Word - Stress

As in most languages, a word in English is made of syllables. Each syllable has a vowel as its centre. For example, the word practice' has two syllables, 'prac-' and 'tice' with the vowels / and / i / as their centres respectively. Perhaps, you may be able to identify the syllables and the vowels of the words in the box:

As you see it marked, each syllable has a vowel, however long or short the word may be.. Only one of the syllables in words longer than a single syllable (monosyllabic words) is pronounced the loudest. And that syllable is said to have the primary stress. It is marked with an " ' " in front of the syllable which takes the primary stress, above the line. Now look at the syllables, which carry primary stress Do pronounce them markedly so that the contrast between the stressed and weakly stressed syllables may be evident. As monosyllabic words automatically take stress, generally it is not indicated with a notation when they are pronounced in isolation. Now let us repeat the same exercise with reference to words, which take low stresses, a primary, and a secondary. You may read the words in the box. Remember to read the secondary stress less loud than the primary:

It is not possible to predict stress in English. Some languages, like French, have primary stress on the final syllable of the root. We cannot say the same thing about English. For instance, the initial, medial and final syllables are stressed in words like 'penetrable, se'mester and ,pana'ma respectively. There are, however, some stress clues which can help to predict stress in some words.

Words ending with suffixes such as -tion, -ic, -ical, -ically, -tial, -atory, -city and some others have primary stress on the syllable immediately before the suffix: