Word stress pattern in english

English Syllables and Stress Patterns

Syllables and stress are two of the main areas of spoken language. Pronouncing words with the stress on the correct syllables will help you improve your spoken English, make your sentences easier to understand and help you sound more like a native speaker.

English syllables are stress-timed. English is classed as a ‘stress-based’ language, which means the meanings of words can be altered significantly by a change in word stress and sentence stress. This is why it is important to learn how to use word stress in English and develop an understanding of sentence stress and English stress patterns.

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Syllables

The English language is heavily stressed with each word divided into syllables. Here are some examples of English words with different numbers of syllables. These sets of words are followed by a series of examples using the correct stress placement:

Words with one syllable 

The, cold, quite, bed, add, start, hope, clean, trade, green, chair, cat, sign, pea, wish, drive, plant, square, give, wait, law, off, hear, trough, eat, rough, trout, shine, watch, for, out, catch, flight, rain, speech, crab, lion, knot, fixed, slope, reach, trade, light, moon, wash, trend, balm, walk, sew, joke, tribe, brooch

Words with two syllables

Party, special, today, quiet, orange, partner, table, demand, power, retrieve, doctor, engine, diet, transcribe, contain, cabbage, mountain, humour, defend, spatial, special, greedy, exchange, manage, carpet, although, trophy, insist, tremble, balloon, healthy, shower, verbal, business, mortgage, fashion, hover, butcher, magic, broken

Words with three syllables

Fantastic, energy, expensive, wonderful, laughable, badminton, idiot, celery, beautiful, aggression, computer, journalist, horrify, gravity, temptation, dieting, trampoline, industry, financial, distinguished, however, tremendous, justify, inflation, creation, injustice, energise, glittering, tangible, mentalise, laughable, dialect, crustacean, origin

Words with four syllables

Understanding, indecisive, conversation, realistic, moisturising, American, psychology, gregarious, independence, affordable, memorandum, controversial, superior, gymnasium, entrepreneur, traditional, transformation, remembering, establishment, vegetation, affectionate, acupuncture, invertebrate

Words with five syllables

Organisation, uncontrollable, inspirational, misunderstanding, conversational, opinionated, biological, subordination, determination, sensationalist, refrigerator, haberdashery, hospitality, conservatory, procrastination, disobedience, electrifying, consideration, apologetic, particularly, compartmentalise, hypochondria

Words with six syllables

Responsibility, idiosyncratic, discriminatory, invisibility, capitalisation, extraterrestrial, reliability, autobiography, unimaginable, characteristically, superiority, antibacterial, disciplinarian, environmentalist, materialism, biodiversity, criminalisation, imaginatively, disobediently

Words with seven syllables

Industrialisation, multiculturalism, interdisciplinary, radioactivity, unidentifiable, environmentalism, individuality, vegetarianism, unsatisfactorily, electrocardiogram

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English Stress Patterns

When thinking about syllables and stress in English, usually we find that one syllable of a word is stressed more than the others. There are always one or more stressed syllables within a word and this special stress placement helps words and sentences develop their own rhythm.

Syllables and stress patterns in English help to create the sounds, pronunciations and rhythms that we hear all around us.

Word Stress in English

We come to recognise these English syllables and stress patterns in conversations in real life interactions and on the radio and television. Using the correct stressed syllables within a word is an important part of speech and understanding.

Pronouncing words with the right word stress will make your language sound more natural to native speakers. Here are some words from the previous lists with the stressed syllable in bold:

Two syllable words stress patterns:

Quiet, party, special, today, orange, partner, table, demand, power, retrieve, engine,  diet, greedy, exchange, manage, carpet, although, relax, comfort

Three syllable words stress patterns:

Fantastic, energy, expensive, aggresion, wonderful, laughable, badminton, celery, temptation, trampoline,  industry, dintinguished, financial, however, tremendous, library

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Four syllable words stress patterns:

Understanding, indecisive, conversation, realistic, moisturising, American, psychology, independence, entrepreneur, transformation, fascinating, comfortable

Five syllable words stress patterns:

Uncontrollable, inspirational, misunderstanding, conversational, opinionated, biological, alphabetical, subordination, refrigerator, haberdashery, hospitality

Six syllable words stress patterns:

Responsibility, idiosyncratic, invisibility, capitalisation, discriminatory or discriminatory, antibacterial, superiority, autobiography, materialism, biodiversity, criminalisation, imaginatively,

Seven syllable words stress patterns:

Industrialisation, multiculturalism, interdisciplinary, radioactivity, unidentifiable, environmentalism, individuality, vegetarianism, unsatisfactorily, electrocardiogram

Syllables and Stress Patterns in English Speech

Using clear syllables and stress patterns is an important part of speech. The correct word stress in English is crucial for understanding a word quickly and accurately.

Even if you cannot hear a word well and are not familiar with the context, you can often still work out what the word is, simply from listening to which syllable is stressed.

In the same way, if a learner pronounces a word differently from the accepted norm, it can be hard for a native speaker to understand the word. The word or sentence might be grammatically correct, but if they have used the wrong (or an unexpected) stress pattern or the wrong stressed syllables, it could make it unintelligible to a native.

Learning a language is all about communication and being able to make yourself understood. This is why syllables and stress patterns in spoken English are so important.
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English Word Stress Rules

Here are some general rules about word stress in English:

• Only vowel sounds are stressed (a,e,i,o,u).

• A general rule is that for two syllable words, nouns and adjectives have the stress on the first syllable, but verbs have the stress on the second syllable.

For example: table (noun), special (adjective), demand (verb).

• Words ending in ‘ic’, ‘tion’ or ‘sion’ always place their stress on the penultimate (second to last) syllable. (e.g. supersonic, Atlantic, dedication, attention, transformation, comprehension).

• Words ending in ‘cy’, ‘ty’, ‘gy’ and ‘al’ always place their stress on the third from last syllable. (e.g. accountancy, sincerity, chronology, inspirational, hypothetical).

