168: Stress pronunciation patterns in 3-syllable words

Main stress, secondary stress, and schwa, all in one word

Transcript

Hi again, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 168th episode.

Today we're returning to the concept of schwa. Specifically, we're going to study it in 3-syllable words.

We talked before about schwa in 2-syllable words and it was pretty straightforward. When we have a 2-syllable word, we know that one syllable will be stressed. This means it is pronounced louder and for more time than any other syllable of the word. We can expect the other syllable to be reduced, often to a quick (schwa). The position of the mouth during the pronunciation of schwa is pretty much the same as it is for the short u sound (short u). That position is very neutral and allows the pronunciation to occur quickly.

When we look at 3-syllable words, however, syllable stress gets a little more complicated. First, there is obviously one more syllable where the stress can fall. Second, schwa usually occurs next to the stressed syllable. This can cause schwa to occur twice in one word. For example, the word banana is a 3-syllable word and the stress is on the middle syllable. Both the first and third syllable of banana are reduced to schwa. Listen as I break the word apart into individual syllables: ba-na-na, banana.

Listen to some other words with a pattern of schwa-main stress-schwa:

agenda
opponent
consistent

Now let's say we have a 3-syllable word with the stress falling on the first syllable. Let's use the word emphasis as an example. Since the first syllable is stressed (pronounced em), we can expect schwa to occur on the second syllable. That syllable is reduced to a quick pha. But then what happens to the third syllable? Because of the nature of the rhythm of English, we don't usually reduce two syllables in a row. So the third syllable will not be stressed because the stressed syllable is already taken, nor will it be reduced. Instead, it'll be pronounced with what we call a secondary stress. Secondarily stressed syllables are pronounced louder than unstressed syllables, but not as loudly as the syllable with the main stress. Secondarily stressed syllables are also more likely to be phonetic, meaning they will be pronounced closer to what the spelling suggests. So the word emphasis, with the stress on the first syllable, a reduced second syllable, and a secondarily stressed third syllable, is a nice, phonetic word. Once we know where the stress is, the pronunciation of the rest of the word falls into place.

Listen to some other words with the pattern of main stress-schwa-secondary stress:

positive
revenue
allocate

Of course, another possibility is that a 3-syllable word is stressed on the final syllable. This again will allow us to predict that the middle syllable will be reduced to schwa. Now the first syllable is likely to have a secondary stress. Take the word volunteer: The third syllable is stressed. It's pronounced teer. The middle syllable becomes a very quick (schwa). It is pronounced un. The first syllable is pronounced with a short o sound, which is one of the pronunciations we can guess if we know all the patterns for the letter o. So the first syllable is pronounced vol. Putting that all together, we get volunteer.

Listen to some other three-syllable words with a stress pattern of secondary stress-schwa-main stress:

referee
recommend
kangaroo

So while reduced vowels and schwa seem to make words difficult to pronounce, they actually make the pronunciation much more predictable. The hardest part now is knowing which syllable to stress. There are patterns for this, also, although we're not going to get into them today. If you're curious, you can visit the stress lessons on Pronuncian.com. There isn't a pattern for every word, but quite a few do have patterns, and understanding those patterns can make understanding pronunciation a lot easier!

To practice, I'm going to say all of the example words again, leaving time for you to repeat after me. Try to pronounce the words using the same stress patterns as I am using.

First, schwa-stress-schwa:

banana
agenda
opponent
consistent

Now stress-schwa-secondary stress:

emphasis
positive
revenue
allocate

And finally, secondary stress-schwa-stress:

volunteer
referee
recommend
kangaroo

To everyone out there celebrating the holidays right now, we want to wish you a safe, peaceful, and fun holiday season. And we hope that the only stress you are thinking about right now is syllable stress, and not emotional stress. We'll talk again in 2013, so if you're celebrating New Year's on December 31th, have a wonderfully happy New Year's celebration, too.

That's all for today, everyone. This has been a Seattle Learning Academy Digital publication. Seattle Learning Academy is where the world comes to learn.

Thanks for listening. Bye-bye.