9) Phonetics: Word and Sentences Stress

What is sentence stress?

Sentence stress in English is the way a speaker highlights certain words in each
sentence. It helps the listener focus on important parts and understand the speakers
meaning.
For example, The doctor will see you now. Some words will be more prominant than
others and one will be the most prominent.
Stress is achieved the same way in a sentence as it is in a word this may be by making
the stressed syllable longer, louder or a different pitch.

Why is stress important?

Stress is a useful way of signalling whats important in a sentence. It gives the listener
clues to listen to parts of the sentence which are more important.
If stress is not used, or used incorrectly, the listener may misinterpret the intended
meaning, or have difficulty picking out important concepts.

In a sentence like "I'll write you a referral now" you can choose to highlight different
parts, depending on what you mean.

Stress is used to signal things like new information, contrasting information, and
transitions (changes of topic).

Stress combines with intonation and phrasing to highlight different parts of a sentence.

Why is sentence stress difficult?

You can't choose where to place the stress in an individual word, but you can choose
where to place the stress in a sentence. It depends on what youre trying to highlight.
Stressing a different word can change the meaning.

Common problems include

stressing too many words in a sentence

not stressing any word clearly
Knowing which words to stress depends on the meaning, context and what you and your
listener already knows (shared knowledge).

If you can hear stress in the speech of the person you're talking with, you'll be able to
pick up what they think is important too.

RULES OF WORD STRESS

RULE # 1: stress in two-syllable words:
Except for verbs, two-syllable words are usually stressed
on the first syllable.
Examples: 1. answer
2. conduit
3. dealer
RULE # 2: stress in words that end in tion, -sion, and
cian:
For words that end in tion, -sion, or cian, the stressed
syllable comes just before the tion, -sion, or cian.
Examples: 1. articulation
2. celebration
3. commission
RULE # 3: Stress in words that end in ic and ical:
*For words that end in -ic, the stressed syllable comes
just before the ic.
* For words that end in ical, the stressed syllable comes
just before the ical.
Examples: 1. analytic 1. classical
2. anesthetic 2. ecumenical
3. energetic 3. vertical
RULE # 4: Pronouncing two clear vowels together:
When two vowels are next to each other in a word, but in
separate syllables, they are both clear. Usually, the
second clear vowel has the stress, so it is longer.
Examples: 1. real
2. realign
3. society
RULE # 5: Stress in two-syllable nouns and verbs
When a two-syllable word can be used as a noun or a
verb, the verb form is usually stressed on the second
syllable.
Examples: Noun Verb
1. confine confine
2. conscript conscript
3. contact contact
RULE # 6: Stress in two-word verbs
Some verbs are made up of two words. These two-word
verbs are commonly stressed on the second syllable.
Examples: Noun Verb
1. letdown let down
2. shutout shut out
3. takeover take over
RULE # 7: Stress in compound nouns
English often combines two nouns to make a new word,
called a compound noun. For example, the words
house and boat can be combined to form a new
noun. Compound nouns are pronounced as a single word,
whit the stress on the first part.
Examples: 1.overpass
2.longtime
3. output
13. Phonetics: Vowel sounds and consonant sounds:
transcription

Vowel sounds
What is a vowel sound?
It is a sound in which there is a continuous vibration of the vocal folds and the airstream is allowed
to escape from the mouth in an unobstructed manner, without any interruption.
In Spanish, we have five letters corresponding to vowel sounds, namely, /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/. In
English, we obviously have the same letters, but there are 12 different vowel sounds also called
monothongs, 8 diphthongs (combination of two different vowel sounds) and 5 triphthongs
(combination of 3 vowel sounds).

