[THE APPRENTICE]

Dear members:

My understanding about the secondary stress is as follows:

If a sound is neither stressed nor reduced, consequently it's neither weaker than the reduced sound nor stronger than the stressed one as those ones in one-syllable words;.

Hunt /hʌnt/ ;Think /θɪŋk/; Road /roʊd/;Take /teɪk/

Schwa sound is a reduced sound, and primary stress is a stressed sound; secondary stress is a sound in-between.

As stated above, secondary stress is weaker than primary stress and stronger than Schwa. It is placed prior to the syllable it stresses with a short vertical mark at the foot of the syllable with the secondary stress. I've noticed that all word having a secondary stress has a primary stress in it also; I don't know if this is a phonological rule.

Secondary stress occurs in words from three syllables on

1) Recommend (rec-om-mend) /ˌrekəˈmend/; 2) Conversation (con-ver-sa-tion) /ˌkɒn vərˈseɪ ʃən/ 3) Pronunciation (pro-nun-ci-a-tion) /prəˌnʌnsiˈeɪʃən/

I would like to know if one-syllable words and verbs either take the secondary stress or primary one in connected speech; for instance:

(a) I think she was in the city

/ˌaɪˈθɪŋkʃiːwəzɪnðəˈsɪti/

(b) March is a beautiful month

/ˌmɑː(r)tʃəzəˈbjuːtəfəlˌmʌnθ/

Your insight and feedback will be deeply appreciated.