What is the word stress or accent

The sequence of syllables in the word is not pronounced identically.
The syllable or syllables which are uttered with more prominence than
the other syllables of the word are said to be stressed or accented.
Stress in the isolated word is termed word stress; stress in
connected speech is termed sentence stress.

Stress is defined differently by different authors. B.A.
Bogoroditsky, for instance, defined stress as an increase of energy,
accompanied by an increase of expiratory and articulatory activity.
D. Jones defined stress as the degree of force, which is accompanied
by a strong force of exhalation and gives an impression of loudness.
H. Sweet also stated that stress, is connected with the force of
breath. According to A.C. Gimson, the effect of prominence is
achieved by any or all of four factors: force, tone, length and vowel
colour.

Word stress in a language performs three functions.

1. Word stress constitutes a word, it organizes the syllables of a
word into a language unit having a definite accentual structure, that
is a pattern of relationship among the syllables; a word does not
exist without the word stress Thus the word stress performs the
constitutive function. Sound continuum becomes a phrase when it is
divided into units organized by word stress into words.

2. Word stress enables a person to identify a
succession of syllables as a definite accentual pattern of a word.
This function of word stress is known as recognitive.
Correct accentuation helps the listener to make the process of
communication easier, whereas the distorted accentual pattern of
words, misplaced word stresses prevent normal understanding.

3. Word stress alone is capable of
differentiating the meaning of words or their forms, thus performing
its distinctive function. The accentual patterns of words or the
degrees of word stress and their positions form oppositions, e.g.
‘import —
im’port, ‘billow —
below.

Place of word stress in English.

The word stress in English as well as in Russian
is not only free but it may also be shifting, performing the semantic
function of differentiating lexical units, parts of speech,
grammatical forms. In English word stress is used as a means of
word-building; in Russian it marks both word-building and word
formation, e.g. ‘contrast —
con’trast; ‘habit —
habitual ‘music —
mu’sician; дома
— дома;
чудная —
чудная, воды
— воды.

There are actually as many degrees of stress in a
word as there are syllables. The opinions of phoneticians differ as
to how many degrees of stress are linguistically relevant in a word.
The British linguists usually distinguish three degrees of stress in
the word. A.C. Gimson, for example, shows the distribution of the
degrees of stress in the word examination.
The primary stress is the strongest, it
is marked by number 1, the secondary stress is the second strongest
marked by 2. All the other degrees are termed weak stress. Unstressed
syllables are supposed to have weak stress. The American scholars B.
Bloch and G. Trager find four contrastive degrees of word stress,
namely: loud, reduced loud, medial and weak stresses. Other American
linguists also distinguish four degrees of word stress but term them:
primary stress, secondary stress, tertiary stress and weak stress.

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stress | accent | Synonyms | Accent is a synonym of stress. As nouns the difference between stress and accent is that stress is the internal distribution of force per unit area (pressure) within a body reacting to applied forces which causes strain or deformation and is typically symbolised by σ while accent is a higher-pitched or stronger articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it. As verbs the difference between stress and accent is that stress is to apply force to (a body or structure) causing strain while accent is to express the accent of vocally; to utter with accent. Other Comparisons: What’s the difference? stress English Noun (countable, physics) The internal distribution of force per unit area (pressure) within a body reacting to applied forces which causes strain or deformation and is typically symbolised by (countable, physics) externally applied to a body which cause internal stress within the body. (uncountable) Emotional pressure suffered by a human being or other animal. Go easy on him, he’s been under a lot of stress lately. (uncountable, phonetics) The emphasis placed on a syllable of a word. Some people put the stress on the first syllable of “controversy”; others put it on the second. (uncountable) Emphasis placed on words in speaking. (uncountable) Emphasis placed on a particular point in an argument or discussion (whether spoken or written). (Spenser) (Scotland, legal) distress; the act of distraining; also, the thing distrained. Synonyms * (phonetics) accent, emphasis * (on words in speaking) emphasis * (on a point) emphasis Verb To apply force to (a body or structure) causing strain. To apply emotional pressure to (a person or animal). (informal) To suffer stress; to worry or be agitated. To emphasise (a syllable of a word). “Emphasis” is stressed on the first syllable, but “emphatic” is stressed on the second. To emphasise (words in speaking). To emphasise (a point) in an argument or discussion. I must stress that this information is given in strict confidence. Synonyms * (phonetics) emphasise/emphasize * (on words in speaking) emphasise/emphasize * (on a point) emphasise/emphasize, underline Derived terms * stressed * stress out References accent Etymology 1 First attested in the late 14th century. (The «decorative» sense is first attested in 1972.) From (etyl) accent, from (etyl) acent, from (etyl) accentus, formed from ad + with a vowel change. Noun (en noun) (linguistics) A higher-pitched or stronger articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it. In the word «careful», the accent is placed on the first syllable. (figuratively) Emphasis or importance in general. At this hotel, the accent is on luxury. (orthography) A mark or character used in writing, in order to indicate the place of the spoken accent, or to indicate the nature or quality of the vowel marked. The name Cézanne is written with an acute accent . (senseid) Modulation of the voice in speaking; the manner of speaking or pronouncing; a peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice, expressing emotion; tone. * 1608 , , II-ii I know, sir, I am no flatterer: he that beguiled you in a plain accent was a plain knave; which for my part I will not be, though I should win your displeasure to entreat me to ‘t. * 1696 , , «From Celia to Damon», in Poems on Several Occasions The tender Accent of a Woman’s Cry / Will pass unheard, will unregarded die; (linguistics) The distinctive manner of pronouncing a language associated with a particular region, social group, etc., whether of a native speaker or a foreign speaker; the phonetic and phonological aspects of a dialect. a foreign accent»’; an American, British or Australian »’accent A word; a significant tone or sound. (usually, plural only) Expressions in general; speech. * Dryden Winds! on your wings to Heaven her accents bear, / Such words as Heaven alone is fit to hear. (prosody, poetry) Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse. (music) A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure. (music) A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure. (music) The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period. (music) The expressive emphasis and shading of a passage. (music) A mark used to represent specific stress on a note. (mathematics) A mark placed at the right hand of a letter, and a little above it, to distinguish magnitudes of a similar kind expressed by the same letter, but differing in value, as y», »’y . (geometry) A mark at the right hand of a number, indicating minutes of a degree, seconds, etc., as in 12′ 27» , meaning twelve minutes and twenty-seven seconds. (engineering) A mark used to denote feet and inches, as in 6′ 10» , meaning six feet ten inches. Emphasis laid on a part of an artistic design or composition; an emphasized detail, in particular a detail in sharp contrast to its surroundings. A very small gemstone set into a piece of jewellery. A distinctive feature or quality. (archaic) Utterance. Derived terms * accent mark * acute accent * grave accent * primary accent * secondary accent * tonic accent References * “ Accent, sb.»]” on pages 50–51 of § 1 (A) of volume I (A–B, ed. ?, 1888) of »[[w:Oxford English Dictionary, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles] (1st ed.) * “ accent, n.»” in the »Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989) Etymology 2 From the (etyl) (m), from the (etyl) (m), from the (etyl) , from (m), whence the (etyl) noun (m). Verb (en verb) To express the accent of vocally; to utter with accent. To mark emphatically; to emphasize; to accentuate; to make prominent. To mark with written accents. References * “ Accent, v.»]” on page 51/3 of § 1 (A) of volume I (A–B, ed. ?, 1888) of »[[w:Oxford English Dictionary, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles] (1st ed.) * “ accent, v.»” in the »Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989) —-

