Syllable Structure and Stress in Phonetics and Phonology
undefined
Phonetics & Phonology
John Corbett: USP-CAPES International Fellow
Session 5: Syllable structure and stress
Today´s
session
This session:
Syllable structure
Word stress
Morphologically simple and complex words
Rules governing word stress
How many
syllables – and
where are the
divisions?
Think about the word
above.
We can say a number of things about
it:
It has FIVE orthographical letters: <a>, <b>, <o>, <v>, <e>
It contains FOUR phonemes: /əbʌv/
There are TWO syllables: /ə/ and /bʌv/ or A#BOVE
The first syllable is pronounced with less force than the second
(it is unstressed)
The second syllable is pronounced with more force than the
first (it is stressed): /ə'bʌv/
How many
syllables – and
where are the
divisions?
Discuss in pairs/threes:
How many syllables do the following words have?
Where are the divisions?
AGAINST
ENTER
EQUIP
SAINT ANDREWS
How many
syllables – and
where are the
divisions?
Discuss in pairs/threes:
How many syllables do the following words have?
Where are the divisions? Possible answers (accents vary!):
A#GAINST
EN#TER ENT#ER
/ɛ kwɪp/ /ɛk wɪp/
(note that spelling doesn’t help much here)
SAINT#AN#DREWS SAIN# TAN#DREWS
SAIN#TAND#REWS
Syllable
structure: 3
main parts
Syllable
Onset
Rhyme
Nucleus
Coda
CC
V
CC
pl
i:
zd
Onset, nucleus
and rhyme
Identify the syllable boundaries, and then the onset, nucleus and
rhyme (for you) in each syllable of the following words and
phrases:
INTERNATIONAL
THE STRAIN
THIS TRAIN
Issues to think
about
Some English accents prefer the onset of a syllable to be a
consonant where possible, so:
IN # TER # NA # TIO # NAL
Do you?
Do THE STRAIN and THIS TRAIN have the same syllable boundary
for you?
THE#STRAIN and THI#STRAIN
Syllable and
stressed
timing
All languages make use of differences in pitch, loudness and speed
(tempo). Together, pitch loudness & tempo contribute to the
rhythm
of speech.
Languages differ in the way they make rhythmical contrasts.
Syllable length (long versus short) is a crucial feature of
syllable-
timed languages
, based on Latin (=Romance languages, like
Portuguese).
Stress (stressed versus unstressed) is a crucial feature of
stress-
timed languages
(=Germanic languages, like English).
Pitch (high and low tones) is a crucial feature of many tonal
languages (=Asian languages, like Putonghua and Cantonese).
English speech makes use of stressed syllables, produced at
roughly regular periods of time, and separated by an irregular
number of unstressed syllables.
Word stress
Pairwork/In threes
Spoken in isolation, some syllables in English
words have greater stress than others. Identify
the syllables that have the most stress in the
following 3-4 syllable words:
/pəteɪtəʊ/
/əpɑ:tmənt/
/rɪleɪʃənʃɪp/
Word stress
Pairwork/In threes
Spoken in isolation, some syllables in English
words have greater stress than others. Identify
the syllables that have the most stress in the
following 3-4 syllable words:
/pəˈteɪtəʊ/
/əˈpɑ:tmənt/
/rɪˈleɪʃənʃɪp/
Note that here I have placed the stress mark before the consonant, on
the assumption that the syllable boundary is there.
Rules for stress
placement
What needs to be taken into consideration when we place the
stress in English?
Is the word
morphologically simple
or
complex
(eg are there affixes;
is the word a compound or not)?
What
grammatical category
does the word belong to?
How many
syllables
are in the word?
What is the
phonological structure
of the syllables (onset,
nucleus
and
coda
)?
A sample of
stress-
placement
rules
Morphologically simple words: can you deduce any rules?
2-syllable verbs & adjectives:
apply
əplaɪ
enter
ɛntə
attract
ətrækt
open
əʊpən
arrive
əraɪv
envy
ɛnve or ɛnvi
assist
əsɪst
equal
i:kwəl
divine
dɪvaɪn
total
təʊtəl
alive
əlaɪv
even
i:vən
correct
kərɛkt
Some stress-
placement
rules (1)
Morphologically simple words: can you deduce any rules?
