Prosody: what is it, examples, common mistakes

prosody is the part of grammar that is concerned with the correct choice of stressed syllable the moment we say a word. Therefore, if we say “NObel” (paroxytone) instead of “noBEL” (oxytone), we are making a prosody error, also called “syllable”.

already the orthoepyalso cares about the correct pronunciation of words, but more broadly. So when you say “sausage” instead of “sausage” you are making an orthoepy error, because you have pronounced a word in the way considered incorrect by normative grammar.

Read too: 7 Grammar Mistakes You Can't Make

What is prosody?

Sometimes, we get confused when it comes to pronouncing certain words.

Have you ever wondered whether to say “free” or “free”? So which one is right? The part of grammar that teaches us this is called prosody. Thus, by studying the prosody, we find out what the stressed syllable of a wordand therefore its correct pronunciation.

You make a prosody error (called a “syllable”) when you don't know what the stressed syllable of a word is. So instead of saying “noBEL”, you say “NÓbel”. That's because “nobel” is an oxytone word, but you think it's paroxytone. So you need to know what a word is:

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oxytone — when your last syllable is stressed;
paroxytone — when your penultimate syllable is stressed; or
proparoxytone — when your third to last syllable is stressed.

Attention! Some words have double prosody, that is, they can be pronounced in two ways:

acrobat or acrobat
Autopsy or autopsy
blessing or blessing
hieroglyph or hieroglyph
Necropsy or necropsy
orthoepia or orthoepy
projectile or projectile
reptile or reptile
Sor or Sor
Xerox or Xerox

Is it right to say “free” or “free”? The correct is "free", since, in that word, we have a diphthong and not a gap.

Read too: Sound pictures - speech pictures that combine the sounds of words

Common Prosody Mistakes

• Oxytone words

correct pronunciation	prosody error
Conache	Accountache
catto have	Hereyouto have
ruim	ruim
misto have	Misto have
At thebeautiful	At thebeautiful
Suuseful	suuseful

• Paroxytone words

correct pronunciation	prosody error
ausyouro	auster
THEgoro	Ávarus
aziThego	THEzinow
botherevar	Bolivar
charyoures	Herefrogcters
Ciclofoot	ciclops
Dispair	Dispair
Filantrodust	Filantrope
Iwellro	Ícrib
pudico	pudick
Theretext	Theretext
Misantrodust	Misantrope
PolygloOK	Dustthereglotta
rubrihere	ruplay
Textuseful	Texuseful

• Proparoxytone words

correct pronunciation	prosody error
ohrolitho	aeroreadI'm
THEattheme	A-N-Ayoubad
Anyougifted	AntiofI'm
Airwhattype	archyoudust
Bideer	Bigamo
CrisanI fear	chrysanyoumo
arefootcap	waitcime
Êexodus	ANDxoof
inend	intekidney
readvedo	Leseeof
readpoopI quote	leucociI'm
Proohtype	protoyoudust
Zenite	Zeniyou

Difference between prosody and orthoepia

You already understand that the prosody is related to the correct tonic accentuation of words, Is not it? Thus, someone who uses the stressed syllable incorrectly when speaking, makes a prosody error, but what about orthoepia?

imagine that someone says “lawyer” instead of “lawyer”. This person just made a mistake of orthoepy. In this case, there was no prosody error, since the stressed syllable of both words was correctly pronounced, that is, “a-de-vo-ga-do" and "ad-vo-ga-of".

So, you would make an orthoepy error if you pronounced the following words like this:

Ôro instead of “gold”
Muggle instead of "Muggle"
Crab instead of "crab"
Inflict rather than "inflict"
Eat instead of “eat”
Company instead of "company"
Beneficial rather than "beneficent"
Striped rather than "facade"
Braking instead of "braking"
Own instead of "own"
Sausage instead of "sausage"
Superstition instead of "superstition"

In addition to these, there are many other words that we pronounce incorrectly by normative grammar, and thus we make an orthoepy error. However, if we pronounce a word incorrectly because we don't know its stressed syllable, we are making a prosody error. To learn more about this other type of word pronunciation deviation, read the text: Ortoepia.

solved exercises

Question 1 - All the following words have a prosody error, EXCEPT:

A) Ethiopian

B) Gumball

C) Machinery

D) Record

E) Cartomancy

Resolution

Alternative A. They present prosody error: “gum” (gum), “machinery” (machinery), “record” (record) and “cartomância” (cartomancy). Therefore, the pronunciation of the word “Ethiopian” is correct.

Question 2 - Check the alternative that presents a word with double prosody.

A) Luzidio

B) Onyx

C) Bumblebee

D) Seniors

E) Palmistry

Resolution

Alternative C. The word “drone” or “drone” has a double prosody.

Question 3 - Which of the following words has an orthoepy error?

A) Frustrated

B) Barrier

C) Degladiate