Word Stress
What is syllable stress and why is it so important? Each word is made up of multiple parts, called syllables. Each separate vowel sound in a word is the center of its own syllable. Let's count the syllables in the word "vacation".
VA. CA. TION.
That's three syllables. Another way of thinking about it is in terms of beats on a drum. It's helpful to use your hands to count the syllables. Tap your hand on a table or your lap. VA. CA. TION. One. Two. Three.
Now, not every syllable in the word "vacation" is spoken with equal energy. Some parts are louder, longer, and higher in pitch, while others are quiet and rushed. For vacation, it's the second syllable that gets more energy.
va. CA. tion. (sounds like: /vay KAY shuhn/)
You make /KAY/ much louder and longer compared with the other parts of the word. This is really important when speaking English because English listeners have expectations about the rhythm of every word. Research shows that English-speaking listeners use predictable syllable stress to separate the words they hear and analyze a sentence.
If you don't get the stress JUST right, listeners will often misunderstand you. This is something that is not often covered in ESL classes, and I'm not sure why. It's SO important! Every word in English has its own stress pattern that you just have to memorize.
Luckily, there are some predictable patterns you can learn to help you memorize the stress and rhythm of English words. Let's start with "vacation". You'll notice that the second syllable in this word has the greatest stress: /vay KAY shuhn/. Compare "vacation" to this word:
Celebration: ce. le. BRA. tion. (sounds like /seh leh BRAY shuhn/)
Do you see a pattern? Here's the rule:
Stress Rule: When a word ends in -ion, stress the syllable just before the -ion ending.
That's it! Easy right? Here are a few more examples:
collaboration: co. lla. bo. RA. tion (sounds like /kuh lae buh RAY shuhn/)
anticipation: an. ti. ci. PA. tion (sounds like /aen tih sih PAY shuhn/)
emancipation: e. man. ci. PA. tion (sounds like /ih maen sih PAY shuhn/)
These words all follow the same stress pattern. There are many rules like this that you can learn to help you memorize the stress patterns of English.