2-syllable verbs & adjectives:
apply
əˈpl
aɪ
enter
ˈɛnt
ə
attract
əˈtræ
kt
open
ˈəʊp
ən
arrive
əˈr
aɪ
v
envy
ˈɛnv
e
or ˈɛnv
i
assist
əˈsɪ
st
equal
ˈi:kw
əl
divine
dɪˈv
aɪ
n
total
ˈtəʊt
əl
alive
əˈl
aɪ
v
even
ˈi:v
ən
correct
kərɛ
kt
Stress the first syllable when:
The second syllable contains a short vowel and only one (or no) final
consonant.
Stress the second syllable when:
the second syllable contains a long vowel, a diphthong or ends with a
consonant cluster
Some stress-
placement
rules (2)
Morphologically simple 3-syllable words. Figure out the rules?
(They’re different for verbs and for nouns...)
Verbs
encounter
ɪŋkaʊntə
entertain
ɛntəteɪn
determine
dɪtɜ:mɪn
resurrect
rɛzərɛkt
Nouns
mimosa
mɪməʊzə
disaster
dɪzɑ:stə
potato
pəteɪtəʊ
synopsis
sɪnɒpsɪs
quantity
kwɒntɪte
emperor
ɛmpərə
cinema
sɪnɪmə
custody
kʌstəde
Some stress-
placement
rules (2)
Morphologically simple 3-syllable words. Figure out the rules?
(They’re different for verbs and for nouns...)
Verbs
encounter
ɪŋˈkaʊnt
ə
entertain
ɛntəˈt
eɪ
n
determine
dɪˈtɜ:m
ɪn
resurrect
rɛzəˈrɛ
kt
The final syllable is stressed when it contains a long vowel or
diphthong or ends with more than one consonant;
The penultimate syllable is stressed when the last syllable ends
with a short vowel and not more than one consonant
Some stress-
placement
rules (2)
Morphologically simple 3-syllable words. Figure out the rules?
(They’re different for verbs and for nouns...)
Nouns
mimosa
mɪˈm
əʊz
ə
disaster
dɪˈz
ɑ:st
ə
potato
pəˈt
eɪt
əʊ
synopsis
sɪˈn
ɒps
ɪs
quantity
ˈkwɒnt
ɪ
t
e
emperor
ˈɛmp
ə
r
ə
cinema
ˈsɪn
ɪ
m
ə
custody
ˈkʌst
ə
d
e
If the final syllable contains a short vowel or /əʊ/ it is unstressed.
If the penultimate syllable contains a long vowel or a diphthong,
or if it ends with more than one consonant, then it will be
stressed.
If the final and penultimate syllables both contain a short vowel
and the penultimate syllable ends with not more than one
consonant then the first syllable will be stressed.
PHEW!
Tendencies
and exceptions
If you study the previous rules, you will see that stress generally
tends to be placed on syllables containing:
a long vowel
a diphthong
more than one final consonant
But if you have a 3-syllable morphologically simple noun
ending
in a
diphthong or long vowel or more than one consonant...the stress goes
on the
first
syllable:
intellect
ˈɪntɪlɛ
kt
alkali
ˈælkəl
aɪ
paradise
ˈpærəd
aɪ
z
Rules for stress
placement:
recap
What needs to be taken into consideration when we place the
stress in English?
Is the word
morphologically simple
or
complex
(eg are there affixes;
is the word a compound or not)?
What
grammatical category
does the word belong to?
How many
syllables
are in the word?
What is the
phonological structure
of the syllables (onset,
nucleus
and coda
)?
Stress
placement in
morphologically
complex words
Morphologically complex words are polysyllabic because they:
combine a
stem
with
affixes
, ie prefixes and sufixes, e.g.
per-, sub-, -
ion, -ate,
etc. (Because some of these affixes are inherited from
other languages, like Latin, the distinction between simple and
complex is not always easy to draw.) Examples include un+pleasant,
de+stress, magnet+ic, person+ality.
