Word Stress

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In this section, we continue with:

• three kinds of word stress
• pronunciation of the -ed ending
• stress and meaning (verb/noun)
• verb and noun/adjective alternation

THREE KINDS OF WORD STRESS

Syllables with primary stress are in uppercase.
Syllables with secondary stress are in lowercase.
Syllables with reduced stress have a line through them.

Listen to the following examples. Each word is said twice. Practice saying the words using the rubber band technique.

INtellect
exPOnent
transPARent
OScilate
eQUIPment
preLIminary

Listen to the following words. Each unstressed vowel (schwa), has a line through it. Each syllable with primary stress is in uppercase. Remember...

1. METHod 2. RANdom 3. STAtus

4. comPOnent 5. VErify 6. maTErial

7. phiLOsophy 8. inDIgenous 9. CHALlenge

10. deFIcient 11. exPLIcit 12. inCORporate

Listen to these words in sentences:

1. Which METHod do you use to code data?
2. Informants were selected at RANdom.
3. In some societies, there is a direct relationship between one's social STAtus and one's wealth.
4. It's a one-year course that includes four comPOnents.
5. We'll have to VErify the figures before submitting the final document.
6. A porous maTERial is not optimal for our experiment.

   (Click again)

7. Ethnographers may identify differences in phiLOsophy and culture.
8. The maple tree is inDIgenous to Canada.
9. I'm interested in knowing who will CHALlenge Prime Minister Chrétien in the next election.
10. Those who are iron deFIcient may want to eat spinach and take iron supplements.
11. Instructions must be exPLIcit in order to avoid misunderstandings.
12. You are encouraged to inCORporate text and images.

Find one word in each group that has a different stress pattern.

1. authorize concentrate correspond deviate

2. assess complex comply occur

3. alternative arbitrary manipulate parenthesis

4. denominator intermediate perpendicular rudimentary

ANSWERS

PRONUNCIATION OF THE -ED ENDING

N.B. & = schwa

Listen to the following sentences. Does the last sound in the italicized word sound like /t/, /d/ or /&d/?

• Results from the two studies overlapped.
• The author defined the terms in the introduction.
• The graph illustrates how sales fluctuated over the year.

Listen to the following verb pairs. Using the rules discussed in class, arrange them into the three categories. If you're not sure, count the number of syllables in the verb before adding -ed and after adding -ed.

depress; depressed
use; used
release; released
save; saved
stipulate; stipulated
trace; traced
precede: preceded
analyze; analyzed
compensate; compensated

Listen to the verbs in the following sentences. Try classifying them into the three categories.

1. I presented my study results last week.
2. An investigation exposed corruption in the department.
3. My dissertation should have been finished weeks ago.
4. The substance evaporated within minutes.
5. Earlier studies have been concerned with variation in learning strategies.
6. We validated our findings through triangulation.
7. Previous studies have discussed acculturation in unfamiliar environments.
8. Two raters coded the data to ensure inter-rater reliability.

STRESS AND MEANING

Listen to the difference in stress between nouns and verbs.

1. He's working on a difficult PROject.
2. They proJECT it will take six months to finish.
3. The product is a REject because it doesn't pass quality control.
4. We can now reJECT the hypothesis.
5. Two students were suspended for unprofessional CONduct.
6. We must conDUCT the experiment with an even number of subjects.

Go to The University Word List, Xue & Nation, 1984. How many more words can you find that follow this pattern? Check a dictionary if you're not sure.

VERB and NOUN/ADJECTIVE ALTERNATION

Listen. The pairs are said three times.

Verb form: GRAduate /eyt/
Adjective form: GRAduate /&t/

Listen to the difference in the following examples:

When are you going to GRAduate? /eyt/
Are you a GRAduate of University of Toronto? /&t/

We can only apPROroximate the number of molecules. /eyt/
What's the apPROximate number of molecules? /&t/

Listen to other words that follow this pattern. The verb form will be said first.

advocate alternate

appropriate approximate

articulate coordinate

deliberate duplicate

elaborate estimate

moderate subordinate

PRACTICE

• Choose a paragraph from one of your academic readings.
  
• Read through it and with a coloured highlighter, highlight the primary stress in words of two or more syllables.
• Read through the paragraph again and cross out all the schwa sounds. You may need a dictionary to check some of the sounds.
  
• Practice reading the paragraph aloud.