Double stress in English. How to put stress in English words and sentences. Linguistic function of stress

On this page you can familiarize yourself with the rules for placing accents in English:

- two important rules stress placement in English
- dividing a word into syllables
- designation of a stressed syllable in transcription
- rules for stress on the first syllable
- rules for stress on the last syllable
- rules for stress on the second syllable from the end
- rules for stress on the third syllable from the end
- rules for stress compound words Oh

Pronunciation

In English, we don't pronounce every syllable with equal force. In each individual word, the stress falls only on one syllable. We pronounce this syllable louder and clearer, and everyone else quieter and less intelligible.

Example of accent placement

Let's consider this phenomenon using the following example - take three words photograph, photographer And photographic. Do they sound the same? No. This happens because we hit one specific syllable and it is different every time. Thus, the schematic representation of each of the words we took is different.

This happens in all two or more difficult words: TEACHer, JaPAN, CHINa, aBOVE, converSAtion, INteresting, imPORtant, deMAND, etc.

The importance of correct stress

Unstressed syllables are weak, quiet and less distinct. Native speakers, perceiving someone’s speech by ear, focus on drums syllables, not unstressed ones. Thus, if you correctly place stress in words, you will automatically improve both pronunciation and listening skills.

Rules for placing stress in English

There are two extremely important rules for placing stress in English:

1. One word - one main stressed syllable.(In one word there cannot be two main stresses(meaning main stress). If you hear two accents, it's two words. In some words there may be a secondary stress, but it is much weaker than the main one and occurs only in long words.)
2. The stress always falls on the vowel.

To understand the rules of stress placement, you need to understand how words are divided into syllables. Each word consists of a certain number of syllables: one, two, three or more syllables.

Please note that (with a number of rare exceptions) each syllable contains at least one vowel letter(a, e, i, o or u) or vowel.

Accent notation

There are a number of rules regarding which syllable is stressed. When you learn a new word, you also need to remember where the emphasis falls on it. If you are unsure, you should consult a dictionary. They all give a transcription that indicates the phonetic spelling of the word. A stressed syllable is usually indicated by an apostrophe (‘) placed directly before or after stressed syllable. However, these rules are quite complex and may vary from dictionary to dictionary.

Rules

Let's look at the rules:

Emphasis on the first syllable

Emphasis on the last syllable

In English there are a large number of two-syllable words whose meaning changes with changes in stress. Yes, word present, for example, consists of two syllables. If the stress falls on the first syllable, then it is a noun (“gift”) or an adjective (“present”). But if the stress falls on the second syllable, the word becomes a verb (“to offer”). This group also includes the following words, whose meaning directly depends on where the stress falls: export, import, contract And object.

Stress on the second syllable from the end

There are a number of words in which native speakers do not agree on where the emphasis is. For example, some say television, while others pronounce TELevision.Another example of such a double standard: CONtroversy And conTROversy.

Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies the sound structure of a language. We know that sounds are divided into two categories: vowels and consonants. Syllables also do not cause difficulties: an open syllable is a syllable that ends with a vowel; closed syllable - a syllable ending in a consonant. But is everything so simple with stress in English?

“Everything is very difficult!” - you say. And you will be partly right.

For students French It is difficult to make a mistake with the placement of verbal stress - in this poetic language it always falls on the last syllable. In Russian it is more complicated: the letter “е” is always stressed, and the system of verbal stress in other words will be difficult to explain to a foreigner learning Russian. What is the situation with the English language?

So, let’s make a reservation right away: we are not looking at rules (since there are very few of them, and they are not able to help us understand this topic), but with groups and patterns of pronunciation.

Basic word stress groups

• A large group of words have stress on the first syllable:

C o mpliment /ˈkɒmplɪm(ə)nt/- courtesy, compliment;

D a ffodil /ˈdafədɪl/- narcissist;

R e gular /ˈrɛɡjʊlə/- regular, systematic;

N o minative /ˈnɒmɪnətɪv/- nominative case;

Br i tish /ˈbrɪtɪʃ/ - British, English.