Combine
two stems (plus any affixes)
into a
compound
word, like
ice
cream
or
bad temper+ed.
The impact of
affixes on word
stress
Pairwork/In threes
What effect might the addition of affixes have on word stress?
Say the following words out loud and consider the impact (or lack
of it) of the addition of an affix on the word stress:
person
pɜ:sən
personality
pɜ:sənælɪte
pleasant
plɛzənt
unpleasant
ʌn
plɛzənt
magnet
mægnət
magnetic
məgnɛtɪk
The impact of
affixes on word
stress
Pairwork/In threes
What effect might the addition of affixes have on word stress?
Say the following words out loud and consider the impact of the
addition of an affix on the word stress:
(1) the affix takes the primary stress:
person
ˈpɜ:sən
personality
pɜ:sənˈælɪte
(2) the primary stress remains where it originally was:
pleasant
ˈplɛzənt
unpleasant
ʌnˈ
plɛzənt
(3) the presence of the affix moves the stress to a different
syllable:
magnet
ˈmægnət
magnetic
məgˈnɛtɪk
How good are
your ears?
What happens when you add a suffix to this word?
Japan
ʤəpæn
Japanese
ʤæpəni:z
Complications
The general rules on the previous slide can have some complicated
variations. For example, the stem ‘Japan’ carries primary stress on the
second syllable. But when you add the suffix ‘-ese’, the primary stress
moves to the suffix (rule 1) and secondary stress moves from the
second syllable to the first syllable of the stem (rule 3), which changes
the quality of the vowels in the stem:
Japan
ʤəˈpæn
Japanese
ˌʤæpənˈi:z
For your
interest and
amusement
You don’t have to learn these by heart, obviously, but it is
interesting to note some of those suffixes that generally (1) carry
primary stress (2) don’t affect stress placement and (3) change
stress placement in the stem. Listen out for them.
For your
interest and
amusement
You don’t have to learn these by heart, obviously, but it is
interesting to note some of those suffixes that
generally
(1) carry
primary stress (2) don’t affect stress placement and (3) change
stress placement in the stem. Listen out for them.
Warning: these suffixes don’t
always
have the effects shown above.
Part of speech and phonological structure also impact. And people
differ. The purpose of this slide is really to make you more aware.
A quick word
about prefixes
Prefixes don’t behave with the same regularity as suffixes. No
prefix of 1 or 2 syllables carries primary stress in ‘natural’
conversation (though in context you might put primary stress
on the prefix for contrastive purposes). So we can say that
prefixes generally don’t affect stress placement (rule 2),
unless...
DICK: That was a very unpleasant party.
ʌnˈplɛzənt
JANE: Did you say ‘pleasant’?
DICK: No, I said it was
un
pleasant.
ˈʌnˌplɛzənt
And (almost)
finally...
compound
words
Compound words are made up of two stems and associated
affixes, like
loudspeaker
and
bad-tempered.
The question is whether the primary stress should go on the first
or second element of the compound.
General rules
for stress
placement on
compounds
In pairs or threes (if we have time)
Can you figure out when the first stem or the second stem gets
primary stress?
loudspeaker
laʊdspi:kə
typewriter
taɪpraɪtə
bad-tempered
bæd tɛmpəd
sunrise
sʌnraɪz
second-class
sɛkəŋ klɑ:s
suitcase
sju:tkeɪs
three-wheeler
θ
ri: wi:lə
tea-cup
ti:kʌp
General rules
for stress
placement on
compounds
Generally...when the initial word is adjectival or numeric, the
primary stress goes on the
second
word. When the initial word is a
noun, the stress goes on the
first
word.
loudspeaker
ˌlaʊdˈspi:kə
typewriter
ˈtaɪpˌraɪtə
bad-tempered
ˌbæd ˈtɛmpəd
sunrise
ˈsʌnˌraɪz
second-class
ˌsɛkəŋ ˈklɑ:s
suitcase
ˈsju:tˌkeɪs
three-wheeler
ˌ
θ
ri: ˈwi:lə
tea-cup
ˈti:ˌkʌp
BUT there are many exceptions, often words that are now
thought of as individual units and not compounds, eg
greenhouse
ˈgri:nˌhaʊs
adj+noun patterns
gentleman
ˈʤɛntəlmən
And finally...
word-class
pairs
There are a number of 2-syllable words in English that have the
same spelling as noun/adjective and verb, but the stress
placement differs.
