STRESS
The vowel sound used in the unstressed vowels in English are pronounced as schwa.
This is why the schwa sound is the most used.
What is Stress?
E.g.
em · pha · sis
Stress in English involves making vowels both longer and louder, giving that syllable more emphasis than the others.
This does not only change the volume of the stressed
syllable, but it can also change the phoneme that is pronounced.
When a word only contains one syllable, that syllable is stressed
When a word has two syllables, one is
stressed and one is not.
E.g.
I · tæl ·i · ən
I ·təl ·i
STRESS MARKS
They are used to indicate
primary and secondary stress
in syllables.
E.g.
administration
ədˌmini'streiʃn
Subtopic
PRIMARY STRESS MARK
BEFORE THE STRESSED SYLLABLE
When we speak and give more emphasis to a syllable to make it stand out, we produce PROMINENCE in that syllable or word.
- WORD
- STAY
- LEECH
MAJOR AND MINOR STRESS
When the second syllable
receives a stress, but the first syllable
is the most stressed one, instead of
pronouncing the second one as a
schwa, it has other sounds, it has a minor stress.
