英语单词重音：让你被理解的节拍

You can pronounce every sound in a word perfectly and still not be understood — if the stress is on the wrong syllable. Native listeners recognise words by their shape first: which syllable is loud, long and high.

即使你能完美地发出单词中的每个音，如果重音落在错误的音节上，仍然可能听不懂——母语者首先通过单词的形状来识别：哪个音节又大、又长、又高。

Say deSERT instead of DEsert and you have changed the word. Say comFORtable and people will need a second to decode it.

把 deSERT 说成 DEsert，词义就改变了。把 comFORtable 说出来，人们需要花一点时间才能解码。

什么是重音

A stressed syllable is:

• louder,（更响亮）
• longer,（更悠长）
• higher in pitch,（音高更高）
• 并且拥有完整、清晰的元音——而其余音节常会弱化为央元音 /ə/。

覆盖大多数单词的模式

English stress is not random. These rules are not perfect, but they are right far more often than guessing:

模式	例子
双音节的 nouns and adjectives 重读第一个音节	TAble, HAPpy, WINdow
双音节的 verbs 重读第二个音节	beGIN, reLAX, deCIDE
相同单词，名词 vs 动词	a REcord / to reCORD, a PREsent / to preSENT
以 -tion, -sion, -ic 结尾的单词重读前一个音节	inforMAtion, deCIsion, enerGEtic
以 -ity, -graphy, -logy 结尾的单词重读倒数第三个音节	possiBIlity, phoTOgraphy, biOlogy

观察重音的变化

The same root changes its stress as the ending changes:

• PHOtograph → phoTOgrapher → photoGRAphic
• eCOnomy → ecoNOmic
• Educate → eduCAtion

如何练习重音

1. 拍手或敲击桌面在重读音节上，同时说出单词。
2. 夸张地发音：让它的时长是自然时的两倍。
3. 然后让其他音节保持轻快且短促。

In HolosAccent you listen to a native reference of every phrase first, then record your own take and replay the two side by side. Hearing your PHOtograph next to the native one is the fastest way to notice when the beat lands in the wrong place.