How do you pronounce the following words as N/A or V?
And finally...
word-class
pairs
There are a number of 2-syllable words in English that have the
same spelling as noun/adjective and verb, but the stress
placement differs.
Note the change from a full to an unstressed vowel in certain
words as a consequence of the shift in stress placement.
Summing up
Individual English words are made up of stressed and relatively
unstressed syllables (we can suggest a 3-part distinction: primary
and secondary stress, and unstressed syllables, in polysyllabic
words)
Unlike Portuguese, English utterances are stress-timed: there is a
regular ‘beat’ of stressed syllables separated by an irregular
number of relatively unstressed syllables. (Portuguese speakers
pay more attention to length, and so syllables get relatively equal
weighting in stress).
The placement of stress depends on a number of factors
(morphological complexity, part of speech, phonological structure
of the syllable) and there is some individual variation...
As a rough rule, primary stress is placed on syllables where the
nucleus is a long vowel or diphthong, or where the coda is made
up of two or more consonants. But part of speech and
morphological structure can counteract this rule.
The moral...?
Summing up
Individual English words are made up of stressed and relatively
unstressed syllables (we can suggest a 3-part distinction: primary
and secondary stress, and unstressed syllables, in polysyllabic
words)
Unlike Portuguese, English utterances are stress-timed: there is a
regular ‘beat’ of stressed syllables separated by an irregular
number of relatively unstressed syllables. (Portuguese speakers
pay more attention to length, and so syllables get relatively equal
weighting in stress).
The placement of stress depends on a number of factors
(morphological complexity, part of speech, phonological structure
of the syllable) and there is some individual variation...
As a rough rule, primary stress is placed on syllables where the
nucleus is a long vowel or diphthong, or where the coda is made
up of two or more consonants. But part of speech and
morphological structure can counteract this rule.
The moral...?
Listen!!!
Preview
See you next week when we will do the second class transcription
test and we’ll review the course content so far before turning our
attention to
(a) Portuguese-English differences and
(b) how to teach/learn English pronunciation as an adult.
Have a good week!
Explore the concepts of syllable structure and stress in phonetics and phonology through examples like analyzing the number of syllables, phonemes, and stress patterns in words. Dive into syllable boundaries, onsets, nuclei, and rhymes in words and phrases to deepen your understanding of English phonetics.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author. Download presentation by click this link. If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
Phonetics & Phonology John Corbett: USP-CAPES International Fellow Session 5: Syllable structure and stress
This session: Syllable structure Word stress Morphologically simple and complex words Rules governing word stress Today s session
Thinkaboutthe wordabove. Wecansaya number ofthingsabout it: It has FIVE orthographical letters: <a>, <b>, <o>, <v>, <e> Howmany syllables and whereare the divisions? It contains FOUR phonemes: / b v/ There are TWO syllables: / / and /b v/ or A#BOVE The firstsyllableispronounced with lessforce than the second (it is unstressed) The second syllableispronounced with more force than the first(it isstressed): / 'b v/
Discussin pairs/threes: How many syllablesdo the followingwordshave? Where are the divisions? Howmany syllables and whereare the divisions? AGAINST ENTER EQUIP SAINT ANDREWS
Discussin pairs/threes: How many syllablesdo the followingwords have? Where are the divisions? Possibleanswers (accents vary!): Howmany syllables and whereare the divisions? A#GAINST EN#TER ENT#ER / kw p/ / kw p/ (note that spellingdoesn t help much here) SAINT#AN#DREWS SAIN# TAN#DREWS SAIN#TAND#REWS
Syllable Onset Rhyme Syllable structure: 3 mainparts Nucleus Coda CC V CC pl i: zd
Identify thesyllableboundaries, andthentheonset, nucleus and rhyme (for you) in eachsyllableofthefollowingwordsand phrases: Onset, nucleus andrhyme INTERNATIONAL THE STRAIN THIS TRAIN
Some Englishaccentsprefer theonsetofa syllabletobe a consonant where possible, so: IN # TER # NA # TIO # NAL Issuestothink about Do you? Do THE STRAIN andTHIS TRAIN havethe samesyllableboundary for you? THE#STRAIN andTHI#STRAIN
All languagesmake use ofdifferences in pitch, loudness andspeed (tempo). Together, pitchloudness & tempo contribute tothe rhythm ofspeech. Languagesdiffer in the waythey make rhythmicalcontrasts. Syllablelength(longversus short) is a crucial feature ofsyllable- timed languages, based onLatin(=Romance languages, like Portuguese). Syllableand stressed timing Stress (stressed versus unstressed) isa crucial feature ofstress- timed languages(=Germaniclanguages, likeEnglish). Pitch(high andlowtones) isa crucial feature ofmanytonal languages(=Asianlanguages, likePutonghuaandCantonese). Englishspeech makesuse ofstressed syllables, producedat roughlyregular periods oftime, andseparatedby anirregular number ofunstressed syllables.
