Lexical stress in English

1) definitions and conventions

● Stress is present at two levels :

→ at sentence level

“I wanted to apologize again for my bad behaviour”, he said about the latest events.

- stress ALL lexical words

→ verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs

- stress ALL polysyllabic words

- do NOT stress monosyllabic grammatical words

(except if you want to emphasize something)

→ unstressed monosyllabic grammatical words may be reduced: to /tə/+C or /tu/+V, for /fə/, etc.

● Stress is present at two levels :

→ at word level

“I WANted to aPOlogize aGAIN for my bad beHAviour”, he said aBOUT the LAtest eVENTS.

stress mark: stress pattern: ˈwanted /10/ aˈgain /01/ aˈpologize /0100/

→ put the stress mark before the stressed syllable, not before the stressed vowel: aˈbout, not abˈout.

→ split words into syllables: Sepˈtember, not Seˈptember

(→ by convention: corˈrect, not coˈrrect)

A stressed vowel is typically:

- higher in pitch (higher frequency in Hz)

- louder (more intensity in decibels)

- sometimes longer (more duration in ms)

→ fully articulated (because more energy on it)

Do not forget the link between stress and vowels:

→ stressed vowels are ALWAYS full (never stress schwa...)

→ most of the time, unstressed vowels are reduced

→ wrong stress placement may completely change the pronunciation of a word (develop, message, climate, rebel...)

Some words also have secondary stress /2/:

- less prominent than primary stress /1/, but more than unstressed syllables

- full vowels too : ˌaccoˈlade /201/ = /ˌækəˈleɪd/

English melody has 4 rhythmic constraints in words:

- only 1 primary stress per word

- secondary stress (if any) is to the left of primary stress→ /2010/ = OK→ /1020/ = forbidden (see exceptions later)

- no adjacent stresses→ /2010/ = OK→ /0210/ = forbidden (see exceptions later)

- do not start with two unstressed syllables→ /010/, /20100/, /20010/, /20001000/ etc. = OK→ /0010/, /002010/, etc; = forbidden

Consequences:

● - 2 syllables = /10/ or /01/

- 3 syllables = /100/, /010/ or /201/

● - 4 syllables = /1000/, /0100/, /2010/ ….

but then /2001/ or /0201/ ?

→ if primary stress is at least on the 4th syllable:

→ secondary stress can only be on the 1st or 2nd syllable:

/ ? ? 0 0 0 0 1 0 /

2) Effects of endingson stress placement

Two types of word endings, four types of effects:

→ endings which have no effect on stress placement (add/remove = no difference) = stress-neutral suffixes

→ endings which place stress 1 syllable before themselves

→ endings which place stress 1 or 2 syllables before themselves, depending on some criteria

→ endings which carry stress on themselves

= stress-imposing endings

STRESS-NEUTRAL ENDINGS

● Examples with -LESS: ˈpower /10/ > ˈpowerless /100/ /lɪs/ or /ləs/ reˈgard /01/ > reˈgardless /010/ ˈcharacter /100/ > ˈcharacterless /1000/

● Even with several suffixes one after the other: ˈcharacter > ˈcharacterize > ˈcharacterizing > ˈcharacterizingly

● A few exceptions: adˈmire > ˈadmirable, reˈlate > ˈrelative, etc.

STRESSED ENDINGS

● Many words borrowed from French, where stress is final

● A few endings can be used to derive words: ˈrefuge > ˌrefuˈgee, ˈlemon > ˌlemoˈnade, ˈLebanon > ˌLebaˈnese, etc.

● /!\ Do not apply the rule to ˈfalsehood, ˈsunscreen, etc.

● /!\ <C'C'e> needs <e> !! creˈvasse, fiˈnesse ≠ ˈcompass, ˈkindness

● Some exceptions (ˈdecade, ˈcoffee, ˌmetaˈmorphosis...) and some variation with French words

Mistake in exceptions in the printed guide : replace lemonade with ˈrenegade

ENDINGS WHICH PLACE STRESS 1 SYLLABLE BEFORE

● -ish = in verbs only ! deˈmolish ≠ ˈyellow > ˈyellowish (neutral)

● Do not confuse -ible with -able (neutral)

● /!\ -igible has priority over -ible : ˈeligible, not *eˈligible

● Some exceptions in -ic (ˈCatholic, ˈpolitics...) + imˈpoverish

● Exceptions to -ic rule + -ise/-ism (neutral) = no longer exceptions: Caˈtholicism, poˈliticise...

