Definition of secondary stress in US English:
secondary stress
nounˈsekənˌderē stresˈsɛkənˌdɛri strɛs
Phonetics (in a system that postulates three levels of stress) the accent on a syllable of a word or breath group that is weaker than the primary stress but stronger than the lack of stress.
Example sentencesExamples
- The ‘tse’ gets a slight secondary stress, but the only real accent is on the first syllable.
- The secondary stress focuses the word in the line, which may then be scanned as follows, giving an irregular but forceful rhythm.
- There is some controversy about which one of these is the secondary stress.
- A secondary stress after the primary stress is an unreduced syllable in the tail of the tone group.
- The second syllable in Hamburger contains the long vowel; being long, this vowel is likely to attract secondary stress.