Factors and Rules of Word Stress

Factors and Rules of ‘Word Stress’

Farhad Uddin Ahmed Bhuiyan

In the English language, the stress of a word plays an essential role in conveying
meaningful communication. The correct use of word stress can immensely affect
the clarity of our speech, perception by listeners, and comprehensibility of the
intended message. Words in English vary in length, based on the number of
syllables or sounds they have. When a word has two or more syllables, one of
them is pronounced with an additional emphasis, and this is what is known as
word stress. One word has only one stress. One word cannot have two stresses. A
syllable is a unit of pronunciation that has one vowel sound. A word might have
one syllable (like “an” or “can”) or more, such as “po-lice” (two syllables), “com-
pa-ny” (three syllables) and “ne-ce-ssa-ry” (four syllables). ‍ In English, every word
has one or more syllables, but only words with more than two syllables have word
stress. A word can have one stressed syllable and one or more unstressed
syllables. In general, nouns and adjectives have stress on the first syllable, while
verbs have stress on the second syllable.
Placing stress on the wrong syllable can lead to mispronounced words and
unclear speech. We can only stress on vowels, not consonants. Look at the
following examples:
 car: This is a one syllable word and therefore the stress is on the one
syllable/ˈkɑː/.
 wa / ter: This is a two syllable word and the stressed syllable is ‘wa’
 ex /am / i / na / tion: This is a four syllable word and the fourth syllable ‘na’
is stressed
The stressed syllable is often preceded by the symbol (ˈ). For example: about
/əˈbaʊt/; water /ˈwɔːtə(r)/. English has three levels/types of stress: primary,
secondary, and unstressed/tertiary.
 Primary stress:
This is the strongest form of stress, and is placed on the first syllable of a
word. Primary stress is the loudest syllable in the word, and is longer, louder,

and higher in pitch than other syllables.  Primary stress is indicated by a high
vertical line (ˈ).For example; the word "Record" has primary stress on the first
syllable, "Reˈcord"
 Secondary stress:
Secondary stress is not as strong as primary stress, but is still noticeable. It is
placed on the second syllable of a word. For example, the word "present" is
stressed on the second syllable: preˈsent.
 Unstressed:
An unstressed syllable is a part of a word that is not emphasized or accented.
Unstressed vowels are also known as the schwa /ə/.  When a syllable is
unstressed, we often reduce the vowel to the schwa. They are weaker and less
energetic than stressed vowels.
Content words like nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and main verbs, are usually
stressed. On the other hand, function words like determiners, prepositions,
conjunctions, articles, and pronouns are usually unstressed.
Rules and Factors of Word stress
There are many factors that can influence where the stress falls in a word. For
example, the addition of suffixes or prefixes can change the position of the stress.
Rule 1 – Nouns, adjectives and adverbs with two syllables: In most cases, the
first syllable is stressed. For examples:
 Nouns: father, member, language, nature, centre, table
 Adjectives: simple, local, awkward, lower, useful, clever
 Adverbs: maybe, often, kindly, weekly, always
Rule 2 – Verbs and prepositions with two syllables: In most two-syllable verbs
and prepositions, the second syllable is stressed. For examples:
 Verbs: announce, contain, dislike, receive, include, become
 Prepositions: among, without, unlike, behind, before, aside

Rule 3 – Nouns and verbs with two syllables: In some cases, one single word can
either be a noun or a verb, depending on where it is placed within a sentence.
There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change
depending on stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we
stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But
if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer).These words can be
both nouns and verbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or second
syllable. For examples:
 Nouns: discount, contrast, object, present, desert, suspect, export
 Verbs: discount, contrast, object, present, desert, suspect,   export
Rule 4 – Nouns ending in -sion/-tion, , -graphy, -ency/-ancy, -ity, -logy: For multi-
syllable nouns, we need to stress the syllable before the endings -sion/-tion, –
graphy, -ency/-ancy, -ity, -logy. For examples:
 -sion/-tion: comprehension, position, addition, creation, commission
 -graphy: geography, biography, demography
 -ency-ancy: agency, tendency, pregnancy
 -ity: responsibility, electricity, productivity
 -logy: ideology, analogy, psychology
Rule 5 – Adjectives ending in -ic, -ical, -tial/-cial, -tional: For multi-syllable
adjectives, you need to stress the syllable before the endings -ic, -ical, -tial/-cial, –
tional. For examples:
 -ic: atomic, electronic, electric, photographic
 -ical: classical, economical, grammatical
 -tial/-cial: confidential, beneficial, commercial
 -tional: intentional, national, optional

