英語の語アクセント：ルール・パターン・例文
語アクセントは英語の発音の中で最も誤解されやすい部分の一つです。間違った音節にアクセントを置くと、すべての音が正確でも理解されにくくなります。このガイドでは、すぐに聞いて応用できるよう、実際の例文で重要なパターンを解説します。
48 items · 6 topics
"PREsent"
stress on first syllable (noun)
"Here is your PREsent — happy birthday!"
"PROtest"
stress on first syllable (noun)
"The PROtest outside the building lasted all day."
"REcord"
stress on first syllable (noun)
"She broke the world REcord last night."
"OBject"
stress on first syllable (noun)
"What is that strange OBject on the shelf?"
"PERmit"
stress on first syllable (noun)
"You need a PERmit to park here."
"CONtent"
stress on first syllable (noun)
"The CONtent of this book is very interesting."
"IMport"
stress on first syllable (noun)
"Coffee is one of Brazil's biggest IMports."
"CONduct"
stress on first syllable (noun)
"His CONduct at the meeting was professional."
"preSENT"
stress on second syllable (verb)
"She will preSENT her findings tomorrow."
"proTEST"
stress on second syllable (verb)
"Students proTESTed against the new rule."
"reCORD"
stress on second syllable (verb)
"Please reCORD the meeting for later."
"obJECT"
stress on second syllable (verb)
"Do you obJECT to the proposal?"
"perMIT"
stress on second syllable (verb)
"They will not perMIT entry without ID."
"conTENT"
stress on second syllable (verb)
"She conTENTed herself with a small victory."
"imPORT"
stress on second syllable (verb)
"We imPORT most of our electronics from Asia."
"conDUCT"
stress on second syllable (verb)
"He conDUCTed the orchestra brilliantly."
"PHOtograph"
stress on first syllable
"Look at this beautiful PHOtograph from my trip."
"phoTOgrapher"
stress on second syllable
"She works as a professional phoTOgrapher."
"photoGRAPHic"
stress on third syllable
"He has a photoGRAPHic memory for faces."
"ECOnomy"
stress on second syllable
"The ECOnomy grew by three percent last year."
"ecoNOmic"
stress on third syllable
"The ecoNOmic report will be released on Friday."
"comPUter"
stress on second syllable
"My comPUter crashed during the presentation."
"UNiverse"
stress on first syllable
"Scientists study the origins of the UNiverse."
"uniVERsal"
stress on third syllable
"Music has a uniVERsal appeal across cultures."
"BLACKbird"
compound noun — stress on first element
"I saw a BLACKbird in the garden this morning."
"GREENhouse"
compound noun — stress on first element
"They grow tomatoes in the GREENhouse all year."
"CARpark"
compound noun — stress on first element
"The CARpark behind the mall is always full."
"LANDlord"
compound noun — stress on first element
"My LANDlord fixed the heating last week."
"HANDbag"
compound noun — stress on first element
"She lost her HANDbag on the train."
"HEADmaster"
compound noun — stress on first element
"The HEADmaster addressed the students at assembly."
"WATERfall"
compound noun — stress on first element
"The WATERfall was visible from a mile away."
"BREAKfast"
compound noun — stress on first element
"She eats BREAKfast at exactly seven every morning."
"-TION / -SION words"
stress always on syllable before -tion/-sion
"inforMAtion, educAtion, permISsion — the syllable before -tion takes stress."
"-IC words"
stress on syllable before -ic
"ecoNOMic, photoGRAPHic, geograPHIc — -ic pulls stress one syllable back."
"-ITY words"
stress on syllable before -ity
"flexiBIlity, posSIbility, abilITY — always the syllable directly before -ity."
"re- prefix"
usually unstressed prefix, verb stress on root
"reTURN, rePEAT, reCORD — the re- prefix is typically light."
"un- prefix"
usually unstressed prefix
"unHAPpy, unFAIR, unBELievable — stress falls on the root syllable."
"-ATE verbs"
three-syllable -ate verbs: stress on first
"EDucate, ANimate, ORganize follow this pattern."
"-ATE nouns/adj"
two-syllable -ate: stress on first
"CLImate, DELicate, ACcurate — -ate as noun/adj has first-syllable stress."
"-OLOGY words"
stress two syllables before -ology
"biOLogy, psSYchology, techNOlogy — the -ol- syllable carries stress."
"Content words"
nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs carry stress
""I BOUGHT a NEW CAR yesterday" — BOUGHT, NEW, CAR carry the main beats."
"Function words"
articles, prepositions, pronouns are usually weak
""I'm going to the store" — to, the are reduced to /tə/, /ðə/."
"Contrastive stress"
stress shifts to contrast information
""I said TUESDAY, not Wednesday" — TUESDAY is stressed for contrast."
"New information"
brand-new information gets the strongest stress
""There's a SPIDER on your shoulder" — SPIDER is new and heavily stressed."
"Tonic syllable"
last major stress in a sentence — carries pitch change
""She went to PARIS last YEAR" — YEAR is the tonic, carrying the pitch nucleus."
"Weak forms"
common words reduce in natural speech
""can" → /kən/, "and" → /ən/, "of" → /əv/ in connected speech."
"Focus stress"
stress on a word to show it is the focus
""SHE didn't eat it" vs "She DIDN'T eat it" — stress changes meaning."
"Rhythm and beats"
English is stress-timed: stressed syllables recur at intervals
""The CAT sat on the MAT" — two beats regardless of unstressed syllables between them."
よくある質問
英語の語アクセントとは何ですか？
語アクセントとは、単語の中の一つの音節を他の音節より大きく、長く、高い音調で発音することです。英語はストレス・タイムド言語なので、アクセントを正確に置くことは理解される上で非常に重要です。たとえば "PREsent"（名詞）と "preSENT"（動詞）はスペルが同じでもアクセントが全く異なります。
英語のアクセントで最も重要なルールは何ですか？
最も信頼できるルールは名詞・動詞ペアのルールです。多くの2音節語は名詞として使う場合は第1音節に、動詞として使う場合は第2音節にアクセントが置かれます。例：REcord（名）／reCORD（動）、PERmit（名）／perMIT（動）。また、-tion・-ic・-ity などの接尾辞は直前の音節にアクセントを引き寄せます。
英語の文アクセントはどのように機能しますか？
英語の文では、内容語（名詞・本動詞・形容詞・副詞）がアクセントを担い、機能語（冠詞・前置詞・代名詞・助動詞）は通常弱く発音されます。文の最後の主要なアクセント音節（核強勢）が主要なピッチ変化を担い、最も重要な情報を示します。
なぜ私の英語アクセントはネイティブに不自然に聞こえるのですか？
ほとんどの学習者は母語のリズムに基づいてアクセントを置きます。英語はストレス・タイムドで、アクセント音節がほぼ一定間隔で現れ、非アクセント音節は圧縮・弱化されます。すべての音節に同じ重みを置くと、音が正確でも不自然に聞こえます。非アクセント音節を /ə/（シュワー）に弱化させる練習をしましょう。
第一強勢と第二強勢の違いは何ですか？
第一強勢は単語の中で最も強調される音節です。第二強勢は別の音節の弱めの強調で、長い単語に多く見られます。たとえば "photoGRAPHic" は GRAPH に第一強勢、PHO- に第二強勢があります。日常会話では、第一強勢の音節を正確に把握することが最も重要です。
実際のスピーチでアクセントパターンを聞くことは、ルールを読むだけより遥かに効果的です。
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