For other uses, see Stress.

In linguistics, and particularly phonology, stress or accent is the relative emphasis or prominence given to a certain syllable in a word or to a certain word in a phrase or sentence. That emphasis is typically caused by such properties as increased loudness and vowel length, full articulation of the vowel, and changes in tone.^[1][2] The terms stress and accent are often used synonymously in that context but are sometimes distinguished. For example, when emphasis is produced through pitch alone, it is called pitch accent, and when produced through length alone, it is called quantitative accent.^[3] When caused by a combination of various intensified properties, it is called stress accent or dynamic accent; English uses what is called variable stress accent.

Primary stress
ˈ◌
IPA Number	501
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ˈ
Unicode (hex)	U+02C8

Secondary stress
ˌ◌
IPA Number	502
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	​ˌ
Unicode (hex)	U+02CC

Since stress can be realised through a wide range of phonetic properties, such as loudness, vowel length, and pitch (which are also used for other linguistic functions), it is difficult to define stress solely phonetically.

The stress placed on syllables within words is called word stress. Some languages have fixed stress, meaning that the stress on virtually any multisyllable word falls on a particular syllable, such as the penultimate (e.g. Polish) or the first (e.g. Finnish). Other languages, like English and Russian, have lexical stress, where the position of stress in a word is not predictable in that way but lexically encoded. Sometimes more than one level of stress, such as primary stress and secondary stress, may be identified.

Stress is not necessarily a feature of all languages: some, such as French and Mandarin, are sometimes analyzed as lacking lexical stress entirely.

The stress placed on words within sentences is called sentence stress or prosodic stress. That is one of the three components of prosody, along with rhythm and intonation. It includes phrasal stress (the default emphasis of certain words within phrases or clauses), and contrastive stress (used to highlight an item, a word or part of a word, that is given particular focus).

Phonetic realizationEdit

There are various ways in which stress manifests itself in the speech stream, and they depend to some extent on which language is being spoken. Stressed syllables are often louder than non-stressed syllables, and they may have a higher or lower pitch. They may also sometimes be pronounced longer. There are sometimes differences in place or manner of articulation. In particular, vowels in unstressed syllables may have a more central (or «neutral») articulation, and those in stressed syllables have a more peripheral articulation. Stress may be realized to varying degrees on different words in a sentence; sometimes, the difference is minimal between the acoustic signals of stressed and those of unstressed syllables.

Those particular distinguishing features of stress, or types of prominence in which particular features are dominant, are sometimes referred to as particular types of accent: dynamic accent in the case of loudness, pitch accent in the case of pitch (although that term usually has more specialized meanings), quantitative accent in the case of length,^[3] and qualitative accent in the case of differences in articulation. They can be compared to the various types of accent in music theory. In some contexts, the term stress or stress accent specifically means dynamic accent (or as an antonym to pitch accent in its various meanings).

A prominent syllable or word is said to be accented or tonic; the latter term does not imply that it carries phonemic tone. Other syllables or words are said to be unaccented or atonic. Syllables are frequently said to be in pretonic or post-tonic position, and certain phonological rules apply specifically to such positions. For instance, in American English, /t/ and /d/ are flapped in post-tonic position.

In Mandarin Chinese, which is a tonal language, stressed syllables have been found to have tones that are realized with a relatively large swing in fundamental frequency, and unstressed syllables typically have smaller swings.^[4] (See also Stress in Standard Chinese.)

Stressed syllables are often perceived as being more forceful than non-stressed syllables.

Word stressEdit

Word stress, or sometimes lexical stress, is the stress placed on a given syllable in a word. The position of word stress in a word may depend on certain general rules applicable in the language or dialect in question, but in other languages, it must be learned for each word, as it is largely unpredictable. In some cases, classes of words in a language differ in their stress properties; for example, loanwords into a language with fixed stress may preserve stress placement from the source language, or the special pattern for Turkish placenames.

