stress mark

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stress mark

The teacher writes a stress mark above the syllable on the whiteboard.

Definition
  1. Noun:
    • A diacritical mark used in writing or printing to indicate which syllable of a word receives the primary emphasis when spoken. It is a symbol placed above, below, or before a letter to show where the stress or accent falls in pronunciation.
Usage
  • The stress mark is used in phonetic transcriptions, language textbooks, and dictionaries to guide correct pronunciation.
  • It is typically applied to words from languages where stress placement is phonemic (changes meaning) or unpredictable for learners, such as in English, Spanish, or Russian.
  • In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), the primary stress mark is a high vertical line ( ˈ ) placed before the stressed syllable.
Examples
  • In the dictionary, the word "photograph" is shown with a stress mark before the first syllable: ˈphotograph.
  • To pronounce "record" correctly as a noun (RE-cord) versus a verb (re-CORD), you must observe the stress mark.
  • The teacher added a stress mark above the 'a' in the Spanish word "rápido" to indicate the stressed syllable.
Advanced Usage
  • Phonemic Notation: In detailed linguistic analysis, stress marks are part of a broader system of diacritics that can also indicate secondary stress (ˌ) or the absence of stress.
  • Language Teaching: Stress marks are crucial tools for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to help students master word stress patterns, which are often irregular in English.
Variants and Related Words
  • Accent mark: A broader term that can refer to marks indicating stress, pitch, or vowel quality. A stress mark is a specific type of accent mark.
  • Diacritic / Diacritical mark: The general category of small signs added to letters, which includes stress marks, tildes, umlauts, and cedillas.
Synonyms
  • Accent (in the specific sense of a mark indicating stress).
  • Stress indicator.
Related Phrases and Terms
  • Primary stress: The strongest emphasis given to one syllable in a word, indicated by the stress mark ( ˈ ).
  • Secondary stress: A weaker emphasis, often indicated by a low vertical line ( ˌ ) in phonetic notation.
  • Word stress: The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a word; the stress mark visually represents this pattern.
stress mark

The teacher writes a stress mark above the syllable on the whiteboard.

Noun
  1. a mark indicating the stress on a syllable