• Words ending in ‘sm’ with 3 or fewer syllables have their stress on the first syllable (e.g. prism, schism, autism, botulism, sarcasm) unless they are extensions of a stem word. This is often the case with words ending ‘ism’.

• Words ending in ‘ism’ tend to follow the stress rule for the stem word with the ‘ism’ tagged onto the end (e.g. cannibal = cannibalism, expression = expressionism, feminist = feminism, opportunist = opportunism).

• Words ending in ‘sm’ with 4 or more syllables tend to have their stress on the second syllable (e.g. enthusiasm, metabolism).

Words ending in ‘ous’

• Words ending in ‘ous’ with 2 syllables have their stress on the first syllable (e.g. monstrous, pious, anxious, pompous, zealous, conscious, famous, gracious, gorgeous, jealous, joyous).

• English words ending in ‘ous’ with 4 syllables usually have their stress on the second syllable (e.g. gregarious, anonymous, superfluous, androgynous, carnivorous, tempestuous, luxurious, hilarious, continuous, conspicuous). There are some exceptions using different stressed syllables, such as sacrilegious, which stresses the 3rd syllable.

Words ending in ‘ous’ with 3 or more syllables do not always follow a set stress pattern. Here are some common English words with 3 syllables ending in ‘ous’ and their stress placement:

Words ending in ‘ous’ with stress on first syllable

fabulous, frivolous, glamorous, calculus, dubious, envious, scandalous, serious, tenuous, chivalrous, dangerous, furious

Words ending in ‘ous’ with stress on second syllable

enormous, audacious, facetious, disastrous, ficticious, horrendous, contagious, ambitious, courageous

Stress can changing the meaning of a word

Remember, where we place the stress in English can change the meaning of a word. This can lead to some funny misunderstandings – and some frustrating conversations!

Words that have the same spelling but a different pronunciation and meaning are called heteronyms. Here are a few examples of words where the stressed syllable changes the meaning of the word:

• Object

The word ‘object’ is an example of an English word that can change meaning depending on which syllable is stressed. When the word is pronounced ‘object’ (with a stress on the first syllable) the word is a noun meaning an ‘item’, ‘purpose’ or ‘person/thing that is the focus’ of a sentence.

For example:

• • She handed the lady a rectangular object made of metal
  • He was the object of the dog’s affection
  • The ring was an object of high value
  • The object of the interview was to find the best candidate for the job
  • The object was small and shiny – it could have been a diamond ring!

But if the same word is pronounced ‘object‘ (with the stress on the second syllable) the word is now a verb, meaning ‘to disagree with’ something or someone.

For example:

• • They object to his constant lateness
  • The man objected to the size of his neighbour’s new conservatory
  • She strongly objects to being called a liar
  • We object to the buildings being demolished
  • No one objected to the proposal for more traffic lights

• Present

When the word ‘present’ is pronounced ‘present’ (with the stress on the first syllable) the word is a noun meaning ‘a gift’ or an adjective meaning ‘here / not absent’.

For example:

• • She handed him a beautifully wrapped present
  • The book was a present from their grandparents
  • Everyone was present at the meeting

But when the word is pronounced ‘present’ (with the stress on the second syllable) the word is now a verb meaning ‘to introduce’ something or someone, ‘to show’ or ‘to bring to one’s attention’. It can also be used when talking about presenting a TV or radio show (i.e. to be a ‘presenter’).

For example:

• • May I present Charlotte Smith, our new store manager
  • Bruce Forsyth used to present ‘Strictly Come Dancing’
  • I’d like to present my research on the breeding habits of frogs
  • They presented the glittering trophy to the winner
  • She was presented with the Oscar
  • This new situation presents a problem

• Project

Another example of an English word changing meaning depending on where you place the stress is the word ‘project’. This can be the noun when the stressed syllable is at the start – ‘project’ (a task).

For example:

• • They started work on the research project immediately
  • She looked forward to her next project – repainting the house
  • He enjoyed writing restaurant reviews – it was his current passion project

However, this word becomes a verb when the stressed syllables moves to the end – ‘to project‘ (to throw/launch, to protrude, to cause an image to appear on a surface, or to come across/make an impression).

For example:

• • The object was projected into the air at high velocity
  • The film will be projected onto the screen
  • The chimney projects 3 metres from the roof
  • She always projects herself with confidence

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Stress patterns in compound words 

Compound words are single words made up of two distinct parts. They are sometimes hyphenated. Here are examples of stress patterns in compound words in English:

• Compound nouns have the stress on the first part: e.g. sugarcane, beetroot, henhouse, tripwire, lighthouse, newspaper, porthole, roundabout, willpower

• Compound adjectives and verbs have the stress on the second part:
  e.g. wholehearted, green-fingered, old-fashioned, to understand, to inform, to short-change, to overtake

English sentence stress 

Once you understand word stress in English, you need to think about sentence stress. This means deciding which words to stress as part of the sentence as a whole. Stressed syllables can create a distinctive, rhythmic pattern within a sentence. This is how English stress patterns are related to the rhythm of English and help create the ‘music’ of a language.

English speakers tend to put stress on the most important words in a sentence in order to draw the listener’s attention to them. The most important words are the words that are necessary for the meaning of the sentence. Sentence stress is just as important as word stress for clarity. For example:

‘The cat sat on the mat while eating its favourite food’

The most important words here are: ‘cat’, ‘mat’, ‘eating’ and ‘food’. Even if you only hear those words, you would still be able to understand what is happening in the sentence simply from hearing which words are stressed.

Clearly, it is the nouns and verbs that are the most important parts of the sentence, as these are the ‘content words’ that help with meaning. Content words are usually stressed.

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The adjectives, adverbs and conjunctions all add flavour to the sentence, but they are not absolutely necessary to understand the meaning. These ‘helper’ words are usually unstressed.

In our example sentence: ‘The cat sat on the mat while eating its favourite food’, we have already used the word ‘cat’ so we do not need to emphasise the word ‘its’ (or ‘he/she’ if you want to give the cat a gender), because we already know who is eating the food (i.e. the cat).

English word stress within a sentence

Stress patterns affect words and sentences in English.

