Verbs

Verbs are usually stressed (spoken at a slightly higher pitch and with more force) on the last syllable of the verb stem. The first suffix after the verb stem is not stressed.

However, after the first suffix, if there are any suffixes that end in an apostrophe ('), those get stressed along with the verb. If there are several suffixes with a ', then each one is stressed.

A speaker can choose to emphasize a specific suffix by moving all the stress to that suffix. This often happens with the negation and interrogative suffixes, even if they are the first suffix.

Adjectival verbs ("be" verbs or verbs of quality) follow the same stress rules as regular verbs.

jIQong - jIQonglaH - jIQongchu' - jIQonglaHchu' - jIQongqa'chu' - jIQongbe' - jIQongnISqa'chu'

Nouns

For nouns, the stress usually goes on the last syllable of the noun stem.

But if the noun (or any of its suffixes) includes a syllable that ends in an apostrophe ('), that syllable gets the stress instead. If there's more than one syllable with a ', each one is stressed.

Nouns formed from a verb plus -wI' or -ghach follow these same rules and are stressed like other nouns.

Qapla' - Qapla'mey - Qapla'na' - Qapla'meyna'lIjmo'

lunglIH - lunglIHmey - lunglIHna' - lunglIHmeyna'lIjmo'

'omwI' - 'omwI'mey - 'omwI'na' - 'omwI'na'lIjvaD