Rule 6 – Verbs ending in -ify: For multi-syllable verbs, you need to stress the
syllable before the ending -ify. For examples:
 satisfy, qualify, certify, diversify, notify
Rule 7 – Compound words: In many compound words (i.e. words made from two
smaller words put together), the stress is on the first part of the word. For
examples:
 bookshop, airport, sunglasses, traffic light, travel agent
For compound verbs, the stress is on the second part. For example:
 understand , overflow
For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part. For example:
 bad-tempered, old-fashioned
Rule 8–Three syllable words ending in “er” and “ly”
Words that have three syllables and end in “-er” or “-ly” often have a stress on
the first syllable. For examples:
 Orderly, Quietly, Manager

The condition of ‘word stresses’ of an intermediate
learner’s in Bangladesh: A video analysis.
I have randomly selected 20 words from different syllables, e.g. one syllable, two
syllables, three syllables and four syllables in order to find out the actual scenario
of the condition of ‘word stresses’ of the intermediate learners. For collecting
data, I have visited ‘Panchrukhi Begum Anowara Degree College, Araihazar,
Narayanganj. A student of Intermediate (2 nd year), whose name was ‘Rifat’ agreed
to give an interview with me. The words which I selected before were given to
pronounce. He did the task very spontaneously and naturally. I took a video of
that session. The selected words were:
Tea, Clear, Home, Smart, Work, Care, Ago, Ticket, Picture, Donate, Fantastic,
Circular, Potential, Maximum, Complete, Ordinary, Television, Literature, Tender
and Sugar.

By analyzing the video, I have got a deplorable and shameful condition of an
intermediate learner. All the words what my interviewee articulated were
mispronounced, stress less or wrong stress placement. That is why, it is very
difficult for the native speakers to understand his speech. Let’s check what sorts
of mistakes done by my interviewee.
 Tea =/ ti:/ – Tea is a one syllable word as well as it is a stress syllable word. In
spoken English, most one-syllable nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are
stressed on their own. We have to pronounce the word correctly by starting
with the tip of our tongue behind the back of our top front teeth, then puffing
out the air, and ending with a long ‘e’. But my interviewee did not put stress on
this word. He pronounced the word like /tɪ/. No stress is placed on this word.
 Clear=/klɪə(r)/ -Clear is a one syllable word and it does not have any stress. The
last letter ‘r’ is generally not pronounced. But my interviewee pronounced the
word as /kilier/ and he tightly pronounced the letter ‘r’.
 Home=/həʊm/-The word ‘home’ is a stress syllable word. In English, the stress
usually occurs on the first or second syllable of a word. But my interviewee did
not give any stress of this word. He pronounced the word like /hɔm/.
 Smart=/smɑːt/ -The word ‘smart’ has one syllable. But it does not have a
stressed syllable. But my interviewee put stress on the word like ‘ismart’.
 Care:=/keə/ -The word ‘care’ has one syllable. It is not a stressed syllable. This
is pronounced as ‘kiair’ by my interviewee.
 Ago=/ əˈgəʊ/- The word ‘ago’ has two syllables, "uh" + "GOH". This is a stressed
syllable. In two- syllable words, verbs are usually stressed on the second
syllable. But my interviewee pronounced the word as /ɒgɔ/.
 Ticket=/tɪkɪt/-The word ‘ticket’ has two syllables and the first syllable will be
stressed. In English, nouns and adjectives usually have stressed on the first
syllable. But my interviewee pronounced the word as ‘tikæt’.
 Picture=/ˈpɪk(t)ʃə/ -The word "picture" has a stressed syllable. The word is
divided into two syllables: "PIK" + "chuh" and the stress is on the first syllable.
The symbol t∫ shows the sound of ‘ch’ in picture, and the last letter ‘r’ is
generally not pronounced. But my interviewee pronounced the as ‘pikchur’. He
did not put any stress.

 Fantastic=/fænˈtæstɪk/- The word ‘fantastic’ has three syllables: "fan" + "TAST"
+ "ik". The second syllable will be stressed. But while my interviewee was
pronouncing the word, no stressed is found.
 Circular=/ˈsɜːkjələ/-The word circular has three syllables and the first syllable
will be stressed. My interviewee pronounced the word as ‘særkuler’.
 Television=/ˈtelɪvɪʒən/-The word "television" has four syllables: "TEL" + "i" +
"vi" + "zhuhn" and it has a stressed syllable. The first syllable is stressed. Again,
words ending in -ic, -sion, and -tion have stress on the penultimate syllable. But
my interviewee did not put any stress. He pronounced the word like ‘telibiʃon’.

Conclusion:
Stress is an important feature of spoken English. Clear, accurate pronunciation of
all English words relies on correct articulation and placement of stress. Stressed
syllables are longer or uttered with a higher pitch than the others, which causes
the air to be expelled from our lungs with more force. Actually, stress can only be
applied to vowels, not consonants.