The stress on a word (the word stress) is the emphasis placed on that word. In the sentence below, “I never said he ate your chocolate”, the stressed word will change the meaning or implication of the sentence:

Stressing the first word ‘I’ implies that I (the speaker) never said it. It might be true or it might not be true – the point is, I never said it – someone else did.

Stressing the second word ‘never’ emphasises that I never said it. There was never an occasion when I said it (whether it is true or not).

Stressing the third word ‘said’ means that I never said it. He might have eaten your chocolate, but I didn’t say it. I might have thought it, but I never said it out loud (I may only have implied it).

Stressing the fourth word ‘he’ means I didn’t say it was him that ate your chocolate, only that someone did.

Stressing the fifth word ‘ate’ means I didn’t say he had eaten it. Perhaps he took it and threw it away or did something else with it.

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Stressing the sixth word ‘your’ means it wasn’t your chocolate he ate –  it could have been someone else’s chocolate.

Stressing the seventh word ‘chocolate’ emphases that it was not your chocolate he ate – he ate something else belonging to you.

So the sentence stress in English makes all the difference to the meaning of the whole sentence. The stressed word in the sentence is the one we should pay the most attention to.

Stress placement affects the whole understanding of the English language. This issue is strongly related to the rhythm of English. Getting the right word stress, sentence stress and rhythm leads to the perfect communication of your intended message.

Stressed Vowel Sounds and Weak Vowels in English

The necessary words in an English sentence are stressed more by increasing the length and clarity of the vowel sound.

In contrast, the unnecessary words are stressed less by using a shorter and less clear vowel sound. This is called a ‘weak’ vowel sound.

In fact, sometimes the vowel sound is almost inaudible. For example, the letter ‘a’ in English is often reduced to a muffled ‘uh’ sound. Grammarians call this a ‘shwa’ or /ə/.

You can hear this ‘weak’ vowel sound at the start of the words ‘about’ and ‘attack’ and at the end of the word ‘banana’. They can sound like ‘ubout’, ‘uttack’ and ‘bananuh’ when spoken by a native English speaker. The article ‘a’ as a single word is also unstressed and reduced in this way to a weak ‘uh’ sound.

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For example: ‘Is there a shop nearby?’ sounds like ‘Is there-uh shop nearby?’ This shwa can also be heard in other instances, such as in the word ‘and’ when it is used in a sentence. For example: ‘This book is for me and you’ can sound sound like ‘This book is for me un(d) you’.

The reason for this weak stress pattern in English is to help the rhythm and speed of speech. Using this weak ‘uh’ sound for the vowel ‘a’ helps the speaker get ready for the next stressed syllable by keeping the mouth and lips in a neutral position.

To pronounce the ‘a’ more clearly would require a greater opening of the mouth, which would slow the speaker down.

As English is a stress-timed language, the regular stresses are vital for the rhythm of the language, so the vowel sounds of unstressed words in English often get ‘lost’.

In contrast, syllable-timed languages (such as Spanish) tend to work in the opposite way, stressing the vowel sounds strongly, while the consonants get ‘lost’.

Click on the highlighted text to learn more about how English word stress and sentence stress relates to the rhythm of English and intonation in English.

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What do you think about syllables and stress in English?

Do you find the syllables and stress patterns a difficult part of learning a new language?

Have you had any funny misunderstandings from stressing the wrong syllable in English? We’d love to hear your stories!

Are there any English words or sentences with odd stressed syllables or difficult stress patterns that you would like advice on?

Can you think of good way to remember or practise correct English word stress and sentence stress?

Do you have any ideas to help EFL students improve their understanding of syllables and stress?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments box.

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English words have certain patterns of stress which you should observe strictly if you want to be understood. The best way to learn English stress is to listen to audio materials and to repeat them after the speaker. The links on the entrance pages of the sections Phonetics, Phrases, and Vocabulary lead to the sites that offer useful listening materials, including sounds, syllables, words, sentences, and conversations. An overview of typical English patterns of word stress in this material will help you to recognize and understand word stress when you work with listening materials. It will also be helpful to listen to examples of word stress in Listening for Word Stress (AmE) in the section Phonetics.

Note: Main stressed syllable in the word is indicated by capital letters in this material, for example, LEMon. In words with two stresses, capital letters with a stress mark before them show the syllable with primary stress, and small letters with a stress mark before them show the syllable with secondary stress, for example, ‘eco’NOMics.

General guidelines on word stress

Generally, common English nouns, adjectives, and adverbs are more often stressed on the first syllable than on any other syllable. Verbs with prefixes are usually stressed on the second syllable, i.e., on the first syllable of the root after the prefix. English words can’t have two unstressed syllables at the beginning of the word; one of these syllables will be stressed. If a word has four or more syllables, there are usually two stresses in it: primary stress (strong stress) and secondary stress (weak stress). Also, secondary stress may be present (in addition to primary stress) in shorter words in the syllable in which the vowel sound remains long and strong.

Prefixes are often stressed in nouns and less often in verbs. Suffixes at the end of the word are rarely stressed, except for a few noun, adjective, and verb suffixes that are usually stressed: rooMETTE, ‘ciga’RETTE / ‘CIGa’rette, Chi’NESE, ‘SIGni’fy, ‘ORga’nize, ‘DECo’rate. In longer derivative words, stress may fall on a suffix or prefix according to typical patterns of word stress. Endings are not stressed.

Stress in derivatives

Stress in a derivative may remain the same as in the word from which it was derived, or it may change in a certain way. When nouns are formed from verbs, or verbs are formed from nouns, the following patterns of stress often occur.

The same stress:

deNY (verb) – deNIal (noun)

ofFEND (verb) – ofFENCE (noun)

reVIEW (noun) – reVIEW (verb)

PREview (noun) – PREview (verb)

HOSpital (noun) – HOSpitalize (verb)

Shift of stress:

preSENT (verb) – PRESent (noun)

reFER (verb) – REFerence (noun)

exTRACT (verb) – EXtract (noun)

inCREASE (verb) – INcrease (noun)

OBject (noun) – obJECT (verb)

Other parts of speech derived from nouns and verbs have the following typical patterns of stress.

