Word Stress -II

 

              Word Stress -II

    In the previous post, we discussed the word stress or accent and how it functions while pronouncing English words. Now, let us learn the advantages of learning Word Stress in English.

i.                 One can speak English with intelligible pronunciation like a native speaker.

ii.               One’s confidence level in English proficiency can be increased.

iii.             One can understand native speakers’ pronunciation easily.

    English is a stress-timed language, which means English is understood based on the stress placement in words rather than its literal meaning. It is communicated on the basis of how we speak rather than what we speak.  The challenge in mastering the stress patterns is, there is no uniform or permanent stress pattern for words in English like in Indian languages.

For example, the word ‘Present’ is pronounced with two different stress patterns according to its grammatical usage. As a noun, ‘Present’ (means gift) takes primary stress on the first syllable, PREsent. Contrarily, as a verb, ‘Present’ (means to offer or to give) takes primary stress on the second syllable, preSENT. The stress placement of words occurs according to its grammatical function. 

The stress placement rules are illustrated below to practise on English pronunciation:

1.      Monosyllable words always take primary stress on the First Syllable.

One     - ONE       (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/one)

Eye      - EYE        (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/eye)

Moon  - MOON     (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/moon)

Sun      - SUN        (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sun)

Cap      - CAP        (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cap)

 

2.      Two-Syllable Nouns and Adjectives usually take stress on the First Syllable.

Happy - HA-ppy    (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/happy)

Record - RE-cord   (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/record?q=Record)

Import - IM-port     (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/import)

Object - OB-ject    (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/object)

Hungry- HUN-gry  (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hungry)

 

3.      Two-Syllable Verbs take stress on the Second Syllable.

Record - re-CORD  (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/record?q=Record)  

Import - im- PORT (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/import)

Object - ob-JECT   (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/object)

Select  - se-LECT   (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/select)

 

   Let us learn more about the stress patterns in the next post. 

Author:

K. Nandhakumar

Assistant Professor of English

Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya College of Arts and Science (Autonomous)

Coimbatore- 641 020