English Pronunciation ABC

What is Word Stress?
In English, we do not say each syllable with the same force or strength. In one word, we accentuate ONE syllable. We say one syllable very loudly (big, strong, important) and all the other syllables very quietly.
For a few words, native English speakers don't always "agree" on where to put the stress. For example, some people say teleVIsion and others say TELevision. Another example is: CONtroversy and conTROversy.
English Pronunciation ABC
1. 2. 3. 4. International Phonetic Alphabet Word stress Sentence stress & intonation Other phonetic rules
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) 国际音标（旧称万国音符）是国际 语音学协会（IPA --- International Phonetic Association) 于1888年拟定的 一套为各国语言注音的语音符号。我们 这里所说的国际音标是专门为英语注音 的那一部分标音符号。目前我国通用的 国际音标共有48个, 其中, 元音音标20个， 辅音音标ud following words properly. 1. arise 2. beloved 3. unless 4. magnificent 5. immediately 6. exaggeration 7. species 8. specific 9. obvious 10. parade
Understanding Syllables(音节）
To understand word stress, it helps to understand syllables. Every word is made from syllables. Each word has one, two, three or more syllables. Examples: Dog （dog1） green（green1） quite（quite1） Quiet （qui-et 2） orange (or-ange2） table（ta-ble2） expensive （ex-pen-sive3） interesting（in-ter-est-ing4） realistic（re-al-is-tic4） unexceptional（un-ex-cep-tion-al5) Notice that (with a few rare exceptions) every syllable contains at least one vowel (a, e, i, o or u) or vowel sound.

Answers: 1. a′rise 3. un′less 5. i′mmediately 7. ′species 9. ′obvious
2. be′loved 4. mag′nificent 6. exagge′ration 8. spe′cific 10. pa′rade
Quiz : Read English alphabets correctly
Practice of some difficult sounds
1) [e] [æ ] bed bad; men, man; pen, pan; lend land 2) [i:] [ei] real rail; greet, great; mean, main; read raid 3) [e] [ai] bet bite; red write; said side, head, hide 4) [au] [‫ ]:כ‬house horse; loud lord; south sauce; now nor; count corn; cloud clause 5) [au] [‫ ]כ‬shout fond; gown gone; down done
Sentence stress(句子重音)
(Sentence stress)： 每个词都有它的词重音，一般地 说, 英语中每一个词在孤立的情况下, 不论 是实词还是虚词, 都有词的重音, 即使是单 音节词, 虽然本身没有轻重的对比, 在孤立 的情况下, 也是重读的。但是在连贯言语 中并不是每一个词都保留自己的词重音。
Compound words (words with two parts) Rule for compound nouns, the stress is on the first part Example：BLACKbird, GREENhouse For compound adjectives, the stress is on the second part Example： bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned For compound verbs, the stress is on the second part Example：to underSTAND, to overFLOW
Let's take 3 words as example: photograph, photographer and photographic.
shape
PHO TO GRAPH
PHO TO GRAPH ER
total syllables 3 4 4
stressed syllable #1 #2 #3
PHO TO GRAPH IC
Two Principles: One word, one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. So if you hear two stresses, you have heard two words, not one word.) The stress is always on a vowel.
2. Stress on last syllable in Most 2-syllable verbs Examples: to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE, to beGIN
There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer). More examples: export, import, contract, object, etc.
Some sounds for identifying
1) [v] [w] vet wet; vest west; vine wine; very well 2) [s] [θ] sink think; sort thought; miss myth; mass math 3) [z] [ð] closing clothing; breeze breathe; bays bathes 4) [n] [ŋ ] thin thing; sin sing; ban bang ;win wing; ran rang
Sentence stress
句重音通常是名词、形容 词、副词、实意动词、数词和感叹词。 助动词和情态动词在句尾有重音，在 句首可有可无, 在句子内部则没有。 而冠词、连词、介词和人称代词一般 都不重读。 为了更好地表情达意、突出强调 某个词时应有词重音, 重读不同的词可 表达不同的意思。
3. Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end) Rule: Words ending in –ic Example: GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic, geoLOGic Words ending in -sion and –tion teleVIsion, reveLAtion
4. Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (antepenultimate = third from end)
Rule:Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and – gy Example： deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy, geOLogy Words ending in –al Example： CRItical, geoLOGical
Word Stress in English
Word stress is a magic key to understanding spoken English. Native speakers of English use word stress naturally. Word stress is so natural for them that they don't even know they use it. Non-native speakers who speak English to native speakers without using word stress, encounter two problems: They find it difficult to understand native speakers, especially those speaking fast. The native speakers may find it difficult to understand them.