WORD STRESS PATTERNS

IN PROSODIC
PHONOLOGY

Charlotte Stice
 What is prosody?

Prosody consists of distinctive

variations of stress, tone, and timing
in spoken language

In linguistics, prosody refers to

intonation and vocal stress in
speech
 What is stress?
Stress is a term that we apply to
words in isolation which have more
than one syllable. It refers to the
property that certain syllables carry
which make them stand out from the
rest of the word. Stressed syllables
are made with more effort than
unstressed ones; the muscles in the
lungs expel air more aggressively
than for unstressed syllables.
THERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS TO MARK
STRESS IN A WORD
Stress can be marked by an acute
accent ( )
Stress can also be noted by a high
mark in front of the stressed syllable

In certain textbooks, stress is

marked with large and small circles

amazing
More ways to mark stress

Use a 1 for primary stress and a 2 for

secondary stress

2 1 2 1
Fundamental introductory
HOW STRESS CAN POSE PROBLEMS
FOR THE ELL
In many languages, word stress follows a
set pattern (ie: in French the stress is
almost always on the final syllablealler,
avertir, absolument.
How do you explain to an ELL the
difference between the pronunciation of
the word record in the following
examples:
Please keep a rcord of all of your work.
Please recrd your voice on the tape.
Consider the following English verbs. Those in column A
have stress on the next-to-last syllable, whereas the
verbs in column B and C have their last syllable
stressed.

A B C
astnish collpse amze
exit exst imprve
imgine resst surprse
cncel revlt combne
elcit adpt recll
prctice insst atne
Transcribe the words under A, B and C
phonetically
A B C
stn klps mez
kst gzst impruv
mn rznt srprajz
knsl rvolt kmbajn
lst dpt rkl
prcts nsst ton

What is the difference between the

final syllables in columns A and B?
What kind of rule would predict where stess
occurs in the verbs in columns A and B?

RULE: In words that end with more

than one consonant, the stress falls
on the second syllable.
In the verbs in column C, stress also occurs
on the final syllable. What must you add to
the rule to account for this fact?
Hint: look at the vowels

Rule: If the second syllable of a verb

contains a long vowel or dipthong,
the second syllable is stressed.
HOW TO DETERMINE WHERE STRESS
LIES
Unfortunately, English has a very complex set of
procedures that determine stress. However,
since nearly all English speakers agree on where
stress should be placed in individual words, there
is some method to our madness.

Check out the following websites:

http://www.celt.stir.ac.uk/staff/HIGDOX/STEPHE
N/PHONO/PHONOLG.HTM

http://www.onestopenglish.com/Profession
alSupport/ask/methodology_bowen_pronun.h
tm