Which term describes the emphasis on loudness, pitch, and duration of syllables in speech?

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

Answer: (A)

Stress is the feature that marks emphasis on syllables by making them louder, longer, and often with a higher pitch. This prominence helps listeners notice which syllables are most important, signaling focus or meaning within a word or phrase. In English, stress patterns can even change how a word functions, as with noun versus verb forms in RECORD vs reCORD. Tone refers to pitch used to convey meaning, especially in tonal languages, while intonation describes the rise and fall of pitch across a sentence to express questions, statements, or attitude, and rhythm covers the overall timing pattern of syllables. So the emphasis on loudness, pitch, and duration of syllables is stress.