Which statement about stress is true?

Which statement about stress is true?

• A. Stress has no effect on meaning.
• B. Stress involves emphasizing certain syllables to modify meaning.
• C. Stress only applies to nouns.
• D. Stress is the same as a phoneme.

Answer: (B)

Stress is the emphasis placed on particular syllables within a word, and that emphasis can change how a word is understood or how it functions in speech. In English, where you place the stress can signal different meanings or part of speech. For example, stressing the first syllable in a word can mark a noun form, while stressing the second syllable can flip it to a verb form, or create a contrast in meaning between two pronunciations of the same string of sounds. This shows how emphasis on syllables can modify meaning beyond the basic pronunciation. The other statements miss important aspects. Stress does affect meaning, so saying there’s no effect isn’t accurate. It isn’t limited to nouns; verbs and other word types also show meaning or emphasis shifts with different stress. And stress isn’t a phoneme—the smallest units of sound in a language—it's a prosodic feature that guides how we interpret words and sentences.

Stress is the emphasis placed on particular syllables within a word, and that emphasis can change how a word is understood or how it functions in speech. In English, where you place the stress can signal different meanings or part of speech. For example, stressing the first syllable in a word can mark a noun form, while stressing the second syllable can flip it to a verb form, or create a contrast in meaning between two pronunciations of the same string of sounds. This shows how emphasis on syllables can modify meaning beyond the basic pronunciation.

The other statements miss important aspects. Stress does affect meaning, so saying there’s no effect isn’t accurate. It isn’t limited to nouns; verbs and other word types also show meaning or emphasis shifts with different stress. And stress isn’t a phoneme—the smallest units of sound in a language—it's a prosodic feature that guides how we interpret words and sentences.