WORD STRESS
Chapter 1. Manifestation of word stress and its linguistic function
One or more syllables of a polysyllabic word have greater prominence than the others.
Such syllables are called stressed.
In English loudness, pitch, length, sound quality may render a syllable more prominent
than the others.
Vowels of unstressed syllables are definitely not so long (they are shorter) and tend to be
reduced.
Word stress arranges syllables in words thus fulfilling the constitutive function. Its
distinctive function differentiates the meaning by word stress.
SYLLABLE STRUCTURE
Chapter 1. Syllable formation
A syllable is a speech unit consisting of a sound or a sound sequence one of which is heard
to be more prominent than the others.
The most prominent sound is the peak or the nucleus of a syllable is called syllabic.
Syllabic sounds are generally vowels (monophthongs, diphthongoids and diphthongs) and
sonorants ([ m,n, ŋ, l, w, j, r]).
A word consisting of only one vowel sound represents a separate syllable, e.g. I [ai],
are[a:], or[o:], awe [o:].
Syllabic sonorants – apple [ǽpl], trouble [trΛbl], puzzle [pΛzl],middle [midl].
Many words in English such as parcel [pa:səl], level [levəl], person [pə:sən], ruffle
[rΛfəl], blossom [blosəm] could be pronounced with the neutral vowel [ə] before the sonorant
thus making it non-syllabic, so the word has got 2 syllables. It is possible to pronounce some of
them without any vowel- letter before the final sonorant - parcel [pa:sl], ruffle [rΛfl], blossom
[blosm] so the have got 1 syllable.
Chapter 2. Syllable Division
1. Sometimes the beginning of a syllable is marked by a stress.
2. The transition from one vowel sound to another indicates the separation of syllables. e.g.
seeing [si:iŋ].
3. Sometimes it is difficult to separate the word into syllables because you may do it in 2or
3 ways – extra[ekstrə] or [ek-strə] or [eks-trə].
Remember and follow the syllable division rules!
 When a consonant is preceded by a long vowel or a diphthong this consonant
belongs to the following syllabic sound, e.g. about [ə- baut], writing [rai-tiŋ].
 When a short stressed vowel followed by a consonant there are 3 viewpoints
concerning the syllable boundary:
1. the consonant belongs to the short vowel preceding it – pity [pit-i], coffee
[kof-i], better [bet-ə].
2. the consonant belongs to the vowel following it - pity [pi-ti], coffee [ko-fi],
better [be-tə].
3. the syllabic boundary goes through the consonant - pity [piti], coffee [kofi],
better [betə].
 The combinations of consonants belong to the following syllabic sounds. e.g.
naturally [nǽt -rə-li].
WORD STRESS
Chapter 2. The degrees and the position of word stress.
The degrees of word stress
There are 3 degrees of word stress in English:
 stressed syllables (primary stress)
 half-stressed syllables (secondary stress)
 unstressed syllables
A large group of polysyllabic simple words have both the primary and the secondary
stresses e.g. conversation
There are several large groups of words with 2 equally strong stresses.
e.g. rewrite, fourteen.
The position of word stress
Word stress in English is free. But it always falls on a particular syllable of any given
word.
The position of word stress in English is the product of its historical development. It has
been influenced by the combination of different tendencies. The oldest of them is known as the
recessive tendency, according to which the root syllable is stressed. So the majority of words
of Germanic origin have stresses on the 1st root syllable.
e.g. clever, body, water, singing.
If words are formed with the prefixes with no meaning the stress is on the root syllable.
e.g. before, begin, mistake.
The second tendency is known as the rhythmic tendency which manifests itself in
stressing the third syllable from the end.
e.g. situate, articulate.
Most disyllabic words have recessive stress.
e.g. answer, marriage, behind, result.
Some disyllabic French words retain the primary stress on the last syllable.
e.g. machine, police.
According to both tendencies words of 3 syllables generally have stress on the 1st syllable
(which is the 3d syllable from the end).
e.g. cinema, enemy, afterwards, recognize.
Words of 4 syllables may have either recessive or rhythmic stress.
e.g. architect, criticism, characterize, remarkable.
Rhythmic stress is especially common foe verbs with the suffixes ate, fy, ize.
e.g. situate, qualify, centralize.
Words with primary and secondary stresses
The secondary stress is manifested in polysyllabic words.
e.g. popularity, responsibility.
In words with the primary stress on the 3d syllable the secondary stress usually falls on the
1st syllable.
e.g. decoration.
If the primary stress falls on the 4th or 5th syllable the secondary stress is on the second
syllable.
e.g. articulation, experimentation.
Words with two primary stresses





The following groups of words have 2 primary stresses:
polysyllabic words with prefixes having a distinct meaning of their own
1. negative prefixes un, dis, non, in, re, mis, pre, ex, under, sub, inter, anti, vice,
ultra, out.
numerals from 13 to 19
compound numerals, e.g. twenty-three
compound adjectives, e.g. well-known, absent-minded.
compound verbs, e.g. to give in, to put on.
Stressed in compound words
Word stress in compound words depends on the semantic weight of the elements.
They are usually single-stressed, e.g. reading-room, writing-table. This type of word
stress differentiates compounds from word combinations.
e.g. blackbird – дрозд
black bird – чёрная птица
goldfish – золотая
gold fish – рыба золотистого цвета
Double-stressed compound nouns are rare. In such compounds both elements are equally
important, e.g. gas-stove, gas-ring, absent-minded.
Compound adjectives have 2 stresses for both elements – e.g. clean-shaven, well-bred,
bare-footed.
Compound adjectives with only 1 stress on the first element occur when the 2nd element is
weak.
e.g. spring-like, childlike.
Compound verbs have stresses on both elements as they are of equal semantic significance,
e.g. give in, turn on.
Word stress and rhythm
All the above mentioned information influences on English speech rhythm.
М.А. Соколова, К.П. Гинтовт, Л.А. Кантер, Н.И. Крылова, И.С. Тихонова, Г.А. Шабадаш,
Практическая фонетика английского языка, Москва, «Гуманитарный издательский центр
ВЛАДОС», 1997.