ENDINGS WHICH PLACE STRESS 1 SYLLABLE BEFORE

● <i/e/u> + V must be in the ending, not in the middle of the word!

● Avoid saying that <i/e/u> + V places stress on the penultimate syllable: preˈtentious /-ʃəs/ /010/ but ilˈlustrious/-triəs/ /0100/ → say that it places stress on the preceding syllable.

● <-ue> does not work (<e> is mute); <-ee> = stressed ending.

● If <y> → <i> (ˈfrequencies, deˈniable), the rule does not apply.

● Some exceptions (iˈdea, ˈspiritual...).

WORDS IN -ATE

2 syllables 3 syllables or more

Verbs /01/: reˈlate, miˈgrate, creˈate, loˈcate...

Nouns /10/: ˈclimate, ˈsenate, ˈpirate, ˈcurate...

Adjective ˈprivate /10/(unfrequent adjectives /01/)

Always stress the antepenultimate: /-100/

ˈeducate, ˈultimate /100/

cerˈtificate, apˈpropriate /0100/

ˌauthenˈtificate /20100/ …

→ do NOT stress the ending!!

Pronunciation of the ending in ALL words:

→ /eɪt/ in verbs (reˈlate, ˈeducate)

→ /ət/ or /ɪt/ in nouns (ˈclimate, cerˈtificate) and adjectives (ˈprivate, ˈultimate)

If several categories (ˈmoderate) : pronounce accordingly

ADJECTIVES IN -AL, -AR, -OUS, -AN, -ANT, -ENT, -OID

consonant cluster no consonant cluster

auˈtumnal

eˈnormous

/010/

<CC> = /-10/

ˈcriminal

ˈcrapulous

/100/

<C> = /-100/

Also with <Cr> and <C'C'>:ˈludicrous, ˈexcellent

Including with <CCr>:maˈgistral, orˈchestral

ADJECTIVES IN -AL, -AR, -OUS, -AN, -ANT, -ENT, -OID

examples with 3-syllable adjectives:

Or longer: ˌfilaˈmentous /2010/, ˌperpenˈdicular /20100/...

<CC> /010/

auˈtumnalcoˈlumnareˈnormous

reˈluctantconˈsistentaˈrachnoid

<C> /100/

ˈcriminalˈglobularˈcrapulousˈpuritanˈhesitantˈcompetentˈparanoid

How to deal with multiple endings?

Start from the right and look for stress-imposing endings. Only go leftwards if endings on the right are stress-neutral!

The rightmost stress-imposing ending wins!

→ stress-imposing + neutral: reˈlationship

→ stress-imposing + stress-imposing: ˌspecificity

→ neutral + neutral: ˈpowerlessness

deˈfenselessness

Add /2/ if necessary only after placing /1/.

3) Secondary stress

Which words have secondary stress?

→ Words of 1 or 2 syllables do NOT have secondary stress

→ When /1/ is on the 3rd syllable, /2/ is on the 1st because of rhythmic contraints: /201/, /2010/, /20100/, /201000/...

(/001-/ and /021-/ are not allowed)

→ When /1/ is at least on the 4th syllable, /2/ is either on the 1st or on the 2nd:

→ use the derivational rule

THE DERIVATIONAL RULE

When the place of /2/ is not imposed by rhythmic contraints, use the derivational rule:

Primary stress in the deriving formbecomes

secondary stress in the derivative

0 1 0 0

0 1 00 2

carbonize

carbonization

1 0 0

2 0 0 1 0

accomodate

accomodation

The DR may coincide with rhythmic constraints:→ ˈpersonal /100/ > ˌpersoˈnality /20100/

Priority to rhythmic constraints if they contradict the DR: → ecˈcentric /010/ > ˌeccenˈtricity /20100/, not /02100/ → Jaˈpan /01/ > ˌJapaˈnese /201/, not /021/

With the DR, always pick the closest deriving form: → poˌliticiˈzation /020010/ comes from poˈliticize /0100/ not from ˈpolitics /100/

Do not invent deriving forms which do not exist: → ˌamplifiˈcation = from ˈamplify, not from amˈplificate