STRESS AND RHYTHYM

Stress or accent is the relative loudness or softness with which a

syllable is spoken. A stressed syllable is pronounced louder and has a higher
pitch and longer duration than an unstressed syllable.
There are 4 degrees of stress.
1.
2.
3.
4.

/ / primary stress:
// secondary stress:
/ `/ tertiary stress:
/^/ weak stress:

very loud and very long

loud and long
weak and short
very weak and very short

A. WORD STRESS
Stress is the key to pronunciation. Its location must be learned together with
the word.
1. Stress in the first syllable.
covet
purchase
forfeit
publish

govern
pedestal
eligible
argue
spiritual
comfortable
moron
embryo
accuracy
vacate
tolerant
sovereignty

2. Stress on the second syllable.

betray
offend
occur
indulge
succumb

cashier
thirteen
composite
fourteen
capricious
himself
ourselves
emphatic

Immediate ambiguous
electrical
publicity
distinguish catastrophe
impurity

A word sometimes has two stressed syllables, one of which is more prominent than
the other.
1. Secondary stressed on the first syllable and primary stress on stress on
the third.
guarantee
premature

senti mental
contribution

economical
nationality

magazine
cigarette

adolescent
tribulation

anniversary
ecological

2. Secondary stress on the second syllable and primary on the fourth.

appropriation
determination
emancipation
pronunciation

materialistic
antagonistic
imperialistic
unrealistic

negotiability
attainability
impossibility
realiability

B. COMPOUND WORDS AND PHRASES

1. Compound Nouns: Primary stress on the first component and secondary
stress on the second.
fanfere
bookcase
driveway
passport

superman
checkbook
landscape
highway

balance sheet
common sense
wrist watch
ball pen

2. Modifier + Noun: Secondary stress on the first component and primary

stress on the second.
almond eyes
free press
walking doll
dental health

natural beauty
wonder drug
student assistant
tricky stunt
masculine charm
open door
rubber slippers
talking bird

3. Compound Verb and verb + preposition / adverb: Stress on the second

component and on the preposition or adverb.
overthrow withdraw
understand outshine
interlock
upgrade

splitup
pass in
pick up

giveaway
turn around
put off

4. Phrases: Primary stress on the stressed syllable of the last word.

trying to manage in your imagination
taking down notes simply adorable
too many questions
to wear long pants
walking along briskly
think of the title

5. Abbreviations and Initials: Primary stress on the last letter.

ID
TV
ME

BP
UE
IE

FEU
UST
CCP

LRT
CPA
INP

PLDT
PNOC
PNPC

C. Sentence Stress
Study the following sentences:
1.
2.
3.
4.

She is my sister.
She is my sister.
She is my sister.
She is my sister.

(Not the other girl.)

(Thats the truth.)
(Not yours, not hers)
(Not my cousin.)

D. Sentence stress and rhythm

Content words: words which have meaning in themselves.
1. Nouns
2. Verbs (except auxiliary and linking verbs)
3. Adjectives
4. Adverb
5. Demonstrative
6. Interrogatives
Function words
1. Articles- a, an, the
2. Preposition

on, for, with, under, over

3. Personal pronouns

I, he, she, it, they, you

4. Relative pronouns

who, whose, which, that,

5. Possessive adjectives

my, your, his, her, their

6. Common conjunctions and, but, if, that

7. Auxiliary and linking verbs

will, can, is, are