Adjectives are usually stressed on the first syllable or repeat the stress of the nouns from which they were derived: fate (noun) – FATal (adj.); COLor (noun) – COLorful (adj.). But stress may change in longer derivative adjectives: METal (noun) – meTALlic (adj.); ATHlete (noun) – athLETic (adj.); geOLogy (noun) – ‘geo’LOGical (adj.); ARgument (noun) – ‘argu’MENtative (adj.).

Adverbs are usually stressed on the first syllable or repeat the stress of the adjectives from which they were derived: ANgry – ANgrily; WONderful – WONderfully; FOOLish – FOOLishly; athLETic – athLETically.

Gerunds and participles repeat the stress of the verbs from which they were formed: forGET – forGETting – forGOTten; CANcel – CANceling – CANceled; ‘ORga’nize – ‘ORga’nizing – ORganized.

Typical patterns of stress

Let’s look at typical examples of stress in English words. Main factors that influence stress are the number of syllables in the word, and whether the word is a noun, an adjective, or a verb.

ONE-SYLLABLE WORDS

One-syllable nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are stressed on the vowel sound in the word. Note that a diphthong is one complex vowel sound that forms only one syllable. A diphthong is stressed on its first main component.

book, cat, rain, boat, crow, chair

read, burn, touch, choose, laugh, hear

new, bright, large, short, clear, loud

late, fast, soon, now

TWO-SYLLABLE WORDS

Two-syllable nouns

Two-syllable nouns are usually stressed on the first syllable.

TEACHer, STUDent, CARpet, LESson

REgion, ILLness, STATEment, CITy

CONvict, INcrease, INstinct, OBject

PERmit, PRESent, PROject, SYMbol

Nouns may be stressed on the last syllable if there is a long vowel sound or a diphthong in it. Words of foreign origin (especially words of French origin) may be stressed on the last syllable.

trainEE, caREER, deLAY, conCERN

poLICE, hoTEL, beRET, rooMETTE

Two-syllable adjectives

Two-syllable adjectives are usually stressed on the first syllable.

FUNny, LOCal, USEful

FOOLish, NATive, CAREless

Some adjectives are stressed on the last syllable if there is a long vowel sound or a diphthong in it.

abSURD, comPLETE, exTREME, moROSE

If there is a prefix in an adjective, stress often falls on the first syllable of the root after the prefix.

inSANE, imMUNE, enGAged

unWELL, unKNOWN

Two-syllable verbs

Two-syllable verbs are usually stressed on the second syllable, especially if the first syllable is a prefix.

adMIT, apPLY, beGIN, beLIEVE

comBINE, conFIRM, deNY, deSERVE

disLIKE, misPLACE, exPLAIN

forBID, forGET, igNORE, inVITE

oBEY, ocCUR, perMIT, prePARE

proPOSE, purSUE, reCEIVE, rePLY

supPLY, surPRISE, unDO, unLOCK

But there are many verbs that are stressed on the first syllable.

HAPpen, CANcel, PRACtice

ANswer, OFfer, MENtion

FOLlow, BORrow, PUNish

THREE-SYLLABLE WORDS

Three-syllable nouns

Three-syllable nouns are usually stressed on the first syllable.

POLitics, GOVernment, GENeral

INterest, GRADuate, CONfidence

But many nouns, especially those derived from verbs with prefixes, have stress on the second syllable.

apPROVal, conFUSion, conSUMer

corRECTness, eLECtion, diRECtor

Some nouns have primary stress on the last syllable if there is a long vowel sound or a diphthong in it.

‘engi’NEER, ‘refu’GEE

Three-syllable adjectives

Three-syllable adjectives are usually stressed on the first syllable.

GENeral, DELicate, EXcellent

WONderful, FAVorite, CURious

Some adjectives have one more stress on the last syllable if there is a long vowel or a diphthong in it.

‘OBso’lete / ‘obso’LETE

‘Vietna’MESE, ‘Portu’GUESE

Some adjectives do not repeat the stress of the noun from which they were derived and are stressed on the second syllable.

geNERic, symBOLic, inSTINCtive

Three-syllable verbs

Three-syllable verbs often have primary stress on the first syllable (even if it is a prefix) and secondary stress on the last syllable (which is often a verb suffix).

‘ORga’nize, ‘MODer’nize

‘SIGni’fy, ‘SPECi’fy

‘COMpen’sate, ‘DECo’rate

‘COMpli’ment, ‘CONsti’tute

But many verbs, especially those with prefixes, have stress on the second syllable.

conTINue, conSIDer, reMEMber

If the prefix consists of two syllables, its first syllable usually gets secondary stress.

‘under’STAND, ‘decom’POSE

‘contra’DICT, ‘corre’SPOND

FOUR OR MORE SYLLABLES

Long nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs usually have two stresses: primary stress and secondary stress. But there are some long words with only one stress. There are four patterns of stress in long words.

Only one stress: on the first syllable

Nouns:

ACcuracy, DELicacy

Adjectives:

INteresting

Only one stress: on the second syllable

Nouns:

inTOLerance, geOMetry, aMERica

simPLICity, moBILity, teLEpathy

acCOMpaniment

Adjectives:

sigNIFicant, mysTErious, traDItional

inTOLerable, unREAsonable, noTOrious

Verbs:

acCOMpany

Two stresses: on the first and third syllable

This is a very common stress pattern in long words in English.

Nouns:

‘eco’NOMics, ‘infor’MAtion

‘consti’TUtion, ‘repe’TItion

‘coloni’ZAtion, ‘multipli’CAtion

Adjectives:

‘aca’DEMic, ‘geo’METrical

‘inter’NAtional, ‘cosmo’POLitan

‘capita’LIStic, ‘conver’SAtional

‘PAtro’nizing

Two stresses: on the second and fourth syllable

Nouns:

con’side’RAtion

in’vesti’GAtion

con’tinu’Ation

Adjectives:

ex’peri’MENtal

in’compre’HENsible

Verbs:

i’DENti’fy, in’TENsi’fy

in’TOXi’cate, ac’CUmu’late

com’MERcia’lize, a’POLo’gize.