Non-phonemic stressEdit

In some languages, the placement of stress can be determined by rules. It is thus not a phonemic property of the word, because it can always be predicted by applying the rules.

Languages in which the position of the stress can usually be predicted by a simple rule are said to have fixed stress. For example, in Czech, Finnish, Icelandic, Hungarian and Latvian, the stress almost always comes on the first syllable of a word. In Armenian the stress is on the last syllable of a word.^[5] In Quechua, Esperanto, and Polish, the stress is almost always on the penult (second-last syllable). In Macedonian, it is on the antepenult (third-last syllable).

Other languages have stress placed on different syllables but in a predictable way, as in Classical Arabic and Latin, where stress is conditioned by the structure of particular syllables. They are said to have a regular stress rule.

Statements about the position of stress are sometimes affected by the fact that when a word is spoken in isolation, prosodic factors (see below) come into play, which do not apply when the word is spoken normally within a sentence. French words are sometimes said to be stressed on the final syllable, but that can be attributed to the prosodic stress that is placed on the last syllable (unless it is a schwa, when stress is placed on the second-last syllable) of any string of words in that language. Thus, it is on the last syllable of a word analyzed in isolation. The situation is similar in Standard Chinese. French (some authors add Chinese^[6]) can be considered to have no real lexical stress.

Phonemic stressEdit

With some exceptions above, languages such as Germanic languages, Romance languages, the East and South Slavic languages, Lithuanian, as well as others, in which the position of stress in a word is not fully predictable, are said to have phonemic stress. Stress in these languages is usually truly lexical and must be memorized as part of the pronunciation of an individual word. In some languages, such as Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Lakota and, to some extent, Italian, stress is even represented in writing using diacritical marks, for example in the Spanish words célebre and celebré. Sometimes, stress is fixed for all forms of a particular word, or it can fall on different syllables in different inflections of the same word.

In such languages with phonemic stress, the position of stress can serve to distinguish otherwise identical words. For example, the English words insight () and incite () are distinguished in pronunciation only by the fact that the stress falls on the first syllable in the former and on the second syllable in the latter. Examples from other languages include German Tenor ([ˈteːnoːɐ̯] «gist of message» vs. [teˈnoːɐ̯] «tenor voice»); and Italian ancora ([ˈaŋkora] «anchor» vs. [aŋˈkoːra] «more, still, yet, again»).

In many languages with lexical stress, it is connected with alternations in vowels and/or consonants, which means that vowel quality differs by whether vowels are stressed or unstressed. There may also be limitations on certain phonemes in the language in which stress determines whether they are allowed to occur in a particular syllable or not. That is the case with most examples in English and occurs systematically in Russian, such as за́мок ([ˈzamək], «castle») vs. замо́к ([zɐˈmok], «lock»); and in Portuguese, such as the triplet sábia ([ˈsaβjɐ], «wise woman»), sabia ([sɐˈβiɐ], «knew»), sabiá ([sɐˈβja], «thrush»).

Dialects of the same language may have different stress placement. For instance, the English word laboratory is stressed on the second syllable in British English (labóratory often pronounced «labóratry», the second o being silent), but the first syllable in American English, with a secondary stress on the «tor» syllable (láboratory often pronounced «lábratory»). The Spanish word video is stressed on the first syllable in Spain (vídeo) but on the second syllable in the Americas (video). The Portuguese words for Madagascar and the continent Oceania are stressed on the third syllable in European Portuguese (Madagáscar and Oceânia), but on the fourth syllable in Brazilian Portuguese (Madagascar and Oceania).

CompoundsEdit

With very few exceptions, English compound words are stressed on their first component. Even the exceptions, such as mankínd,^[7] are instead often stressed on the first component by some people or in some kinds of English.^[8] The same components as those of a compound word are sometimes used in a descriptive phrase with a different meaning and with stress on both words, but that descriptive phrase is then not usually considered a compound: bláck bírd (any bird that is black) and bláckbird (a specific bird species) and páper bág (a bag made of paper) and páper bag (very rarely used for a bag for carrying newspapers but is often also used for a bag made of paper).^[9]

Levels of stressEdit

Some languages are described as having both primary stress and secondary stress. A syllable with secondary stress is stressed relative to unstressed syllables but not as strongly as a syllable with primary stress : for example, saloon and cartoon both have the main stress on the last syllable, but whereas cartoon also has a secondary stress on the first syllable, saloon does not. As with primary stress, the position of secondary stress may be more or less predictable depending on language. In English, it is not fully predictable, but the different secondary stress of the words organization and accumulation (on the first and second syllable, respectively) is predictable due to the same stress of the verbs órganize and accúmulate. In some analyses, for example the one found in Chomsky and Halle’s The Sound Pattern of English, English has been described as having four levels of stress: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary, but the treatments often disagree with one another.

Peter Ladefoged and other phoneticians have noted that it is possible to describe English with only one degree of stress, as long as prosody is recognized and unstressed syllables are phonemically distinguished for vowel reduction.^[10] They find that the multiple levels posited for English, whether primary–secondary or primary–secondary–tertiary, are not phonetic stress (let alone phonemic), and that the supposed secondary/tertiary stress is not characterized by the increase in respiratory activity associated with primary/secondary stress in English and other languages. (For further detail see Stress and vowel reduction in English.)

Prosodic stressEdit

Extra stress
ˈˈ◌

Prosodic stress, or sentence stress, refers to stress patterns that apply at a higher level than the individual word – namely within a prosodic unit. It may involve a certain natural stress pattern characteristic of a given language, but may also involve the placing of emphasis on particular words because of their relative importance (contrastive stress).

