THE WORD STRESS IN SPANISH WORDS

In Spanish the stress in words depends on how the word ends. If the word ends in an -s or an -n or a vowel, then the word stress is on the last but one syllable, otherwise on the last syllable. Syllables with an accent always have the stress. Read more for a more comprehensive explanation...

Which syllable has the stress?

Does the word end in an -s or an -n or a vowel? Then the word stress is on the last syllable but one:

banco

dentista

viven

libros

señora

If the word only exists of one syllable, then the stress is on that syllable, for example:

ya

Does the word end in a consonant (not -s or -n)? Then the word stress is on the last syllable, for example:

bruñir

Madrid

señor

ordenador

If a vowel has an acute accent (acento agudo), then that syllable always has the word stress, for example:

teléfono

también

Córdoba

información

cállate

Málaga

There are strong vowels (a, e, o) and weak vowels (i, y, u). A weak and strong vowel standing together are considered one vowel which is called a diphtong (diptongo). For example:

hielo

fuerte

cuando

prefiero

The verb preferir isn't the only verb with a diphtong in the conjugation. Many more verbs have a stem change. See the verb categories with diphtong ie and diphtong ue.

If the weak vowel is separated from the strong vowel with an accent the vowel with the accent receives the stress:

vacío

día

reúno

VIDEO:

  Segmental vs. Suprasegmental

So far, we have mainly been looking at features concerning individual sounds or phonemes. If we investigate phonetic or phonological detail in this way, we are working on the segmental level since each phoneme is usually assumed to be one segment of speech. Once we move on to look at largerchunks of speech that span a number of segments, such as whole words or phrases, etc., we are dealing with features on the suprasegmental level. As suprasegmental phonetics & phonology represent fairly complex areas of research, we can only explore them very superficially here by taking a brief look at the two phenomena of word stress and intonation.

Word Stress

In polysyllabic words, one or more syllables tend to have a higher emphasis on them than others. This penomenon is known as word stress, as opposed to emphasising particular words within a larger unit, such as a clause, which is usually referred to as sentence stress. Word stress can sometimes be used distinctively, e.g. in distinguishing between homograph verbs and nouns, such as /ˈpɜ:mɪt/ and /pəˈmɪt/. Most systems usually at least distinguish between three levels of stress, primary (indicated by ˈ), secondary (indicated by ˌ) and unstressed, but a few also include a tertiary level.

Exercise

Think of some further examples of words that may be distinguished through their stress patterns.

Intonation

In intonation, the frequency of vibration of the vocal folds is modulated in order to achieve particular effects on the speaker. These effects may beattitudinal, in that e.g. a relatively level intonation may convey boredom, or serve to distinguish between syntactic units of declarative/imperative vs. interrogative nature. In the latter case, the ‘declarative’ types are often assumed to be signalled by a falling intonation contour, whereas a rising contour is said to convey an interrogative character, although this is certainly not true for all accents of English. A further function of intonation is to convey incompleteness (rising or level tone), e.g. in lists, as opposed to finality (falling tone), which can be used as structuring devices.

VIDEO:

Minimal Pairs

A minimal pair is a pair of words which differ only in one sound. They are a great way to help your students become more aware of their difficulties with pronunciation. For example, Spanish students often struggle with the pairs "sheet" and "seat", or "cat" and "cut". They can really improve their pronunciation by practising these pairs.

For ways to use these with your students, see my minimal pairs activities page.

   

æ	ʌ
cat	cut
ankle	uncle
ran	run
drank	drunk
match	much

ɜ:	ɔ:
work	walk
bird	bored
fur	for
shirt	short
sir	saw

ʃ	s
ship	sip
she	sea
sure	sore
shoot	suit
shy	sigh

t	θ
tin	thin
true	through
tree	three
taught	thought
boat	both

r	l
fry	fly
right	light
grammar	glamour
wrong	long
wrist	list

v	b
vote	boat
very	berry
van	ban
vest	best
vet	bet

ɪ	i:
ship	sheep
it	eat
hit	heat
bin	bean
live	leave

æ	eɪ
hat	hate
mad	made
lack	lake
back	bake
cap	cape

s	z
sip	zip
sue	zoo
place	plays
rice	rise
ice	eyes

s	θ
sin	thin
sum	thumb
sank	thank
sink	think
saw	thaw

ŋk	ŋ
think	thing
sank	sang
bank	bang
rink	ring
sunk	sung

p	b
pin	bin
pest	best
pig	big
pit	bit
poured	bored

æ	e
bat	bet
dad	dead
pack	peck
sad	said
tan	ten

ɑ:	ɔ:
far	four
tart	taught
part	port
farm	form
barn	born

ʃ	tʃ
shoes	choose
sheep	cheap
wash	watch
mash	match
cash	catch

d	ð
doze	those
day	they
dare	there
den	then
dough	though

w	v
wine	vine
west	vest
while	vile
wet	vet
wary	vary

p	f
poor	four
pair	fair
pine	fine
pill	fill
please	fleas

 