This article is an introduction to the International

Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as it is used to denote
pronunciation of English words. Each symbol is treated
separately, with explanation and examples that are at
the same time a link to a dictionary where you can listen
to the word pronounced both in American and British
English.
Just one technical term used in the article: a closed
syllable is a syllable which ends with a consonant (in
writing; for example writ in writ-ten is a closed
syllable).
[x] long vowel
When the symbol follows a vowel symbol, it means
that the vowel is pronounced longer.
[] cat, bad, sad, sand, land, hand
Among all English vowels, the greatest problem for most
learners poses . It is somewhere between a in
father and e in bed. It is usually pronounced
slightly longer in American English than in British
English. It is always represented by the letter a in a
stressed closed syllable, but not all such occurrances are
pronounced as [].
[] bra, calm, palm, father, start, dark
This vowel is the closest one to the sound of the letter
a in many other languages and as such is also denoted
[a] in some dictionaries. There is no reliable general rule
which would tell you when a is pronounced as []
instead of [].
It is quite rare in American English to pronounce a as
[]; it is usually pronounced [], as
in grass, cant, half, bath etc., all of which are
pronounced with [] in British English. On the other
hand, the sound is used in American English in words in
which a Brit would say [] (see below), as
in god, pot, top, spotlisten to both American and
British pronunciation.
[] god, pot, top, spot (British English only)
This vowel is quite similar to the sound of o many
other languages. It is always represented by o in a
closed stressed syllable, although such an o can also
be pronounced differently (e.g. in son). Americans
dont use this vowel and say [] instead.
[] but, cut, gun, come, some, glove
This vowel very similar to [], but its never pronounced
long in English. It is always represented by u in a
stressed closed syllable, or by an o, but both can be
pronounced also in a different way.
[] get, bed, set, sell, fell, men
This vowel is the closest one to the sound of the letter
e in most other languages and is sometimes denoted
by e in dictionaries (for example in the one I am linking
to). It is usually represented by an e in a closed
stressed syllable, but often also by ai, e.g. said, fair,
ae, e.g. bear, pear, and others.
[] pit, bin, fill, will, village, bullet
In writing, this sound is most commonly represented by
i in a closed stressed syllable, but also unstressed a,
e, or i is often pronounced as []. If you find [] (see
below) in a dictionary for a word in which you can clearly
hear [] (or conversely), dont worry; in most cases the
two possibilities are interchangeable.
[i] or [i] he, she, see, keep, family, hyperbole
This is just a softer []. It is mostly represented by ee,
but quite often also by ea, single e, final y and
others. It is usually long when it is in a stressed syllable
and short when it is not, but not necessarily.
[] saw, straw, dawn, fall, call, wall
A similar sound to the British [], but somewhat
darker. It is usually represented by aw, al or au.
[] put, full, good, wood, could, would
The sound most similar to the sound of u in many
other languages. It is often denoted by u in a closed
stressed syllable (when it is not []), but also by oo,
oul and other letter groups.
[u] you, who, chew, shoe, cool, tool
[] would sound strange if it were long, so when there is
a long u sound in English, it is pronounced somewhat
darker than []. It is most commonly denoted by ew
and oo, but there is no way to tell when oo is
pronounced as [u] and when as [] (this has to be
learned by heart).
[] a, syllable, moment, terrible, felony, papyrus
Most learners of English learn very fast how to
pronounce a when it means an indefinite article, and
this is exactly the pronunciation of []. It can be
represented by any vowel (a, e, i, o, u) in an unstressed
syllable, see the examples above. When represented by
a or i, it is often freely interchangeable with []; for
example terrible can be pronounced either /trbl/,
or /trbl/.
[] mister, standard, editor (Am. English only)
This vowel is formed by saying [] and at the same time
putting your tongue to the position as if you were saying
the English r (listen to the recordings). It is denoted
[r] in some dictionaries, which is not completely
precise, it is more like a long r). In all cases where it is
used (most notably -er at the end of a word), a Brit
would say just [].
[], [] curve, purge, herd, serve, bird, stir
Dont confuse the symbol with []. [] is pronounced the
same as [] in some dialects while it is slightly darker
in others, and many dictionaries dont use it at all and
write simply []. The difference between [] and [] is
the same as between [] and []. The former is used
chiefly in British English, the latter chiefly in American
English (listen to the recordings). Dictionaries which
denote [] as [] would denote [] as [r]. In writing,
[] and [] are usually represented by the letter groups
ur, er, or ir.