An example of a natural prosodic stress pattern is that described for French above; stress is placed on the final syllable of a string of words (or if that is a schwa, the next-to-final syllable). A similar pattern is found in English (see § Levels of stress above): the traditional distinction between (lexical) primary and secondary stress is replaced partly by a prosodic rule stating that the final stressed syllable in a phrase is given additional stress. (A word spoken alone becomes such a phrase, hence such prosodic stress may appear to be lexical if the pronunciation of words is analyzed in a standalone context rather than within phrases.)

Another type of prosodic stress pattern is quantity sensitivity – in some languages additional stress tends to be placed on syllables that are longer (moraically heavy).

Prosodic stress is also often used pragmatically to emphasize (focus attention on) particular words or the ideas associated with them. Doing this can change or clarify the meaning of a sentence; for example:

I didn’t take the test yesterday. (Somebody else did.)
I didn’t take the test yesterday. (I did not take it.)
I didn’t take the test yesterday. (I did something else with it.)
I didn’t take the test yesterday. (I took one of several. or I didn’t take the specific test that would have been implied.)
I didn’t take the test yesterday. (I took something else.)
I didn’t take the test yesterday. (I took it some other day.)

As in the examples above, stress is normally transcribed as italics in printed text or underlining in handwriting.

In English, stress is most dramatically realized on focused or accented words. For instance, consider the dialogue

«Is it brunch tomorrow?»
«No, it’s dinner tomorrow.»

In it, the stress-related acoustic differences between the syllables of «tomorrow» would be small compared to the differences between the syllables of «dinner«, the emphasized word. In these emphasized words, stressed syllables such as «din» in «dinner» are louder and longer.^[11][12][13] They may also have a different fundamental frequency, or other properties.

The main stress within a sentence, often found on the last stressed word, is called the nuclear stress.^[14]

Stress and vowel reductionEdit

In many languages, such as Russian and English, vowel reduction may occur when a vowel changes from a stressed to an unstressed position. In English, unstressed vowels may reduce to schwa-like vowels, though the details vary with dialect (see stress and vowel reduction in English). The effect may be dependent on lexical stress (for example, the unstressed first syllable of the word photographer contains a schwa , whereas the stressed first syllable of photograph does not /ˈfoʊtəˌgræf -grɑːf/), or on prosodic stress (for example, the word of is pronounced with a schwa when it is unstressed within a sentence, but not when it is stressed).

Many other languages, such as Finnish and the mainstream dialects of Spanish, do not have unstressed vowel reduction; in these languages vowels in unstressed syllables have nearly the same quality as those in stressed syllables.

Stress and rhythmEdit

Some languages, such as English, are said to be stress-timed languages; that is, stressed syllables appear at a roughly constant rate and non-stressed syllables are shortened to accommodate that, which contrasts with languages that have syllable timing (e.g. Spanish) or mora timing (e.g. Japanese), whose syllables or moras are spoken at a roughly constant rate regardless of stress. For details, see isochrony.

Historical effectsEdit

It is common for stressed and unstressed syllables to behave differently as a language evolves. For example, in the Romance languages, the original Latin short vowels /e/ and /o/ have often become diphthongs when stressed. Since stress takes part in verb conjugation, that has produced verbs with vowel alternation in the Romance languages. For example, the Spanish verb volver (to return, come back) has the form volví in the past tense but vuelvo in the present tense (see Spanish irregular verbs). Italian shows the same phenomenon but with /o/ alternating with /uo/ instead. That behavior is not confined to verbs; note for example Spanish viento «wind» from Latin ventum, or Italian fuoco «fire» from Latin focum. There are also examples in French, though they are less systematic : viens from Latin venio where the first syllabe was stressed, vs venir from Latin venire where the main stress was on the penultimate syllable.

Stress «deafness»Edit

An operational definition of word stress may be provided by the stress «deafness» paradigm.^[15][16] The idea is that if listeners perform poorly on reproducing the presentation order of series of stimuli that minimally differ in the position of phonetic prominence (e.g. [númi]/[numí]), the language does not have word stress. The task involves a reproduction of the order of stimuli as a sequence of key strokes, whereby key «1» is associated with one stress location (e.g. [númi]) and key «2» with the other (e.g. [numí]). A trial may be from 2 to 6 stimuli in length. Thus, the order [númi-númi-numí-númi] is to be reproduced as «1121». It was found that listeners whose native language was French performed significantly worse than Spanish listeners in reproducing the stress patterns by key strokes. The explanation is that Spanish has lexically contrastive stress, as evidenced by the minimal pairs like tópo («mole») and topó («[he/she/it] met»), while in French, stress does not convey lexical information and there is no equivalent of stress minimal pairs as in Spanish.

An important case of stress «deafness» relates to Persian.^[16] The language has generally been described as having contrastive word stress or accent as evidenced by numerous stem and stem-clitic minimal pairs such as /mɒhi/ [mɒ.hí] («fish») and /mɒh-i/ [mɒ́.hi] («some month»). The authors argue that the reason that Persian listeners are stress «deaf» is that their accent locations arise postlexically. Persian thus lacks stress in the strict sense.

