AWL pronunciation help - word stress explanations
Word stress is the emphasis of one syllable in a multi-syllabic word. In English, each word has a primary stress: /ˈestɪmət/ and sometimes also a secondary stress if it is longer: /ˌʌndərˈestɪmeɪt/
This is unnatural for many French speakers given that syllable stress does not make a difference in French (it always falls on the last syllable). This can be illustrated by any multi-syllabic word, for example:
French – Or-ga-ni-za-TION
English – Or-ga-ni-ZA-tion
Failure to place the stress on the correct syllable often results in a misunderstanding.
Prefixes usually don’t change the stress pattern: ˈadequate => inˈadequate ; ˈalter => unˈaltered. Suffixes fall into two categories: neutral or stress-assigning.
TYPES OF SUFFIXES
The so-called strong suffixes, also known as stress-assigning suffixes, can affect the word stress: -ic, -ify, -ity, -ion, -ous, -ual.
Ex: poˈlitical, enerˈgetic, conˈtextual.
Some derived suffixes are also stress-assigning, more precisely, they are stress-bearing, such as: -e/-ee, -een, -esque, -ette, -ade.
Ex: casˈcade, burˈlesque, emploˈyee, fianˈcé.
Other common suffixes are stress-neutral suffixes; they do not influence the stress pattern of the word: -able, -ly, -ing, -ed, -er, -ist, -ism, -ful, -less, -ness, -hood, -ish, -ment, -wise.
E.g.: ˈgoing, ˈlikewise, ˈstressful, atˈtachment, indiˈvidualist.
COMMON NEUTRAL SUFFIXES TO REMEMBER:
- grammatical suffixes (-ed, -en, -ing, -s, -er, -est, ‐ly)
- agent suffixes (‐or, ‐er)
- suffixes of Germanic origin (e.g. -ish, -dom, ‐ful, -hood, -ship, -some, ‐less, -ness, -ly, -ward)
- some Latinate suffixes (e.g. ‐able, ‐ible, ‐ism, ‐ist, ‐ment)
Ex : aˈbandons, aˈbandoned, aˈbandoning are all stressed on ‘ban
Aˈchieve => aˈchievable, aˈchievement
Disˈtinct => disˈtinctive
ˈNational => ˈnationally, ˈnationalist, ˈnationalism
COMMON STRESS-ASSIGNING SUFFIXES TO REMEMBER:
- stress on the syllable before the prefix: -ic , -ical , -ity , -ion
Ex: aˈnalysis but anaˈlytical ; ˈnational but natioˈnality
Ex: acˈcommodate but accommoˈdation; ˈauthor but auˈthority
Ex: ˈcommon but comˈmunity and communiˈcation
- Final-stressed words: ‐aire ; ‐ee/-een/-eer; ‐esce ; ‐ese ; ‐ette ; ‐oo/‐oon/-oose; ‐que ; ‐self/-selves
Ex: bazaar, kangaroo, referee, bamboo, saloon
Ex: cigarette, brigade, Japanese, journalese, unique, questionnaire
CONTRASTING STRESS
Some nouns and verbs in English have the same form, and yet, the syllable stress, that is to say the pronunciation is different. Usually, the noun is stressed on the first syllable, while the verb is stressed on the second one.
E.g.: a ˈrecord (noun) vs to reˈcord (verb), a ˈpermit vs to perˈmit