 VIDEO: 

THE SOUNDS OF ENGLISH AND THE INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET 

This chart contains all the sounds (phonemes) used in the English language. For each sound, it gives:

• The symbol from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as used inphonetic transcriptions in modern dictionaries for English learners — that is, in A. C. Gimson’s phonemic system with a few additional symbols.
  The chart represents British and American phonemes with one symbol. One symbol can mean two different phonemes in American and British English. See the footnotes for British-only and American-only symbols.
• Two English words which use the sound. The underline shows where the sound is heard.
• The links labeled AM and BR play sound recordings where the words are pronounced in American and British English. The British version is given only where it is very different from the American version.

To print the chart, use the printable PDF version.

vowels

IPA	examples	listen
ʌ	CUP, LUCK	AM
ɑ:	ARM, FATHER	AM BR
æ	CAT, BLACK	AM
e	MET, BED	AM	1
ə	AWAY, CINEMA	AM	2
ɜ:ʳ	TURN, LEARN	AM BR	2
ɪ	HIT, SITTING	AM
i:	SEE, HEAT	AM
ɒ	HOT, ROCK	AM BR	3
ɔ:	CALL, FOUR	AM BR	4 5
ʊ	PUT, COULD	AM
u:	BLUE, FOOD	AM
aɪ	FIVE, EYE	AM
aʊ	NOW, OUT	AM
eɪ	SAY, EIGHT	AM
oʊ	GO, HOME	AM	6
ɔɪ	BOY, JOIN	AM
eəʳ	WHERE, AIR	AM BR	1 7
ɪəʳ	NEAR, HERE	AM BR	7
ʊəʳ	PURE, TOURIST	AM BR	7

consonants

IPA	examples	listen
b	BAD, LAB	AM
d	DID, LADY	AM
f	FIND, IF	AM
g	GIVE, FLAG	AM
h	HOW, HELLO	AM
j	YES, YELLOW	AM
k	CAT, BACK	AM
l	LEG, LITTLE	AM
m	MAN, LEMON	AM
n	NO, TEN	AM
ŋ	SING, FINGER	AM
p	PET, MAP	AM
r	RED, TRY	AM	8
s	SUN, MISS	AM
ʃ	SHE, CRASH	AM
t	TEA, GETTING	AM	9
tʃ	CHECK, CHURCH	AM
θ	THINK, BOTH	AM
ð	THIS, MOTHER	AM
v	VOICE, FIVE	AM
w	WET, WINDOW	AM
z	ZOO, LAZY	AM
ʒ	PLEASURE, VISION	AM
dʒ	JUST, LARGE	AM

1. 1.Almost all dictionaries use the e symbol for the vowel in BED. The problem with this convention is that e in the IPA does not stand for the vowel in BED; it stands for a different vowel that is heard, for example, in the German word SEELE. The “proper” symbol for the BED-vowel is ɛ (do not confuse with ɜ:). The same goes for eə vs. ɛə.
2. 2.In əʳ and ɜ:ʳ, the ʳ is not pronounced in BrE, unless the sound comes before a vowel (as inANSWERING, ANSWER IT). In AmE, the ʳ is always pronounced, and the sounds are sometimes written as ɚ and ɝ.
3. 3.In AmE, ɑ: and ɒ are one vowel, so CALM and COT have the same vowel. In American transcriptions, HOT is written as hɑ:t.
4. 4.About 40% of Americans pronounce ɔ: the same way as ɑ:, so that CAUGHT and COT have the same vowel. See cot-caught merger.
5. 5.In American transcriptions, ɔ: is often written as ɒ: (e.g. LAW = lɒ:), unless it is followed by r, in which case it remains an ɔ:.
6. 6.In British transcriptions, oʊ is usually represented as əʊ. For some BrE speakers, oʊ is more appropriate (they use a rounded vowel) — for others, the proper symbol is əʊ. For American speakers, oʊ is usually more accurate.
7. 7.In eəʳ ɪəʳ ʊəʳ, the r is not pronounced in BrE, unless the sound comes before a vowel (as inDEAREST, DEAR ANN). In AmE, the r is always pronounced, and the sounds are often written as erɪr ʊr.
8. 8.All dictionaries use the r symbol for the first sound in RED. The problem with this convention is thatr in the IPA does not stand for the British or American R; it stands for the “hard” R that is heard, for example, in the Spanish word REY or Italian VERO. The “proper” symbol for the RED-consonant isɹ. The reason r is used instead is that it’s easier to type and read.
9. 9.In American English, t is often pronounced as a flap t, which sounds like d or (more accurately) like the quick, hard r heard e.g. in the Spanish word PERO. For example: LETTER. Some dictionaries use the t ̬ symbol for the flap t.

