© 2015 Tarle Speech1 Introduction to Word Stress in American English Jennifer Tarle M.A. CCC-SLP

Components of Speaking Clarity © 2015 Tarle Speech2 Sounds Consonants Vowels Words Syllable Stress Nouns Verbs Compound Nouns Phrasal Verbs Phrase/Sentences Intonation Content Words Function Words Focus Word

Syllables © 2015 Tarle Speech3 Word or part of a word with a vowel CVC pen, pack, men CV me, my, see VC up, at, on V I, you, oh Syllables can stand alone, or be combined into words Jen (1: jen) Jenny (2: je-nee) Jennifer (3: jen-uh-fer) Beat of a word

© 2015 Tarle Speech4 Syllable Timing Syllable Timed l Each syllable have the same length l French, Spanish, Cantonese, Italian Stressed Timed l Each syllable has a different length l Length is related to vowel length and reductions l English, Russian, Portuguese

How to Add Stress © 2015 Tarle Speech5 STRESSED Louder Longer Focus on the vowels Higher There is a stressed syllable in every word UNSTRESSED Softer Shorter Reduce or shorten the vowels Lower *Be sure to use all three to mark stress-do NOT rely only on pitch

Tips for Word Stress © 2015 Tarle Speech6

7 Two Syllable Words In two syllable words: FIRST syllable is stressed in NOUNS and ADJECTIVES l RECord l PROduce l OBject l PREsent SECOND syllable is stressed in VERBS l reCORD l proDUCE l obJECT l preSENT Listen, Repeat, Try it! l REcord; reCORD; I will record your score in the official record. l PROduce; proDUCE; The grocery store produces a profit from produce sales. l OBject; obJECT; The lawyer will object to that object as evidence. l PREsent; preSENT; My father will present the present at the party.

© 2015 Tarle Speech8 Two Word Combinations FIRST word is stressed Compound Nouns White, house, White House Cup, cake, Cup cake Security, Badge, Security Badge SECOND word is stressed Phrasal Verbs Come, back, come back Look, out, look out Take, out, take out l Compound Adjectives Bright, red, bright red Light, blue, light blue Old, fashioned, old fashioned TIP: Link the word combinations together into “one word”- eliminate pause between words Listen, Repeat, Try it! l I love cupcakes. l Take out your pencils. l The light blue dress is pretty.

Prefix and Suffixes © 2015 Tarle Speech9 Adding a prefix or suffix changes the tempo of the word l Each syllable requires a different length l Suffixes may change the syllable stress pattern Prefixes added BEFORE a root word generally not stressed Delete Retract Disarm Mistake Suffixes added AFTER a root word generally not stressed Rules Stress the syllable before the suffix in words ending in -ic, -sion/tion, ious Graphic, discussion, conscious Stress the syllable 2 before the suffix in words ending in –cy, -ty, - phy, -gy, -al, -ise, -ate Sanity, critical, advertise, communicate

Prefix and Suffixes © 2015 Tarle Speech10 Happy-unhappy-unhappily Interest-disinterest-disinterested Thermo-thermometer Form, reform, reformation Listen, Repeat, Try it! CommuniCAtion ComMUNicate ComMUNity Her ability to communicate helped the community improve neighbor communication.

Schwa © 2015 Tarle Speech11 Short, relaxed vowel: “uh” Allows a syllable to be spoken quickly Occurs in An unstressed syllable in multi-syllable word (celebrate) An unstressed function word in sentences (to the store) Tip: relax your mouth keep your tongue relaxed and in the middle of the mouth make the sound short listen for the sound-it can be spelled a, e, i, o, u, y Listen, Repeat, Try it! Amazing Happily Jennifer California Jennifer happily agreed to go on a trip to California. She always wanted to see the amazing scenery of Yosemite National Park.

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