CONSONANT SOUNDS
This article is an introduction to the symbols of
consonants of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
as it is used to denote pronunciation of English words
(there is a separate article on vowels). Each symbol is
treated separately, with explanation and examples that
are at the same time a link to a dictionary where you can
listen to the word pronounced both in American and
British English; the first three examples always contain
the consonant at the beginning, the other three at the
end (unless there are no such words).
Remark: when I write most languages, I mean most
languages that use the Latin alphabet). Voiced
consonants are those in which the vocal chords are
active while pronouncing it (e.g. b, v, z, d, g),
and unvoiced consonants are the rest (e.g. p, s, t, k, sh).
[b] buy, bet, big, hub, knob, superb
This sound exists in most languages and is also usually
denoted by the letter b. One thing to pay attention to
is that it doesnt become p when it is at the end of a
word (unless it follows an unvoiced consonant), listen
to hub, knob, superbin British English, the sound is
somewhere in between of b and p, in American, it is
clearly b. Also, mb at the end of a word is
pronounced just as m, as in numb, dumb, lamb.
[d] do, deal, dust, odd, prod, cod
Also a common sound, denoted by d in most
languages, including English. Again, it doesnt become
t when it is at the end of a word (unless it follows an
unvoiced consonant), listen to odd, prod, codin British
English, the sound is somewhere in between of d and
t, in American, it is clearly d.
[] that, though, there, father, breathe, bathe
A common source of problems for English learners. It is
pronounced as if you wanted to say d, but you only
slightly touched the back of your teeth by your tongue
instead. In particular, it is not pronounced as [d] or [dz].
It is represented by th in writing, but th is also often
[] (see below), so you will have to learn by heart when
to use which one.
[d] jet, joke, giant, purge, huge, banjo
A sound approximately like [d] and [] (see below)
pronounced together. It is usually represented by j
(which is always pronounced as [d]) or by g which is
sometimes pronounced as [d] and sometimes as [g] (as
in go), and there is no general rule to distinguish the
two uses.
[f] fast, fat, philosophy, off, stuff, cough
Again, a sound that usually causes little trouble. It is
usually represented by f or ph, and also often by
gh at the end of a word (but gh can be pronounced
also in many different ways).
[g] go, get, grass, big, dog, fig
The sound similar to k but voiced, i.e. with an almost
uninterrupted stream of sound coming out of your vocal
chords. It is represented by the letter g, but g can
by pronounced also many different ways in different
contexts. Pay attention to g at the end of a word; it is
not pronounced as k.
[h] high, how, hot, somehow, ahead, adhere
Native speakers of French and Russian beware! This
sound may require some training. Try to make a neutral
sound just by letting air to flow through your vocal
chords, and then try to squeeze the stream of air at the
very bottom of your throat. The sound is represented by
the letter h in writing, but pay attention to all the
possible letter groups in which the letter h
participates, e.g. ch, sh, th, gh etc. It is never
located at the very end of a word or a syllable (theres
always at least one vowel after it).
[j] you, yet, yawn, pure, cure, few
The symbol can be slightly confusing, especially for
speakers of French and Spanish. In the IPA it represents
what is usually written as y in English at the beginning
of a syllable. It can also appear after another consonant
when written as u, pronounced [j], or ew,
pronounced [ju]. Notice: in words
like buy [ba], hey [he], the sound at the end is in fact
not [j], but the vowel [] as a part of a diphthong.
[kh], [k] keep, cat, character, sock, bloc, cheek
When [k] is at the beginning of a stressed syllable, it is
always aspirated (there is always a short h after it
which is denoted by a superscript h). In many dialects,
especially in British English, this aspiration can be heard
almost for all occurrences of [k] (it doesnt matter by
what letter it is represented, only that there is [k] in
pronunciation). If you say [k] in place where [k h] is
expected, it can lead to misunderstanding; for example if
you pronounce call just [kl] instead of [khl], some
people will think that you said gall [gl]. It is,
however, never aspirated after s; listen
to skin, sky, skate.
However, for simplicity, virtually all dictionaries write
just [k] and suppose that the reader implicitly
understands that it is in fact [kh], including the dictionary
I am linking to. This can be very confusing for speakers
of languages in which k is not aspirated.
There are many possible ways how [k] can be written: k,
c, ch, ck and others. Ch and c can be pronounced
also differently and there is no reliable rule to decide
when it is pronounced as [k].
[l], [] low, let, like, owl, cool, well
The sound [] is called the dark l. Some dictionaries
use [l] to denote pronunciation of the letter l that
precedes a vowel and [] otherwise. However, there are
some dialects in which an l is always dark while in
