Stress (linguistics) - Spelling and Notation For Stress

Spelling and Notation For Stress

The orthographies of some languages include devices for indicating the position of lexical stress. Some examples are listed below.

• In Modern Greek, all polysyllables are written with an acute accent over the vowel in the stressed syllable. (The acute accent is also used on some monosyllables in order to distinguish homographs, as in η ("the") and ή ("or"); here the stress of the two words is the same.)
• In Spanish orthography, stress may be written explicitly with a single acute accent on a vowel. Stressed antepenultimate syllables are always written with this accent mark, as in árabe. If the last syllable is stressed, the accent mark is used if the word ends in the letters n, s, or a vowel, as in está. If the penultimate syllable is stressed, the accent is used if the word ends in any other letter, as in cárcel. That is, if a word is written without an accent mark, the stress is on the penult if the last letter is a vowel, n, or s, but on the final syllable if the word ends in any other letter. However as in Greek, the acute accent is also used for some words to distinguish various syntactical uses (e.g. té "tea" vs. te a form of the pronoun tú; dónde "where" as a pronoun or wh-complement, donde "where" as an adverb).
• In Portuguese, stress is sometimes indicated explicitly with an acute accent (for i, u, and open a, e, o), or circumflex (for close a, e, o). In diphthongs, when marked, the semivowel (or the semivowels) never receives the accent mark. Stress is not marked with diacritics when it can be otherwise predicted from spelling: it is marked only on uncommon pronunciation of pattern of letters.
• In Italian, the graphic accent is needed in words ending with an accented vowel, eg città, "city", and in some monosyllabic words which might otherwise be confused with other words, like là ("there") and la ("the"). It may (but by no means must) be written on any vowel when there is a possibility of misunderstanding, for instance condomìni ("condominiums") and condòmini ("joint owners"). See Italian alphabet: Diacritics.

In many languages, various typographical devices (such as italicization) may be used to place emphasis on particular words in written text; see Emphasis (typography). These can function to some extent as equivalents to or ways of representing the prosodic stress used to emphasize words while speaking.

Though not part of normal orthography, a number of devices exist that are used by linguists and others to indicate the position of stress (and syllabification in some cases) when it is desirable to do so. Some of these are listed here.

• In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), primary stress is indicated by a high vertical line before the syllable, secondary stress by a low vertical line. Example: or /sɪˌlæbəfɪˈkeɪʃən/. Extra stress can be indicated by doubling the symbol: ˈˈ◌.
• Linguists frequently mark primary stress with an acute accent over the vowel, and secondary stress by a grave accent. Example: or /sɪlæ̀bəfɪkéɪʃən/. This has the advantage that it does not require a decision about syllable boundaries.
• In English dictionaries that show pronunciation by respelling, stress is typically marked with a prime mark placed after the stressed syllable: /si-lab′-ə-fi-kay′-shən/.
• In ad hoc pronunciation guides, stress is often indicated using a combination of bold text and capital letters. Example: si-lab-if-i-KAY-shun or si-LAB-if-i-KAY-shun
• In Russian and Ukrainian dictionaries, stress is indicated with an acute accent (´) on a syllable's vowel (example: вимовля́ння) or, in other editions, an apostrophe just after it (example: гла'сная). Stressing is rare in general texts, but is still used when necessary: compare за́мок (castle) and замо́к (lock).
• In Dutch, ad hoc indication of stress is usually marked by an acute accent on the vowel (or, in the case of a diphthong or double vowel, the first two vowels) of the stressed syllable. Compare achterúítgang (deterioration) and áchteruitgang (back exit).