Pairwork/In threes Spoken in isolation, some syllables in English words have greater stress than others. Identify the syllables that have themost stress in the following 3-4 syllable words: Word stress /p te t / / p :tm nt/ /r le n p/
Pairwork/In threes Spoken in isolation, some syllables in English words have greater stress than others. Identify the syllables that have themost stress in the following 3-4 syllable words: Word stress /p te t / / p :tm nt/ /r le n p/ Note that here I have placed the stress mark before the consonant, on the assumption that the syllableboundary isthere.
What needs to be taken into consideration when we place the stress in English? Is the word morphologically simple or complex (egare there affixes; is the word a compound or not)? What grammatical category does the word belong to? How many syllablesare in the word? What is the phonological structure of the syllables (onset, nucleus and coda)? Rules for stress placement
Morphologicallysimplewords: canyoudeduce anyrules? 2-syllable verbs & adjectives: pla tr kt ra v apply attract arrive enter open envy nt p n nve or nvi A sample of stress- placement rules s st assist equal i:kw l d va n la v k r kt t t l i:v n divine alive correct total even
Morphologically simplewords: can you deduce anyrules? 2-syllable verbs& adjectives: pla tr kt ra v s st nt p n nveor nvi i:kw l apply attract arrive assist enter open envy equal Some stress- placement rules(1) d va n la v k r kt t t l i:v n divine alive correct total even Stress the firstsyllablewhen: The second syllable contains a short vowelandonlyone (or no) final consonant. Stress the second syllablewhen: thesecond syllable contains a longvowel, a diphthongor endswitha consonant cluster
Morphologicallysimple3-syllable words. Figure out the rules? (They re different for verbs andfor nouns...) Verbs ka nt nt te n encounter entertain Some stress- placement rules(2) d t :m n determine resurrect r z r kt Nouns m m z d z :st mimosa disaster p te t s n ps s potato synopsis kw nt te quantity emperor mp r s n m k st de cinema custody
Morphologicallysimple3-syllable words. Figure out the rules? (They re different for verbs andfor nouns...) Verbs Some stress- placement rules(2) ka nt nt te n encounter entertain d t :m n r z r kt determine resurrect The final syllableis stressed whenit containsa longvowelor diphthongor ends withmore thanoneconsonant; The penultimatesyllableis stressed whenthe lastsyllableends witha short vowelandnotmore thanoneconsonant
Morphologically simple3-syllable words. Figure out the rules? (They re differentfor verbsandfor nouns...) Nouns mimosa potato quantity cinema m m z p te t kw nt te s n m d z :st s n ps s mp r k st de disaster synopsis emperor custody Some stress- placement rules(2) Ifthe final syllablecontains a short vowelor / / it isunstressed. Ifthe penultimate syllablecontains a longvowel or a diphthong, or if it ends withmore thanone consonant, then it willbestressed. Ifthe final andpenultimate syllablesboth contain a short voweland the penultimate syllableendswith not more thanone consonant then the first syllablewillbestressed. PHEW!
