Some English Stress Mistakes and Solutions - A Phonetic Experimental Research on Vietnamese Students

ss rules for 
English multi-syllabic words, are systemized, as follows 
[[19]]. 
44 Tran Thi Thanh Dieu: Some English Stress Mistakes and Solutions - A Phonetic Experimental 
Research on Vietnamese Students 
 International Journal of Language and Linguistics 2017; 5(2): 39-49 45 
46 Tran Thi Thanh Dieu: Some English Stress Mistakes and Solutions - A Phonetic Experimental 
Research on Vietnamese Students 
 International Journal of Language and Linguistics 2017; 5(2): 39-49 47 
Figure 6. English stress rules. 
From the table of complicated stress rules above, a brief 
summary of key points for recognizing the places of stress in 
English words has been consolidated based on rhythm, melody, 
word types (simple, compound, complex), word class (N, V, 
Adj), and the number of syllable with or without affix, as well 
as syllable structure based on the Rhythmic patterns [[18]]. The 
foundation of English rhythmic patterns is the existence of the 2 
types of syllables: light syllable and heavy syllable, called 
Trochee: Trochee: Trochaic foot with 1 long syllable (= heavy 
syllable = strong syllable = stressed syllable) and 1 short 
syllable (= light syllable = unstressed syllable). Strong syllable 
is a syllable with initial consonant and a complicated rhyme 
which consists of final consonant and a short vowel or long 
vowel or a diphthong as nuclei [[18], p. 125]. On the contrary, a 
light syllable contains a vowel in the rhyme, with or without 
onset but no coda, as the first syllable in the word report, about 
[[18], p. 85]. 
Therefore, based on the distinction between heavy syllable 
and light syllable, word class, and the number of syllable with 
or without affix, as well as syllable structure based on the 
Rhythmic patterns, the characteristics of stressed and unstressed 
syllable have been simply systemized as follows: [[19], p. 119 – 
124]. 

 The main characteristics of the unstressed syllable: 
Syllable containing schwa or short vowel or diphthong 
/
∪/, ending with not more than 1 consonant. 

 The main characteristics of the stressed syllable: the 
syllable containing long vowel or diphthong or ending 
with more than 1 consonant. 

 Especially, no initial syllable in a verb and no final 
syllable in a noun, as well as no prefix are stressed. 
(i). Simple Words: Multi-syllabic Words Without Affix 
(a). Simple disyllabic words: Syllable containing long vowel 
or diphthong or ending with more than 1 consonant is stressed. 
Ex: photo [’f∪t∪], chorale [k ‘r≙:l], comfort [‘kmft]. 
(b). Simple trisyllabic words, with some special points 

 Trisyllabic verb: No initial syllable is stressed. Therefore, 
syllable containing long vowel or diphthong or ending 
with more than 1 consonant is stressed. Ex: entertain 
/[ent ’tein]. 

 Trisyllabicnoun: No final syllable is stressed. Therefore, 
the syllable containing long vowel or diphthong orending 
with more than 1 consonant is stressed. Ex: character 
[‘k∵r∩kt], mimosa [m∩’m∪s]. 
Figure 7. The main characteristics of the stressed and unstressed syllables in 
simple words. 
48 Tran Thi Thanh Dieu: Some English Stress Mistakes and Solutions - A Phonetic Experimental 
Research on Vietnamese Students 
(ii). Complex Word: Multi-syllabic Word with Affix 
(a). Prefix 

 There is no prefix of one or two syllables that always 
carries primary stress. 

 Stress in the word with prefix is governed by the same 
rules as those for words without prefixes. 

 Word-class pairs: The stress will be placed on the second 
syllable of the verb but on the first syllable of the noun or 
Adjective. 
Figure 8. The stress characteristics of prefix. 
(b). Suffix 

 Suffixes carrying primary stress themselves: (-ain, -ee, 
-eer, -ese, -ette, -esque, -ique). Ex: entertain /ent ’tein/; 

 Suffixes that do not affect stress placement: 
(‘-able’,’-age’,’-al’,’-en’,’-fu’,’-ing’). 

 The stress on the syllable immediately preceding the 
suffix: 
(‘ish’‘-like’,’-less’,’-ly’,‘-ment’.‘-ness’,’-ous’,’-fy’,’-wisw
’,’-y’) 

 Suffixes that influence stress in the stem: (‘-eous’, 
‘-graphy’,’-ial’, ‘-ic’, ’-ion’, ‘-ious’, ’-ty’) 
Figure 9. The stress characteristics of suffix. 
(iii). Compound Word: with 2 Roots 
In the compound with 2 Nouns, The 1st syllable is stressed. 
In the other cases, the 2nd syllable is stressed. 
Figure 10. Characteristics of the stressed syllable in compound words. 
4. Conclusion 
In short, English word stress can be recognized by the 
following criteria: 

 Syllable structure characteristics: Only strong syllables 
are stressed. Strong syllables (sometimes called heavy 
syllable) is a syllable which has a complex rhyme, with 
two cases. First, a heavy syllable may have a short vowel, 
but one or more coda consonants. Second, it may have a 
branching nucleus, consisting of a long vowel or 
diphthong; such a syllable will be heavy whether it also 
has a bled coda; 

 Word structure: Simple words is based on the syllable 
structure characteristics to recognize stress. Complex 
word: no prefix is stressed; Suffixes are stressed and 
unstressed, change stressed syllable or not. Compound 
words with 2 nouns are stressed on the first syllable; 
otherwise, the second syllable is stressed; 

 Rhythmic pattern Stress-timed language, with the 
rhythmic pattern based on the regular repetition of the 
stressed syllables: Pattern {F = [S W]}, (F = Foot, S = 
strong, W = weak); 

 Intensity: English word stress can be mainly recognized 
by intensity; therefore, stressed syllable is pronounced 
with much force, also longer (duration), and higher 
(pitch). 
Remembering the four criteria above helps students prevent 
from the three main types of stress errors: (1). Rhythmic error 
(no Rhythmic Pattern {F = [S W]}); (2). Stress placement 
error; and (3). The combination of Rhythmic and Placement 
error. 
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