use of "stress mark"

WilliamTaft

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Jul 13, 2023
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Chinese
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There are "stress marks" under "Phrasal Verbs" in the Apple iPad version Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. I don't find these marks in the Windows PC version of this dictionary.

Is it correct to use these marks this way?

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Are you talking about the apostrophe after the "a" in "against"?
 
There are "stress marks" under "Phrasal Verbs" in the Apple iPad version Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. I don't find these marks in the Windows PC version of this dictionary.

Right. They're not there in the Windows version.

Is it correct to use these marks this way?

Yes. As you say, they mark stress.
 
The higher one marks the main stress in a word. The lower one is the secondary (slightly weaker) stress in a longer word. Both go before the stressed syllable.

For example, international: /ˌɪntəˈnæʃənəl/

For most purposes, you probably never need to worry about the secondary stress.
 
I always find this kind of mark in pronunciation symbols of a single word instead of in the words themselves.
 
The secondary stress is of course marked only in words of three or more syllables. Even then, not all dictionaries mark it.
 

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