Stress «deafness» has been studied for a number of languages, such as Polish^[17] or French learners of Spanish.^[18]

Spelling and notation for stressEdit

The orthographies of some languages include devices for indicating the position of lexical stress. Some examples are listed below:

• In Modern Greek, all polysyllables are written with an acute accent (´) over the vowel of the stressed syllable. (The acute accent is also used on some monosyllables in order to distinguish homographs, as in η (‘the’) and ή (‘or’); here the stress of the two words is the same.)
• In Spanish orthography, stress may be written explicitly with a single acute accent on a vowel. Stressed antepenultimate syllables are always written with that accent mark, as in árabe. If the last syllable is stressed, the accent mark is used if the word ends in the letters n, s, or a vowel, as in está. If the penultimate syllable is stressed, the accent is used if the word ends in any other letter, as in cárcel. That is, if a word is written without an accent mark, the stress is on the penult if the last letter is a vowel, n, or s, but on the final syllable if the word ends in any other letter. However, as in Greek, the acute accent is also used for some words to distinguish various syntactical uses (e.g. té ‘tea’ vs. te a form of the pronoun tú ‘you’; dónde ‘where’ as a pronoun or wh-complement, donde ‘where’ as an adverb). For more information, see Stress in Spanish.
• In Portuguese, stress is sometimes indicated explicitly with an acute accent (for i, u, and open a, e, o), or circumflex (for close a, e, o). The orthography has an extensive set of rules that describe the placement of diacritics, based on the position of the stressed syllable and the surrounding letters.
• In Italian, the grave accent is needed in words ending with an accented vowel, e.g. città, ‘city’, and in some monosyllabic words that might otherwise be confused with other words, like là (‘there’) and la (‘the’). It is optional for it to be written on any vowel if there is a possibility of misunderstanding, such as condomìni (‘condominiums’) and condòmini (‘joint owners’). See Italian alphabet § Diacritics. (In this particular case, a frequent one in which diacritics present themselves, the difference of accents is caused by the fall of the second «i» from Latin in Italian, typical of the genitive, in the first noun (con/domìnìi/, meaning «of the owner»); while the second was derived from the nominative (con/dòmini/, meaning simply «owners»).

Though not part of normal orthography, a number of devices exist that are used by linguists and others to indicate the position of stress (and syllabification in some cases) when it is desirable to do so. Some of these are listed here.

• Most commonly, the stress mark is placed before the beginning of the stressed syllable, where a syllable is definable. However, it is occasionally placed immediately before the vowel.^[19] In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), primary stress is indicated by a high vertical line (primary stress mark: ˈ) before the stressed element, secondary stress by a low vertical line (secondary stress mark: ˌ). For example, [sɪˌlæbəfɪˈkeɪʃən] or /sɪˌlæbəfɪˈkeɪʃən/. Extra stress can be indicated by doubling the symbol: ˈˈ◌.
• Linguists frequently mark primary stress with an acute accent over the vowel, and secondary stress by a grave accent. Example: [sɪlæ̀bəfɪkéɪʃən] or /sɪlæ̀bəfɪkéɪʃən/. That has the advantage of not requiring a decision about syllable boundaries.
• In English dictionaries that show pronunciation by respelling, stress is typically marked with a prime mark placed after the stressed syllable: /si-lab′-ə-fi-kay′-shən/.
• In ad hoc pronunciation guides, stress is often indicated using a combination of bold text and capital letters. For example, si-lab-if-i-KAY-shun or si-LAB-if-i-KAY-shun
• In Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian dictionaries, stress is indicated with marks called znaki udareniya (знаки ударения, ‘stress marks’). Primary stress is indicated with an acute accent (´) on a syllable’s vowel (example: вимовля́ння).^[20][21] Secondary stress may be unmarked or marked with a grave accent: о̀колозе́мный. If the acute accent sign is unavailable for technical reasons, stress can be marked by making the vowel capitalized or italic.^[22] In general texts, stress marks are rare, typically used either when required for disambiguation of homographs (compare в больши́х количествах ‘in great quantities’, and в бо́льших количествах ‘in greater quantities’), or in rare words and names that are likely to be mispronounced. Materials for foreign learners may have stress marks throughout the text.^[20]
• In Dutch, ad hoc indication of stress is usually marked by an acute accent on the vowel (or, in the case of a diphthong or double vowel, the first two vowels) of the stressed syllable. Compare achterúítgang (‘deterioration’) and áchteruitgang (‘rear exit’).
• In Biblical Hebrew, a complex system of cantillation marks is used to mark stress, as well as verse syntax and the melody according to which the verse is chanted in ceremonial Bible reading. In Modern Hebrew, there is no standardized way to mark the stress. Most often, the cantillation mark oleh (part of oleh ve-yored), which looks like a left-pointing arrow above the consonant of the stressed syllable, for example ב֫וקר bóqer (‘morning’) as opposed to בוק֫ר boqér (‘cowboy’). That mark is usually used in books by the Academy of the Hebrew Language and is available on the standard Hebrew keyboard at AltGr-6. In some books, other marks, such as meteg, are used.^[23]

See alsoEdit

• Accent (poetry)
• Accent (music)
• Foot (prosody)
• Initial-stress-derived noun
• Pitch accent (intonation)
• Rhythm
• Syllable weight

ReferencesEdit

External linksEdit

• «Feet and Metrical Stress», The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology
• «Word stress in English: Six Basic Rules», Linguapress
• Word Stress Rules: A Guide to Word and Sentence Stress Rules for English Learners and Teachers, based on affixation

English Stress: Introduction and Glossary of Terms

The ability to express oneself effortlessly in English and to communicate easily in speech and writing is what learners of English aspire to achieve. The notion «fluent English» denotes language proficiency of the highest level and includes standard correct pronunciation, confident use of English grammar, no problem with listening comprehension or reading comprehension, adequate communication skills and good knowledge of commonly used phrases, extensive vocabulary, good writing skills, and the ability to present information clearly and with expertise both orally and in writing.

When you take a test of English, for example, TOEFL or IELTS, your level of fluency in English, that is, your level of language competence in English, is evaluated on the basis of several language skills, such as reading skills, writing skills, speaking skills and comprehension skills, which, in turn, depend on your command of English pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. It is important to stress that fluency in English implies not only the ability to demonstrate adequate language skills but also the ability to be understood by English speakers in various situations.

