When trying to identify differences between the American and British

pronunciations of certain words, pay attention to the placement of the

primary stressed syllable.
Remember, when we stress a word, we make one syllable longer,
louder and higher in pitch. This also makes the vowel sound in this word
extremely clear and easy to hear.
If you stress the wrong syllable, the word will sound off and be a little
hard to understand, even if you pronounce the rest of the word correctly.

So far major differences in pronunciation between British and American

English have been described in terms of change of vowels and consonants.
The change of stress, although not being as marked, also contributes to
differentiate both accents. We will examine three areas where worth
mentioning differences are found, namely, the French loanwords, the ending
-ate, and the suffixes -ary, -ory, -berry, and -mony.

Change of stress. This comprises the change of stress in French

loanwords, and certain suffixes such as -ate and -atory.

5.1 French Loanwords

In 1066, William of Normandy invaded England. That would mark the
beginning of Norman rule of the England, which would last for about four
hundred years, until the end of the Hundred Years War. In a first stage, the
Norman took over the power and decided to change the language of
government as well as impose new institutions inspired in the French ones.
However, they let low- and middle-classes speak English. In this period,
loanwords come from the domains of political, social and diplomatic activity.
In a second stage, which could be dated at between 1250 and 1400, French
started to be used by the population. The reason was that many Normans
had to permanently settle in England as Normandy was bought by the
French king in 1204, and many Normans migrated to England. The number
of loanwords proliferated as the Normans -which now did include low- and
middle-classes- brought new experiences and ways to name objects. In a
third stage, from 1400 on, most of the loanwords are related to the domain
of culture.

Loanwords from French were adapted by American English in a

different way than there were by British English. Change of stress is the most
noticeable difference. In GA French loanwords have a final-syllable stress,
while RP stresses an earlier syllable. It seems that the American English
phonology has respected the fixed accent of the French language, which in
most cases falls on the last syllable. A few examples of this change of stress
are the following.
First-syllable stress in RP but second-syllable stress in GA:
adult, baton, beret, bidet, blasé, brochure, buffet, café, chalet,
chauffeur, cliché, coupé, debris, debut, décor, detail, flambé, frappé, garage,
parquet, pâté, précis, sachet, salon, vaccine.
With more than two syllables we have matinée, négligée, nonchalant.
(The word matinée has a certainly difficult pronunciation [ˈmætnˈeɪ].)
Second-syllable stress in RP but last-syllable stress in GA:
attaché, consommé, décolleté, fiancé(e).
Common words where GA has a first-syllable stress and RP has last-
syllable are address, cigarette, magazine.

5.2 Ending -ate

Words ending in -ate, mostly verbs, have a different stress pattern in
both accents depending on the length of the word.
Most 2-syllable verbs ending in -ate have first-syllable stress in GA and
second-syllable stress in RP. This includes dictate, donate, locate, migrate,
placate, pulsate, rotate. There are exceptions where both pronunciations
agree, as in abate, checkmate, duplicate, evacuate, graduate, imitate.
 Most longer -ate verbs are pronounced the same in GA and RP. There are
a few exceptions where in RP it has a first-syllable stress and in GA a second-
syllable stress, as in elongate, remonstrate, tergiversate.

