Study of english stress and intonation

Teaching STRESS AND INTONATION

STRESS

In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word. The term is also used for similar patterns of phonetic prominence inside syllables.

Understanding Syllables

Understanding Syllables

To understand word stress, it helps to understand syllables. Every word is made from syllables. Each word has one, two, three or more syllables.

Word		Number of syllables
Dog	Dog	1
Quiet	Qui.et	2
Expensive	Ex.pen.sive	3
Interesting	In.ter.est.ing	4
Unexceptional	Un.ex.cep.tion.al	5

Prominence:

Prominence:

A syllable might be more prominent by differing from the surrounding syllables in terms of:

• loudness
• pitch
• length

The realization of stress in English

The realization of stress in English

In English, the three ways to make a syllable more prominent are to make it:

• louder
• longer
• higher pitched (usually)

For some words, changing which syllable is stressed can change the meaning of a word.

In English, stress is most dramatically realized on focussed or accented words. For instance, consider the dialogue

In English, stress is most dramatically realized on focussed or accented words. For instance, consider the dialogue

• "Is it brunch tomorrow?"
• "No, it's dinner tomorrow."