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Zoltán Király Posted 11 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

Word Stress Within Question: Got a minute?

Hello, the question: Got a minute? phonetically looks like [g?t? ? m?n ?t]. It's four syllables. I think the primary stress is on the third syllable "m?n".

[g?t? ? 'm?n ?t]

But I'm not sure about the first syllable "g?t?". Does it receive a secondary stress or something like that? When I mean secondary stress I mean something lower than the third syllable.

Any suggestion would be appreciated. Thank you!
  

Top answer

The most natural way for me to say it is with primary stress on "min" and secondary on "got". However, it also seems possible (depending on speaker choice) for this to be the other way around, or, I guess, for the two stresses to be fairly equal.

— GPY

  • The most natural way for me to say it is with primary stress on "min" and secondary on "got".
  • However, it also seems possible (depending on speaker choice) for this to be the other way around, or, I guess, for the two stresses to be fairly equal.
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3 Answers
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The most natural way for me to say it is with primary stress on "min" and secondary on "got". However, it also seems possible (depending on speaker choice) for this to be the other way around, or, I guess, for the two stresses to be fairly equal.
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I think the first and third syllables have roughly equal stress, but it's possible for either to be slightly more stressed.

(Cross-posted with GPY)
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Zoltán KirályBut I'm not sure about the first syllable "g?t?". Does it receive a secondary stress or something like that?
Yes. Anyway, that's the way I usually say it. Some kind of stress on every other syllable in English is nearly inevitable. That's why iambic pentameter is the poetic meter that most closely approximates English prose.

CJ
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