is a numeral have stress on the second
element: e.g. three – ˈwheeler, second – ˈclass
▪ Compound adverbs get stress on the last element.
e.g. head – ˈfirst, North – ˈEast, downˈstream
▪ Compound verbs: stress is on the adverb or adverbial particle, not the verb:
e.g. to down – ˈgrade, to ill – ˈtreat, to take ˈoff, to switch ˈon

4. Variable of Stress
The stress pattern of English words is not always fixed. Stress in words may vary for mainly
two reasons:

1) As a result of the stress on other words occurring next to that word: the stress on a
final-stressed compound word tends to move to the preceding syllable if the following
word begins with a strongly stressed syllable.
e.g. bad – ˈtempered but a ˈbad-tempered ˈteacher,
heavy – ˈhanded but a ˈheavy – handed ˈsentence.
2) Sometimes there is more than once correct pronunciation of a word.
e.g. controversy /ˈkɒntrəvɜːsi/ or /kənˈtrɒvəsi/
ice-cream /ˈaɪs kriːm/ or /aɪs ˈkriːm/
kilometer /ˈkɪləmiːtə/ or /kɪˈlɒmətə/
formidable /ˈfɔːmɪdəbl/ or /fəˈmɪdəbl/

5. Word-class Pairs
Some disyllabic words are distinguished as being either a noun/adjective or verb merely by
stress placement. In these cases, the verbs get stressed on the second syllable while nouns
and adjectives have stress on the first syllable. the unstressed vowel may be weakened, but
this does not always happen. Some illustrations:

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 (n) / (adj) (v)
contrast /ˈkɒntrɑːst/ /kənˈtrɑːst/
desert /ˈdezət/ /dɪˈzɜːt/
export /ˈekspɔːt/ /eksˈpɔːt/
import /ˈɪmpɔːt/ /ɪmˈpɔːt/
insult /ˈɪnsʌlt/ /ɪnˈsʌlt/
object /ˈɒbʤekt/ /əbˈʤekt/
perfect /ˈpɜːfɪkt/ /pəˈfekt/
permit /ˈpɜːmɪt/ /pəˈmɪt/
present /ˈpreznt/ /prɪˈzent/
produce /ˈprɒdjuːs/ /prəˈdjuːs/
rebel /ˈrebl/ /rɪˈbel/

6. Phrases, Compounds, Stress Shift

 Phrases
When an adjective modifies a following noun, they make a phrase. Typically, they have late
stress, i.e. the second word has more stress than the first.

ˌpolished ˈwood ˌrunning ˈwater

ˌinteresting ˈbook ˌhard ˈwork
ˌnew ˈassistant ˌdifficult ˈcourse

 Compounds
When two elements combine to make inseparable unit with a new meaning, they form a
compound. Compounds typically have early stress, i.e. the first element is more stressed than
the second.

ˈfirewood ˈhomework ˈBatman

Note that compounds are often written as two words:

ˈrunning shoes ˈlibrary book

ˈsafety valve ˈtoy story
ˈshop assistant ˌcorreˈspondence course

Some can optionally by hyphenated, e.g. safety-valve. Native speakers of English are often
inconsistent in the use of the hyphen.

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Primary stress [ ˈ ] and secondary stress [ ˌ ] mark syllables which can take an accent.
Sometimes the same sequence of words can make a phrase or a compound. Here the late or
early stress distinguishes them.

a ˌdark ˈroom the ˌwhite ˈhouse a ˌtoy ˈfactory

a ˈdarkroom the ˈWhite house a ˈtoy factory

Late-stressed compounds: some compounds have late stress as if they were phrases. Three
useful categories:

a) The first element is the material or ingredient out of which a food is made:
ˌcherry ˈpie ˌpork ˈshop ˌrice ˈpudding ˌchocolate ˈeggs
except for cake, bread, juice, and water. These compounds have early stress, as we
would expect:
ˈchocolate cake ˈrye bread ˈorange juice ˈmineral water
b) The first element is a proper name
ˌLondon Uniˈversity Ro ˌDeo ˈDrive ˌEuston ˈRoad
the ˌHilton Hoˈtel ˌSunset Boulevard ˌOxford ˈCircus
except for Street: these have normally early stress
ˈOxford Street ˈEuston Street ˌForty ˈSecond Street
c) The first element names a time or place
ˌChristmas ˈpudding ˌsummer ˈholidays ˌevening ˈdress
ˌkitchen ˈwindow ˌcity ˈcenter ˌocean ˈvoyage ˌ

New compounds may at first be spoken with late stress and in time switch to early stress.
Some compounds have late stress in British English but early stress in America.

ˈbank note ˈice cream ˈspare ribs ˈRobin Hood

 Stress shift
Late-stress patterns switch to early-stress in constructions where they are followed by
stranger-stressed item.

ˌfourˈteen ˌfourteen ˈmen

ˌtown ˈhall ˌtown hall ˈclock
the ˌtown hall’s closed
ˌOxford ˈCircus ˌOxford Circus ˈtube
Is ˌOxford Circus ˈinteresting?
ˌBeverly ˈHills ˌBeverly Hills ˈCop
ˌHeathˈrow ˌHeathrow ˈAirport

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