5.3 Suffixes -ary, -ory, -berry, and -mony

There are a few differences in pronunciation of suffixes -ary, -ory, -
berry, and -mony between both accents.
Suffix -ary:
In general, in GA suffixes -ary is pronounced as [eri], whereas in RP the
pronunciation is [əri]. Examples of this difference are contrary, corollary,
honorary, imaginary, sedentary. In some cases in RP, the sound schwa is
even elided, as in military [ˈmɪlɪtri] or momentary [ˈməʊməntri].
Suffix -ory:
We will describe two rules along with some exceptions. If the preceding
syllable is unstressed, then RP still keeps the pronunciation [əri], but GA
prefers [ɔ:ri], as in accusatory, amatory, derogatory, exclamatory, laudatory,
mandatory, migratory, nugatory, premonitory, recriminatory, repudiatory.
When the preceding syllable is stressed in most cases RP drops the sound
schwa and GA keeps the sound [ɔ:], as in conservatory, pronounced [kən
ˈsɜ:vtri] in British English and [kənˈsɜ:rvtɔ:ri] in American English. Other
examples are inventory, laboratory, lavatory, inflammatory, obligatory,
oratory, predatory, repository, signatory, suppository, territory, transitory.
Exceptions to this last rule are advisory, contradictory, compulsory, cursory,
illusory, peremptory, rectory, satisfactory, where both accents pronounce
[əri].
Suffix -berry:
In general, GA tends to pronounce the full suffix as [beri] and RP tends
to either substitute [e] by schwa, yielding [əri], or even elide the first vowel,
yielding simply [bri], especially in informal or quick speech.
Suffix -mony:
 Suffix -mony after a stressed syllable is pronounced [moʊni] in GA and
[məni] in RP.
Some of these suffixes corresponding to adjectives, which in turn can
be converted into adverbs by adding the suffix -ly. This change also implies a
shift in stress in GA, which is not generally found in RP. In GA the stress in
adverbs falls on the antepenultimate syllable, as in arbitrarily [ˈɑ:rbəˈtrerəli],
contrarily [kənˈtrerɪli], momentarily [ˈmoʊmənˈterəli], or ordinarily [ˈɔ:rdn
ˈerəli]. When the word is long, a secondary stress normally appears on the
first syllable of the word.
Other suffixes, such as -ery, essentially keep the same pronunciation in
both accents.
For many loanwords from French where AmE has final-syllable stress, BrE stresses an earlier
syllable.

These 2-syllable words have the following pattern:

 BrE: /10/ the first syllable is stressed

 AmE: /01/ the last syllable is stressed

BrE /10/ AmE /01/ English Definition

Adult /ˈæd.ʌlt/ /əˈdʌlt/ a person or animal that has finished growing and is
not now a child
Ballet /ˈbæl.eɪ/ /bælˈeɪ/ a type of dancing where carefully organized
movements tell a story or express an idea, or a
theatre work that uses this type of dancing:
Baton /ˈbæt.ɒn/ /bəˈtɑːn/ a stick used by a conductor (= person who controls
the performance of a group of musicians) to show
the speed of the music
Beret /ˈbereɪ/ /bəˈreɪ/ a round, flat hat made of soft material
Bidet /ˈbiːdeɪ/ /bɪˈdeɪ/ a small low bath that a person uses to wash their
bottom and sex organs
Brochure /ˈbrəʊ.ʃər/ /broʊˈʃʊr/ a type of small magazine that contains pictures and
information on a product or a company
Buffet /ˈbʊf.eɪ/ /bəˈfeɪ/ a meal where people serve themselves different
types of usually cold food / a restaurant in a station,
where food and drinks can be bought and eaten
Café /ˈkæf.eɪ/ /.kæfˈeɪ/ a restaurant where simple and usually quite cheap
meals are served
Canard /ˈkæn.ɑːd/ /kəˈnɑːrd/ a false report or piece of information that is
intended to deceive people
Chagrin /ˈʃægrɪn/ /ʃəˈgrɪn/ anger or disappointment caused by something that
does not happen the way you wanted it
Challet /ˈʃæleɪ/ /ʃælˈeɪ/ a small wooden house, often in a mountain area, or
for people who are on holiday
Chauffeur /ˈʃəʊ.fər/ /ʃoʊˈfɝː/ someone whose job is to drive a car for a rich or
important person
Chiffon /ˈʃɪf.ɒn/ /ʃɪˈfɑːn/ a very thin, almost transparent cloth of silk or nylon
Cliché /ˈkliː.ʃeɪ/ /kliːˈʃeɪ/ a saying or remark that is very often made and is
therefore not original and not interesting
Coupé /ˈkuː.peɪ/ /kʊˈpeɪ/ a car with a fixed roof, two doors, two or four seats,
and usually a sloping back
Croissant /ˈkwæsɒŋ/ /kwɑːˈsɒŋ/ a soft, curved piece of bread, eaten for breakfast
Debris /ˈdebriː/ /dəˈbriː/ broken pieces of something
Debut /ˈdeɪbjuː/ /deɪˈbuː/ when someone performs or presents something to
 the public for the first time:
Décor /ˈdeɪkɔːr/ /deɪˈkɔːr/ the style of decoration and furniture in a room or
building
Detail /ˈdiːteɪl/ /dɪˈteɪl/ a fact or piece of information about
somethingincluding every part of something
Flambé /ˈflɒm.beɪ/ /flɑːmˈbeɪ/ to pour alcohol over food and set fire to it during
cooking
Frappé /ˈfræp.eɪ/ /fræpˈeɪ/ a partly frozen drink made of milk or fruit juice, or
a strongly alcoholic drink served with ice
Garage /ˈɡær.ɑːʒ/ /-ɪdʒ/ /ɡəˈrɑːʒ/ a building where a car is kept, built next to or as
part of a house
Gateau /ˈɡæt.əʊ/ / ɡæt̬ˈoʊ/ a large, sweet cake, usually with cream or fruit in it
Gourmet /ˈɡɔː.meɪ/ /ˈɡʊr.meɪ/ (of food) very high quality
Parquet /ˈpɑː.keɪ/ /pɑːrˈkeɪ/ floor covering that consists of small rectangular
blocks of wood arranged in a pattern
Pastel /ˈpæs.təl/ /pæsˈtel/ a soft, coloured substance, usually in the form of a
small stick, that is used to draw pictures, or a
picture made using this
Pastille /ˈpæs.təl/ /pæˈstiːl/ a type of small round sweet that can be sucked or
chewed
Pâté /ˈpæt.eɪ/ /pætˈeɪ/ a thick, smooth, soft mixture made from meat, fish,
or vegetables
Sachet /ˈsæʃ.eɪ/ /sæʃˈeɪ/ a small closed container made of paper or plastic,
containing a small amount of something, usually
enough for only one occasion
Salon /ˈsæl.ɒn/ /səˈlɑːn/ a shop where you can get a particular service,
especially connected with beauty or fashion
Vaccine /ˈvæksiːn/ /vækˈsiːn/ a substance that is given to people to stop them
from getting a particular disease

