Pronunciation - Stress

Syllable Stress

Chílanoth favours odd numbers, especially the number 3 (Tél).

Odd numbers allows potential for movement (Tér) whilst even numbers are bound by stagnation (tár).

This is reflected in how syllables are stressed.

When there are three or more syllables, syllables are divided into groups of 3. If not divisible with 3, first syllable group will contain either 1 or 2 syllables, the first one being stressed.

Syllables are represented by:

stressed syllable = 'S

unstressed syllable = s

example:

S

'S - s

'S - s - s

s - 'S - s - s

s - s - 'S - s - s

'S - s - s - 'S - s - s

s - 'S - s - s - 'S - s - s

s - s - 'S - s - s - 'S - s - s

'S - s - s - 'S - s - s - 'S - s - s

This rule overrides the natural emphasis of long vowels, unless there are three syllables and the second vowel is long, in which case the second vowel is usually stressed.

There are, however, exceptions to the syllable stress rules. For example, in case there are two vowels after each other and the second is long, the second vowel will usually be stressed.

Word Stress

In a sentence, the contextually most important word will be stressed. The word stress does not change the meaning, but it is crucial for achieving a natural sounding speech.