In order to understand and be understood in English, you need to acquire standard correct English pronunciation. Standard correct pronunciation is the main subject of study in the section Phonetics.

Mastering English pronunciation consists of four important parts:

Correct pronunciation of sounds;

Correct pronunciation of words;

Correct pronunciation of sentences;

Practicing and polishing pronunciation in speech in a tight connection with grammar and vocabulary.

These important steps on the road to effective communication in English are impossible without mastering English stress, rhythm, and intonation. Basic norms of English stress and rhythm are explained in the materials of the subsection English Stress. (Begin with Word Stress.) Intonation is described in the subsection English Intonation. (See Foreword for Intonation.)

A short glossary of terms related to stress is given below. Examples are given in parentheses. Be sure to read the material below before you read the other materials about stress in this section. (Phonetic terms related to vowel sounds are explained in Vowels Glossary of Terms in the section Phonetics.)

Stress

Stress is a greater degree of force and loudness given to certain syllables in words. Stressed syllables are strong, loud, and clear. Unstressed syllables are weak, short, and less distinct. Stress is also called accent (1).

Accent

(1) Accent is stress placed on a syllable in a word. Accent makes a syllable more prominent in terms of loudness and pitch. (2) Accent is a mode of pronunciation characteristic of a group of people in a certain locality (British accents; regional accents; foreign accent).

Syllables

One vowel sound forms one syllable. A vowel sound may be represented by one vowel letter in writing (sit, last, form) or by a combination of vowel letters (read, law, group). A diphthong is one complex vowel sound consisting of two components. A diphthong forms one syllable (rain, boat, crowd).

Word stress

Word stress is stress in individual words. In isolation, each word has its own stress. Short words usually have one stress, and longer words usually have two stresses: primary stress and secondary stress. Word stress is also called word accent.

Primary and secondary stress

Primary stress is the strongest stress that is given to a syllable in a word. Secondary stress is weaker than primary stress but stronger than absence of stress.

Place of stress

The majority of English words have primary or secondary stress on the initial syllable. There are certain typical patterns of word stress in English.

For example, nouns of two or three syllables are usually stressed on the first syllable (CARpet, FAMily, INcident). Two-syllable verbs with a prefix are usually stressed on the second syllable (beCOME, reTURN, conFIRM).

Shift of stress

Stress in derivative words may remain the same as in the words from which they were derived (CUStom, CUStomary; obJECT, obJECtion), or it may shift to another syllable (PERson, perSONify; preFER, PREFerence).

Content words (Key words)

Content words are important meaningful words: nouns, adjectives, main verbs, adverbs, numerals. Content words are always stressed.

Function words (Structure words)

Function words are articles (a, the), conjunctions (and, but), prepositions (in, on), auxiliary verbs (be, have) used in the formation of tenses. Function words are not stressed.

Other stressed words

Other usually stressed words are demonstrative pronouns (these, those), reflexive pronouns (myself, himself), absolute forms of possessive pronouns (mine, yours), certain indefinite pronouns, interrogative words (what, how), postpositions (with phrasal verbs), negative forms of auxiliary and modal verbs (isn’t, can’t).

Other unstressed words

Other usually unstressed words are personal pronouns (he, it), possessive pronouns (his, her, its), the verb «be» as a main verb or linking verb (I am here; he is a doctor), and modal verbs in the affirmative (I can go; he should stay).

Emphatic stress

Emphatic stress is a special stress that is given by the speaker to some word in a sentence, usually to single out, compare, correct, or clarify things. Even a function word may receive emphatic stress. (It’s in the table, not on the table.) Emphatic stress is also called contrastive stress or logical stress.

Sense groups (Thought groups)

A sense group consists of several content and function words united logically into one part of a sentence according to grammatical and lexical norms. For example, in the sentence «Four days ago she was in Greentown visiting her old aunt who lived alone and needed some help», the following word groups are sense groups: four days ago; she was in Greentown; visiting her old aunt; who lived alone; and needed some help. Phonetically, sense groups are marked by pauses, stress, and intonation to show the beginning and end of sense groups and the most important words in them.

Pauses

Pauses mark the borders between parts of a sentence or between sentences. Pauses are very short / barely noticeable between sense groups, a little longer where the commas are, and quite clear where the full stops are.

Intonation

Intonation is a certain pattern of pitch changes in speech. Intonation organizes words into sentences, distinguishes between different types of sentences (statements, questions, commands, requests), and adds emotional coloring to utterances. Intonation is based on several key components, such as pitch, sentence stress, and rhythm. There are two basic kinds of intonation: falling intonation and rising intonation.

Pitch

Pitch is the degree of height of our voice in speech; that is, how high or how low the voice goes in speech. Normal pitch in American speech is mid-level pitch, with strong stresses in the course of the sentence and a fall or a rise at the end of the sentence. Intonation is formed by pitch changes; for example, the falling tone in falling intonation is formed by pitch change from mid level to low level. Stressed syllables are usually higher in pitch than unstressed syllables.

Tone

The tone is the terminal change in pitch at the end of a sentence or at the end of a sense group (e.g., falling tone, or fall; rising tone, or rise; fall-rise). The tone is the most significant change of pitch in a sentence. The components of intonation always function together in order to distinguish types of sentences (statements, questions, commands, requests), but it is the terminal tone at the end of the sentence that conclusively determines the type of sentence.

