What is the prpper way to denote stressed and unstressed syllables in standard english grammar?

Question

I think it is a "U" above the unstressed syllables and a "/" above stressed ones, but I'm not sure. Any help would be wonderful, and as soon as possible as my paper is due tomorrow with the proper notation on it.

Oh...then I may not be looking for the "proper" way...my teacher said there was something over both of them, and I'm pretty sure it was u and / I'm just looking for confirmation..

The reason I aks is we're doing a unit on poetry, and it has to be written in iambic pentameter, so we have to label the stressed and unstressed patterns.

Answer 1

Nothing at all on unstressed syllables, but an accent mark ( ' ) on stressed syllables.

The little "U" shape above a vowel, denotes the pronunciation of that vowel in that word.

So, where syllable stressing is concerned, the word "America", would be A-me'-ri-ca.

**EDIT** SOme dictionaries accent in front of the syllable and some accent after the syllable.

Likely, your teacher is trying to make sure you know which syllables to stress and which ones not to stress. In fact, in POETRY, you DO accent the stressed WORDS and put a little U above the unstressed words... could this be what you are talking about?

Hope that helps.

**EDIT** Ok, I thought you were talking about phonics. So, yes, in poetry, the accent mark goes above the stressed syllable (or word) and the little U-shaped thing goes above the unstressed syllable (or word).

Answer 2

Just a note on Scruffycat's comments. The accent mark goes in front of the stressed syllable, not after it.