others it is never dark, irrespective of its position. The
difference is minor, and it is pointless to worry about it
much.
[m] man, my, more, some, doom, seem
This sound is present in almost every language in the
world and shouldnt pose any problem. It is always
represented by the letter m.
[n] no, new, nose, ban, soon, keen
Again, no problem here. Speakers of languages in which
[n] can be softened to [] (e.g. Spanish Espaa, French
and German champignons, Czech ouma) should pay
attention to the pronunciation of words like new;
which are pronounced with [ju], e.g. [nju], not [u].
[] thing, long, sang, singer, longing, bringing
This sound is produced as if you wanted to say n but
with the back of your tongue (the part with which you
say [g]). Its never at the beginning of a word but can be
in the middle of a word derived from a verb by adding -
er or -ing (singer, longing). In other cases when ng
appears in the middle of a word, it is pronounced [g], as
in longer. The letter group nk is usually pronounced
[k], as in think, spank.
[ph], [p] pit, pale, poke, top, hip, cap
The very same same rules (in terms of aspirations) that
hold for k hold also for p. It is always aspirated when
it is at the beginning of a stressed syllable and in many
dialects also almost everywhere else, except after s,
e.g. spit, speak.
[r], [] red, rich, rake, boar, care, tour
The correct IPA symbol of the typical English r is [],
unless you mean the rolled Scottish [r]. However, the
vast majority of English dictionaries denote the sound by
[r]. It never appears at the end of a standalone word in
British English (listen to the recordings of the last three
examples), but it is pronounced in British English if the
word is immediately followed by another word beginning
with a vowel. For example, a boar is would be
pronounced approximately the same in American and in
British English.
[s] sit, soap, same, boss, kiss, house
Again, most people have no problem with the sound, but
the way its written may be a source of confusion. It is
usually represented by s, c, sc, ss, but all of
these can be pronounced also differently (s and ss
as [z], c as [k], sc as [sk]) and there is no general
rule which would help you decide which pronunciation is
the correct one. However, you should remember that -s
at the end of a word when it means the third person
singular of a verb (e.g. he goes) or a plural noun (e.g.
beds) is always pronounced as [z], unless it follows an
unvoiced consonant (e.g. bets)then its pronounced
as [s].
[] shy, shot, chef, posh, bush, douche
This sound is created by saying [s] but bending your
tongue further to the upper palate. It is usually
represented by sh, but sometimes also by ch; see my
article on words in which ch is pronounced as sh.
[th], [t] two, tall, tea, hot, bat, put
The very same rules about aspiration that hold for k
and p hold also for t, i.e. it is always aspirated when
it is at the beginning of a stressed syllable (two, tall, tea)
and in many dialects also almost everywhere else, except
after s (e.g. step, still)
[] letter, better, written (Am. English only)
Listen carefully to recordings of speakers in American
English. Where a Brit would say [th], an American often
says something that sounds like a fast touch of [d]. It is
called alveolar flap and is usually represented by a
double t. However, many dictionaries ignore the
distinction and denote it also by [t].
[t] chat, China, choose, rich, catch, much
This sound sounds approximately like [t] and [] together.
It is usually represented by ch or tch in writing, but
ch is also often pronounced [k] and sometimes [].
[v] van, very, vile, stove, leave, save
This sound is the v sound of most languages. The
letter v always represents the sound which you can
hear in the words above, never [w] (as in wow). It is
important to pronounce it as [v] and not as [f] also at the
end of a word; leave and leaf are not pronounced
the same (although the difference is subtle).
[w] we, wow, wax, dwell, swine, twain
This sound must be distinguished from [v]; wary and
vary dont sound the same. It never occurs at the end
of a word, but may appear in the middle. It is usually
represented by the letter w.
[z] zoo, xenon, zoom, is, has, booze
This sound usually causes few pronunciation problems,
but the way its written can be confusing. The letter z
usually represents [z], but x- at the beginning of a
word is also usually pronounced [z], and s at the end
of a word is also often pronounced [z] if it is preceded by
a vowel, but not always.
[] genre, version, measure, garage, equation,
This sound is a softer version of [z]. It is usually
represented by s in -sion, -sure, or by g in -
ge. As far as I know, there is only one English word
which starts with this sound: genre.
The 44 English Phonemes

Index to number references and vowel & consonant

sounds

Vowel Phonemes Consonant Phonemes

01 pit 21 pit

02 pet 22 bit

03 pat 23 time

04 pot 24 door

05 luck 25 cat

06 good 26 get

07 ago 27 fan
08 meat 28 van

09 car 29 think

10 door 30 that

11 girl 31 send

12 too 32 zip

13 day 33 man

14 sky 34 nice

15 boy 35 ring

16 beer 36 leg

17 bear 37 rat

18 tour 38 wet

19 go 39 hat

20 cow 40 yet
41 shop

42 leisur
e

43 chop

44 jump
14) Methodology: Grouping students