Word Stress

English is an accent- based language and that in a word not all the syllables are pronounced with equal emphasis or force. That's why English is said to be stress - timed language. Stress is defined as varying degree of force or emphasis with which sounds are produced.

A syllable is a basic unit of spoken language, which consist of an uninterrupted sound that can be used to make up words. In other words, a syllable always has one vowel sound. So a word has as  many syllables as there are vowel sounds.

For Example, 'man' , 'code' , 'eye' , 'lead' , 'strength'  are a few of many English words that have one syllable each. They are known as monosyllabic words.

A- go, ho- tel, free- dom, a- gree are the examples of words with two syllables. They are called as Disyllabic words.

Syl- la- ble,  Dic - tion- ary and re- la- tion are examples of words with three syllables.

Therefore, syllables, if incorrectly stressed can create misunderstanding between speakers and can be  a barrier to effective communication.

There are some rules which can help us to pronounce words in the right manner. They are;

 

 1. Words with same sounds and spelling are often stressed on first syllable if they used as noun(N) or adjective(adj). The stress is placed on the second syllable, if they are used as a verb( V).

 

 

 

2. Words with weak prefixes are stressed on root.

For example: a' go, be' low, re' vise, de' velop, be' neath.

3. Words ending in- ion are stressed on the second last syllable.

Intro' duction, Appli' cation, Exami' nation, simplifi' cation, pro' duction.

4. Words that end in -ic,  ical, -ically, - ial, ially, and ian are stressed on the syllable before the suffix.

Charis' matic, me' morial, li'brarian, mu'sician, ' special, of'ficially, es'sential, e'lectric.

5.Words ending with the suffix __eer and ee are often stressed on the suffix.

Ca' reer, pio' neer, exami' nee,  engi 'neer.