Ударение в слове

Английские слова имеют определённые модели ударения, которые нужно строго соблюдать, если вы хотите, чтобы вас понимали. Лучший способ изучить английское ударение – слушать аудиоматериалы и повторять их за диктором. Ссылки на входных страницах разделов Phonetics, Phrases и Vocabulary ведут на сайты, которые предлагают полезные материалы для прослушивания, включая звуки, слоги, слова, предложения и разговоры. Краткий обзор типичных английских моделей ударения в данном материале поможет вам узнавать и понимать ударение в словах, когда вы работаете с материалами для прослушивания. Также будет полезно прослушать примеры ударения в материале для прослушивания Listening for Word Stress (AmE) в разделе Phonetics.

Примечание: Главный ударный слог в слове указан заглавными буквами в данном материале, например, LEMon. В словах с двумя ударениями, заглавные буквы со значком ударения перед ними показывают слог с главным ударением, а маленькие буквы со значком ударения перед ними показывают слог с второстепенным ударением, например, ‘eco’NOMics.

Общие рекомендации по ударению в словах

В целом, употребительные английские существительные, прилагательные и наречия чаще ударяются на первом слоге, чем на любом другом слоге. Глаголы с приставками обычно имеют ударение на втором слоге, т.е. на первом слоге корня после приставки. Английские слова не могут иметь два неударных слога в начале слова; один из этих слогов будет ударным. Если в слове четыре или более слогов, то в нём обычно два ударения: главное ударение (сильное ударение) и второстепенное ударение (слабое ударение). Также, второстепенное ударение может присутствовать (в дополнение к главному ударению) в более коротких словах в слоге, в котором гласный звук остается долгим и сильным.

Приставки часто ударные в существительных и реже в глаголах. Суффиксы в конце слова редко ударные, за исключением нескольких суффиксов существительных, прилагательных и глаголов, которые обычно ударные: rooMETTE, ‘ciga’RETTE / ‘CIGa’rette, Chi’NESE, ‘SIGni’fy, ‘ORga’nize, ‘DECo’rate. В более длинных производных словах ударение может падать на приставку или суффикс согласно типичным моделям ударения в слове. Окончания не ударные.

Ударение в производных словах

Ударение в производном слове может остаться таким же, как в слове, от которого оно образовано, или оно может измениться определённым образом. Когда существительные образуются от глаголов, или глаголы образуются от существительных, часто возникают следующие модели ударения.

Одинаковое ударение:

deNY (глагол) – deNIal (существительное)

ofFEND (глагол) – ofFENCE (существительное)

reVIEW (сущ.) – reVIEW (глагол)

PREview (сущ.) – PREview (глагол)

HOSpital (сущ.) – HOSpitalize (глагол)

Смещение ударения:

preSENT (глагол) – PRESent (существительное)

reFER (глагол) – REFerence (сущ.)

exTRACT (глагол) – EXtract (сущ.)

inCREASE (глагол) – INcrease (сущ.)

OBject (сущ.) – obJECT (глагол)

Другие части речи, образованные от существительных и глаголов, имеют следующие типичные модели ударения.

Прилагательные обычно ударные на первом слоге или повторяют ударение существительных, от которых они были образованы: fate (сущ.) – FATal (прилаг.); COLor (сущ.) – COLorful (прилаг.). Но ударение может меняться в более длинных производных прилагательных: METal (сущ.) – meTALlic (прилаг.); ATHlete (сущ.) – athLETic (прилаг.); geOLogy (сущ.) – ‘geo’LOGical (прилаг.); ARgument (сущ.) – ‘argu’MENtative (прилаг.).

Наречия обычно ударные на первом слоге или повторяют ударение прилагательных, от которых они были образованы: ANgry – ANgrily; WONderful – WONderfully; FOOLish – FOOLishly; athLETic – athLETically.

Герундий и причастия повторяют ударение глаголов, от которых они были образованы: forGET (забывать) – forGETting – forGOTten; CANcel (отменять) – CANceling – CANceled; ‘ORga’nize (организовать) – ‘ORga’nizing – ORganized.

Типичные модели ударения

Давайте посмотрим на типичные примеры ударения в английских словах. Главные факторы, которые влияют на ударение – количество слогов в слове и является ли это слово существительным, прилагательным или глаголом.

ОДНОСЛОЖНЫЕ СЛОВА

Односложные существительные, глаголы, прилагательные и наречия имеют ударение на гласном звуке в слове. Обратите внимание, что дифтонг – это один сложный гласный звук, который образует только один слог. Дифтонг имеет ударение на своём первом главном компоненте.

книга, кот, дождь, лодка, ворона, стул

читать, гореть, трогать, выбрать, смеяться, слышать

новый, яркий, большой, короткий, ясный, громкий

поздний / поздно, быстрый / быстро, скоро, сейчас

ДВУСЛОЖНЫЕ СЛОВА

Двусложные существительные

Существительные из двух слогов обычно ударные на первом слоге.

учитель, студент, ковер, урок

район, болезнь, утверждение, город

осужденный, увеличение, инстинкт, предмет

пропуск, подарок, проект, символ

Существительные могут иметь ударение на последнем слоге, если в нём долгий гласный звук или дифтонг. Слова иностранного происхождения (особенно слова французского происхождения) могут иметь ударение на последнем слоге.

стажер, карьера, задержка, забота

полиция, гостиница, берет, одноместное купе

Двусложные прилагательные

Прилагательные из двух слогов обычно ударные на первом слоге.

смешной, местный, полезный

глупый, родной, беззаботный

Некоторые двусложные прилагательные могут иметь ударение на последнем слоге, если в нём долгий гласный звук или дифтонг.

абсурдный, полный, крайний, угрюмый

Если в прилагательном есть приставка, то ударение часто падает на первый слог корня после приставки.

