- Diagram:
Syllable
+stress -stress
+tonic acc. -tonic acc. +full V -full V (reduced [ə])
Primary stressed syllable: +stress, +tonic accent, +full V.
Secondary stressed syllable: +stress, -tonic accent, +full V.
Unstressed syllable: -stress, -tonic accent, +/-full V.
[fə. tá. grə. fi] [fò. tə. grǽ. fək]
stress - + - - + - + -
tonic accent - + - - - - + -
full V. - + - + + - + -
( 4 1 4 3) ( 2 4 1 4)
- Diagram:
Syllable
+stress -stress
+tonic acc. -tonic acc. +full V -full V (reduced [ə]
Primary stressed syllable: +stress, +tonic accent, +full V.
Secondary stressed syllable: +stress, -tonic accent, +full V.
Unstressed syllable: -stress, -tonic accent, +/-full V.
[fə. tá. grə. fi] [fò. tə. grǽ. fək]
stress - + - - + - + -
tonic accent - + - - - - + -
full V. - + - + + - + -
( 4 1 4 3) ( 2 4 1 4)
- Generalizations in detecting the secondary stress:
(a) The longest sequence of reduced vowels in an English word is
predominantly two.
(b) A full vowel (non-diphthongal) will have stress unless:
- it is in the final open syllable;
- the word has two other more prominent syllables;
- it is one of the alternating cases of /i, o, u/ with [ə].
(c) In general, secondary stress comes before the primary stress
(major pitch change tends to be on the last stressed syllable).
- If there is only one syllable before the primary stress, this is usually unaccented
(so as not to place two stressed syllables next to one another):
divinity [də.ví.nə.ti] urbanity [ɚ.bǽ.nə.ti]
** exception: martini [màr.tí.ni], rhinoceros [ràɪ.ná.s(ə).rəs]
cf) cucumber [kjú.kʌm.bɚ] hierarchy [haí(ə)ràrki]
- When there are more than two syllables before the primary stress, a secondary
accent will fall on second or third syllables back according to the presence of a
full vowel(e.g. Gratification [græ.tə.fə.ké.ʃən], bibliography [bì.bli.á.grə.fi]
- Generalizations in detecting the secondary stress:
(a) The longest sequence of reduced vowels in an English word is
predominantly two.
(b) A full vowel (non-diphthongal) will have stress unless:
- it is in the final open syllable;
- the word has two other more prominent syllables;
- it is one of the alternating cases of /i, o, u/ with [ə].
(c) In general, secondary stress comes before the primary stress
(major pitch change tends to be on the last stressed syllable).
- If there is only one syllable before the primary stress, this is usually unaccente
(so as not to place two stressed syllables next to one another):
divinity [də.ví.nə.ti] urbanity [ɚ.bǽ.nə.ti]
** exception: martini [màr.tí.ni], rhinoceros [ràɪ.ná.s(ə).rəs]
cf) cucumber [kjú.kʌm.bɚ] hierarchy [haí(ə)ràrki]
- When there are more than two syllables before the primary stress, a secondar
accent will fall on second or third syllables back according to the presence of
full vowel(e.g. Gratification [græ.tə.fə.ké.ʃən], bibliography [bì.bli.á.grə.fi]
- pronunciation: [prə. nʌn. si. e. ʃən]
stress - + - + -
tonic accent - - - + -
full V - + + + -
↑ ↑
secondary primary(major pitch changing syll.)
Although the final syllable is heavy, it is not stressed because it has schwa [ə].
- The primary and the secondary stresses are not next to one another, but there
are some examples that this generalization is violated:
(a) In some long words involving four or more syllables, two syllables have
the secondary stresses.
e.g.) Àfghánistàn, rèconcìliátion, èxcommúnicàte, èxpúgnatòry --- p. 188
(b) there are some disyllabic words with both syllables stressed.
Primary-secondary: cráyòn, cýclòne, fránchìse, empire, aspect, . . .
Secondary-primary: bàmbóo, sàrdíne, hòtél, taboo, supreme, . . .
♣ Do the exercises on page 203.
2. Analyze the stress patterns of the words by using the three parame-
ters;
(stress, tonic accent, and full vowel)