Sentence stress

Sentence stress makes the utterance understandable to the listener by making the important words in the sentence stressed, clear, and higher in pitch and by shortening and obscuring the unstressed words. Sentence stress is the main means of providing rhythm in connected speech. All words have one or two stresses in isolation, but when they are connected into a sentence, important changes take place: content words are stressed, and function words are not stressed; sense groups are singled out phonetically; the unstressed syllables blend into a stream of less distinct sounds between the stressed syllables; in words with two stresses, one stress may be shifted or weakened to keep the rhythm; emphatic stress may be used in the sentence to single out the most important word; the last stressed word in the sentence gets the strongest stress with the help of the falling or rising tone.

Rhythm

English is a very rhythmical language, which means that stressed syllables occur at regular intervals in speech. Rhythm is «stressed – unstressed – stressed – unstressed» pattern, where «stressed» is one stressed syllable, and «unstressed» may include several unstressed syllables that are usually shortened and run together in the intervals between the stressed syllables. Phonetic rules of reduction and linking are used to shorten the unstressed syllables and to join the words in the sentence smoothly.

Reduction and linking

Reduction makes the sounds in the unstressed syllables shorter. For example, an unstressed reduced vowel sound is often changed into the neutral sound. In some cases, the neutral sound may be dropped. Linking is a way to connect the final sound of one word to the first sound of the following word smoothly, without breaking the rhythm in the sentence.

Speaking rate (Speech tempo)

Normal speed of speech in English is directly related to rhythm, and in this respect «fast» does not necessarily mean «good». The best way to achieve normal English speech rate is to practice repeating audio materials with the recorded speaker’s rate of 150–160 words per minute. Average speaking rate for American speakers in everyday conversation is approximately 140–160 words per minute, and average rate for oral reading is 150–170 words per minute. This includes stressed and unstressed words, short words like «I, a, the, is, but», longer words, and normal pauses. Speaking or oral reading rate below 100 words per minute is considered to be too slow, and the rate above 200 wpm is considered to be too fast.

Английское ударение: Введение и словарь терминов

Способность выражать свои мысли на английском языке без усилий и общаться без затруднений в устной и письменной речи – это то, чего стремятся достичь изучающие английский язык. Понятие «свободный английский» обозначает высший уровень владения языком и включает стандартное правильное произношение, уверенное использование грамматики, никаких проблем с пониманием на слух или в чтении, адекватные разговорные навыки и хорошее знание употребительных фраз, широкий словарный запас, хорошие письменные навыки и способность излагать информацию ясно и со знанием дела, как устно, так и письменно.

Когда вы проходите тест по английскому языку, например, TOEFL или IELTS, ваш уровень владения английским языком, то есть ваш уровень языковой компетенции в английском языке, оценивается на основе нескольких языковых навыков, таких как навыки чтения, письма, речи и понимания, которые, в свою очередь, зависят от вашего владения английским произношением, грамматикой и лексикой. Важно подчеркнуть, что владение английским языком подразумевает не только способность демонстрировать адекватные языковые навыки, но и способность быть понятым носителями английского языка в различных ситуациях.

Для того, чтобы понимать и быть понятым на английском языке, нужно приобрести стандартное правильное английское произношение. Стандартное правильное произношение – основной предмет изучения в разделе Phonetics.

Освоение английского произношения состоит из четырех важных частей:

Правильное произношение звуков;

Правильное произношение слов;

Правильное произношение предложений;

Тренировка и шлифование произношения в речи в тесной связи с грамматикой и лексикой.

Эти важные шаги на пути к эффективному общению на английском языке невозможны без освоения английского ударения, ритма и интонации. Основные нормы английского ударения и ритма объясняются в материалах подраздела English Stress. (Начните с Word Stress.) Английская интонация описывается в подразделе English Intonation. (См. Foreword for Intonation.)

Словарь терминов

Краткий словарь терминов, имеющих отношение к ударению, дан ниже. Примеры даны в круглых скобках. Обязательно прочитайте материал ниже перед тем, как читать другие материалы об ударении в этом разделе. (Термины, имеющие отношение к гласным звукам, объяснены в материале Vowels Glossary of Terms в разделе Phonetics.)

Ударение

Ударение – это большая степень силы и громкости, даваемая определённым слогам в словах. Ударные слоги сильные, громкие и ясные. Неударные слоги слабые, короткие и менее отчетливые. Stress также называется accent (1).

Ударение, акцент

(1) Акцент – это ударение, поставленное на слоге в слове. Ударение делает слог более выделенным в плане громкости и высоты тона. (2) Акцент – это произношение, характерное для группы людей в определённой местности (British accents; regional accents; foreign accent).

Слоги

Один гласный звук образует один слог. Гласный звук может быть представлен одной гласной буквой на письме (sit, last, form) или сочетанием гласных букв (read, law, group). Дифтонг – это один сложный гласный звук, состоящий из двух компонентов. Дифтонг образует один слог (rain, boat, crowd).

Ударение в слове

Словесное ударение – это ударение в отдельных словах. По отдельности, каждое слово имеет свое собственное ударение. Короткие слова обычно имеют одно ударение, а более длинные слова обычно имеют два ударения: главное и второстепенное. Word stress также называется word accent.

Главное и второстепенное ударение

Главное ударение – самое сильное ударение, которое дается слогу в слове. Второстепенное ударение слабее, чем главное, но сильнее, чем отсутствие ударения.

Место ударения

Большинство английских слов имеют главное или второстепенное ударение на начальном слоге. В английском языке есть определённые типичные модели ударения в слове.

Например, существительные из двух или трёх слогов обычно имеют ударение на первом слоге (CARpet, FAMily, INcident). Двусложные глаголы с префиксом обычно имеют ударение на втором слоге (beCOME, reTURN, conFIRM).

Смещение ударения

Ударение в производных словах может остаться таким же, как в тех словах, от которых они были образованы (CUStom, CUStomary; obJECT, obJECtion), или оно может сместиться на другой слог (PERson, perSONify; preFER, PREFerence).

Значимые слова (Ключевые слова)

Ключевые слова – это важные значимые слова: существительные, прилагательные, основные глаголы, наречия, числительные. Ключевые слова всегда ударные.

Служебные слова

Служебные слова – это артикли (a, the), союзы (and, but), предлоги (in, on), вспомогательные глаголы (be, have), используемые в образовании времён. Служебные слова не ударные.

Другие ударные слова

Другие обычно ударные слова: указательные местоимения (these, those), возвратные местоимения (myself, himself), абсолютные формы притяжательных местоимений (mine, yours), некоторые неопределённые местоимения, вопросительные слова (what, how), послелоги (с фразовыми глаголами), отрицательные формы вспомогательных и модальных глаголов (isn’t, can’t).

Другие неударные слова

Другие обычно не ударные слова: личные местоимения (he, it), притяжательные местоимения (his, her, its), глагол «be» как основной глагол или глагол-связка (I am here; he is a doctor) и модальные глаголы в утвердительной форме (I can go; he should stay).

Эмфатическое ударение

Эмфатическое ударение – особое ударение, которое говорящий дает какому-то слову в предложении, обычно чтобы выделить, сравнить, поправить или прояснить что-то. Даже служебное слово может получить эмфатическое ударение. (It’s in the table, not on the table.) Также называется контрастное ударение или логическое ударение.

Смысловые группы

Смысловая группа состоит из нескольких значимых и служебных слов, объединенных логически в одну часть предложения согласно грамматическим и лексическим нормам. Например, в предложении «Four days ago she was in Greentown visiting her old aunt who lived alone and needed some help», следующие группы слов являются смысловыми группами: four days ago; she was in Greentown; visiting her old aunt; who lived alone; and needed some help. Фонетически, смысловые группы помечаются паузами, ударением и интонацией, чтобы показать начало и конец смысловых групп, а также наиболее важные слова в них.

Паузы

Паузы отмечают границы между частями предложения или между предложениями. Паузы очень короткие / едва заметные между смысловыми группами, немного длиннее там, где запятые, и вполне отчетливые там, где точки.

Интонация

Интонация – это определённая модель изменений высоты голоса в речи. Интонация организует слова в предложения, различает типы предложений (повествовательные предложения, вопросы, команды, просьбы) и добавляет эмоциональную окраску в высказывания. Интонация основана на нескольких ключевых компонентах, таких как высота тона, ударение в предложении и ритм. Есть два базовых типа интонации: интонация понижения и интонация повышения.

Высота тона

Высота тона – это степень подъёма нашего голоса в речи; то есть как высоко или как низко голос идет в речи. Обычная высота тона в американской речи – средний уровень, с сильными ударениями в ходе предложения и понижением или повышением в конце предложения. Интонация получается изменениями высоты тона; например, тон понижения в интонации понижения получается изменением высоты тона от среднего уровня к низкому уровню. Ударные слоги обычно выше по тону, чем неударные слоги.

Тон

Тон – это конечное изменение высоты тона в конце предложения или в конце смысловой группы (например, falling tone, или fall; rising tone, или rise; fall-rise). Тон – это наиболее значительное изменение высоты тона в предложении. Компоненты интонации всегда работают вместе для того, чтобы различить типы предложений (повествовательные предложения, вопросы, команды, просьбы), но именно конечный тон в конце предложения окончательно определяет тип предложения.

Ударение в предложении

Ударение в предложении делает высказывание понятным слушателю, делая важные слова ударными, отчетливыми и выше по тону и укорачивая и делая неотчетливыми неударные слова. Ударение в предложении – основное средство обеспечения ритма в связной речи. Все слова по отдельности имеют одно или два ударения, но когда они соединяются в предложение, происходят важные изменения: значимые слова имеют ударение, а служебные не имеют ударения; смысловые группы выделяются фонетически; неударные слоги сливаются в поток менее отчетливых звуков между ударными слогами; в словах с двумя ударениями одно ударение может быть смещено или ослаблено для сохранения ритма; эмфатическое ударение может применяться в предложении для выделения наиболее важного слова; последний ударный слог в предложении получает самое сильное ударение с помощью тона понижения или повышения.

Ритм

Английский язык очень ритмичный язык, что значит, что ударные слоги возникают через регулярные интервалы в речи. Ритм – это модель «ударный – неударный – ударный – неударный», где «ударный» это один ударный слог, а «неударный» может включать несколько неударных слогов, которые обычно укорачиваются и произносятся слитно в промежутках между ударными слогами. Фонетические правила редукции и соединения применяются, чтобы укоротить неударные слоги и гладко соединить слова в предложении.

Редукция и соединение

Редукция делает звуки в неударных слогах короче. Например, неударный редуцированный гласный звук часто превращается в нейтральный звук. В некоторых случаях нейтральный звук может выпасть. Соединение (linking) – это способ соединить последний звук одного слова с первым звуком следующего слова гладко, без нарушения ритма в предложении.

Скорость речи (Темп речи)

Нормальная скорость речи в английском языке напрямую связана с ритмом, и в этом отношении «быстро» не обязательно значит «хорошо». Лучший способ достичь нормальной английской скорости речи – упражняться в повторении аудиоматериалов со скоростью речи диктора на записи 150–160 слов в минуту. Средняя скорость речи для американцев в обычном разговоре составляет приблизительно 140–160 слов в минуту, а средняя скорость устного чтения 150–170 слов в минуту. Это включает ударные и неударные слова, короткие слова типа «I, a, the, is, but», более длинные слова и нормальные паузы. Скорость речи или устного чтения ниже 100 слов в минуту считается слишком медленной, а скорость выше 200 слов в минуту считается слишком быстрой.