безумный, имеющий иммунитет, занятый

нездоровый, неизвестный

Двусложные глаголы

Глаголы из двух слогов обычно ударные на втором слоге, особенно если первый слог – приставка.

допускать, применять, начинать, верить

соединять, подтвердить, отрицать, заслуживать

не любить, положить не на место, объяснять

запрещать, забывать, игнорировать, приглашать

подчиняться, возникать, разрешать, подготовить

предлагать, преследовать, получать, ответить

снабжать, удивлять, аннулировать, отпереть

Но есть много глаголов, которые имеют ударение на первом слоге.

случаться, отменить, практиковать

отвечать, предлагать, упоминать

следовать, заимствовать, наказывать

ТРЕХСЛОЖНЫЕ СЛОВА

Трехсложные существительные

Существительные из трёх слогов обычно имеют ударение на первом слоге.

политика, правительство, генерал

интерес, выпускник, уверенность

Но многие существительные, особенно образованные от глаголов с приставками, имеют ударение на втором слоге.

одобрение, замешательство, потребитель

правильность, избрание, директор

Некоторые существительные могут иметь главное ударение на последнем слоге, если в нём долгий гласный звук или дифтонг.

инженер, беженец

Трехсложные прилагательные

Прилагательные из трёх слогов обычно имеют ударение на первом слоге.

общий, деликатный, превосходный

чудесный, любимый, любопытный

Некоторые трёхсложные прилагательные имеют ещё одно ударение на последнем слоге, если в нём долгий гласный звук или дифтонг.

вышедший из употребления

вьетнамский, португальский

Некоторые прилагательные не повторяют ударение существительного, от которого они были образованы, и ударяются на втором слоге.

видовой, символический, инстинктивный

Трехсложные глаголы

Глаголы из трёх слогов часто имеют главное ударение на первом слоге (даже если это приставка) и второстепенное ударение на последнем слоге (который часто глагольный суффикс).

организовать, модернизировать

означать, уточнять

компенсировать, украшать

делать комплимент, составлять

Но многие глаголы, особенно те, которые с приставками, имеют ударение на втором слоге.

продолжать, рассмотреть, помнить

Если приставка состоит из двух слогов, её первый слог обычно получает второстепенное ударение.

понимать, разлагаться

противоречить, соответствовать

ЧЕТЫРЕ ИЛИ БОЛЕЕ СЛОГОВ

Длинные существительные, прилагательные, глаголы и наречия обычно имеют два ударения: главное и второстепенное ударение. Но есть некоторые длинные слова только с одним ударением. В длинных словах четыре модели ударения.

Только одно ударение: на первом слоге

Существительные:

точность, утончённость

Прилагательные:

интересный

Только одно ударение: на втором слоге

Существительные:

нетерпимость, геометрия, Америка

простота, мобильность, телепатия

аккомпанемент

Прилагательные:

значительный, таинственный, традиционный

невыносимый, неразумный, печально известный

Глаголы:

сопровождать

Два ударения: на первом и третьем слоге

Это очень распространённая модель ударения в длинных словах в английском языке.

Существительные:

экономика, информация

конституция, повторение

колонизация, умножение

Прилагательные:

академический, геометрический

международный, космополитический

капиталистический, разговорный

покровительственный

Два ударения: на втором и четвертом слоге

Существительные:

рассмотрение

расследование

продолжение

Прилагательные:

экспериментальный

непонятный / непостижимый

Глаголы:

идентифицировать, усиливать

опьянять, накапливать

превращать в источник прибыли, извиняться.

Stress is relevant to
grammar as well as phonetics, since the stress patterns in some
words may be affected by their grammatical word class. The
verbs
take the primary stress on the second syllable whereas the nouns and
adjectives
take it on the first syllable. There is often also some accompanying
change
in a vowel. (‘accent-ac’cent, ‘object-ob’ject,
‘record-re’cord). Several
disyllables have the same stress pattern for both noun and verb or
have a
varying pattern; for example contact,
contrast, comment. The
present tendency
seems to be to move the stress in disyllabic verbs of Latin origin to
the
first syllable. That tendency, which is also found in words of more
than two syllables,
whether they are verbs or nouns, is exemplified in the disputed
pronunciations
of contribute,
controversy, dispute, distribute, research.

26.Historical development of the phonetic system of English

It took over two centuries
(roughly 1450-1700) for English to acquire a stable spelling system.
Starting in the fifteenth century and ending about 1600, a series of
changes traditionally known as the Great Vowel Shift affected the
long vowels. In Middle English the vowel sounds had Continental
values, and the same letter was used to represent a short vowel and
its corresponding long vowel; for example, the letter i
was used
for both the short vowel sound /i/ in present-day bit
and the
long vowel sound /i:/ in beet,
but later
i is
also used as
is a
diphthong / ai.

One type of change that
occurred during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was the loss
of a sound in a cluster, resulting in a ‘silent’ letter in the
spelling. The initial sounds in /kn/ and /gn/ were lost, so that k
and g
are not
pronounced in words such as knee,
kneel, knife, knight, knit, knob, knock, know, gnat, gnaw, gnome.
Similarly,
the w in
wr is
no longer pronounced in words such as wrap,
wrestle, wrist, write, wrong. The
sound of /l/ was lost in the modals should
and would
etc.

One significant change that
affected some areas of the English-speaking world in the eighteenth
century was the loss of the sound /r/ before a consonant or in final
position, as in beard
and beer. Accents
that drop /r/ are called non-rhotic; those that retain /r/ are
rhotic. Broadly speaking, non-rhotic accents are common in England
and Wales and in most of the Commonwealth countries where English is
the native language, whereas rhotic accents are common in the United
States, Scotland, and Ireland.

The lost /r/ in non-rhotic
accents reappears in certain environments when it is followed by a
word beginning with a vowel, as in far
away, for us, car engine

Another significant loss—the
vowel in the regular verb inflection -ed—
began to occur in late Middle English, but is not reflected in
present-day spelling. The syllable /id/ is pronounced when the
inflection follows /d/ or /t/ as in padded
and trotted, but
otherwise the vowel is dropped
We
therefore have three pronunciations for the -ed
spelling:
/id/, /d/ and /t/.

