VOA慢速英语2019--The Rules of Word Stress, Part 2

 

You may remember last week’s program, in which I talked about rules of English word stress for two-syllable¹ words. If you missed that program, take a few minutes to read and listen to it first and then join us here.

This week, we continue talking about word stress, based on a question from our reader Larissa.

Answer:

Hi again, Larissa! Let’s begin with three-syllable words.

Ending in –er and -ly

Three-syllable words that end in –er and –ly often stress the first syllable. Listen to some examples:

readily

quietly

perfectly²

manager

gardener

busier

Note these words are a mix of adverbs, adjectives and nouns. But the part of speech is not important here. We are focused on word endings.

Ending in –ic, –tion and –sion

Next: Words ending in –ic, –tion and –sion usually have their stress on the second-to-last syllable. This is true for words with three or more syllables³. Listen carefully. Word meaning is not important here:

embryonic⁴

catatonic

organization

rendition

permission

indecision

Ending in –al, –gy, –cy, –ty and –phy

Several other word endings decide word stress. They are –al, –gy, –cy, –ty and –phy. For these, the stress is on the third-to-last syllable.

That sounds complex, but it’s easier than you think. For example, here is a word you’ve probably heard often: photography.

Listen to a few more:

entomology

democracy

physical

morbidity⁵

autobiography⁶

Things to know

Kind in mind a few things as you learn and practice English word stress.

First: Some multi-syllable words have two stresses. We call them primary stress (the main, louder stress) and secondary stress (the lower, softer stress). Take the word “alligator.” It has four syllables. The primary stress is on the first syllable. But the third syllable does have a softer, secondary stress.

Second: In English, we stress only vowel⁷ sounds. We do not stress consonants⁹. For instance, in the word “photography,” I stressed the second vowel (?). I said it louder and longer than the other vowels¹⁰. Listen again: photography.

The unstressed syllables are low, fast and often unclear.

And that brings us to our last point: It may feel strange to say some parts of a word lower, quicker and less clear than other parts but, with practice, it will begin to feel more natural.

And that’s Ask a Teacher.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

syllable – n. any one of the parts into which a word is naturally divided when it is pronounced?

practice – v. to do something again and again in order to become better at it

multi – adj. many

vowel – n. a letter (such as a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y in English) that represents a vowel

consonant⁸ – n. any letter of the English alphabet except a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y

1 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

2 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 syllables   

n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a word with two syllables 双音节单词
• 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓，它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

4 embryonic   

adj.胚胎的

参考例句：

• It is still in an embryonic stage.它还处于萌芽阶段。
• The plan,as yet,only exists in embryonic form.这个计划迄今为止还只是在酝酿之中。

5 morbidity   

n.病态；不健全；发病；发病率

参考例句：

• MC's also significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality induced by honeybee venom. 肥大细胞同样也能显著降低蜜蜂毒液诱发疾病的发病率和死亡率。 来自互联网
• The result shows that incidence of myopia morbidity is 44.84%. 结果表明：近视眼的发病率为44.84%。 来自互联网

6 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

7 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。

8 consonant   

n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的

参考例句：

• The quality of this suit isn't quite consonant with its price.这套衣服的质量和价钱不相称。
• These are common consonant clusters at the beginning of words.这些单词的开头有相同辅音组合。

9 consonants   

n.辅音，子音( consonant的名词复数 )；辅音字母

参考例句：

• Consonants are frequently assimilated to neighboring consonants. 辅音往往被其邻近的辅音同化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 vowels   

n.元音，元音字母( vowel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Note the various sounds of vowels followed by r. 注意r跟随的各种元音的发音。 来自超越目标英语 第3册