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Emphasis on syllables
What is stress?
Speakers learning English often stress every syllable in a word.
English words can be short or long, but each word only has ONE major stress. Example: WINner, CongratuLAtions
Make the stressed part Looonger and LOUDER. Make the unstressed part shorter and quieter.
Unstressed Vowels
Pay close attention to the vowels a, e, I, o, and u in the following:
atlas, college, tulip, anchor, lettuce
How are the second vowels in each word pronounced differently from the first?
shorter and quieter And it sounds like a different vowel sound
Practice
Find a partner. Take turns reading the following words to each other. Your partner should try to guess which vowel is reduced to schwa in each word. A: distant, illness, cousin, purpose, minute B: palace, socket, promise, ribbon, circus A: advice, escape, disease, offend, suggest B: canoe, dessert, divide, contain, subtract
Think about it
Look back again at the words you just practiced saying. Can you make a rule for which vowel changes to schwa?
The vowels in the unstressed syllables!
Exception
Do all unstressed vowels reduce to schwa? Consider the following:
athlete, contact, celebrate, telephone
Streeeetch it Out!
Whats the difference in meaning between the following words?
Guideline #1: In 2-Syllable words, nouns are stressed on the first syllable (90%), for verbs the stress is on the second syllable. (60%)
Guideline #2: In 3-syllable words, major stress is often on the first or second syllable. If the major stress in on the first syllable, then the third often gets minor stress.
Guideline #3: In Compound words, the first word receives major stress, and the second word receives minor stress.
Thats a black BOARD. Thats a BLACKboard. He works in a green HOUSE. He works in a GREEN house. I saw a black BIRD. I saw a BLACKbird.
Guideline #4: Suffixes change the placement of stress in related words. Major stress always falls on the last syllable before these suffixes: -ic, -ity, -ical, -tion
Examples
Can you think of more?