04/12/2023
HOW STRESSFUL ARE YOUR WORDS?
Aside from the quality of sound that tells how well you pronounce each phoneme of the English language correctly, one other thing that makes your speech sound unique if you want to speak English like the native speakers do is stress placement.
Syllabic stress (stress at word level) is a unique feature of the English language.
Every English word has a syllable that is pronounced with a longer vowel, higher pitch, more clarity, and a louder voice than the others. This is called the stressed syllable. Sometimes, this syllable is pronounced with a distinct facial expression.
Determining which syllable to stress is often difficult for non-native users of the English language, but then, this is one of the first things people notice when you speak. Speaking with the right stress makes your speech distinct and distinguishes you from the pack.
One mistake common with users of English in Nigeria is mis-stressing words with affixes (prefixes or suffix).
One rule is in almost all cases, you don't stress the prefix or suffix. This means that for compound words composed of a base word and a prefix or a suffix, the stress is almost always on the base word and not the prefix or suffix.
If the base word is a polysyllabic one (having more than one syllable), the stress remains on the syllable it is normally without the prefix or suffix. All you have to note is that you don't leave the base word to stress the prefix or suffix.
A few examples will suffice.
(The letters in uppercase indicate the stressed syllable)
The prefix "un"
UN-a-vail-able ❌
un-a-VAIL-able✅
UN-ac-cep-table ❌
un-ac-CEP-table✅
UN-in-ten-tion-al❌
un-in-TEN-tion-al✅
Prefix "in"
IN-com-plete❌
in-COM-plete✅
IN-suf-fi-cient❌
in-suf-FI-cient✅
IN-ap-pro-pri-ate❌
in-ap-PRO-pri-ate✅
IN-for-mal❌
in-FOR-mal✅
IN-sig-ni-fi-cant❌
in-sig-NI-fi-cant✅
Prefix "non"
NON-stan-dard❌
non-STAN-dard✅
NON-re-new-a-ble❌
non-re-NEW-a-ble✅
NON-fi-nite❌
non-FI-nite✅
NON-na-tive❌
non-NA-tive✅
NON-flam-ma-ble❌
non-FLAM-ma-ble ✅
(Note that the "fla is pronounced /æ/ as flat not "flay")
Prefix "a"
A-sexual❌
a-SEX-ual✅
A-sym-me-try❌
a-sym-ME-tric✅
A-po-li-ti-cal❌
a-po-LI-ti-cal✅
A-tem-po-ral❌
a-TEM-po-ral✅
(note that the prefix "a" is pronounced "ay" in all these words)
Words with suffixes are generally not misstressed
Learn more about stress, rules guiding the correct placement of syllabic stress, and syllabic division in my book — Flashlight on Test of Orals.
I have just about 20 copies left
You can order your copy via https://wa.me/+2347058963580/
Yussuf Ayo
Author, Flashlight on Test of Orals