• If the word ends in –ion, -ian, -iant, -ience(-iance), -ious, -ial, then the preceding syllable is stressed:

Permiss ion/pəˈmɪʃ(ə)n/- permission;

Ind ian/ˈɪndɪən/ – Indian;

Brill iant/ˈbrɪlj(ə)nt/- brilliant, outstanding;

Var iance/ˈvɛːrɪəns/- discrepancy, disagreement;

Caut ious/ˈkɔːʃəs/- careful, prudent;

Fac ial/ˈfeɪʃ(ə)l/- facial, located on the face.

• If the word ends in –able, -less, -ness, -ship, -ment, -hood, then this ending does not “pull” the emphasis from the short word that is attached to it.

Dr i nk /’drɪŋk/ – dr i nkable /ˈdrɪŋkəbl/;

Ch i ld /’tʃʌɪld/ – ch i ldless /ˈtʃʌɪldləs/;

H a ppy /ˈhæpi/ – h a ppiness /ˈhapɪnəs/;

Empl o y /ɪmˈplɔɪ/ – empl o yment /ɪmˈplɔɪm(ə)nt/.

• In complex (compound) nouns, the stress falls on the first part of the word; V compound verbs- to the second:

Post man /ˈpəʊs(t)mən/- postman;

Dress maker /ˈdrɛsmeɪkə/- dressmaker;

Hair d ryer /ˈhɛːdrʌɪə/- hair dryer;

Well- acted/ˌwɛlˈaktɪd/- well played (about the play);

Under take/ʌndəˈteɪk/- to undertake, to accomplish.

Long words and double emphasis

A large group of words in English have double stress. This is typical for words consisting of three or more syllables: fifteen (/ˈfɪfˈtiːn/), nineteen (/ˈnʌɪnˈtiːn/).
Also, this type of stress is characteristic of compound words (see examples in the previous paragraph): one part of the word has a more pronounced stress, and the second - less pronounced.

Well- acted /ˌ wɛl ˈ æktɪd/- well played (about the play).

The presence of a second stress in a word makes it more convenient to read. Do you have any doubts? Well, let's do an exercise that will show us the effectiveness and convenience of the double stress rule.

Telecommunication a tion—telecommunications;

Pronunci a tion - pronunciation;

Investig a tion - investigation, investigation;

Deterior a tion - deterioration, wear and tear.

You probably read these words “in one breath,” or rather, very quickly.

T e lecommunication a tion /ˌtɛlɪkəmjuːnɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/— telecommunications;

Pron u nci a tion /prəˌnʌnsɪˈeɪʃ(ə)n/- pronunciation;

Inv e stig a tion /ɪnˌvɛstɪˈɡeɪʃ(ə)n/- investigation, investigation;

Det e rior a tion /dɪˌtɪərɪəˈreɪʃn/- deterioration, wear and tear.

Agree, from the second time your pronunciation was more measured and pleasant, the pace of speech did not speed up, and your breathing did not falter. It is this pronunciation that is more understandable to listeners.

Do you pay attention to your pronunciation of English words?

Knowing and applying the rules of word formation in English words can dramatically increase your score, because when you use word-formation skills from one part of speech you can easily recreate another, or guess the meaning of a new word from a word with the same root. This is one of the key skills when preparing for international exams. Therefore, let's look at the methods of word formation and dwell on one of them in more detail - stress transfer.

Shifting stress when changing a noun into a verb

Among other methods of word formation in English, stress shifting is not the main method, but rather specific, inherent specifically in the English language. The main methods are affixal (using prefixes and suffixes), compounding and conversion. We also note an interesting way using prepositions in phrasal verbs when a preposition after a verb gives a new meaning to the word. And let’s not forget about polysemy, when one word has much more meanings than we are used to seeing in Russian, for example.

How can words in another part of speech be formed in English by transferring stress? This technique is limited to the transformation of a number of two-syllable words, when the stress on the first syllable is applied to a noun, and when it is transferred to the second syllable, a verb is obtained that is identical in appearance to the noun. The difference is in the emphasis (highlighted).

For example,

Oil is a major Russian ex port. Oil is the main item of Russian export.

Russia ex ports a lot of oil. Russia exports a lot of oil.