3-syllable words where BrE stresses the first syllable while AmE stresses the last
one:

BrE /100/ AmE /201/ English Definition

Matinée /ˈmætɪneɪ/ /mætəˈneɪ/ an afternoon performance of a play or film
Négligée /ˈneɡ.lɪ.ʒeɪ/ /ˌneɡ.lɪˈʒeɪ/ a woman’s decorative dressing gown (= a
loose coat worn inside the house) made of
light material
Nonchalant /ˈnɒn.ʃəl.ənt/ /ˌnɑːn.ʃəˈlɑːnt/ behaving in a calm manner, often in a way that
suggests you are not interested or do not care
Cigarette /ˈsɪgəˌret/ /ˌsɪgərˈet/ a thin tube of paper filled with tobacco, that
people smoke
Other French loanwords with stress differences between BrE and AmE:

BrE AmE English Definition

Address /əˈdres/ /ˈædres/ the details of where a building is, including the
building number, road name, town, etca series
of letters, signs, or numbers used to send email
to someone or to reach a page of information
on the Internet
Moustache /məˈstɑːʃ/ /ˈmʌstæʃ/ a line of hair that some men grow above their
mouths
Limousine /ˌlɪməˈziːn/ /ˈlɪməˌziːn/ a large, expensive car, usually for rich or
important people

Two-syllable verbs in -ATE

Many 2-syllable verbs ending in -ate have this pattern:

 BrE: /01/ the last syllable is stressed

 AmE: /10/ the first syllable is stressed

This includes:

 castrate,
 dictate,
 donate,
 locate,
 migrate,
 placate,
 pulsate,
 rotate,
 translate,
 vacate,
 vibrate,

Here are some 2-syllable verbs ending in -ate are stressed on the last syllable in both BrE and
AmE:

 create, debate, equate, elate, negate, orate, relate

Here are some 2-syllable verbs ending in -ate are stressed on the first syllable in both BrE and
AmE:

 mandate, probate