1. SYLLABLE STRESS/WORD STRESS – LESSON 1
Mentor: Rachel Pearson
Words are made up of syllables.
A syllable is a part of a word with one vowel sound in it.
A vowel sound is
 Any of the vowels as in /æ/, /e/, /ɪ/, /ɒ/, and /ʌ/.
 The schwa /ə/
 A consonant that sounds like a vowel.
For example, the letter 'y' in the word 'twenty' (twen/ty)
 Diphthongs
For example, a/bout, tou/rist
/ɪə/ /eɪ/
/ʊə/ /ɔɪ/
/əʊ/ /eə/
/aɪ/ /aʊ/
In syllable-timed languages, like Bahasa Malayu, each syllable takes roughly the
same amount of time to speak. You can say that all syllables are spoken at the
same pitch and are the same length.
English is completely different. English is a stress timed Language, this means that
the stressed syllables are said at approximately regular intervals, and unstressed
syllables are shortened to fit this rhythm.
Within individual words we have a “stressed” syllable, or a louder, longer syllable,
and “unstressed” or “weak” syllables.
The same applies within sentences, in sentences some words are stressed and
others are not stressed.