Lessons 4–5 · 2 lessons · B. Mengliyev, Sh. Toshmirzayeva, S. Atoyeva, S. Majidova. Ona tili (Uzbek language), Grade 11, Part 2. “O‘qituvchi” publishing and printing creative house, Tashkent, 2020
5
Pronunciation of stress
Textbook: Part 2, pp. 16–18
GoalKnow the rules of word stress and the exceptions; place stress correctly in loanwords.
New words
stress · urg‘usyllable · bo‘g‘inparticle · yuklamaloanword · o‘zlashma so‘z
Explanation
In Uzbek the word stress usually falls on the last syllable, and when a suffix is added it moves to the syllable of the suffix: kitób – kitobní – kitoblarimizdán. In some words the stress is not on the last syllable: lékin (but), bálki (perhaps), hózir (now). Particles such as -mi, -chi, -ku, -dir, -da, -oq take no stress: keldíngmi (did you come?), kímdir (somebody). Loanwords in their base form often keep the stress of the source language (kompyúter, prográmma), but when an Uzbek suffix is added the stress moves to the suffix: kompyuterdá, programmalár. Stress sometimes distinguishes meaning (suzmá, strained yogurt – súzma, “don’t swim”). Wrong stress, especially in public speech, harms the culture of speech.
Worked examples
Stress rule: bola → bolalár → bolalarimizgá; with a particle: bordíngmi? (-mi takes no stress).
“I found the stress”: students read a word from a card syllable by syllable with claps and stamp on the stressed syllable; the class judges correctness.
Practice
1
On which syllable does the stress usually fall in Uzbek?
On the last syllable; when a suffix is added, it moves to the last syllable of the suffixed word.
2
Mark the stress: kitob + -ni; o‘quvchi + -lar + -imiz; kel + -di + -ng + -mi.
Kitobní; o‘quvchilarimíz; keldíngmi.
3
In “Kimdir eshikni qoqdi”, on which syllable is the stress in kimdir and why?
On the first: kímdir; because the particle -dir takes no stress.
4
Why does the stress shift to kompyuterdá when -da is added to kompyúter?
Because after taking an Uzbek suffix the word follows the general Uzbek rule and the stress goes to the last syllable.