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English lexical stress patterns

English words can have the main stress on the final or pre-final syllable, or three or four syllables from the end. We will refer to the stressed syllables with the following simplified terms like “-1” and “-2” and so on.

term	description	! examples
[-1]	final syllable stress	cheese, baguette, vinaigrette
[-2]	pre-final stress	pizza, banana, mozzarella
[-3]	stress on third syllable from end	hamburger, barbecue
[-4]	stress on fourth syllable from end	pumpernickel

1 Anglo-Saxon patterns

These patterns usually work for bisyllabic (two-syllable), trisyllabic (three-syllable words), and of course, monosyllabic (single syllable words) from Old English, or over half of common English words with 1-3 syllables. They also work on common, shorter words from Latin (those that came into English long ago).

Some words have neutral suffixes – these are suffixes that do not affect the stress; for purposes of locating stress, they are like “0” syllables in the stress system.

[-1] stress	verbs	inflame, engulf require, decide, desert
[-2] stress	nouns, adjectives	climate, knowledge flippant, spacious
[-2] stress + neutral suffix	noun & adj. suffixes -er, -ly, -ery	manager, carpenter orderly, dastardly bakery, adultery

2 Latin patterns

This set of patterns is more common in more academic and technical words, which mostly came from Latin^[1]. The [-2] or [-3] syllable is usually stressed, depending on which syllable is heavier, e.g., because it has a long vowel, or ends with two consonants (but deciding which syllable is heavier is linguistically tricky and complex, so do not try to analyze this too much). Generally, if a [-2] syllable has a long vowel or is heavier, it tends to be stressed; otherwise, if the [-2] is a lighter syllable, the [-3] syllable is stressed. The [-3] stress can apply to Latin prefixes (pre-, con-, etc.)

[-2] stress	[-2] is heavier	thesis, structure, neurosis, silicosis
[-3] stress	[-2] is a light syllable	antithesis, anagram, cognitive, decadent, accident, incident, exercise, prejudice, confident, complicate, indicate

As mentioned, evaluating whether the [-2] is light or lighter is tricky, and sometimes the pattern will seem unclear (unless you know Latin, and linguistic theories of stress placement), e.g.: consíder, envísage.

Some neutral Latin and Greek suffixes act like “0” syllables, that is, it is as if you ignore these suffixes, and locate the stress on the [-2]/[-3] syllable of the original base word.

[-2] stress (base)	-ist, -ism, -ize	anarchist, anarchism, socialist, socialism, socialize determinist, determinism,
[-3] stress (base)	-ist, -ism, -ize	cannibalism, cannibalize, republicanist

This also seems to work for Latin / Anglo-Saxon suffixes like these.

-able, -ible	addable, habitable, terrible, abominable
-al	optimal, minimal

2.1 Special Latin suffixes

A few common Latin suffixes force the stress into [-2] or [-3] position. First, here are some simpler suffix patterns.

[-2] stress	-ic, -ics, -(os)is	graphic, ecstatic, democratic, comic, Atlantic, iconic, endoscope, microscopic, photographic, pediatrics, neurosis, neurotic
[-3] stress	-y, -al	democracy, alacrity, uncertainty, oddity, rarity, community, commodity, iconicity, endoscopy, microscopy, photography, radiology, geography, critical, logical

We have an i-stem pattern consisting of (1) the -ion suffix (as in ‘nation’), and (2) suffixes beginning with <i> ; these are essentially variants of suffixes without the i-stem, e.g.: -ous → -ious. Similarly, we also have e-stem and u-stem suffixes, which are counterparts of stemless suffixes, e.g, -ous → eous, -ous → -uos. Sometimes the stem vowel is pronounced as a separate syllable (e.g., ‘lineal, sensuous’) and sometimes not, especially with the i-stems (‘spacious, nation’). In all cases, the main stress is on the syllable before the suffix. This is actually an easy pattern to learn, as the main stress is reliably found on the syllable before the prefix in at least 99% of all cases^[2].

[-1] stress pattern	[-1] of base word, e.g.:
i-stems
-ion	nation, vision, degradation, implication, incision
-ium, -ia	media, bacteria, bacterium
-ior	exterior, behavior
-ian, -ial	meridian, quotidian, musician, radial, spatial, interstitial, differential
-ious	egregious, devious, prestigious
-iant/-ient, -iance/-ience, -iancy/-ency, etc.	radiant, luminescent, sufficient, radiance, luminescence, deviancy, sufficiency
e-stems
u-stems
-ual	sensual, residual
-uous	continuous, sensuous, assiduous
, -uant, -uance	continuant, pursuant, pursuance
-ul+, etc.	modular, molecular

3 French [-1] pattern

Many words borrowed from modern French have [-1] stress, as the French language in general follows this pattern. This includes some common word endings in French-English words^[3].

[-1] stress	-ade, -é, -ee, -ese, -que, -ette, -oon	lemonade, resumé, fiancé, fiancée, employee, guarantee, puppeteer, Siamese, picturesque, towelette, baguette, buffoon, macaroon
	other French words	garage, Renaissance, savoir-faire, noblesse-oblige

4 Greek [-3/-4] patterns

This is less common, and shows up mainly in medical terms, other technical terms, metric prefixes, and a few other prefixes. If a [-3] has a longer vowel or a heavier syllable, it is stressed; otherwise, the [-4] is stressed. However, some prefixes can have their own stress. Not all words from Greek follow this pattern, as some were latinized to [-3] stress patterns.

[-4] stress	metric prefixes	milliliter, kilonewton, kilopascal, microtesla
	other prefixes	television
[-3/-4] stress	names	[-3]: Herodotus, Aristophenes [-4]: Anaximander
other Greek words	[-4]: carcinogen

5 Compound word patterns

In most compound nouns, the first word has primary stress, and is more stressed than the others. This includes compounds formed from two or more nouns, or from an adjective plus a noun. For compounds, it does not matter if they are written as one word or separately. See also: Compound & phrasal stress.