Ifyoustudy the previousrules, youwillsee that stress generally tends tobe placedonsyllablescontaining: a longvowel a diphthong more than one final consonant Tendencies andexceptions But ifyou have a 3-syllable morphologicallysimplenoun ending in a diphthongor long vowel or more than one consonant...the stress goes on the firstsyllable: nt l kt lk la p r da z intellect alkali paradise
What needs to be taken into consideration when we place the stress in English? Is the word morphologically simple or complex (egare there affixes; is the word a compound or not)? What grammatical category does the word belong to? How many syllablesare in the word? What is the phonological structure of the syllables (onset, nucleus and coda)? Rules for stress placement: recap
Morphologicallycomplexwordsare polysyllabicbecause they: combine a stemwith affixes, ieprefixes and sufixes, e.g. per-, sub-, - ion, -ate, etc. (Because some of these affixes are inheritedfrom other languages, likeLatin, the distinctionbetween simpleand complexisnot always easy to draw.) Examplesinclude un+pleasant, de+stress, magnet+ic, person+ality. Stress placementin morphologically complexwords Combine two stems (plusany affixes) into a compoundword, likeice cream or badtemper+ed.
Pairwork/In threes Whateffect mighttheadditionofaffixes haveonwordstress? The impactof affixesonword stress Saythe followingwordsout loudandconsidertheimpact(orlack ofit) ofthe additionofanaffixontheword stress: p :s n pl z nt m gn t p :s n l te npl z nt m gn t k person pleasant magnet personality unpleasant magnetic
Pairwork/In threes Whateffect mighttheadditionofaffixes haveonwordstress? Saythe followingwordsout loudandconsidertheimpactofthe additionofanaffixonthe wordstress: The impact of affixes on word stress (1) the affix takes the primary stress: person p :s n p :s n l te personality (2) the primarystress remains where it originallywas: pleasant pl z nt n pl z nt unpleasant (3) the presenceof the affix moves the stress to a different syllable: magnet m gn t magnetic m g n t k
Whathappenswhenyouadda suffix tothisword? Howgoodare yourears? p n p ni:z Japan Japanese
The general rules onthe previousslide canhavesome complicated variations. For example, the stem Japan carries primarystress onthe secondsyllable. But whenyouaddthesuffix -ese , the primarystress moves tothesuffix (rule 1) andsecondarystress moves from the secondsyllabletothe firstsyllableofthe stem (rule 3), whichchanges the qualityofthevowels in thestem: Complications p n Japanese p n i:z Japan
Youdont havetolearnthese by heart, obviously, but it is interestingtonote some ofthosesuffixes thatgenerally(1) carry primarystress (2) don t affectstress placementand(3) change stress placementin the stem. Listenout for them. Carrying primary stress No change in stress Change in stress -ain (verbs only): entertain -able: comfortable -eous: courageous For your interestand amusement -ee: refugee -al: refusal -graphy: photography -eer: mountaineer -en: widen -ial: proverbial -ese: Portuguese - ful: wonderful -ic: climatic -ette: cigarette -ing: amazing -ion: perfection -esque: picturesque - ish: devilish -ity: tranquillity etc etc etc
Youdont havetolearnthese by heart, obviously, but it is interestingtonote some ofthosesuffixes that generally(1) carry primarystress (2) don t affectstress placementand(3) change stress placementin the stem. Listenout for them. Carrying primary stress No change in stress Change in stress -ain (verbs only): entertain -able: comfortable -eous: courageous For your interestand amusement -ee: refugee -al: refusal -graphy: photography -eer: mountaineer -en: widen -ial: proverbial -ese: Portuguese - ful: wonderful -ic: climatic -ette: cigarette -ing: amazing -ion: perfection -esque: picturesque - ish: devilish -ity: tranquillity etc etc etc Warning: thesesuffixes don talwayshavethe effects shownabove. Partofspeech andphonologicalstructure alsoimpact. And people differ. The purposeofthis slide isreallytomake youmore aware.
