Which feature describes the greater emphasis of some syllables or words over others during speech?

• A. Stress
• B. Rhythm
• C. Intonation
• D. Syllable

Answer: (A)

Stress is the feature that describes greater emphasis of some syllables or words over others during speech. This prominence shows up as louder voice, slightly longer duration, and sometimes higher pitch on the stressed part. It helps listeners pick out which part of a word is being highlighted or which word in a sentence carries the important meaning. For example, in English, stressing the first syllable of a word can distinguish a noun from a verb in "REcord" (noun) versus "reCORD" (verb). Rhythm, by contrast, is about the timing pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, and intonation is the pitch contour across a phrase or sentence. A syllable is simply a unit of sound.