STRESS: DEFINITION AND TYPES

 

DEFINITION

Stress is one of the important features of spoken English which is used to improve pronunciation. Clear and accurate pronunciation of all English words relies on correct articulation and placement of stress.

Stress is a degree of force with which a syllable/word is spoken. In linguistics, stress ( also called accent) is an emphasis given to

1.      a certain syllable (in a word)

or

2.      to a certain word (in a phrase or sentence).

That emphasis is given by a wide range of phonetic properties, such as vowel length, loudness, pitch etc.

IMPORTANT FEATURES OF STRESS

Stress enhances the clarity as well as quality of vowel sounds. It has three primary characteristics:

1.      Length of vowel sounds

2.      Volume

3.      Pitch

One of the three features, or any combination of these features at the same time can be used to give stress either on a syllable or a word.

Stressed vowel sounds are longer, louder, and/or higher in pitch than vowel sounds without stress. Overall, stressed sounds are “stronger” than unstressed sounds.

FUNCTIONS OF STRESS

1.      Stress helps to identify words.

For instance, if you say ‘attain’ instead of the correct ‘attain’, listeners might hear ‘a train.’

2.      It gives a cue to recognize words

3.      Stress helps to speak words correctly. 

TYPES OF STRESS 

1.      Word Stress:

The stress placed on syllables within words is called word stress. Actually, each word is made up of one or more syllables. In words with two or more syllables, stress is given on at least one syllable.

On the basis of stress in a word, syllables are divided into two

a.      Stressed syllable

The syllable on which stress is given are called stressed syllable.

b.      Unstressed syllable

The syllable on which stress is not given are called unstressed syllable.

 Example of stressed and unstressed syllable

word ‘contain’ has two syllables and to pronounce it correctly we should stress on second syllable as shown below-

ConTAIN (con+tain)

The syllable ‘con’ is spoken softer because it is unstressed but

The syllable ‘tain’ is spoken louder and with lengthy vowel sound because it is stressed.

Some more examples

                           i.          Ad+MIRE

                          ii.          Com+PUter

                         iii.          Cre+ATE

                         iv.          ELA+borate

                          v.          Environ+MENtal

                         vi.          Ful+FILL

                       vii.          INI+tiate

                      viii.          SMAR+ter

2.      Sentence Stress:

The stress placed on words within the sentence is called sentence stress.

On the basis of sentences stress words are divided into two

a.      Content word (stressed word)

When the stress is given on a particular word then it is called stressed word. These are called loud words and content word. Content words are the key words of a sentence. They are the important words that carry the meaning or sense—the real content. In a sentence the stressed words are

                                               i.          Noun
                                              ii.          Verb
                                             iii.          Adjectives
                                             iv.          Adverbs
                                              v.          Demonstrative words
                                             vi.          Interrogative words

If you remove the content words from a sentence, you will not understand the sentence. The sentence has no sense or meaning.

b.      Structure word (unstressed word)

 In a sentence, if stress is not given on a word then it is called Unstressed word. It is also called a weak word or structure word. Structure words are not very meaningful words. They are simple words that make the sentence correct grammatically. They give the sentence its correct form i.e. its structure. In a sentence, the unstressed words are – 

                                                 i.          Pronoun
                                                ii.          Preposition
                                               iii.          Conjunctions
                                               iv.          Helping verbs

Example of stressed and unstressed words in a sentence-

‘We WANT to GO.’

This sentence contains four words

             i.          We (is a pronoun) is unstressed

            ii.          Want (is a verb) is stressed

           iii.          to  (is a preposition) is unstressed

           iv.          go (is verb) is stressed

LEVELS OF STRESS

1.               Primary Stress

It is also called the most prominent stress and it is also represented by high mark (`). It can be done on syllable (in a word) or on a word (in a sentence). In one-syllable words, that one syllable gets the primary stress.

Examples:

a.     `fan

b.     `Ball

Exception- “the” is usually unstressed or reduced.

2.               Secondary Stress

It is the second most prominent stress and it is also represented by low mark (,). The change in pitch on the vowel is not quite as noticeable.

Example:

a.     prepare = /pruh, `pair

 

3.               Tertiary (Weak) Stress

It is the weakest stress and there is no representation of this stress. If there is no stress at all, we rush through them and shorten them so much that the vowel in the syllable or a word in the sentence is almost completely gone.   The change in pitch on the vowel is barely noticeable, but it is there.

Examples

a.     enough             -əˈnʌf

b.     Manitoba         -ˌmænəˈtobə

c.      Photograph     - ˈfotəˌɡɹæf