Prefixes dont behave withthe sameregularity as suffixes. No prefixof1 or 2 syllablescarriesprimarystress in natural conversation(thoughin contextyoumightput primarystress on the prefix for contrastivepurposes). Sowecansaythatprefixes generallydon t affectstress placement(rule 2), unless... A quickword aboutprefixes n pl z nt DICK: Thatwasa very unpleasantparty. JANE: Didyousay pleasant ? n pl z nt DICK: No, I saidit wasunpleasant.
And(almost) finally... compound words Compoundwordsare made up oftwostems andassociated affixes, likeloudspeakerandbad-tempered. The questionis whetherthe primarystress shouldgo onthefirst orsecondelement ofthe compound.
In pairsorthrees (ifwehavetime) Canyou figure out whenthe first stem orthe secondstem gets primarystress? General rules for stress placementon compounds la dspi:k ta pra t loudspeaker typewriter s nra z bad-tempered b d t mp d sunrise s k kl :s sju:tke s second-class suitcase ti:k p three-wheeler ri: wi:l tea-cup
Generally...whenthe initialword isadjectivalornumeric, the primarystress goesonthe secondword. Whenthe initialwordisa noun, the stress goesonthefirstword. la d spi:k ta p ra t loudspeaker typewriter General rules for stress placementon compounds bad-tempered b d t mp d s n ra z sunrise s k kl :s sju:t ke s second-class suitcase three-wheeler ri: wi:l ti: k p tea-cup BUT there are manyexceptions, often wordsthat are nowthought ofas individual units andnotcompounds, eg gri:n ha s nt lm n greenhouse gentleman adj+noun patterns
There are a number of2-syllable wordsin Englishthat havethe samespellingas noun/adjectiveandverb, but thestress placement differs. Howdo youpronouncethe followingwordsas N/A orV? Andfinally... word-class pairs Noun orAdjective Verb abstract abstract conduct conduct contract contract desert desert export export insult insult record record
There are a number of2-syllable wordsin Englishthat havethe samespellingas noun/adjectiveandverb, but thestress placementdiffers. Note the changefrom a full toanunstressed vowelin certain wordsas a consequenceofthe shift in stress placement. Andfinally... word-class pairs Noun orAdjective Verb bstr kt k nd kt k ntr kt d z t ksp :t ns lt r k :d b str kt k n d kt k n tr kt d z :t k sp :t n s lt r k :d abstract abstract conduct conduct contract contract desert desert export export insult insult record record
Individual Englishwords are made upofstressed andrelatively unstressed syllables(we cansuggest a 3-part distinction: primary andsecondarystress, andunstressed syllables, in polysyllabic words) Unlike Portuguese, English utterances are stress-timed: there is a regular beat of stressed syllables separated by an irregular number of relatively unstressed syllables. (Portuguese speakers pay more attention to length, and so syllables get relatively equal weighting in stress). The placement ofstress depends ona number offactors (morphologicalcomplexity, partofspeech, phonologicalstructure ofthe syllable) andthere is some individual variation... As a roughrule, primarystress isplacedonsyllableswherethe nucleus is a longvowelor diphthong, orwhere the codais made upoftwoormore consonants. But partofspeech and morphologicalstructure cancounteractthisrule. The moral...? Summingup
Individual Englishwords are made upofstressed andrelatively unstressed syllables(we cansuggest a 3-part distinction: primary andsecondarystress, andunstressed syllables, in polysyllabic words) Unlike Portuguese, Englishutterances are stress-timed: there isa regular beat ofstressed syllablesseparatedby anirregular number ofrelativelyunstressed syllables. (Portuguese speakers paymore attentionto length, andsosyllablesget relativelyequal weightingin stress). The placement ofstress depends ona number offactors (morphologicalcomplexity, partofspeech, phonologicalstructure ofthe syllable) andthere is some individual variation... As a roughrule, primarystress isplacedonsyllableswherethe nucleus is a longvowelor diphthong, orwhere the codais made upoftwoormore consonants. But partofspeech and morphologicalstructure cancounteractthisrule. The moral...? Listen!!! Summingup
See younext week whenwe willdo thesecondclasstranscription test andwe llreview the course contentsofarbefore turningour attentionto (a) Portuguese-Englishdifferencesand Preview (b) howtoteach/learnEnglishpronunciationas anadult. Havea goodweek!
