Word Accent in English

Word Accent in English

1. What is Word Accent?

• Word Accent is the part of a word that you say with more force or emphasis. In some words, one syllable (or part of the word) is spoken louder, longer, or with a higher pitch than the others.
• Example: In the word photo (PHO-to), the first part (PHO) is stressed, meaning we say it with more force.

2. Types of Word Accent

• Primary Stress: The strongest emphasis on a syllable. It is marked in dictionaries with a vertical line (ˈ). It is also called “strong syllable”.

• Example: In the word exˈample, the second part (ˈAM) is stressed.
• Secondary Stress: A less strong stress, marked with a lower vertical line (ˌ). It is also called “weak syllable”.
•  Example: In the word ˌuncomˈfortable, the second part (ˈFORT) is stressed, but the first part (ˌUN) has secondary stress.

 

3. Why is Stress Important?

• Word stress helps people understand what you're saying. If you stress the wrong part of a word, it can change the meaning or make the word sound strange.

• For example:
• REcord (noun) vs. reCORD (verb).
• I listen to a REcord. (noun)
• I reCORD your voice on my mobile. (verb)
• PREsent (a gift) vs. preSENT (to give or show something).
• He gave me a PREsent. (noun)
• He preSENTed  a bouquet. (verb)

4. Stress Patterns in English

• Monosyllabic words (one-syllable words): These don't have much stress variation. For example, cat, dog.

• Two-syllable words:
• Nouns/Adjectives: Stress is usually on the first syllable. Example: TAble, PREtty.
• Verbs/Prepositions: Stress is often on the second syllable. Example: beGIN, beSIDE.

5. How Prefixes and Suffixes Affect Stress

• Prefixes (like un-, re-) usually don’t get the stress. The main part of the word is stressed. Example: reVIEW (stress on "VIEW").

• Suffixes (endings like -ic, -tion) can change where the stress falls. For example:
• Words ending in -ic, -sion, -tion stress the second-to-last syllable: ecoNOMic, conVERsion.
• Words ending in -ee, -eer, -ese stress the last syllable: voluntEER, ChinESE.

6. Stress in Longer Words (3 syllables or more)

• In three-syllable nouns: Stress is usually on the first syllable. Example: SYLlabus.

• In three-syllable verbs: Stress is usually on the second syllable. Example: disCOVER.  

7. Stress in Compound Words

• In compound nouns (two words together), stress is often on the first word. Example: BLACKboard.

• In compound adjectives, stress is often on the second word. Example: bad-TEMpered.
• In compound verbs, stress often falls on the second part. Example: underSTAND.

8. Word Accent and Meaning

• Changing the stress in a sentence can change the meaning or focus of the sentence. For example:

• "I didn’t say she stole the money" (She may have taken it, but not stolen it).
• "I didn’t say she stole the money" (Someone else may have stolen it).

9. How to Learn Word Stress

• Listen to native speakers and copy how they stress words.

• Practice saying words with stress marks you find in dictionaries.
• Break words into syllables and learn which part gets the stress.