special symbols

IPA	what it means
ˈ	The vertical line (ˈ) is used to show word stress. It is placed before the stressed syllable in a word. For example, /ˈkɒntrækt/ is pronounced like this, and/kənˈtrækt/ like that. Word stress is explained in our article about phonetic transcription.
ʳ	ʳ means that r is always pronounced in American English, but not in British English. For example, if we write that FAR is pronounced /fɑ:ʳ/, we mean that it is pronounced /fɑ:r/ in American English, and /fɑ:/ in British English. However, in BrE, r will be heard if ʳ is followed by a vowel. For example,FAR GONE is pronounced /ˈfɑ: ˈgɒn/ in BrE, but FAR OUT is pronounced/ˈfɑ: ˈraʊt/.
i	i is usually pronounced like a shorter version of i:, but sometimes (especially in an old-fashioned British accent) it can sound like ɪ. Examples: VERY /ˈveri/,CREATE /kriˈeɪt/, PREVIOUS /ˈpri:viəs/, ABILITY /əˈbɪlɪti/.
əl	əl represents either a syllabic l or, less commonly, əl. Syllabic l is an l which acts as a vowel and forms a syllable, as in LITTLE /ˈlɪtəl/, UNCLE /ˈʌŋkəl/. Instead of əl, some dictionaries use a regular l, as in /ˈlɪtl/.
ən	ən represents either a syllabic n or, less commonly, ən. Syllabic n is an n which acts as a vowel and forms a syllable, as in WRITTEN /ˈrɪtən/, LISTEN /ˈlɪsən/. Instead of ən, some dictionaries use a regular n, as in /ˈrɪtn/.

Does this chart list all the sounds that you can hear in British and American English?

No. This page contains symbols used in phonetic transcriptions in modern dictionaries for English learners. It does not list all the possible sounds in American or British English.

For example, this page does not list the regular t (heard in thispronunciation of LETTER) and the flap t (heard in this one) with separate symbols. It groups them under a single symbol: t. (In other words, it groups a number of similar sounds under a single phoneme, for simplicity. To understand how sounds are grouped into phonemes, read the article onphonemic transcription.)

So this page actually lists phonemes (groups of sounds), not individual sounds.Each symbol in the chart can correspond to many different (but similar) sounds, depending on the word and the speaker’s accent.

Take the phoneme p in the above chart. It occurs in the phonemic transcriptions of PIN /pɪn/ and SPIN /spɪn/. In PIN, this phoneme is pronounced with aspiration (breathing). This “aspirated p” sound has its own special symbol in the IPA: pʰ. In SPIN, the phoneme is pronounced “normally”; this “normal p” sound is represented by p in the IPA. So the pphoneme represents two sounds: p and pʰ. (This can be confusing, because pcan mean both the p phoneme and the p sound.)

      Typing the phonetic symbols

You won’t find phonetic symbols on your computer’s keyboard. How do you type them in a Word document, e-mail message, or SRS collection?

• You can use my free IPA phonetic keyboard at ipa.typeit.org. It enables you to type your transcriptions online, and copy & paste them to your document. This works well if you type phonetic transcriptions occasionally. However, if you do it frequently, it is not very efficient because every time you want to type something, you have to switch to your browser, then copy & paste your text.
• You can use my app – TypeIt for Windows($12.50). It lets you type IPA phonetic transcriptions directly in any application or website. If you type phonetic transcriptions regularly, especially if you use them in your SRS, I would definitely recommend that you get the app, as it is inexpensive and it is the easiest, fastest way to type IPA symbols on your PC.

You can also use the ASCII Phonetic Alphabet, which represents IPA symbols with “normal” characters that you can type on your keyboard. The ASCII Phonetic Alphabet is not a standard system, but you can type it fast without special software.

Learning to pronounce the sounds

I have developed English pronunciation softwarecalled PerfectPronunciation which teaches learners to pronounce the most frequently used English words. It lets you listen to examples of English sounds, practice your pronunciation, and review your knowledge. PerfectPronunciation uses the ASCII Phonetic Alphabet.