SUPRASEGMENTALS

What is a suprasegmentals?
• refers to a phonological property of more than one
sound segment.
• includes stress, pitch, intonation, juncture, and
blending.
• putting relative emphasis to a
certain syllable of a word or
to a certain word in a phrase
or sentences.
• In words, the stress falls on
the vowel sounds, which is
affected by the articulation of
vowel sounds such as length
and pitch.
 Rules in Stressing Syllabic Stress
1. Monosyllabic stress
- The rules in syllabic stressing vary in the number of syllables a
word has. Monosyllabic stress is applied in words that are said in
isolation. These include:

➢whAt? ➢HI!
➢ThEre! ➢WOw!
➢SEE? ➢SO?
➢NO! ➢HellO!
➢LOOK!
 Rules in Stressing Syllabic Stress
2. Bi-syllabic stress
- For words that contain two syllables, bi-syllabic stress is applied. The
words "prism, fActual, and sEldom receive the primary stress on the
first syllable, while the words "resErv,e explore, and estEEM receive
the primary stress on the second syllable.

➢SAMples ➢PERfect
➢AWEsome ➢PURple
➢CARton ➢FLAWless
 Rules in Stressing Syllabic Stress
2. Bi-syllabic stress
- For words that contain two syllables, bi-syllabic stress is applied. The
words "prism, fActual, and sEldom receive the primary stress on the
first syllable, while the words "resErv,e explore, and estEEM receive
the primary stress on the second syllable.

First syllable Stress Second syllable Stress

➢SAMples ➢PERfect ➢reLAX ➢deCIDE
➢AWEsome ➢PURple ➢aBIDE ➢aMONG
➢CARton ➢FLAWles ➢aCCEPT ➢aGAINST
s
 Rules in Stressing Syllabic Stress
3. Multisyllabic stress
- In words with more than two syllables, multisyllabic stress is used.
The stressing is usually suffix-based. Such words end in "er" and "ly",
where stress is placed on the first syllable.

2 syllables (“er” or “ly”) 2 syllables (“y” or consonants)

➢QUARterly ➢MAnager ➢CLArity ➢PETrified
➢GARdener ➢ORderly ➢GRAdient ➢RARity
➢CERtainly ➢Easier ➢GEnerous ➢HASTily
Rules in Stressing Syllabic Stress
-Other words having
three-syllable with
various suffixes are
stressed as follows:
Rules in Stressing Syllabic Stress
-Other three-syllabic EXAMPLES:
words with suffixes –ic, ➢iCONic
-tion, and, sion are
stresset at the second ➢teleVIsion
syllable from the ends ➢GRAPHic
such as: ➢nutrition
➢hyperTENsion
Rules in Stressing Syllabic Stress
-Some three-syllabic words EXAMPLES:
with suffixes –cy, -ty, -ohy, ➢deMOcracy
-gy, and –al are stressed at
the third syllable form the ➢NAUtical
end. ➢geOGgraphy
➢CLArity
➢ALlergy
➢CRItical
Rules in Stressing Syllabic Stress
-by any length,
some words ending
in –ade, -ee, -ese,
-que, -ette, and –
oon are stressed on
the last syllable.
 Rules in Lexical Stress
1. Some words change in stressed syllable when they function
differently. These include:

2. Some derived words undergo a shift in stress and a change in

function and meaning when suffixes are added.
 Rules in Lexical Stress
3. Some derived words retain their primary stress even when suffixes
are added to the root words: These include:
 Rules in Lexical Stress
4. In some proper nouns, the second word usually takes the stress.

5. In reflexive pronouns, the stress is usually on the second syllable.

 PHRASAL STRESS
Phrasal stress is stress assigned beyond
word stress in syntactic collocations of
words, such as phrases, clauses, or
sentences.
 Phrasal Stress
1. Phrasal verbs are two or three-word phrases consisting of a verb
and preposition and should be stressed on the second word.
Examples:
-turn AROUND -work OUT - get IN -hang UP -carry ON
-shut UP - break UP - hurry UP - hand IN

2. When verb and preposition combination is used as a compound

noun, the stress falls on the first word.
Examples:
- HAND - WORK
- KICK - DROP
 Phrasal Stress
3. The first words are stressed in some compound words with noun
and noun combination. These words are also used as a noun.
Examples:
BLACKboard TOOTHpaste BASKETball
ICEland VOLLEYball

4. Compound nouns that are formed through noun and noun

combinations or adjective and noun combinations and used as
nouns are stressed on the second syllable.
Example:
ice-QUEEN fifteen-Minute old-Fashioned barbie-DOLL
 Phrasal Stress
5. In most cases, the nouns carry the main stress.
Examples:
a big HOUSE a beautiful DOG

6. Adjective and noun combination that is treated as one unit, the

adjective takes the main stress.
Examples:
AIRplane machine LOwoerhouse member
STOCKhold manager
 Phrasal Stress
8. In Number stress, if the number is a multiple of ten, the first
syllable takes the stress.
Examples
TEN FIFty ONE-hundred

9. In numbers that end in –teen, the stress falls on the last syllable.
Examples:
fifTEEN thirTEEN
sevenTEEN sixTEEN
 Sentence Stress
Sentence Stress in English is the way a speaker
highlights certain words in each sentence. It helps the
listener focus on important parts and understand the
speaker's meaning.

Types
Tonic Stress
Emphatic Stress
Content Word Stress
 Tonic Stress
• Tonic stress refers to the syllable in a word which receives the most
stress in an intonation unit. An intonation unit has one tonic stress.
 Emphatic Stress
• Emphatic Stress is stressing certain words that carry or change the
emotion and meaning of the sentence.
 Contrastive Stress
• Contrastive stress is used to point out the difference between one
object and another. It tends to be used with determiners such as 'this,
that, these and those’.
• Contrastive stress is also used to bring out a given word in a
sentence, which will also slightly change the meaning.
 Content Word Stress
• Content word stress refers to the stress of “content words” that are
grammatically identified such as the nouns, the verbs, and the
modifiers.

Example:
I will Give you a RING.
 LET’s EXERCISE!
Easy come easy go

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Beggars can’t be choosers

A watched pot never boils.

Don’t bite the hands that feed you.

 PITCH
The primary pieces of suprasegmental
information are the pitch of sounds, the
loudness, and the length. The pitch of a sound
is how high or low it is.