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Stress

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Extra prominence given to one syllable relative to nearby syllables.

In precise terms

Stress is a prosodic prominence relation among syllables. In spoken languages it may be realised through a language-specific combination of pitch, duration and intensity; its placement may be predictable or lexically contrastive.

An example

ˈCV.CV · CV.ˈCV (schematic)

What is going on here

The IPA mark [ˈ] appears before the onset of the syllable with primary stress. These schematic forms contain the same sequence of consonants and vowels but place prominence on different syllables; whether that difference changes a word's identity depends on the language.

Why this matters when you are learning a language

A dictionary's stress mark tells you more than which syllable to say louder. Learners need to notice the cues their target language uses and whether stress follows a rule or belongs to the stored form of each word.

Across languages

Languages differ both in where stress can fall and in how listeners perceive it. Some assign stress predictably from syllable structure or word edges; others use lexical stress, so a change in placement can distinguish words. The balance of pitch, duration and intensity also varies.

Related terms

  • SyllableAdvanced — A sound unit organised around a central peak, with optional sounds before or after it.
  • PhonemeAdvanced — A sound unit that can change one word into another in a given language.
  • Minimal pairAdvanced — Two words or signs with different meanings that differ in exactly one sound or sign parameter.
  • AllophoneAdvanced — One of the predictable pronunciations of a single phoneme, chosen by its environment.
  • ToneAdvanced — A language-specific pitch pattern on a syllable or word that can distinguish meaning.
  • CliticAdvanced — A small grammatical form that cannot stand prosodically on its own and leans on a neighbouring word.

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