Slovura 07 - Word Stress

Slovura has one simple stress rule:

Word stress

Stress always falls on the first syllable of a word.

Since every basic root has one syllable, a root used as a separate word is stressed on that syllable.

A compound is a single word, so only its first syllable receives the primary stress.

Stress and Word Boundaries

Stress helps distinguish the phrases and compounds introduced earlier.

Compare:

KA STA

ka sta

two words, so each word is stressed

with:

KA-sta

kasta

one word, so only the first syllable is stressed

The same applies to longer compounds:

KA KLA MAka kla ma — three separate words

KA-kla-ma — kaklama — one compound word

The roots themselves do not change. Stress simply provides an audible indication of how they are grouped into words.

Remember

Summary

  • Stress always falls on the first syllable of a word.
  • Separate words are each stressed.
  • A compound has one primary stress, on its first syllable.
  • Stress helps make word boundaries audible.

Next

Continue with Slovura 08 - Multiple Subjects, Predicates and Objects to learn how Slovura sentences can contain more than one subject, predicate or object.