Other similar examples are presented in the table:

Please note that verbs that are transformed into nouns and, conversely, by shifting the stress in the word present some difficulty in pronunciation. Remember the rule: stress is on the first syllable when the word is a noun, on the second when it is a verb. Read more about pronunciation rules in English words and typical difficulties read. Look out for material about other ways of word formation in English soon.

On this page you can familiarize yourself with the rules for setting accents in English:

- two important rules for placing stress in English
- dividing a word into syllables
- designation of a stressed syllable in transcription
- rules for stress on the first syllable
- rules for stress on the last syllable
- rules for stress on the second syllable from the end
- rules for stress on the third syllable from the end
- rules for stress in compound words

Pronunciation

In English, we don't pronounce every syllable with equal force. In each individual word, the stress falls only on one syllable. We pronounce this syllable louder and clearer, and everyone else quieter and less intelligible.

Example of accent placement

Let's consider this phenomenon using the following example - take three words photograph, photographer And photographic. Do they sound the same? No. This happens because we hit one specific syllable and it is different every time. Thus, the schematic representation of each of the words we took is different.

This occurs in all two or more complex words: TEACHer, JaPAN, CHINa, aBOVE, converSAtion, INteresting, imPORtant, deMAND, etc.

The importance of correct stress

Unstressed syllables are weak, quiet and less distinct. Native speakers, perceiving someone’s speech by ear, focus on drums syllables, not unstressed ones. Thus, if you correctly place stress in words, you will automatically improve both pronunciation and listening skills.

Rules for placing stress in English

There are two extremely important rules for placing stress in English:

1. One word - one main stressed syllable.(In one word there cannot be two main stresses(meaning main stress). If you hear two accents, it's two words. In some words there may be a secondary stress, but it is much weaker than the main one and occurs only in long words.)
2. The stress always falls on the vowel.

To understand the rules of stress placement, you need to understand how words are divided into syllables. Each word consists of a certain number of syllables: one, two, three or more syllables.

Please note that (with a number of rare exceptions) each syllable contains at least one vowel letter(a, e, i, o or u) or vowel.

Accent notation

There are a number of rules regarding which syllable is stressed. When you learn a new word, you also need to remember where the emphasis falls on it. If you are unsure, you should consult a dictionary. They all give a transcription that indicates the phonetic spelling of the word. A stressed syllable is usually indicated by an apostrophe (‘) placed directly before or after stressed syllable. However, these rules are quite complex and may vary from dictionary to dictionary.

Rules

Let's look at the rules:

Emphasis on the first syllable

Emphasis on the last syllable

In English there are a large number of two-syllable words whose meaning changes with changes in stress. Yes, word present, for example, consists of two syllables. If the stress falls on the first syllable, then it is a noun (“gift”) or an adjective (“present”). But if the stress falls on the second syllable, the word becomes a verb (“to offer”). This group also includes the following words, whose meaning directly depends on where the stress falls: export, import, contract And object.

Stress on the second syllable from the end

There are a number of words in which native speakers do not agree on where the emphasis is. For example, some say television, while others pronounce TELevision.Another example of such a double standard: CONtroversy And conTROversy.

Hi all!

I haven’t written for a long time, I got carried away with teaching, but I’m improving. Let's get straight to the point: let's talk about stress in English words.

Stress in English is such a thing in itself, just like in Russian. No one will say why the stress in a particular word falls on the first syllable, or on the second, or on the last. Ask any native speaker why the word is pronounced this way and not otherwise. He'll just shrug and say, "That's what we say." It would seem that it matters whether the emphasis is placed correctly or not. At the very least, you will be corrected.

However, we must remember that in the English language there are small pitfalls for some words and stress. There are words when, when you change the stress from one syllable to another, you get a different part of speech! And sometimes there is a different meaning to the word! And here they are unlikely to correct you, because how do you know what part of speech you are planning to use in a sentence - maybe a noun, or maybe a verb? Maybe you're okay with the parts of speech, but you've messed up the word order in a sentence? You see how many questions your interlocutor can have if you put the emphasis on a word incorrectly.

Now let's get acquainted with stress in some common words, and their transformations from one part of speech to another.