2 nouns	keyboard, coffee shop, hard drive
noun + adj.	the White House, the Blue House, greenhouse
3 nouns	hard drive recovery, computer repairman
4+ nouns	motherboard manufacturing process

A number of specialized patterns exist for specialized meanings.

Type	Stress pattern	Examples
Compound verbs & adjectives	Often the second or last word is stressed	old-fashioned reverse engineer
Compound nouns derived from phrasal verbs	Prepositional element is stressed	overflow, uptake
Material nouns as modifiers	In some cases, the first noun indicating a material is not really part of the compound, but is used more like an adjective, and does not receive the main stress	gold(en) ring wood(en) crate
Personal names	The family name receives the main stress	Barack Obama Moon Jae-in
Abbreviations	The last letter of an abbreviation is often stressed	FBI, CIA, UN
Names of streets & buildings	The last word is usually stressed (except for generic nouns)	Lincoln Avenue Elm Drive Lincoln Hall, Elm Theater
Generic nouns in street, building, organization names	When the nouns street, building, organization, society, etc. are the final elements of compound names for such items, they are generic in those contexts and often unstressed, and a more important word in the phrase has the main stress.	Lincoln Building Lincoln Street Canadian Linguistics Association Canadian Linguistics Society Canadian Linguistics Organization

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Words are made up of letters and those letters create syllable sounds. You can recognize a syllable by remembering that each one contains a vowel sound. For example, in the word computer, there are three syllables: com / pu / ter. The word bike, however, has only one syllable. A single syllable may contain as little as just one letter, or as many as five:

idea — i / de / a (three syllables)

cough — cough (one syllable)

In words that have more than one syllable, one syllable will be stressed. In English, there are a number of word syllable stress patterns.

Counting Syllables

You can check how many syllables a word has by putting your hand under your chin and saying a word. Each time your chin moves to make a vowel sound, count a syllable. For example, the word difficult moves your chin three times. Therefore, difficult is three syllables.

Exercise

Count the number of syllables in each of these words. Answers are below.

1. house
2. jacket
3. glasses
4. encyclopedia
5. employer
6. information
7. troublemaker 
8. thought 
9. happy
10. incoherent

Answers

1. 1 (house)
2. 2 (ja / ket)
3. 2 (gla / sses)
4. 6 (en / cy / clo / pe / di / a)
5. 3 (em / ploy / er)
6. 4 (in / for / ma / tion)
7. 4 (trou / ble /ma / ker)
8. 1 (thought)
9. 2 (ha / ppy)
10. 4 (in / co / her / ent)

Word Syllable Stress

In multi-syllable words, the stress falls on one of the syllables. The other syllables tend to be spoken quickly. This leads to sounds that are not clear (muted) on unstressed syllables. In order to improve your pronunciation, focus on pronouncing the stressed syllable clearly. However, don’t be afraid to mute (not say clearly) the other unstressed vowels.

For example:

Listen to these specific examples. Notice where the syllables are stressed:

• PersonNEL
• TOtally
• InDUstrial
• ToMAto
• FanTAstic

One Syllable — Stressed

All one-syllable words have the stress on the one syllable. The intonation should go down. 

Listen to the general pattern.

• EAT
• DRINK
• SIGN
• WELL

Two-Syllable

First Syllable Stressed

Listen to the general pattern and these specific examples:

• GIant
• PICture
• HEAting

Second Syllable Stressed

Listen to the general pattern and these specific examples:

• toDAY
• aHEAD
• aLLOW

Three-Syllable

First Syllable Stressed

Listen to the general pattern and these specific examples:

• ENergy
• Operate
• ORganize

Second Syllable Stressed

Listen to the general pattern and these specific examples:

• meMORial
• aSSUMPtion
• caNAdian

Third Syllable Stressed

Listen to the general pattern and these specific examples:

• employEE
• japanESE
• voluntEER

Four-Syllable

Second Syllable Stressed

Listen to the general pattern and these specific examples:

• psyCHOLogy
• eVAporate
• cerTIficate

Third Syllable Stressed

Listen to the general pattern and these specific examples:

• poliTIcian
• indiVIdual
• repuTAtion

Double Vowel Sounds

It’s not the number of letters that make up a syllable, rather it is the number of single vowel sounds. Sometimes, a number of vowels combine to make just a single sound. For example:

tree = 1 sound

goal = 1 sound

because = 1 sound

Common Double Vowel Sounds

It’s important to learn spelling patterns for these sounds. Here are some of the most common:

ay — (diphthong EI sound) play, say, may

au — (long A sound) fault, launch, haunt

augh — (long A sound) caught, taught, daughter

augh — (short A sound as in «cat») laugh

ee — (long EE sound) tree, see, three

ea — (long EE sound) each, peach, teach

ea — (short E sound) dead, head, health

ea — (long EE sound) break, steak, great

eu — (long U sound) deuce, sleuth

ei — (diphthong EI sound) beil, eight, weigh

ey — (diphthong EI sound) they, grey

eigh — (diphthong EI sound) eight, freight

eigh — (long EE sound) seize

eigh — (diphthong AI sound) height

ie — (long EE sound) thief, pice

ie — (long I sound) die, tie

oo — (long U sound) moo, boo

oo — (short U sound) book, foot

oa — (long O sound) boat, moat

oe — (long O sound) hoe, Joe

oi — (diphthong OY sound) soil, toil

ou — (long O sound) soul, your

ou — (short U sound) tough, rough

ue — (long U sound) cue, muse

ui — (long U sound) fruit, juice

Schwa for Unstressed Syllables

Unstressed syllables keep the correct sound, but are muted. Sometimes, unstressed vowels become a schwa sound — like a soft uh sound.

Listen to these specific examples:

• Little
• Repeat
• Tomato

At other times, the vowel is pronounced but not stressed. Listen to these specific examples:

• Industrial
• Noisily

Generally speaking, stressed syllables retain a clear vowel sound, while unstressed syllables tend to soften towards a schwa-like sound.