An Introduction to French Pronunciation

9
Stress
9.1 Normal Stress
Stress 45
9.1.1 In many languages, some syllables are given a greater
degree of stress than others, i.e. greater prominence as a consequence
of being pronounced with greater energy. This can
easily be illustrated from such English words as ordinarily,
beautiful, where the stress is on the first syllable (ord-, beau-),
reception, behaviourism, where it is on the second syllable
(-cep-, -hav-), disappointment, where it is on the third (-point),
or Americanese, where it is on the fifth and last syllable (-ese).
(These comments relate to the main stress of a word – there
are also other degrees of stress, in particular the secondary
stress of the first syllable, dis-, of disappointment and of the
second syllable, -mer-, of Americanese, but this need not concern
us here.)
9.1.2 The rules governing the position of the main stress
in the word vary considerably from one language to another.
The position may be relatively fixed, as in German, where the
stress on most (though not all) words is on the first syllable, or
Welsh, where the stress in most words is on the last syllable
but one. On the other hand, the position of the stress in English,
as is illustrated by the examples given in 9.1.1, is very variable.
But in all these languages, and in most other European
languages, the main stress is associated with the individual