Unit 2_Voice and Accent Lecture 6_PEV113

Voice and
Accent
Lecture 2
Let’s
Learn
Syllables
Word
Stress
Content vs. Function
Words
Sentence
Stress
Introduction
English is a stressed-timed language, it has two types
of stresses in intonation: Word Stress; Sentence Stress.
• Word stress refers to stressing upon a syllable in the

word.
• Sentence stress (also called prosodic stress) refers
to the emphasis placed on certain words within a
sentence.
Syllables
A syllable is an unbroken vowel sound within a word. A vowel sound
contains whichever consonants (and other vowels) are attached to a vowel
to make a certain, distinct sound.
For example, the word blanket has two syllables: blan + ket.
• Sometimes vowels are silent, like in the word grape. Grape has two
vowels but only one syllable.
• Sometimes two vowels combine to make a single sound; this is called a
diphthong. For example, the vowels o + u make an ow sound. The word
proud has two vowels but only one syllable.
Practice
Read Aloud and count the number of syllables in the given
words
1. Celebrate 6. Butterfly
a. 2 b. 3 c. 4 a. 2 b. 3 c. 4
d.5 d.5
2. Vacation 7. Unnecessary
a. 2 b. 3 c. 4 a. 2 b. 3 c. 4
d.5 d.5
3. Conversation 8. Chocolate
a. 2 b. 3 c. 4 a. 2 b. 3 c. 4
d.5 d.5
4. Decision 9. Recommendation
a. 2 b. 3 c. 4 a. 2 b. 3 c. 4
Answers
1. Celebrate - Ce-le-brate (3 6. Butterfly - But-ter-fly (3
syllables) syllables)
2. Vacation - Va-ca-tion (3 7. Unnecessary - Un-ne-ces-sa-
syllables) ry (5 syllables)
3. Conversation - Con-ver-sa-tion 8. Chocolate - Cho-co-late (3
(4 syllables) syllables)
4. Decision - De-ci-sion (3 9. Recommendation - Rec-om-
syllables) mend-a-tion (5 syllables)
5. Photography - Pho-tog-ra-phy 10. Caramel - Car-a-mel (3
(4 syllables) syllables)
Why does word stress matter?
1. Meaning: Stress can change the meaning of a word. For
example, "record" (RE-cord) is a noun, while "record" (re-CORD) is
a verb.
2. Pronunciation: Stress affects the pronunciation of individual

sounds within a word. Unstressed syllables often have reduced
vowels or are pronounced more softly.
3. Intelligibility: Correct stress helps listeners understand words

and sentences more easily. Misplaced stress can lead to confusion
or misinterpretation.
Where to place stress?
Unfortunately, there is no simple rule for determining where
the stress falls in a word. However, words with an affix–a
prefix or a suffix–will typically alter the stress pattern of a
word.
• If a word contains a prefix, such as • One exception to this pattern,
pre-, dis-, ex-, re-, over-, under-, are compound words(nouns),
etc., a good rule to follow is that the the stress will be placed on
stress will fall on the first syllable of the prefix.
the root word.
For example:
For example:
 overcoat –> O-ver-coat
 undo –> unDO
 output –> OUT-put
 overcome –> overCOME
• Suffixes are not quite as nice and neat as prefixes. Suffixes often
results in one of three stress patterns:
1.They are stress-neutral — that is, they do not affect the placement of stress
2. When a word ends in “ic,” “sion” or “tion,” the stress is usually on the
second-to- last syllable. (penult)
Examples:
 creation /cre-A-tion/
 photographic /pho-to-GRA-phic/
3. When a word ends in “cy,” “ty,” “phy,” “gy” and “al,” the stress is often on
the third-to-last syllable. (antepenult)
Examples:
 democracy /de-MO-cra-cy/
 photography /pho-TO-gra-phy/
 logical /LO-gi-cal/
Do the drill
Drill 1: Word Stress in Nouns
Read aloud the following nouns with correct word
stress:
1.Dictionary - dic-TION-ar-y
2.Conversation - con-ver-SA-tion
3.Education - ed-u-CA-tion
Drill 2: Word Stress in Verbs

Read aloud the following verbs with correct word
stress:
1. Communicate - com-mu-NI-cate
2. Authorize - au-THOR-ize
3. Cooperate - co-op-er-ATE
Do the drill
Drill 3: Word Stress in Adjectives
Read aloud the following adjectives with correct word stress:
1. Difficult - dif-FI-cult
2. Interesting - in-TER-est-ing
3. Necessary - ne-ces-SA-ry
Drill 4: Word Stress in Sentences

Read aloud the following sentences with correct word stress:
1. The manager is attending the meeting. - The MAN-ager is at-TEND-ing
the MEET-ing.
2. The company is launching a new product. - The COM-pa-ny is
LAUNCH-ing a NEW PROD-uct.
3. The research team is working on the project. - The RE-search team is
WORK-ing on the PRO-ject.
Do the drill
Drill 5: Word Stress in Paragraphs
Read aloud the following paragraph with correct word stress:
"The marketing department is responsible for promoting the company's

products. The team is working on a new campaign to increase sales.
The manager is attending a meeting to discuss the strategy."
Remember to pay attention to the stressed syllables in each word and

sentence. Practice reading aloud to improve your pronunciation and
intonation!
Content
Results vs. Function Words
Content Words Function Words
Content words are those which Function words are grammatical
carry clear meaning, such as: words that glue a sentence
together, such as:
 MAIN VERBS: go, speak, think
 NOUNS: house, word, idea  AUXILIARY VERBS: are, have,
 ADJECTIVES: big, difficult, can
interesting  PREPOSITIONS: to, from, for
 ADVERBS: slowly, clearly, quite  CONJUNCTIONS: and, but, if
 PRONOUNS: her, I, their
 ARTICLES: a/an, the
Sentence Stress
Sentence stress is generally determined by whether a word is considered a
“content word” or a “function word,” and the vocal space between stressed
words creates the rhythm of a sentence.
Content words will always have at least one syllable that is emphasized in a
sentence, so if a content word only has a single syllable, it will always be
stressed.
Function words, especially those with only one syllable, are commonly (but
not always) unstressed in a sentence—since they are not providing lexical
meaning integral to the sentence
Sentence Stress
For example, in the sentence,
“Bobby wants to walk to the playground”, the particle to, the preposition to,
and the definite article “the” are all said without (or without much) stress.
The content words (Bobby, wants, walk, and playground), on the other
hand, each receive more emphasis to help them stand out and underline
their importance to the meaning of the sentence.
P
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Thank You

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Voice and

• Word stress refers to stressing upon a syllable in the

2. Pronunciation: Stress affects the pronunciation of individual

3. Intelligibility: Correct stress helps listeners understand words

Drill 2: Word Stress in Verbs

Drill 4: Word Stress in Sentences

Read aloud the following paragraph with correct word stress:

"The marketing department is responsible for promoting the company's

Remember to pay attention to the stressed syllables in each word and

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