ENGLISH STRESS POSITIONS

FINDINGS

1. Words with two syllables
* In verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions, the second syllable will be stressed if it contains a long vowel or diphthong, or it ends with more than one consonant
eg: apply /+‘ASa" / attract /+‘CT$EC /
alive /+‘Sa"H / divine /D"‘Ha"Q /
- If the final syllable contains / +` /, a short vowel and one (or no) final consonant, the first syllable is stressed.
eg: borrow /‘B.T+` / enter /‘#QC+ / open /‘+`A+Q / envy /‘#QH! /

* In nouns, if the second syllable contains a short vowel, the stress will usually come on the first syllable. Otherwise, it will be on the second syllable.
eg: money /‘P)Q" / estate /"‘KC-"C /
larynx /‘S$T"REK / design /D"‘La"Q /
2. Three syllable words

* In verbs, if the last syllable contains a short vowel and ends with not more than one consonant, that syllable will be unstressed, and stress will be placed on the preceding syllable. On the other hand, that final syllable will be stressed.
eg: encounter /"Q‘Ea`QC+ / determine /D">C*P"Q /
entertain /#QC+‘C-"Q / resurrect /T#K+‘T#EC /

* In nouns, if the final syllable contains a short vowels or /+`/, it is unstressed; if the syllable preceding this final syllable contains a long vowel or diphthong, or if it ends with more than one consonant, that middle syllable will be stressed
eg: potato /A+‘C-"C+` /
mimosa /P"‘P+`L+ /
disaster /D"‘L%KC+ /
eg: cinema /‘K"Q+P+ /
custody /‘E)KC+D! /
- If the middle syllable contains a short vowel and ends with not more than one consonant, the first syllable is stressed

* If the final syllable contains a long vowel or diphthong and/or ending with more than one consonant, the stress will be placed on the first syllable.
eg: intellect /‘"QC+S#EC /
marigold /‘P$T"F+`SD /
alkali /‘$SE+Sa" /
3. Rules of positions of English word stress
eg: ready / >T-D"/ mother / >P)J+ /
In dissyllabic words with a prefix which has lost its meaning, the stress falls on the second syllable
eg: become /B">E)P /
begin /B">F"Q /
In most dissyllabic words, the stress falls on the initial syllable

- In dissyllabic verbs ending _ate, _ise, _ize, _fy the stress falls on the last syllable
eg: dictate / D"E>C-"C/
surprise / K+>ATa"L/
defy / D">Ga" /
* The stress falls on the third syllable from the end of the verb before the suffixes: _ize, _fy, _ate, and the word before: _logy, _logist, _graphy, _grapher, _cracy.
recognize / >T-E+FQa"L/
demonstrate / >D-P+QKCT-"C/
qualify / >EV.S"Ga"/
psychology /Ka">E.S+DN"/
biologist /Ba">.S+DN"KC /
geography /DN">.FT+G"/
geographer /DN">.FT+G+ /
democracy /D">P.ET+K"/

* The stress falls on the second syllable from the end of the word before the following suffixes: _ian, _ience, _ient, _cient, _al , _ial, _ual, _eous, _ious, _iar
eg: physician /G">L"MQ /
experience /"E>KA"+T"+QK/
expedient /"E>KA!D!+QC /
efficient /">G"MQC/
parental /A+>T-QCW/
essential /">K-QMS /
habitual /O+>B"CM`+S/
courageous /E+>T-"DN+K /
delicious /D">S"M+K/
familiar /G+>P"S!+ /




eg: employ /"P>AS&" / employee / ?-PAS&">! /
engine / >-QDN"Q / engineer / ?-QDN">Q"+ /
picture / >A"ECM+ / picturesque / ?A"ECM+>T-KE/
lemon />S-P+Q / lemonade / ?S-P+>Q-"D/ /
* Stress in words with prefixes is governed by the same rules as those for words without prefixes.
eg: know / >Q+`Q/ unknown / >)Q>Q+`Q/
appear / +>A"+ / disappear / >D"K+>A"+/
* The stress falls on the final syllable formed by the suffixes: _ee, _eer, _ier, _ade, _esque. The root syllable has secondary stress.

4. Compound words
- Compounds combine two nouns normally have the stress on the first element.
eg: typewriter /‘Ca"ATa"C+ /, teacup /‘C!E)A /
- Compounds have an adjectival first element and the _ed morpheme at the end; the stress is on the final element.
eg: bad-‘tempered
heavy-‘handed
- Compounds in which the first element is a number in some form also tend to have final stress.
eg: three-‘wheeler, five-‘finger
- Compounds functioning as adverbs are usually final-stressed.
eg: North-‘East, down‘stream
- Compounds which function as verbs and have an adverbial first element take final stress.
eg: down-‘grade
ill-‘treat

5. Sentence stress:
eg: >Were you ?busy last night?
eg: >Have you ?seen him?
- In contracted negative forms
eg: He >doesn’t ?know it.
eg: I >don’t >know where he ?was
The auxiliary verb to be is stressed when final and preceded by the subject which is unstressed
Auxiliary and modal verb, as well as the link verb to be, are stressed at the beginning of a sentence, in general and alternative question
- When they stand for a notional verb, in short answers to general questions
- The auxiliary verb to do is stressed in emphatic sentences
eg: >Do ?come
I >do ?hate him

* Preposition are usually stressed if they consist of two or more syllables and are followed by unstressed personal pronoun at the end of the sense-group
eg: The >dog ran ?after him
* Conjunctions are usually stressed if they stand at the beginning of a sentence and are followed by an unstressed word.
eg: >If he >drives, he may be >here at >any ?moment
* When a personal pronoun is connected by the conjunction and with a noun, they are both stressed.
eg: >Your mother and >I will be ?busy this ?morning
- When a word is repeated, the repetition is generally unstressed, because it conveys no new information
eg: >How many >books have you ?got?
>Two books

The word one, in good one, black one…







each in each other
so in do so, think so, etc…
on and forth in and so on, and so forth
as in as well as, as bad as, as much as…
are unstressed

eg: I >don’t >like this green pen. >Show me the >black one
They >like each ?other
I >think so
There are some >branches of >summer sports: >swimming, >fishing, >hunting and ?so on

>Mary as >well as >Lisa goes to school by >bus.




- When the word most does not express comparison, but a high degree of a quality and is equivalent to very, extremely, it is not stressed
eg: He >listened with the most pro>found at?tention
When the word most serves to form the superlative degree of an adjective, it is usually stressed, the adjective being stressed too
eg: It is the >most >interesting >book I’ve >ever ?read

- The word street in the names of streets is never stressed.
eg: >Oxford street, >Regent street


- The word road, square, lane, circus, hill, garden, mountain, park… are always stressed in the names of localities.
eg: >Oxford >Road, >Trafalgar >Square, >Chancery >Lane, >Oxford > Circus, >Beverly >Hill, >Kensington >Gardens, the >Ural >Mountains, >Hyde >Park, etc…

- The word sea and ocean are also stressed in geographical names
eg: The >North >Sea, the >Black >Sea, the >Baltic >Sea,
the >Atlantic >Ocean, the >Pacific >Ocean, …